[Did the Wives of the Prophet ﷺ Believe in Him?]
Since Islamophobes often portray the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) as victims, I find that there are no greater witnesses to the truth of his claim than those that had the greatest reasons to hate him.
In this brief thread, I shall be sharing my thoughts on three of his wives, that are often portrayed as his victims:
– A’isha: He consummated the marriage with her at the age of nine.
– Juwayriya: A captive from Bani Al-Mustaliq.
– Safiyya: A captive from Bani Al-Nadheer.
The argument posed by Islamophobes in a nutshell is that since A’isha was a child at the time of the marriage, and child marriages are immoral, therefore, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was immoral, and his claim to being a prophet is void.
In regards to Juwayriyya and Safiyya, the argument is that Banu Al-Mustaliq and Banu Al-Nadheer were victims of the Muslims. These two women were taken as slaves, given to the Prophet (peace be upon him), who then married them. This is immoral, thus, he was a false prophet.
However, if we look at this historically, we’ll find matters that are quite peculiar that would shock the observer. First of all, these three women not only remained Muslims after his passing, but promoted the teachings of their husband (peace be upon him).
In the 9th year after Hijra, these three wives, and the others, were given a choice to stay with the Prophet (peace be upon him) or leave him. They were considered “mothers of the believers”. Thus, when he passes away it was impermissible to get married to anyone else after him.
All three chose to stay with him. They all remained single for the rest of their lives. They all continued to live until after the year 50 after the Hijra. They did not apostatize, run away, or get married during those decades.
Out of the three, A’isha was known to have been the most active in preaching his message. She had hundreds of students and narrated hundreds of hadiths. She will always be known as the most significant female hadith narrator and jurist in Islam.
Juwayriya’s and Safiyya’s hadiths can also be found scattered in books of hadith, narrating about matters pertaining to fasting, remembrance, alcohol, and other matters. There should be little reason to deny that the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) believed in him.
For those that like to point the finger at early Muslim historians for whitewashing history. Please keep in mind that the names of apostates and events surrounding them were documented. As I have said previously, Muslim historians documented evidences for and against Islam.
So why did these women condemn the Prophet (peace be upon him) after his death? Wasn’t his “immoral nature” clear to them? Perhaps that didn’t matter. Perhaps all his “questionable” actions are justified if he was indeed sent by God.
Perhaps they saw miracles that supported his claims. Perhaps they were more aware of his nature than 21st century skeptics that analyze history by cherry-picking material that suits their worldview.
Perhaps they believed.
[Indeed! Yes they surely believed in The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ]*.
والحمد لله رب العالمين
End.
*This last line was added by me (Abu Muaaz Mohammed Manna).
Date: 20th January 2019.
Saheehus-Seerah 