Muhammad Issues: Wives & Female Slaves
Overview
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The following considerations emerge when Muhammad’s marriages and sexual practices are studied.
​1. ​Muhammad married a young girl named Aisha when she was six or seven years old. Aisha was nine and Muhammad was approximately fifty-four when the marriage consummation took place.
2. Muhammad married his former daughter-in-law (Zaynab, the ex-wife of his adopted son).
3. Muhammad practised polygamy and married up to nine women even though Muslum men are forbidden from exceeding a maximum of four wives. Muhammad frequently had sex with each of his nine wives during the same night.
4. Muhammad was permitted to have sex with the female slaves that had been assigned to him through war and Muhammad's habit of having sex with his female slaves displeased two of his wives (Aisha and Hafsa).
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These details about Muhammad's life are significant because the Quran (33:21) presents Muhammad as an excellent example of moral conduct and instructs Muslims to follow his example and lifestyle. This does not mean that Muslims are required to follow Muhammad in every particular. Rather, it means that the things Muhammad did and said can be used to determine what is allowed (halal) or forbidden (haram) for Muslims. This includes whom it's appropriate to marry and have sex with.
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1. Muhammad & Aisha
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Sahih al-Bukhari (3894, 3896, 5133, 5134 & 5158) and Sunan Abi Dawud (2121 - Graded: Sahih) state that Muhammad married a young girl named Aisha when she was six or seven years old and the marriage was consummated when Aisha was nine years old. Muhammad was approximately fifty-four when the marriage consummation took place. Further to this, Sahih Muslim (1422c) and Sunan an-Nasa'i (3378 - Graded: Sahih) comment that Aisha was in the possession of dolls when she was taken to Muhammad’s home at the age of nine for the marriage consummation. Sahih al-Bukhari (6130) likewise says that Aisha played with dolls in the presence of Muhammad and a scholarly commentary adds that this allowance was given to Aisha because she was a little girl and had not yet reached the age of puberty. The allowance given to Aisha to play with dolls (which is forbidden in Islam for those above the age of puberty) shows that Aisha was pre-pubescent when the marriage consummation took place.
Sahih al-Bukhari (3895 & 5125) narrates that Muhammad instigated his marriage with Aisha because Aisha had been promised to him in a dream. Sahih al-Bukhari (5081) also states that Abu Bakr (Aisha’s father and Muhammad’s close companion) was startled and reluctant to agree to the marriage when Muhammad proposed the idea.
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2. Muhammad & Zaynab
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The Quran (33:4-5) forbids adoption and instructs Muslims not to establish family relations through adoption. This instruction coincides with a passage in the Quran (33:37-39) that reprimands Muhammad for concealing a revelation that promised a woman called Zaynab to him in marriage. Records state that Zaynad was Muhammad's cousin and a beautiful woman. Muhammad was initially reluctant to pursue the relationship because Zaynab was married to Zyad, Muhammad’s adopted son. It was also culturally inappropriate during Muhammad’s lifetime for a man to marry the former wife of his son (whether biological or adopted). However, and somewhat fortuitously, Muhammad’s revelation dissolved the father-son relationship between Muhammad and Zyad, meaning that Muhammad could marry Zaynab because she was technically no longer the partner of his son. After Zyad and Zaynab had separated and in a peculiar event in which Muhammad fainted, Muhammad received a revelation (in the presence of Aisha) that officially gave Zaynab to him in marriage. Muhammad therefore married Zaynab (his former daughter-in-law) and Zaynab married Muhammad (her former father-in-law). This is how Zaynab became one of Muhammad's wives. These events are narrated by Al-Tabari (The History of Al-Tabari: The Victory of Islam, Vol. VIII).
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3. Muhammad & Polygamy
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Despite the Quran (4:1-4) stating that Muslim men are limited to marrying only four women if they want to practice polygamy, Muhammad exceeded this number. Sahih al-Bukhari (268 & 5215) relates that Muhammad’s polygamy included nine marriages and he would often be sexually intimate with each of his nine wives during the same night.
