Muhammads Marriages of Political Necessity: Difference between revisions

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Some have suggested that "Prophet Muhammad married most of his wives for political reasons" and that "He only married so many women at one time out of political necessity."
Some have suggested that "Prophet Muhammad married most of his wives for political reasons" and that "He only married so many women at one time out of political necessity."


This reasoning does not convince many critics. No matter how urgent the needs of state, they argue, nothing justifies having more than one wife at a time. If [[Muhammad]] could not see any way around his political problems except [[polygamy]], that simply proves he was not a "prophet".
This reasoning does not convince many critics. No matter how urgent the needs of state, they argue, nothing justifies having more than one wife at a time. If [[Muhammad]] could not see any way around his political problems except [[Polygamy in Islamic Law|polygamy]], that simply proves he was not a "prophet".


You might take the line that polygamy was normal in seventh-century Arabia, and Muhammad was not doing anything wrong by the standards of his own culture. That may convince some of them that he was a decent person by the standards of his day. In that case, however, it would contradict [[Uswa Hasana|Islamic theology]], and there's still the question as to why Muhammad limited other Muslims to four wives each, yet at one point in his own life, he had [[Muhammad's Wives|eleven wives]] plus the intention of adding more. When Ghaylan ibn Salama became a Muslim, he had to divorce six of his ten wives – even though this was in early 630, when Muhammad himself had exactly ten wives.  
You might take the line that polygamy was normal in seventh-century Arabia, and Muhammad was not doing anything wrong by the standards of his own culture. That may convince some of them that he was a decent person by the standards of his day. In that case, however, it would contradict [[Uswa Hasana|Islamic theology]], and there's still the question as to why Muhammad limited other Muslims to four wives each, yet at one point in his own life, he had [[Muhammad's Wives|eleven wives]] plus the intention of adding more. When Ghaylan ibn Salama became a Muslim, he had to divorce six of his ten wives – even though this was in early 630, when Muhammad himself had exactly ten wives.  
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