Part 95

The Prophet made them choose and they choose what was good for them: they chose Allah, His Messenger and the Home of the last Day.

It was also narrated that the Prophet's offer to his wives, i.e., to be divorced or to stay with him was after the Prophet had abandoned them for a month. Such separation was due to what Hafsa did: she disclosed the Prophet's secret to ‘Aisha. Afterwards, he was pleased

The Prophet, the Faithful Husband

In general faithfulness is an Islamic virtue. Allah the Almighty described His Holy Entity by faithfulness in many Qur'anic verses:

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@Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods, for theirs (in return) is the Garden (of paradise): They fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: A promise binding on Him in Truth, Through the Torah, the Gospel, and the Quran: And who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? Then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement supreme. - (At-Tawbah: 111)

Allah also described the believers with such a trait saying

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Allah, Exalted be He, also commanded His servants to take faithfulness as a shield, a fort and an adornment to their souls and manners by saying,

loyalty by being loyal to his wife, Khadija during her life and after her death. When Khadija died, the Prophet (pbuh) kept her memory all his life.

‘Aisha, the Mother of the Believers narrated,

"Once an old woman visited the Prophet (pbuh) He asked her, "Who are you?" she replied, Juthama al-Mazniyya." "Thus, you are Hassanah! How are youl? And how do you do after us? The Prophet said. The woman said, "Well, I sacrifice you with my father and mother. When she left, ‘Aisha asked him about the woman to know the reason for his hospitality towards that old woman? Then, the Prophet told her that she often used to visit us during the life of Khadija. He added, “Loyalty is of belief” ‘Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) also said, "I was never

jealous of any of the Prophet's wives (pbuh) except Khadija I never saw her, but the Prophet (pbuh) kept remembering her.

"Sometimes he used to slaughter a lamb, cut it up into pieces, and distribute them as donations memory of Khadijh. Once I said, it seems to me that there is never existed any woman in this world except Khadija. Then, the Prophet (pbuh) would

say: she was so and so and she had given me offspring." Another version reads,

"I was never jealous of any of the Prophet's wives (pbuh) except Khadija because the Prophet frequently remembered her. One day, he remembered her, therefore I said, "What do you do

with an old woman, and Allah favored you with

someone better than her (meaning herself)?" The

Prophet (pbuh) said, "No, by Allah! He does not

give me a better one than her. She believed me

while people disbelieved. When they called me a

liar, she alone remained true. She enriched me

when people deprived me. Allah has favored her with my offspring, and from nobody else."

Such kind treatment to Khadija in her life and after her death indicates the Prophet's noble morals and loyalty. Although she was older than him and ‘Aisha was younger, beautiful and knowledgeable the Prophet kept loyal to her memory throughout his lifetime. Moreover, he did not marry again during her life. Then ‘Aisha said to herself, "Never shall I mention anything concerning this issue thereafter" Actually, such Prophetic behavior should be an example for all spouses all over the world.

Under the title of confusing questions a woman wrote to Al-Ahram newspaper in March, 19,1999. She said, "What I write about is a very critical issue and needs to be solved since it is a public problem. She wrote the article in an interrogative style. She asked the following questions:

1What can a woman do after reaching forty years without a husband? Must she be driven into corruption or to delay marriage until she enter Paradise in the Hereafter?

2What can a divorced woman or a widow _— (whether she has children or not) do? Why do men seeking marriage disregard her? Is it fair to let her live alone suppressing her desires along the life?

3Why does a wife enjoy her husband alone and forbids him to marry another? Does she own him? What will she do if she herself becomes a widow or a divorced? Would she accept that fate? Is there any one who can gaurantee that she will not suffer what we suffer?

4Is it permissible for a woman to have some medicine to suppress her desire of marriage? What is this kind of medicine? As for fasting, we know that it is a protection but it does not eradicate one's desire at all.

Orientalists and their followers of Muslim, westerners, try to devote their efforts to demolish the tenets of Islam. They try to raise false accusations and doubts against the polygamy system in Islam. They try to make women believe in their false accusations.

