Prophet's More than Four Marriages
Question
In Islam it says that a man is allowed four wives. Then how come the Holy Prophet (pbuh) had eleven wives?
Response
A man may take up to four wives at one point in time. This is irrespective of how many marriages he has throughout his life. For instance, a man losing or divorcing four wives one after the other does not forbid him from not marrying a fifth wife. In fact, even a woman can have more than four marriages one after the other so long as she is in wedlock with one man at one point in time.
Many Muslim men were slain in the battle of Uhud. At that time, Quran endorsed Muslim society to have men take two, three or even four wives so widows and children of the slain could be supported and could have a normal family life. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), according to the same guidance, also entered into marriage with three widows so his total number of wives was four.
Then the Prophet (pbuh)’s adopted son Zaid decided to divorce his wife Zainab. Prophet (pbuh) pursuaded him not to do so because it was the Prophet (pbuh) who had arranged this marriage in the first place. Nonetheless, Zaid still chose to divorce his wife. God’s wisdom ordained that the relationship of Muslim men with adopted sons and their wives in Islam be clarified. Given the fact that he was the last prophet in Islam, and one of his responsibilities was to revive the law of God in its final form, he was ordered by God to marry Zainab. This injunction was to clarify the relationship of Muslim men with their adopted sons and their wives. This order has been clarified in the following verse:
These verses are immediately followed by this verse:
In other words, he was the last messenger and prophet of God and must have clarified any issue with regards to a law of God since there is no one coming as a prophet after him. And Quran also clarifies in this verse that in the eyes of God, Muhammad did not have any sons and an adoption would not be considered a relationship. This same issue is also addressed in Quran 33:4.
The Prophet (pbuh)'s first marriage was with a widow when he was 25. He continued his marriage with her till the age of 50 when she passed away. Even then, he took in marriage a woman who was 50 years old and continued to live with her for a few more years until he had to engage in more marriages because of his responsibilities, and to help his mission as a prophet and messenger of God. Most of his marriages were with women of old age, and most of them were either divorcees or widows. In addition, most of these marriages were also to help his cause. For instance, it is a known fact that his wife Aisha was one of the most instrumental in passing on the teachings left behind by him. Also to note is the fact that most of his marriages were with widows or divorcees. Similarly, some of his other marriages brought peace between various Arabian tribes too.