- The First", Makkah Household Before Migration
- The Prophetic Household is summarized in two stages: "The First", Makkah Household Before Migration
And it consisted of him—upon him be prayer and peace—and his wife Khadija bint Khuwaylid, of the Asad clan of the Quraysh lineage. He married her while she was previously married after the death of two men. She was forty years old, and he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was twenty-five years old, and he did not marry any other woman during her lifetime. All of his children, both sons and daughters, were from her. As for the sons, none of them were destined to survive in this life, and they passed away in their infancy in Makkah al-Mukarramah. They were Al-Qasim—whom he was known by (kunyah)—and Abdullah, who was nicknamed Al-Tayyib and Al-Tahir. As for his son Ibrahim, he was from the house of Medina, and his mother was not a free woman; she was Maria al-Qibtiyya, who came to him—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—as a gift from Al-Muqawqis, the King of Egypt, and he had no concubines other than her. The rest of the discussion about her will come in the context of the house of Madinah Al-Munawwarah. He had four daughters with his wife Khadija: (1) Zainab, (2) Ruqayya, (3) Umm Kulthum, and the fourth is "Fatima al-Zahra," the human Houri, who was his youngest daughter and was created six months before the revelation. As for Zainab, she was married before the migration by her maternal cousin, Abu al-Aas bin al-Rabi' bin Abd al-Uzza bin Abd Shams, who was upon the religion of his people. She stayed with him until after the migration and did not migrate with her father. When the Battle of Badr took place, her husband was captured among the prisoners of the polytheists and was among those released for a ransom. Because of that, Zainab sent for his ransom a necklace that had been given to her by her mother Khadija when she was adorned for her wedding to the house of her husband Abu al-Aas, along with some money. When the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—saw it, he recognized it and knew it belonged to her, so he remembered Khadija's covenant because of it and was deeply moved, feeling immense tenderness for her. He said to his companions: "This necklace belongs to my daughter Zainab, the wife of Abu al-Aas. If you see fit to release her captive for her and return her heirloom to her, then do so." They all agreed to that, and the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—took a covenant from him that he would let her migrate to Medina. When Abu al-Aas returned to Makkah, he gave her permission, and she migrated to Medina. Just before the Conquest, Abu al-Aas went out to Sham on a trading journey; he was a trustworthy man, and he had with him his own wealth and wealth belonging to some of the Quraysh that they had entrusted to him. When he finished his trade, he returned to Makkah after a long affair, returned the wealth to its owners, and then came to Medina as a Muslim. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—returned his wife Zainab to him, and historians state that he did not renew the marriage contract with her in Medina, but sufficed with the contract that had been established between them in Makkah. As for Ruqayya and Umm Kulthum, Uthman ibn Affan—may Allah be pleased with him—married them one after the other. He first married Ruqayya in Makkah before the migration, so she migrated with him to Abyssinia, then she migrated to Medina with him as well, and she passed away in the second year of the migration.
After they finished burying the martyrs of Badr, the Prophet—upon him be peace and prayer—married her sister Umm Kulthum to him in the third year of the migration, which is why he—may Allah be pleased with him—was nicknamed Dhu an-Nurayn, and she also passed away in the ninth year of the migration. As for his daughter—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—Fatima al-Zahra—may Allah be pleased with her—she was the portion of her cousin, the Commander of the Faithful Ali ibn Abi Talib—may Allah be pleased with him—the chosen one of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—by Allah's permission, as will come in the description of her wedding and marriage to him—may Allah be pleased with them both.
From her was the lineage of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—from the progeny of the two Hasans. She also had two daughters with him, Zainab al-Kubra and Umm Kulthum al-Kubra, and she was the youngest of his children—may Allah be pleased with her. The discussion regarding Ali's other children from women other than her will come in the discussion of the house of Ali—may Allah ennoble his face. All of his daughters—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—passed away during his lifetime except Fatima, who lived a short while after him, making her the first of his family to join him, as he informed her during his fatal illness.
