The wisdom behind the Prophet’s marrying more than four wives

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Allah’s wisdom is great, and part of His wisdom is that He
has permitted men, in previous divine laws and in the sharee‘ah of our
Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), to marry more
than one wife. Plural marriage was not something done only by our Prophet
Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). Ya‘qoob (peace be
upon him) had two wives. Sulaymaan ibn Dawood (peace be upon him) had one
hundred less one wives; he went around to all of them in a single night,
hoping that Allah would bless each one of them with a boy who would fight
for the sake of Allah.

This is not something that is limited to Islam and it is not
contrary to reason or the natural inclinations of man; rather it is what
wisdom dictates. Women are more numerous than men, according to what is
indicated by ongoing statistics, and a man may have the strength that
prompts him to marry more than one woman so as to fulfil his desires in
permissible ways, instead of fulfilling them in haraam ways or suppressing
them. A woman may fall ill or there may be reasons that prevent her from
engaging in intercourse, such as menses and nifaas (post-partum bleeding);
this prevents a man from fulfilling his desire with her, so he needs to have
another wife with whom he can fulfil his desires instead of suppressing them
or committing immoral actions. So plural marriage is permissible and is
justifiable in terms of reason, natural human inclinations and laws. It is
something that was done by the earlier Prophets and in some cases it may be
dictated by necessity or need. So it should come as no surprise that this
was done by our Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).
And there are other reasons for his having several wives, which have been
discussed by the scholars. These include the following:

·Strengthening the ties between
him and some tribes, in the hope that this would make Islam stronger and
help to spread it, because ties of marriage increase the bonds of
friendship, love and brotherhood.

·Taking care of some widows and
compensating them with something better than what they had lost, because
this would bring peace of mind and consolation at times of calamity. It also
set a precedent for the ummah of how to show kindness to those whose
husbands were killed in jihad and so on.

·Hoping to increase the numbers
of offspring, which is in accordance with human inclinations, increasing the
numbers of the ummah and supporting it with those who it is hoped will
support and spread the religion.

·Increasing the number of female
teachers who would convey to the ummah what they had learned from the
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and what they
knew of his private life.

The motive for him having more than one wife was not mere
desire, because it is proven that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) did not marry any virgin or young woman apart from ‘Aa’ishah
(may Allah be pleased with her). The rest of his wives were previously
married women. If he had been controlled by his desires and that is what had
motivated him to have many wives, he would have chosen young virgins in
order to fulfil his desires, especially after he migrated and began to
engage in jihad, and the Islamic state was established and the Muslims grew
stronger and more numerous, in addition to the fact that every family would
have welcomed ties through marriage with him. But he did not do that; rather
he married for noble and sublime reasons, which are clear to anyone who
studies the circumstances of his marriage to each of his wives.

Moreover, if he had been a man driven by desires, that would
have been known from his life during the days when he was young and strong,
at which time he had only one wife, Khadeejah bint Khuwaylid, who was older
than him. (If he had been a man driven by desires), he would also have been
known to show favouritism and be unfair in dividing his time among his
wives, who varied in their ages and degree of beauty. But he is known only
to have been completely chaste and honourable in his conduct, both in his
youth and when he grew older, which is indicative of his complete decency
and sublime character, and his upright nature in all his affairs. In fact he
was well-known for that even among his enemies.

And Allah is the source of strength. May Allah send blessings
and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions. End
quote.

Standing Committee for Academic Research and Issuing Fatwas

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd ar-Razzaaq
‘Afeefi, Shaykh ‘Abdullah ibn Qa‘ood, Shaykh ‘Abdullah ibn Ghadyaan