Wives of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

The wives of the Prophet (r) in this life will be his wives in the next life and they are known respectfully as “the Mothers of the Believers”. They deserve honor and admiration befitting wives of the Seal of the Prophets (r). They are from his household, pure and purfied, good and made good, innocent and made innocent of all evil accusations that dishonor them. Allaah was pleased with all of them:

1. Khadeejah bint Khuwaylid was the mother of all of the Prophet’s children, except for Ibraaheem. She proposed marriage to the Prophet (r) after the death of her two previous husbands, ‘Ateeq ibn ‘Aabid and Aboo Haalah at-Tameemee. She was 15 years older than the Prophet (r) who was only 25 at the time of their marriage. The Prophet (r) did not marry anyone else until she died in the 10th year of his prophethood prior to his ascencion into the heavens (al-Mi‘raaj.)

2. ‘Aa’ishah bint Abee Bakr as-Siddeeq. She was shown to the Prophet (r) in a dream two or three times and he was told: “This is your woman.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari, vol. 7, p. 42, no. 57 and Sahih Muslim, vol. 4, pp. 1298-9, no. 5977.) He married her in Makkah when she was six years old and consummated the marriage in Madeenah when she had reached puberty at the age of nine. She was the only virgin whom he married. ‘Aa’ishah was the fourth most prolific narrator of hadeeths (2,210 narrations) among the Prophet’s Companions. The Prophet (r) died as he lay his head on her lap (Sahih Muslim, vol. 4, p. 1301, no. 5986) and she died in the year 58AH (676 CE) at the age of 65.

3. Sawdah bint Zum‘ah al-‘Aamiriyyah. He married her after her Muslim husband, as-Sakraan ibn ‘Amr, died. She died at the end of ‘Umar’s caliphate or in the year 54AH.

4. Hafsah bint ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab. He married her after her Muslim husband, al-Khunays ibn Huthaafah, was killed in the Battle of Uhud. She died in the year 41AH.

5. Zaynab bint Khuzaymah al-Hilaaliyyah, known as Umm al-Masaakeen. He married her after her husband, ‘Abdullaah ibn Jahsh, was martyred in the Battle of Uhud. She died in the year 4AH, after being married for only a short while.

6. Umm Salamah, Hind bint Abee Umayyah al-Makhzoomiyyah. He married her after the death of her husband, Aboo Salamah ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Abdil-Asad, from wounds inflicted during the Battle of Uhud. Umm Salamah was the first female migrant to al-Madeenah. She was among the top fifteen hadeeth narrators among the Companions (she had 378 narrations), and the second most prolific of the female narrators. Umm Salamah was the last of the Mothers of the Believers to die. She died in 61AH (679 CE) during the reign of Yazeed ibn Mu‘aawiyah.

7. Zaynab bint Jahsh al-Asadiyyah, a cousin of the Prophet (r). He married her after her divorce from his former adopted son and freed slave, Zayd ibn al-Haarithah, in 5AH, and she died in 20AH.

8. Juwayriyyah bint al-Haarith al-Khuzaa‘iyyah. He married her after her husband, Musaafi‘ ibn Safwaan or Maalik ibn Safwaan in 6AH and died in 56AH.

9. Umm Habeebah, Ramlah bint Abee Sufyaan. He married her after her husband, ‘Ubaydullaah ibn Jahsh, accepted Islaam then converted to Christianity. She died in Madeenah in the year 44AH during the caliphate of her brother, Mu‘aawiyah.

10. Safiyyah bint Huyay ibn Akhtab from the Nadeer Clan. The Prophet (r) freed her and made her freedom her mahr, after two husbands, Sallaam ibn Mashkam and Kinaanah ibn al-Haqeeq, after the conquest of Khaybar in the year 6AH. She died in the year 50AH.

11. Maymoonah bint al-Haarith al-Hilaaliyyah. He married her in 7AH during the Make-up ‘Umrah, after two husbands, Ibn ‘Abd Yaaleel and Aboo Haram ibn ‘Abdil-‘Uzzaa. She died in the year 51AH.

These are the wives who were separated from him by his death. Two of them died before him; Khadeejah and Zaynab bint Khuzaymah, and the remaining nine were separated from him by his death. There remain two wives whom he married and divorced without consummating their marriages. Consequently, the rules and merits of the others do not apply to them.

12. Asmaa bint an-Nu‘maan al-Kindiyyah. He divorced her because of a patch of white skin on her back about which he was not informed, according to Ibn Is’haaq. She was later married to al-Muhaajir ibn Abee Umayyah.

13. Umayyah bint an-Nu‘maan ibn Sharaaheel al-Juwayniyyah. He divorced her because she was tricked into saying “I seek refuge in Allaah from you,” by the other wives. (Sharh Lum‘atul-I‘tiqaad, pp. 152-4.)

Source: Taken from Bilal Phillips’s footnotes on the “Radiance of Faith” book by Ibn Qudaama al-Maqdisee P. 125-126.