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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Spirituality of the Shi‘ism and Other Discourses Discourse Seven: Why Did the Prophet Marry So Much? A criticism made by some regarding the respectable Prophet of Islam (S) is the issue of his many wives. Critics say that having many wives is essentially a sign of evil and unconditional surrender before lust.

They question why the Prophet of Islam did not content himself with the four wives that he had legitimized for his followers and took up to nine wives at the same time. This discussion has various aspects related to many verses scattered throughout the Qur’an. I will enter into an extensive discussion regarding all these aspects in the exegesis of the related verses elsewhere. Here I will suffice with a concise presentation of the matter.

First of all, critics must essentially realize that the polygyny of the Prophet was not due to excessive attraction to women. The Prophet’s marriages were related to other aspects which I will now succinctly discuss. The first wife of the Holy Prophet was Khadījah[^1]. He lived with her alone for over twenty years—two thirds of his life after this marriage—without taking another wife. The Prophet was appointed to prophethood in the period after this marriage.

After his appointment, he lived in Mecca for thirteen years. After that, he immigrated to Medina and started his widespread religious promotion. After Khadījah’s death, the Prophet married some women, both maidens and widows, young and old. This liberty in marriage lasted for around ten years and, after this, additional marriages were prohibited for the Prophet.[^2] Therefore, it is evident that the many marriages of the Prophet cannot be due to overt philogyny.

The facts that early in his life the Prophet sufficed with only Khadījah and at the end of his life marriage was prohibited for him are inconsistent with the calumny of lasciviousness. Furthermore, we see that men who have great passion for women, love their beauty and adornments and relish their coquetry and demureness. Such men are mostly fond of young and attractive women who are in the spring of their life.

However, none of these characteristics is evident in the spiritual bearing of the Prophet of Islam. In his marriages he was not bound by any of these matters.