The wives of our beloved Prophet, Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam) are, without doubt, the best examples for Muslim women to follow. When Muslim women are given models of performance they turn to these women to show piety, steadfastness, honesty and obedience.
However, what appears to be forgotten among many is that most Mothers of the believers did not give birth to any off spring. Among these women are two who would be classified as having secondary infertility, both having children prior to their marrying the Prophet Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam). All others, bearing no children at all. Let us take a look at these women.
Hadhrat Sawdaa
She was married to Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam) shortly after the death of Hadhrat Khadijah, three years before the Hijrah (Migration) from Makkah al Mukarramah to Madinah al Munawwarah. She was a widow having married once before. There are conflicting reports in reference to her having children. Those that claim she had a child attribute one son to her. She bore no children while married to Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam).
Hadhrat ‘Aaishah
She was married to Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam) in the same year as Sawdaa, although her marriage was not consummated until after the Hijrah of Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam) to Madinah al Munawwarah. She was the youngest wife of Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam) and the only virgin. She bore no children in her marriage.
Hadhrat Hafsah
She was married to Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam) after becoming a widow at the time of the battle of Badr. She is said to have been around the age of nineteen at the time. She had no children in her first marriage to Khumays b. Huzafah and she bore no children in her marriage to Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam).
Hadhrat Umm Salamah
She married Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam) in the year 4 AH. She was previously married to Hadhrat ‘Abdullah ibn Abdul Asad and they had four children together, Zaynab, Salamah, Umar and Durra. She married Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam) after becoming a widow and was still nursing Zaynab. She bore no children with Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam).
Hadhrat Zaynab bint Jahsh
She was a cousin of Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam) and previously married to his adopted son Hadhrat Zayd bin Thaabit. After Hahrat Zayd had divorced her in 5 AH she was married to Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam) by the decree of Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa). She bore no children in either marriage.
Hadhrat Juwairiyah
She was married to hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam) after the Battle of the Ditch in 5 A.H. She was captured and then freed by Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam). She then converted to Islam and married the Prophet Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam). She was previously married, before being a Muslim, to Musafi’ ibn Safwan. She bore no children in either marriage.
Hadhrat Umm Habibah
She married Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam) in the year 7 A.H. She was previously married to ‘Ubaydullah ibn Jahsh who turned apostate after migrating to Abyssinia. She bore one daughter, Habibah after her emigration to Abyssinia. She bore no children in her marriage to Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam).
Hadhrat Safiyah
She was a Jew, previously, and captured during the attack on Khaybar in 7 A.H. She was freed and converted to Islam then married Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam). She was married twice before her conversion she bore no children in any marriage.
Hadhrat Maymoonah
She married Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam) in 7AH. She was the last to be married by Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam). She was previously married to Ma’sood ibn ‘Amr ath-Thaqafi and Abu Ruhm ibn ‘Abdul Uzza. She bore no children in any marriage.
It is very rightly believed that any fertility problem did not lie in Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam). He had children with his first wife Hadhrat Khadijah, four girls and two boys. And he had one child, Hadhrat Ibrahim, with Hadhrat Mariyah Qibtiyah, previously the Copt slave, who was given to him as a gift after 7 A.H.
When we take these women as examples — such exemplary women – it is strange as to why some people place so much emphasis on a woman’s ability to procreate and actually make her feel as if she has failed if she hasn’t!!
Here we have the life of our most Respected and most Beloved Prophet Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam) who is the best of examples, and yet we have the desire to measure the worth of a Muslim women only by her ability to produce children. Yes, these examples of Muslim women did not produce children in their marriage to Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam). They can be defined as infertile in light of the common day definition of infertility. Yet, Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam) did not divorce them, nor did he demean them for not having children. Their status as Muslim women was in no way defined by their ability or inability to have children. We have no record of this even being an issue among these women, yet we make it an issue between every couple even if we hardly know them.
It is my hope that all of my fellow infertile Muslim sisters find strength in the memory of these women. Even though they bore no children with Hadhrat Muhammad (SallAllaahu Alaihe WaSallam), he loved and respected all of them alike and they are given a status unlike other women in our Ummah.
by: Sister Noreen Alam
Source: Jamia Farooqia Karachi
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