Therefore, they circulate that polygamy is only limited to Muslim societies and uncivilized peoples.

They claim that the polygamy system is only established to fulfill men desires. It destroys the dignity of women and usurps their rights. Likewise, it demolishes the principle of equality between man and woman in which they should be devoted completely to each other.

Furthermore, they claim that polygamy creates grudge between a husband and wives as it does among wives themselves. It is also a source of dispute and grudge among the stepbrothers that leads to the spreading of anarchy, instability in the family life, and the immorality of the offspring.

Let us now refute such ignorant and envious accusations. As a matter of fact, polygamy was prevalent before the advent of Islam in “many nations: the Israelites the Arabs the Indians, the Burhams, the Persians, the Zoroastrians the Athenians, the Chinese, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Egyptians, the German and the Saxons.

In his book, "the woman in the Quran", “Abbas alAqqad said, "Before Islam, the social laws disregarded the rulings of marriage including polygamy. It was lawful for a man to marry whatever number of women he liked so long as he could afford them. Thus, the civil laws, before Islam permitted polygamy and the adoption of maids without limit."

Judaism allowed unlimited polygamy. Nothing concerning the prohibition of polygamy was stated in Torah. All Prophets mentioned in the Torah had many wives. David and Solomon had hundreds of wives

In Old Testament, it was states that Solomon "had loo wives and 300 maids"

It was stated also in the Torah,

Isu went to Islamael and added the daughter of Ishmael son of Ibraham and sister of Niabut to his wives"

Concerning Jacob, son of Isaac Torah stated, "Then he got up in this night and took his two wives, two maids and his eleven sons to cross Yabuk pool"

Narrated Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him): The Prophet (pbuh) said,

"Tonight I wil go round (i.e. have sexual relations with) one hundred womaen (my wives) everyone of whom will delivr a male child who will fight in Allah's cause." On that an angel said to him, "Say:

“If Allah wills.” But Solomon did not say it and

forgot to say it. Then he had sexual relations with them but none of them delivered any child except one who delivered a half person. The Prophet (pbuh) said, If Allah wills," Allah would have fulfilled his (above) desire and that saying would

have made him more hopeful.” (Reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Hence, it turned out that Judaism allows polygamy. As_ for Christianity, there is no explicit text in the gospels prohibiting polygamy. Nevertheless, in some of Paul's epistles there is an indication that polygamy is lawful. He said, “it is obligatory for a bishop to have only one wife." (Paul's first Epistle to Timanun)

To be obligatory for a bishop to have only one wife is an indication that other Christians are allowed to practice polygamy.

It has been historically proven that some early Christians got married to more than one wife. Among the early church fathers there were some who had many wives.

In his book, "the Woman in the Glorious Quran", “Abbas al- “Aqgad said, "Waster Mark, an authentic historian on polygamy stated, “With the approval of the church, polygamy remained allowed until the seventeenth century. It was too common to be counted by the church and the state."

It was well-known that Martin Luther, the evangelists leaders, was the first to codify polygamy. Furthermore, he protested against the Tenunciation of priests to marriage to such an extent that he left his priesthood aside and got married to a nun. All what he did was to draw a new way of thinking. It was stated that he would speak about polygamy on various occasions without objection.

Contemporary Christianity admits unlimited polygamy in Africa for the Christian Africans. In his book "The Woman between Islamic law and Man-made laws", Mustafa as-Siba'i stated, "Christians in Africa depend on polygamy as a means to disseminate their mission. It is these missionaries, who said "it is not proper to penetrate in the social affairs of pagans, since paganism has been established among them, it is not prudent to prevent them from marrying many wives as long as they are Christians

who follow Christ's creed. Therefore, they have officially announced that it is lawful for African Christians to make unlimited polygamy."

He (may Allah have mercy on him) also said, “Christians in the west have found that women started to outnumber men especially after the two world wars. They found themselves facing a serious social problem of the steady increase of women over men. Untill now, they are still helplessly trying to find a practical solution. It was among the suggested solutions to allow polygamy."