4. Muhammad & Female Slaves
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The Quran (23:1-11 & 70:19-35) makes a distinction between wives and female slaves and Muslim men are permitted to be sexually intimate with either. The Quran (33:50) explicitly extends this right to Muhammad and specifies that Muhammad has the right to be sexually intimate with the female slaves that have been assigned to him through war. This provision even includes captive women who have husbands (4:22-24). For more information on this last point see ‘Quran Issues (Married Captives & Adultery)’.
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According to Sunan an-Nasa'i (3959 - Graded: Sahih) Muhammad owned a female slave and he would frequently have sex with her. This displeased two of Muhammad’s wives, Aisha and Hafsa, and they consequently persuaded Muhammad to stop. However, Muhammad then received a revelation (Quran 66:1-2) that instructed him not to forbid what God had given and made lawful for him. In keeping with this revelation, Muhammad presumably continued to have sex with his female slave to the displeasure of Aisha and Hafsa.
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Additionally, Sahih Muslim (1439a) relates that Muhammad counselled one of his followers to practice ‘coitus interruptus’ (withdrawing the male sexual organ before the emission of semen) with his slave to avoid impregnating her. See also Sahih al-Bukhari (2229, 4138 & 6603) and Sahih Muslim (1438a & 1438c) for examples of Muhammad allowing his followers to practice ‘coitus interruptus’ with female captives.
Quran Passages & Hadith Narrations
​The Quran 4:1-4 (Abdul Haleem)
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(1) People, be mindful of your Lord, who created you from a single soul, and from it a created its mate, and from the pair of them spread countless men and women far and wide; be mindful of God, in whose name you make requests of one another. Beware of severing the ties of kinship: God is always watching over you. (2) Give orphans their property, do not replace [their] good things with bad, and do not consume their property with your own - a great sin. (3) If you fear that you will not deal fairly with orphan girls, you may marry whichever [other] women seem good to you, two, three, or four. If you fear that you cannot be equitable [to them], then marry only one, or your slave(s): that is more likely to make you avoid bias. (4) Give women their bridal gift upon marriage, though if they are happy to give up some of it for you, you may enjoy it with a clear conscience.
The Quran 4:22-24 (Abdul Haleem)
(22) Do not marry women that your fathers married - with the exception of what is past - this is indeed a shameful thing to do, loathsome and leading to evil. (23) You are forbidden to take as wives your mothers, daughters, sisters, paternal and maternal aunts, the daughters of brothers and daughters of sisters, your milk-mothers and milk-sisters, your wives’ mothers, the stepdaughters in your care - those born of women with whom you have consummated marriage, if you have not consummated the marriage, then you will not be blamed - wives of your begotten sons, two sisters simultaneously - with the exception of what is past: God is most forgiving and merciful - (24) women already married, other than your slaves. God has ordained all this for you. Other women are lawful to you, so long as you seek them in marriage, with gifts from your property, looking for wedlock rather than fornication. If you wish to enjoy women through marriage, give them their bride-gift - this is obligatory - though if you should choose mutually, after fulfilling this obligation, to do otherwise [with the bride-gift], you will not be blamed: God is all knowing and all wise.
The Quran 23:1-11 (Abdul Haleem)
(1) [How] prosperous are the believers! (2) Those who pray humbly, (3) who shun idle talk, (4) who pay the prescribed alms, (5) who guard their chastity (6) except with their spouses or their slaves - with these they are not to blame, (7) but anyone who seeks more than this is exceeding the limits - (8) who are faithful to their trusts and pledges (9) and who keep up their prayers, (10) will rightly be given (11) Paradise as their own, there to remain.
The Quran 33:4-5 (Abdul Haleem)
(4) God does not put two hearts within a man’s breast. He does not turn the wives you reject and liken to your mothers’ backs into your real mothers; nor does He make your adopted sons into real sons. These are only words from your mouths, while God speaks the truth and guides people to the right path. (5) Name your adopted sons after their real fathers: this is more equitable in God’s eyes - if you do not know who their fathers are [they are your] ‘brothers-in-religion’ and protégés. You will not be blamed if you make a mistake, only for what your hearts deliberately intend; God is most forgiving and merciful.