As for Khadija—may Allah be pleased with her, the mother of these children—she passed away after the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—exited the boycott of the Shib of Quraysh, which was estimated to have lasted about three years, and is considered the greatest hardship he faced—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—in his life among his people and clan in Makkah, and that was three years before the migration. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—frequently mentioned her and prayed for mercy upon her after her death. She had lived with the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—for about (25) years, and she was about (65) years old at the time of her death. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—grieved deeply for her because of her compassion toward him, her gentleness with him, and her standing between him and the disbelievers of his people who opposed him, owing to the high status and prestige she held among the Banu Asad—may Allah be pleased with her.
Then the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—began marrying after her. He—upon him be prayer and peace—contracted marriage with Sawda bint Zam'a al-Amiriyyah al-Qurashiyyah in the month in which Khadija died, after her cousin Al-Sikran ibn Amr (who had believed in Allah and His Messenger, opposed her people, relatives, and paternal cousins, and migrated with her to Abyssinia the second time out of fear of persecution) passed away. Upon her return from there, he—may Allah be pleased with him—passed away, leaving her with no one better than the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—after the death of her husband. If she had been left to her people in their harshness, severity, and alienation in their hostility to Islam, they would have tested her regarding her religion, and her nobility among her people and her lineage in Banu Amir prevented her from marrying a man of lesser lineage and nobility. He consummated the marriage with her in Makkah al-Mukarramah.
Then, a month after that, he contracted marriage with Aisha, the daughter of his sincere friend Abu Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—while she was no more than seven years old. He—upon him be peace—did not marry any virgin besides her. He consummated the marriage with her after three years had passed following the migration, in Madinah Al-Munawwarah.
The Second Phase: The House of Medina
The second phase of the house of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—in Medina began after the migration, after this house became wider and grander than his house in Makkah. This is because the first house was the house of jihad and struggle with the neighboring enemy who never rested until he encountered ultimate victory against this new adversary with whom there was no way of reaching an understanding except by entering into the religion of Allah and abandoning the idol worship practiced by fathers and ancestors. This was something the prominent leaders of the people of Makkah would not accept until they triumphed over him or died for his sake. Almighty Allah replaced the master of existence’s house in Makkah among his enemies from his people and clan with a house in Madinah Al-Munawwarah among his supporters, loved ones, and followers of his religion. Thus, the first house was the house of harm and retribution, and the second house was the house of life and blessings. In it, Allah revealed to His Prophet and Messenger, completing His grace upon him in this second house: "O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from those Allah has returned to you and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who emigrated with you and a believing woman if she gives herself to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to marry her, exclusively for you, excluding the believers." And Allah made lawful for the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—in this verse the enjoyment of four categories of women:
(1) Any Muslim wife whom the Prophet desired and to whom he gave her dowry, she is lawful for him regardless of what her previous lineage was, which is His saying: "your wives to whom you have given their due compensation."
(2) Captives obtained in war: Allah gave him the choice regarding marrying them either through ownership or through freedom and dowry, which is His saying: "and those your right hand possesses from those Allah has returned to you." He—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—had two wives of this type, whom he married through emancipation and dowry:
- (a) Safiyyah the Israelite, the daughter of Huyayy ibn Akhtab, the leader of Banu al-Nadir. She came to him from what Allah granted him as spoils from Banu al-Nadir; he offered her emancipation as her dowry and married her, and she later islamized, and was honored by being one of the Mothers of the Believers—may Allah be pleased with her.
- (b) Barirah (Juwayriyah) daughter of Al-Harith, the leader of Banu al-Mustaliq. She came to him from the spoils of Banu al-Mustaliq along with two hundred women. He—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—emancipated her and married her in the Abode of War, and named her "Barirah." Since Banu al-Mustaliq were the most honorable of the Arabs in their domain, capturing their women in this manner was difficult. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—made this marriage a justification for them so that all the female captives who were in the hands of his companions from the spoils would be freed. When the companions learned of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—(marrying) Barirah, they said, "The relatives by marriage of the Messenger of Allah! Can they be taken captive and remain under our hands?" So they granted them freedom. Thus, Juwayriyah was the most blessed woman for her people, and because of this act of grace, all of Banu al-Mustaliq embraced Islam in their entirety, and that was in the 5th year of the migration.
