community; Juwariya, the wife of a
pagan Arab chief (Muhammad won her
as the spoils of war); Raihana and
Safiyya, two Jewish women whom
Muhammad also won in battle; Mary the
Copt, a Christian slave girl who was a
gift from Al Mokawkas, the pharaoh of
Egypt (in Muhammad’s new religion
women could not be given as
inheritances, but they evidently could be
given as gifts); and Maimuna, a Meccan
girl whom Muhammad married in order
to secure the loyalties of two important
personages: ‘Amr, a Meccan chief, and
Khalid bin Al Walid, a warrior who was
known as the ‘‘Sword of Allah.’’
[ 24 ]As the Koran states: ‘‘O Prophet!
We have made lawful to thee thy wives
to whom thou hast paid their dowers;
