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Ages of Muhammads Wives at Marriage: Difference between revisions
Ages of Muhammads Wives at Marriage (view source)
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{{Quote|Bewley/Saad 8:43.|Sawdah bint Zamaa died in Medina in Shawwal of 54, during the caliphate of Muawiya.}} | {{Quote|Bewley/Saad 8:43.|Sawdah bint Zamaa died in Medina in Shawwal of 54, during the caliphate of Muawiya.}} | ||
This date is between 11 September and 9 October 674 – more than 54 years after the day when Sawdah married Muhammad. If she had lived to be 134, or even 114, someone would have commented | This date is between 11 September and 9 October 674 – more than 54 years after the day when Sawdah married Muhammad. If she had lived to be 134, or even 114, someone would have commented. But if she was only about 40 on her wedding day, she must have survived to her mid-90s, which is impressive but plausible. | ||
====Sawdah had Not Reached Menopause==== | ====Sawdah had Not Reached Menopause==== | ||
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{{Quote|Ibn Kathir, ''Tafsir'' on Q4:128.|Ibn Abbas said that the ''ayah'' refers to, “When the husband gives his wife the choice between staying with him or leaving him, as this is better than the husband preferring other wives to her.” However, the apparent wording of the ''ayah'' refers to the settlement where the wife forfeits some of the rights she has over her husband, with the husband agreeing to this concession, and that this settlement is better than divorce. For instance, the Prophet kept Sawdah bint Zam’ah as his wife after she offered to forfeit her day for A’ishah.}} | {{Quote|Ibn Kathir, ''Tafsir'' on Q4:128.|Ibn Abbas said that the ''ayah'' refers to, “When the husband gives his wife the choice between staying with him or leaving him, as this is better than the husband preferring other wives to her.” However, the apparent wording of the ''ayah'' refers to the settlement where the wife forfeits some of the rights she has over her husband, with the husband agreeing to this concession, and that this settlement is better than divorce. For instance, the Prophet kept Sawdah bint Zam’ah as his wife after she offered to forfeit her day for A’ishah.}} | ||
The fourth '' | The fourth ''[[surah]]'' of the [[Qur'an]] is long and was probably not written all at once. But it all belongs to the same general period. It covers many family issues, including inheritance rights. {{Quran-range|4|7|11}} was written to answer the complaint of an Uhud widow,<ref>{{Abudawud|18|2885}}; [http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=711&Itemid=59/ Ibn Kathir, ''Tafsir'' on Q4:7]; [http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=707&Itemid=59/ Ibn Kathir, ''Tafsir'' on Q4:11].</ref> so it must date from after 22 March 625. This same incident confirmed the limitation of the number of wives to four,<ref>{{Quran|4|3}}.</ref> so it must have been written before Muhammad was given permission to take a fifth concurrent wife<ref>{{Quran|33|50}}.</ref> on 27 March 627.<ref>{{Tabari|8|pp. 1-4}}; {{Tabari|39|p. 182}}; Bewley/Saad 8:72-73, 81.</ref> The ''surah'' is also full of invectives against the Jews<ref>{{Quran-range|4|46|59}}; {{Quran-range|4|150|175}}.</ref> and “hypocrites,”<ref>{{Quran-range|4|60|68}}; {{Quran-range|4|136|149}}.</ref> who were no longer a problem after April 627.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 466.</ref> So the episode in which Sawdah “became old” and pleaded with Muhammad to not divorce her occurred between mid-625 and early 627. | ||
In fact, we strongly suspect that the date was towards the end of this period. Muhammad most likely considered divorcing Sawdah in December 626 or January 627 expressly because he wanted to marry a fifth woman but was trying to observe the limit of four wives.<ref>{{Quran|4|3}}.</ref> If Muhammad had not been contemplating marriage to a fifth woman, there would have been no point in divorcing Sawdah, for she was no trouble to him at home.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:40.</ref> It was only after he had decided to keep Sawdah | In fact, we strongly suspect that the date was towards the end of this period. Muhammad most likely considered divorcing Sawdah in December 626 or January 627 expressly because he wanted to marry a fifth woman but was trying to observe the limit of four wives.<ref>{{Quran|4|3}}.</ref> If Muhammad had not been contemplating marriage to a fifth woman, there would have been no point in divorcing Sawdah, for she was no trouble to him at home.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:40.</ref> It was only after he had decided to keep Sawdah that he needed the special dispensation to marry unlimited wives. However, the sources do not explicitly state this circumstance as the reason for the near-divorce. They only say that Sawdah “became old” and so Muhammad wanted to divorce her. | ||
If Sawdah was menopausal in 626, or perhaps 625, this suggests she was then aged about 45, making her around 40 when she married Muhammad. | If Sawdah was menopausal in 626, or perhaps 625, this suggests she was then aged about 45, making her around 40 when she married Muhammad. | ||
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When Muhammad married Sawdah in May 620, he was 49. It is possible that Sawdah was also about that age<ref>[http://www.themodernreligion.com/prophet/prophet_aisha.htm/ Ahmed, S. “Prophet Muhammad and Aisha Siddiqa.”]</ref> and that she lived to be over 100. But it is unlikely. Allowing that she was not yet menopausal and that she had a father living, she was probably closer to 40. | When Muhammad married Sawdah in May 620, he was 49. It is possible that Sawdah was also about that age<ref>[http://www.themodernreligion.com/prophet/prophet_aisha.htm/ Ahmed, S. “Prophet Muhammad and Aisha Siddiqa.”]</ref> and that she lived to be over 100. But it is unlikely. Allowing that she was not yet menopausal and that she had a father living, she was probably closer to 40. | ||
*''Sawdah’s Probable Age = about 40 years.'' | |||
*''Muhammad’s Age = 49 years and 1 month.'' | |||
*''Age Difference = 9 years, plus or minus a few.'' | |||
The age difference between Muhammad and Sawdah was not inappropriate for a middle-aged couple; but she was almost certainly the younger spouse. And we will state here that Sawdah was the oldest bride whom Muhammad ever married. | The age difference between Muhammad and Sawdah was not inappropriate for a middle-aged couple; but she was almost certainly the younger spouse. And we will state here that Sawdah was the oldest bride whom Muhammad ever married. | ||