(3) The daughters of his paternal uncles, paternal aunts, maternal uncles, and maternal aunts who migrated with him. Umm Hani', the daughter of his paternal uncle Abu Talib, was among those he proposed to in Makkah but she did not migrate with him. It is narrated from her that she said: "The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—proposed to me, but when I excused myself—meaning regarding the migration—Allah revealed this verse: 'And the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts who emigrated with you,' so she was no longer lawful for me thereafter because I did not migrate with him."
(4) The category of women who gift themselves to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—if a woman gifts herself to the Prophet: meaning he marries her without any compensation; he may accept the gift and marry her, or he may decline and not marry her, because a gift requires acceptance by condition. Scholars differed regarding this category of wives: Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with them both—said it was a ruling for the future, and none of them gifted themselves to him.
Others said regarding the woman who gifts herself that they differed: some said she was Maymunah bint al-Harith, some said Zainab bint Khuzayma, some said Umm Sharik bint Jabir, and some said Khawla bint Hakim. After the revelation of this verse, the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—began completing the quota, in addition to those who migrated with him from Makkah, and they were two:
(1) "Sawda," who is Sawda bint Zam'a ibn al-Aswad from Banu Amir ibn Lu'ay, a Qurashiyyah. She was previously under Al-Sikran ibn Amr, as previously mentioned regarding her proposal in Makkah.
(2) "Aisha," the Siddiqiyyah, the daughter of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq—may Allah be pleased with him and her father. They were both female emigrants, and their fame is sufficient to do away with introducing them among the sons of the Muslims. She was the virgin bride with whom the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—consummated his marriage in Medina in the second year of the migration, when she was nine years old. He—upon him be peace—did not marry any virgin besides her. She held a magnificent status among the Mothers of the Believers in virtue, knowledge, and religion. Her house was distinguished by honors among all the houses of his wives—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and it was honored by the frequent descent of revelation upon the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and it was honored by the revelation of her innocence in the famous, terrifying incident of Al-Ifk, so her innocence became recited as Quran until the Day of Judgment.
She was also the cause of the revelation of other verses from Surah Al-Tahrim, which will be discussed in their proper place. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—used to choose her to accompany him on military expeditions, so he took her out on the expedition of Banu al-Mustaliq. When they were on their return to Medina, they stopped to rest, and she slipped away from the caravan to attend to some of her personal needs. A necklace belonging to her sister Asma dropped from her neck, so she stayed behind looking for it. After she found it, she returned, but found that the caravan had already departed. It was the final part of the night, so she caught up with the army behind the rearguard who stayed behind for security. Because of her lightness, she was hidden from people as to whether she was inside her camel-litter from the caravan or not. When the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—ordered the resumption of travel, people thought she was inside her camel-litter in the caravan. This incident occurred after the revelation of the veil, so they did not verify it until what happened happened. She was a memorizer of the Quran, a narrator of the Sunnah, a knowledgeable jurist; the juristic scholars among the Hadith masters used to refer back to her regarding everything that was hidden from other companions, especially in marital, domestic matters, and women's rulings. Alongside that, she engaged in political affairs, to the extent that she led the war on the Day of the Camel against Imam Ali—may Allah be pleased with him—and that will be discussed in its proper place. She enjoyed the most love from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—among all his wives, to the extent that he favored her over them in the division of nights. Sawda gave her night to her, and Aisha—may Allah be pleased with her—said: "I have been given nine things that no other woman was given:
(1) Gabriel descended with my image in his palm when the Prophet—upon him be peace—was commanded to marry me.
(2) He married me as a virgin, and he did not marry any other virgin besides me.