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The Quran 33:21 (Abdul Haleem)
(21) The Messenger of God is an excellent model for those of you who put your hope in God and the Last Day and remember Him often.
The Quran 33:37-39 (Abdul Haleem)
(37) When you [Prophet] said to the man who had been favoured by God and by you, ‘Keep your wife and be mindful of God,’ you hid in your heart what God would later reveal: you were afraid of people, but it is more fitting that you fear God. When Zayd no longer wanted her, We gave her to you in marriage so that there might be no fault in believers marrying the wives of their adopted sons after they no longer wanted them. God’s command must be carried out: (38) the Prophet is not at fault for what God has ordained for him. This was God’s practice with those who went before - God’s command must be fulfilled - (39) [and with all] those who deliver God’s messages and fear only Him and no other: God’s reckoning is enough.
The Quran 33:50 (Abdul Haleem)
(50) Prophet, We have made lawful for you the wives whose bride gift you have paid, and any slaves God has assigned to you through war, and the daughters of your uncles and aunts on your father’s and mother’s sides, who migrated with you. Also any believing woman who has offered herself to the Prophet and whom the Prophet wishes to wed - this is only for you [Prophet] and not the rest of the believers: We know exactly what We have made obligatory for them concerning their wives and slave-girls - so you should not be blamed: God is most forgiving, most merciful.
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The Quran 66:1-2 (Abdul Haleem)
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(1) Prophet, why do you prohibit what God has made lawful to you in your desire to please your wives? Yet God is forgiving and merciful: (2) He has ordained a way for you [believers] to release you from [such] oaths - God is your helper: He is the All Knowing, the Wise.
The Quran 70:19-35 (Abdul Haleem)
(19) Man was truly created anxious: (20) he is fretful when misfortune touches him, (21) but tight-fisted when good fortune comes his way. (22) Not so those who pray (23) and are constant in their prayers; (24) who give a due share of their wealth (25) to beggars and the deprived; (26) who believe in the Day of Judgement (27) and fear the punishment of their Lord - (28) none may feel wholly secure from it - (29) who guard their chastity (30) from all but their spouses or their slave-girls - there is no blame attached to [relations with] these, (31) but those whose desires exceed this limit are truly transgressors - (32) who are faithful to their trusts and their pledges; (33) who give honest testimony (34) and are steadfast in their prayers. (35) They will be honoured in Gardens of bliss.
Sahih al-Bukhari, 268
Narrated Qatada: Anas bin Malik said, "The Prophet used to visit all his wives in a round, during the day and night and they were eleven in number." I asked Anas, "Had the Prophet the strength for it?" Anas replied, "We used to say that the Prophet was given the strength of thirty (men)." And Sa`id said on the authority of Qatada that Anas had told him about nine wives only (not eleven).
Sahih al-Bukhari, 2229
Narrated Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri: that while he was sitting with Allah's Messenger he said, "O Allah's Messenger! We get female captives as our share of booty, and we are interested in their prices, what is your opinion about coitus interrupt us?" The Prophet said, "Do you really do that? It is better for you not to do it. No soul that which Allah has destined to exist, but will surely come into existence.
Sahih al-Bukhari, 3894
Narrated Aisha: The Prophet engaged me when I was a girl of six (years). We went to Medina and stayed at the home of Bani-al-Harith bin Khazraj. Then I got ill and my hair fell down. Later on my hair grew (again) and my mother, Um Ruman, came to me while I was playing in a swing with some of my girl friends. She called me, and I went to her, not knowing what she wanted to do to me. She caught me by the hand and made me stand at the door of the house. I was breathless then, and when my breathing became Allright, she took some water and rubbed my face and head with it. Then she took me into the house. There in the house I saw some Ansari women who said, "Best wishes and Allah's Blessing and a good luck." Then she entrusted me to them and they prepared me (for the marriage). Unexpectedly Allah's Apostle came to me in the forenoon and my mother handed me over to him, and at that time I was a girl of nine years of age.
