However...

However, most of the women that he married were widows or elderly women lacking any protector, while he encouraged men to marry young girls. Let us introduce some of the Holy Prophet's wives: (1) Ummu-Habibah The daughter of Abu-Sufyan, the bitter enemy of Islam, Ummu-Habibah emigrated with her husband, `Ubaydullah ibn Jahsh, the Holy Prophet’s cousin. When `Ubaydullah reached that land, he apostatized Islam.

Due to excessive wine drinking, he died there.[^134] When the Holy Prophet knew about this, he sent `Amr ibn Umayyah al-®amari[^135] to al-Najashi asking him to give Ummu-Habibah in marriage to him. That was in the sixth year after the Hegira, and al-Najashi did.

She stayed in Abyssinia for one more year and then returned to Medina with the last group.[^136] She was between thirty and forty years old.[^137] It is clear that this marriage took place to pacify this Muslim woman not to be carried away through worries and grief. This is because she had cut relations with her unbelieving relatives, including her parents, and had gone to Abyssinia with her husband. Now, in a foreign land, she had lost her husband.

What other action could be better than having the privilege of getting married to the Holy Prophet? Ummu-Salamah Ummu-Salamah (Hind) was the daughter of Abi-Umayyah Makhzumi; her ex-husband was Abu-Salamah (`Abdullah) Makhzumi,[^138] one of the Holy Prophet’s cousins.[^139] They had four children one of whom was Salamah.[^140] Abu-Salamah was wounded in the Battle of Uhud and then passed away in Jumada II, in the third year of Hegira.[^141] Most probably, there was no relative of Ummu-Salamah in Medina, because she is reported to have said, “When Abu-Salamah died, I became very depressed; I said to myself, ‘Now that I am lonely, I will weep so much that I become well-known as a great weeper!’”[^142] The Holy Prophet married her in the 4th year of Hegira.[^143] At that time, she had become old.[^144] It is clear that the purpose of this marriage was to sponsor her orphan children.

Was it not a hard job for the Holy Prophet to sponsor four orphan children? After Khadijah, Ummu-Salamah ranked high in sincerity, virtue and spirituality. She was second to Khadijah in these human traits.[^145] She had a special bond with the Household of the Holy Prophet.