(3) The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—passed away while his head was in my lap.
(4) He was buried in my house.
(5) Revelation descended upon him while I was under his blanket.
(6) I am the daughter of his sincere friend and caliph.
(7) My excuse, meaning my innocence, descended from the heavens.
(8) I was created pure with a pure man.
(9) I was promised forgiveness and noble provision." And our master Hassan ibn Thabit—may Allah be pleased with him—said regarding her:
"Chaste, sober, never accused of any suspicion, waking up hungry from the flesh of the heedless,
The spouse of the best of people in worldly status and lineage, the Prophet of guidance and overflowing virtues,
The elite of a clan from Lu'ay ibn Ghalib, whose noble endeavors and glory are non-fading,
Refined, whose character Allah made good and purified her from every blemish and falsehood."
In short, her virtues are numerous, taken up by the pens of researchers studying her individually, and I have mentioned this much as a blessing regarding her status—may Allah be pleased with her.
In Sahih al-Bukhari, Hisham narrated from his father, saying: People used to seek to give their gifts on Aisha's day. Aisha said: So my co-wives gathered around Umm Salamah and said: "O Umm Salamah, by Allah, people seek to give their gifts on Aisha's day, and we want goodness just as she wants it. So command the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—to instruct the people to give gifts to him wherever he is or wherever he turns." She said: So I mentioned that to Umm Salamah, who mentioned it to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and he turned away from her. When he returned to her, she mentioned it to him again, and he turned away. When it was the third time, she mentioned it to him, and he said: "O Umm Salamah, do not harm me regarding Aisha, for by Allah, revelation has never descended upon me while I was under the blanket of any woman among you except her." She passed away—may Allah be pleased with her—in the year (57) AH.
(3) "Hafsa," who is Hafsa, the daughter of the Commander of the Faithful, our master Umar ibn al-Khattab—may Allah be pleased with them both. She was previously married to Khunays ibn Hudhafah al-Sahmi, who then passed away as a result of a wound he sustained at Badr. Then the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—married her in the year (2) of the migration.
(4) "Umm Salamah," who is Umm Salamah, named Hind, the daughter of Abu Umayyah ibn al-Mughirah from Banu Makhzum. She was previously married to Abdullah ibn Jahsh, then the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—married her after her husband Abu Salamah—may Allah be pleased with him, the son of the paternal aunt of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his milk-brother—passed away. He was the first to migrate to Abyssinia, in the fourth year of the migration.
(5) "Zainab bint Jahsh," who is Zainab bint Jahsh ibn Hudhafah al-Sahmi from Banu Asad, allies of Banu Umayyah, the daughter of his paternal aunt—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and the divorcee of Zayd ibn Harithah. She is the one of the terrifying story mentioned by Allah in Surah Al-Ahzab. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—married her in the year (5) of the migration, in which the veil was revealed. Added to these five Qurayshi wives is the first Meccan wife, the lady "Khadija" bint Khuwaylid al-Asadiyyah.
(6) "Umm Habibah," who is Umm Habibah, named Ramlah bint Abi Sufyan ibn Harb ibn Abd Shams ibn Abd Manaf, the sister of Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan; she is an Umayyad Qurashiyyah.
(7) "Juwayriyah," who is Juwayriyah bint al-Harith, the leader of Banu al-Mustaliq. She is a Khuza'iyyah. After the division of captives, she fell to the share of Thabit ibn Qais ibn Shamas al-Ansari, so she wrote a manumission contract and came asking the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—introducing herself to him. He said to her: "Would you like something better than that? I will pay off your manumission contract and marry you." She said, "Yes." People heard about that and freed what was in their hands, so Aisha—may Allah be pleased with her—said: "I have never seen a woman more blessed for her people than Juwayriyah; because of her, a hundred households of Banu al-Mustaliq were freed." The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—divided for her. She passed away in the year 50 AH.
