How many wives did Muhammad have at one time?

Answer 1

Although the Quran states that a Muslim could only have four wives at one time, Muhammad had nine wives. According the th Quran, Muhammad received a licence to have additional wives, not permitted to others in the Islamic faith.

Sura 033.050 says: "O Prophet! Lo! We have made lawful unto thee thy wives unto whom thou hast paid their dowries, and those whom thy right hand possesseth of those whom Allah hath given thee as spoils of war, and the daughters of thine uncle on the father's side and the daughters of thine aunts on the father's side, and the daughters of thine uncle on the mother's side and the daughters of thine aunts on the mother's side who emigrated with thee, and a believing woman if she give herself unto the Prophet and the Prophet desire to ask her in marriage - a privilege for thee only, not for the (rest of) believers ..."

Answer 2

The historian Al-Tabari says Muhammad had fifteen wives, although two of these marriages were never consummated. These are their names.

(1) Khadija bint Khuwaylid. He had no other wife while she lived, and she was the mother of six of his children.

(2) Ayesha bint Abi Bakr, his favourite. She was a great teacher and legal expert, and she was also gifted in medicine and poetry.

(3) Sawda bint Zama'a. She was dropped from the roster when she became elderly, but she remained legally his wife.

(4) Hafsa bint Omar, custodian of the Qur'an codex.

(5) Zaynab bint Khuzayma, known as "Mother of the Poor".

(6) Umm Salama (Hind). She was also a legal expert.

(7) Zaynab bint Jahsh. She was the first exception to the "four wives only" rule. It was at Muhammad's wedding to Zaynab that the Order of the Veil was revealed.

(8) Juwayriya bint Al-Harith, a war-captive "as beautiful as a fairy."

(9) Umm Habiba (Ramla), recalled from exile in Abyssinia.

(10) Safiya bint Huyayy, a Jewish war-captive.

(11) Maymuna bint Al-Harith, a bourgeoise from Mecca.

The last four wives were all divorced, and therefore they are not known as "Mother of the Faithful".

(12) Mulayka bint Kaab, who stated that she "took refuge in Allah" from Mohammed when she realised he had killed her father.

(13) Fatima bint Al-Dahhak, who peeked at men in the mosque courtyard.

(14) Asma bint Numan, a princess from Yemen (unconsummated).

(15) Amra bint Yazid, the lepress (unconsummated).

There were at least five other women with whom Muhammad had some kind of marriage contract, but Tabari does not include them as full wives, presumably because the contract was broken before the formalities were completed. These five women were:

(1) Umm Sharik (Ghaziya bint Jabir), whom Mohammed divorced when he saw that she was "too old".

(2) Khawla bint al-Hudhayl, who died on the way to the wedding.

(3) Sanaa bint Rifaa (aka Saba bint Asma), who died on the way to the wedding.

(4) Al-Shanbaa bint Amr, whom Mohammed divorced because she insulted him.

(5) Qutayla bint Qays (aka Habla), whom Mohammed married by proxy, but he died before she arrived in Medina.

Mohammed also had four concubines, i.e., slaves with whom he had a sexual relationship but no marriage contract.

(1) Rayhana bint Zayd, a Jewish war-captive.

(2) Mariya bint Shamoon, who was sent as a present from the Governor of Egypt. She was the mother of his youngest son Ibrahim.

(3) Jamila, a war-captive.

(4) An unnamed slave who had originally belonged to his wife Zaynab bint Jahsh.