Sahih al-Bukhari, 3895
Narrated `Aisha: That the Prophet said to her, "You have been shown to me twice in my dream. I saw you pictured on a piece of silk and some-one said (to me). 'This is your wife.' When I uncovered the picture, I saw that it was yours. I said, 'If this is from Allah, it will be done."
Sahih al-Bukhari, 3896
Narrated Hisham's father: Khadija died three years before the Prophet departed to Medina. He stayed there for two years or so and then he married `Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine years old.
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Sahih al-Bukhari, 4138
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Narrated Ibn Muhairiz: I entered the Mosque and saw Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri and sat beside him and asked him about Al-Azl (i.e. coitus interruptus). Abu Sa`id said, "We went out with Allah's Messenger for the Ghazwa of Banu Al-Mustaliq and we received captives from among the Arab captives and we desired women and celibacy became hard on us and we loved to do coitus interruptus. So when we intended to do coitus interrupt us, we said, 'How can we do coitus interruptus before asking Allah's Messenger who is present among us?" We asked (him) about it and he said, 'It is better for you not to do so, for if any soul (till the Day of Resurrection) is predestined to exist, it will exist."
Sahih al-Bukhari, 5081
Narrated 'Urwa: The Prophet asked Abu Bakr for `Aisha's hand in marriage. Abu Bakr said "But I am your brother." The Prophet said, "You are my brother in Allah's religion and His Book, but she (Aisha) is lawful for me to marry."
Sahih al-Bukhari, 5125
Narrated `Aisha: Allah's Messenger said (to me), "You were shown to me in a dream. An angel brought you to me, wrapped in a piece of silken cloth, and said to me, 'This is your wife.' I removed the piece of cloth from your face, and there you were. I said to myself. 'If it is from Allah, then it will surely be.' "
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Sahih al-Bukhari, 5133
Narrated `Aisha: that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death).
Sahih al-Bukhari, 5134
Narrated `Aisha: that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old. Hisham said: I have been informed that `Aisha remained with the Prophet for nine years (i.e. till his death).
Sahih al-Bukhari, 5158
Narrated 'Urwa: The Prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with `Aisha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e. till his death).
Sahih al-Bukhari, 5215
Narrated Anas bin Malik: The Prophet used to pass by (have sexual relation with) all his wives in one night, and at that time he had nine wives.
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Sahih al-Bukhari, 6130
Narrated `Aisha: I used to play with the dolls in the presence of the Prophet, and my girl friends also used to play with me. When Allah's Messenger used to enter (my dwelling place) they used to hide themselves, but the Prophet would call them to join and play with me. (The playing with the dolls and similar images is forbidden, but it was allowed for `Aisha at that time, as she was a little girl, not yet reached the age of puberty.) (Fath-ul-Bari page 143, Vol.13)
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Sahih al-Bukhari, 6603
Narrated Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri: That while he was sitting with the Prophet a man from the Ansar came and said, "O Allah's Messenger! We get slave girls from the war captives and we love property; what do you think about coitus interruptus?" Allah's Messenger said, "Do you do that? It is better for you not to do it, for there is no soul which Allah has ordained to come into existence but will be created."
Sahih Muslim, 1422c
'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Allah's Apostle married her when she was seven years old, and he was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, and her dolls were with her; and when he (the Holy Prophet) died she was eighteen years old.
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Sahih Muslim, 1438a
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Abu Sirma said to Abu Sa'id al Khadri (Allah he pleased with him): O Abu Sa'id, did you hear Allah's Messenger mentioning al-'azl? He said: Yes, and added: We went out with Allah's Messenger on the expedition to the Bi'l-Mustaliq and took captive some excellent Arab women; and we desired them, for we were suffering from the absence of our wives, (but at the same time) we also desired ransom for them. So we decided to have sexual intercourse with them but by observing 'azl (Withdrawing the male sexual organ before emission of semen to avoid-conception). But we said: We are doing an act whereas Allah's Messenger is amongst us; why not ask him? So we asked Allah's Messenger, and he said: It does not matter if you do not do it, for every soul that is to be born up to the Day of Resurrection will be born.