(8) "Safiyyah," who is Safiyyah the Israelite, the daughter of Huyayy ibn Akhtab, the leader of Banu al-Nadir, from the lineage of Aaron the brother of Moses—peace be upon them both. She was previously under Kinanah ibn Abi al-Haqiq. She came to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—from the spoils of Khaybar in the beginning of Muharram in the seventh year after the migration. She had fallen into the share of Dihyah al-Kalbi, so some of the companions disputed regarding that. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—took her and compensated him with others when it was said to him: "You gave him the mistress of Banu Qurayzah and al-Nadir, and she is not suitable except for you," fearing discord for them. Then he gave her emancipation as her dowry and married her, and she became a Muslim. It is narrated that he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said to her: "What do you say to me?" She said, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah, I used to wish for that during Shirk." There was a green speck in her eye, so he asked her about it. She said she had been sleeping while her husband's head was in her lap, and she saw a moon fall into her lap. When he woke up, she told him, and he was their king, so he slapped her and said, "Do you wish for the king of Yathrib?" She lived as a mistress and was honored with the motherhood of the believers. She passed away in the year 50 and was buried in Al-Baqi'.
(9) "Zainab bint Khuzayma," who is Zainab bint Khuzayma ibn Amir ibn Sa'sa'ah, the An-sariyyah. In the Jahiliyyah, she was called Umm al-Masakin because of her accompanying them, her compassion toward them, and her benevolence to them. She was previously under Abdullah al-Harith ibn Abd al-Muttalib ibn Abd Manaf. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—married her in the year (3) of the migration, and she passed away in the fourth year of the migration.
(10) "Maymunah," who is Maymunah bint al-Harith al-Hilaliyyah. She was previously under his paternal uncle Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib, the martyr of Uhud, in the 2nd year of the migration, and she is the maternal aunt of Abdullah ibn Abbas. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—married her in Makkah al-Mukarramah during the Umrat al-Qada' after the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, because her umrah had been blocked by the polytheists under their conditions, so he returned to perform it the following year, and that was in the year (7) of the migration. It has already been mentioned that she was the one who gifted herself to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
These ten are the wives of the house of Medina, while Khadija (11) is from the house of Makkah al-Mukarramah, as previously mentioned.
As for Maria al-Qibtiyya, she is not among them because she was a concubine. As previously mentioned, she came to him in the gift of Al-Muqawqis and was one of the most beautiful Coptic girls, gifted to him in the year (6) of the migration. His son Ibrahim was born from her, born in Dhu al-Hijjah of the year (8). It was said he lived (70) days, it was said (10) months, and it was said one year, then he passed away. He did not perform the funeral prayer over him himself, but ordered them to pray over him. It was forbidden for him—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—to marry slave-women, even if the slave-woman was a Muslim, because marrying them is conditioned upon two things:
(1) Fear of hardship
(2) Lack of the dowry for a free woman.
The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was independent of both matters. Likewise, it was forbidden for him to marry a free woman from the People of the Book who remained upon her religion, as in the Hadith: "I asked my Lord not to marry me to anyone except someone who will be with me in Paradise, and He granted me that," because she is not fit to be one of the Mothers of the Believers. Even more so are the polytheist and the atheist women, for they are unlawful for him and his nation explicitly by the Book and the Sunnah, according to His saying: "And do not hold onto the ties of disbelieving women."
Some have gathered his wives—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—into two verses, restricting them to (11) free wives, symbolizing each one by the first letter of each word, saying:
"Khalili saba 'aqli hula zayni halatin
Zaha jafnuha ramzan sahihan muhadhdhaban"
To be continued
Original Author
Taher Ben Abdessalam El Lhioui Al-Wahhabi Al-Alami Al-Hassani
Foreword
Abdallah Guennoun
Digital Edition, Translation and Presentation
Jaafar El Lhioui
Northern Morocco Archive
See the previous chapter
https://northern-morocco-archive.blogspot.com/2026/09/the-noble-prophetic-household.html
Researcher, Editor, and Digital Activist
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