53. When the Prophet Muhammad died he left behind nine widows. Who then ordered Muslims to marry just four wives?

One of the commandments given in the Quran as a matter of social organization concerns polygamy, that is, permission for a man to marry up to four women:

If you fear that you cannot treat orphans with fairness, then you may marry such women (widowed) as seem good to you: two, three or four of them. But if you fear that you cannot do justice, marry one only. (Quran 4:3)

The background and wording of this verse appear to express a commandment that should be only temporary in effect. That is to say, it applied only to a particular state of emergency when, for example, due to a loss of men in battle, the number of women exceeded the number of available men.

All the wives of the Prophet Muhammad, except Hazrat Ayesha, were divorcees or widows. The Arab custom at that time was such that marrying in a certain tribe ensured the tribe’s allegiance to the son-in-law. In case of the Prophet therefore, these marriages were a form of war management which eventually culminated in a bloodless revolution. It was a measure taken in order to manage the potential tribal conflicts that could have emerged in the hostile environment of Arabia of that time.