MOTHERS OF THE BELIEVERS
It is stated in the Quran that the Prophet's wives are the ‘mothers of the believers’ (33: 6). This title of the Prophet’s spouses shows how much they are to be respected and honoured by the Muslims.
The words that appear in the Quran about the wives of the Prophet, on the one hand, describe the status of the spouses themselves, and on the other hand, through these words, it is made manifest what place they should have among the Muslims.
When the Prophet migrated from Makkah to Madinah, it was no ordinary journey. It destroyed his and his Companions’ economy. In these dire circumstances, providing the necessary financial means for his family became very difficult. This was when the Prophet’s spouses asked for financial support to care for their essential expenses.
Under normal circumstances, it is not objectionable for women to seek and demand material help. But this demand was inappropriate to the historic role that the wives of the Prophet had to play in his mission. Therefore, the Quran addressed them in these reprimanding words:
“O Prophet, say to your wives, ‘If you seek the life of this world and all its finery, then come, I will make provision for you and release you honourably. But if you seek God and His Messenger and the abode of the Hereafter, then know that God has prepared a great reward for those of you who do good deeds.’ Wives of the Prophet! Any one of you who commits a flagrant act of misconduct shall be doubly punished. That is easy enough for God.
But those of you who obey God and His Messenger and do good deeds shall be doubly rewarded. For them, we have made excellent provisions. Wives of the Prophet, you are not like any other women. If you fear God, do not be too soft-spoken in case the ill-intentioned should feel tempted. Speak appropriately.
Stay in your homes and do not flaunt your charms as in the former times of ignorance. Attend to your prayers, pay the zakat and obey God and His Messenger. Women of the [Prophet’s] Household, God seeks only to remove all impurity from you and to make you entirely pure. Bear in mind that all that is recited in your homes are the revelations of God and wisdom. God is all-pervading and all aware.” (33: 28-34)
In these verses of the Quran, all necessary directives about the Prophet’s wives are very clearly stated. These verses enumerate their responsibilities and the duties of the believers towards them.
It is clear from these verses that the Prophet’s wives did not get the status of Umm-ul-Mumineen, i.e., Mothers of the Believers only as a title. This title was granted to them for their pious deeds and exemplary sacrifices. The fact is that they fully deserve to be given the status of Mother of the Believers till the Day of Resurrection.
According to some Hadith reports, when the verses mentioned above were revealed, the wives of the Prophet were given the option to stay with the Prophet if they wished and separate if they wanted. Then the Prophet entered the house and said to his wife Aisha: “O Aisha, I would like to talk to you about one matter. Regarding this option, you should not be in a hurry to decide unless you consult your parents. Aisha replied: “O Prophet of God, I will not consult my parents. Rather, I prefer God and His Messenger and his house.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 2468)
The response of all of his wives was similar. None of them decided to separate from the Prophet based on the option provided by the Quran. Under the circumstances, the decision of the spouses to stay with the Prophet was an extraordinary sacrifice. At that time, apart from other facilities of life, even simple food was not available for two meals a day.
The condition of the Prophet’s wives at that time can be gauged from an incident. “Aisha narrates that an Ansari (a Muslim of Madinah) sent a goat to her house once. They struggled to make proper pieces of the meat at night. Someone said, “Why didn’t you light a lamp so that you could chop the meat in the light of the lamp?” Aisha replied that if we had oil to light a lamp, we would drink this oil owing to the intensity of hunger.” (Ibn Sad, Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, Vol. 1, p. 384)
The difficult situation in which the Prophet’s wives decided to stay with him is a unique example and only one of its kind in history. This was excellent planning of God Almighty. Due to this, the uncommon and extraordinary greatness of the spouses was established so that people would consider them as role models for themselves. It is mentioned in the above verses that if the Prophet’s wives do good deeds and adopt the method of obedience, they will be rewarded twice as much as others.
This double reward was precisely in accordance with their privilege. One reward was for their good deeds. The second reward was because they performed good and pious deeds at the level of sacrifice. The Prophet’s wives were destined to play the role of guides for society. It would not have been possible for the wives of the Prophet to play a leading role in society unless people considered them superior in morals and character. The Prophet’s wives paid this price through extraordinary sacrifices. Therefore, they deserved a double reward.
In the Quran, when addressing the wives of the Prophet, they are commanded not to adopt a soft tone when talking to the people. (33:32)
This directive indicates a particular plan to give the status of Mothers of the Believers to the wives of the Prophet. They were expected to work with, guide, and train them. According to God’s plan, believers were to come to the wives of the Prophet to discover the teachings of Islam and find solutions to their religious questions.
Among those who would come would not only be women but also men. Therefore, the said order was given so there would be no possibility of psychological complications while talking to the men. Thus, history has shown that it was in the time of the Prophet, and even after his death, many men and women kept coming to his wives to enquire about Islamic injunctions in various matters.
This shows that it was of particular interest that the Prophet was allowed to keep more than four wives. This arrangement was essential to expedite the purpose of the training. One woman alone could not be enough to serve a society's training and educational needs. This required several women to whom people could turn and discover Islamic injunctions. The wives of the Prophet belonged to different tribes and different families. In this way, they became a source of reference for the tribe and family. Thus, history shows that men and women of every tribe and every family used to come to the houses of the Prophet’s wives and ask them for rules and issues according to their needs.
The wives of the Prophet are commanded to stay in their homes and bear in mind all that is recited in their homes of God's revelations and wisdom. (Quran, 33: 32-33)
This shows that the Mothers of the believers were specially trained for the task of reforming the Muslim community, i.e., ummah. They were instructed to end all irrelevant interests and activities and focus on gaining learning and wisdom from the Prophet. This arrangement was put in place because the teachings of the Prophet had to be preserved so that during and after the life of the Prophet, they could convey these teachings to the ummah.
The role of the Prophet’s youngest wife, Aisha, was exceptional in this regard. All the biographers of the Prophet agree that the benefits bestowed on the ummah by Aisha in teaching, training, and propagation of Islam were more than most of the male Companions of the Prophet. The simple reason was that Aisha was the youngest of all the wives.
Coupled with it, she was brilliant and had an extraordinary memory. Because of her great mental abilities, she memorized everything she heard from the Prophet in its most correct and perfect form. She fully understood and kept in mind every deed of the Prophet. Aisha lived for about fifty years after the death of the Prophet. She became a means of conveying the teachings of the Prophet to the two Muslim generations coming after him. It would be correct to say that Aisha was a great mercy for the Muslim ummah due to her unique attributes. She became a kind of living tape record and a source of blessings for the Muslim community for almost half a century.