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Sahih Muslim, 1438c
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) reported: We took women captives, and we wanted to do 'azl with them. We then asked Allah's Messenger about it, and he said to us: Verily you do it, verily you do it, verily you do it, but the soul which has to be born until the Day of judgment must be born.
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Sahih Muslim, 1439a
Jabir (Allah be pleased with him) reported that a man came to Allah's Messenger and said: I have a slave-girl who is our servant and she carries water for us and I have intercourse with her, but I do not want her to conceive. He said: Practise 'azl, if you so like, but what is decreed for her will come to her. The person stayed back (for some time) and then came and said: The girl has become pregnant, whereupon he said: I told you what was decreed for her would come to her.
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Sunan Abi Dawud, 2121 (Graded: Sahih)
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Narrated 'Aishah: The Messenger of Allah married me when I was seven years old. The narrator Sulaiman said: or Six years. He had intercourse with me when I was nine years old.
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Sunan an-Nasa'i, 3378 (Graded: Sahih)
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It was narrated that 'Aishah said: "The Messenger of Allah married me when I was six, and consummated the marriage with me when I was nine, and I used to play with dolls."
Sunan an-Nasa'i, 3959 (Graded: Sahih)
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It was narrated from Anas, that the Messenger of Allah had a female slave with whom he had intercourse, but 'Aishah and Hafsah would not leave him alone until he said that she was forbidden for him. Then Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, revealed: "O Prophet! Why do you forbid (for yourself) that which Allah has allowed to you.' until the end of the Verse.
Al-Tabari (The History of Al-Tabari: The Victory of Islam, Vol. VIII, trans. Michael Fishbein [Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1997], 2-3.)
The Messenger of God came to the house of Zayd b. Harithah (Zyad was always called Zyad b. Muhammad.) Perhaps the Messenger of God missed him at that moment, so as to ask, “Where is Zayd?” He came to his residence to look for him but did not find him. Zaynab bt. Jash, Zayd’s wife, rose to meet him. Because she was dressed only in a shift, the Messenger of God turned away from her. She said: “He is not here, Messenger of God. Come in, you who are as dear to me as my father and mother!” The Messenger of God refused to enter. Zaynab had dressed in haste when she was told “the Messenger of God is at the door.” She jumped up in haste and excited the admiration of the Messenger of God, so that he turned away murmuring something that could scarcely be understood. However, he did say overtly: “Glory be to God the Almighty! Glory be to God, who causes the hearts to turn!”
When Zyad came home, his wife told him that the Messenger of God had come to his house. Zyad said, “Why didn’t you ask him to come in?” She replied, “I asked, but he refused.” “Did you hear him say anything?” he asked. She replied, “As he turned away, I heard him say: “Glory be to God the Almighty! Glory be to God, who causes hearts to turn!”
So Zyad left, and having come to the Messenger of God, he said: “Messenger of God, I have heard that you came to my house. Why didn’t you go in, you who are as dear to me as my father and mother? Messenger of God, perhaps Zaynab has excited your admiration, and so I will separate myself from her.” Zyad could find no possible way to [approach] her after that day. He would come to the Messenger of God and tell him so, but the Messenger of God would say to him, “Keep your wife.” Zayd separated from her and left her, and she became free.
While the Messenger of God was talking with ‘A’ishah, a fainting overcame him. When he was released from it, he smiled and said, “Who will go to Zaynab and tell her the good news, saying that God has married her to me?” Then the Messenger of God recited: “And when you said unto him on whom God has conferred favour and you have conferred favour, ‘Keep your wife to yourself.” and the entire passage.
According to ‘A’ishah, who said: “I became very uneasy because of what we heard about her beauty and another thing, the greatest and loftiest of matters - what God has done for her by giving her in marriage. I said she would boast of it over us.”
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