Quraish and taken refuge in Abyssinia. On the death of her
husband, she was left absolutely helpless.
Hafsah was the daughter of Umar and the widow of Khunais.
Khunais was killed in the battle of Uhud. As she was in distress,
'Umar tried to give her in marriage to one of his friends but did not
succeed. He approached another friend but he too was unwilling to
marry her. The Rasool came to the help of Umar and provided a
home for her.
Zainab. Her third husband too was killed in the battle of Uhud.
She was left destitute. She was, therefore, taken under protection by
the Rasool, but she died two months after.
Umm Salamah. With her husband she had sought refuge in
Abyssinia. After their return, her husband was killed in the battle of
Uhud. She was in great distress when the Rasool came to her rescue.
Zainab II. She belonged to the family of the Rasool. Her husband,
who had been once a slave had divorced her. As the wife of an
erstwhile slave, her social position had been lowered in the general
estimation. To bring home to the society at large that this traditional
attitude was repugnant to the spirit of Islam, the Rasool himself
chose her for marriage, demonstrating thereby that no one loses
caste by entering into matrimony with a freed slave.
Umm Habibah. She was the daughter of Abu Sufyan, one of the
leaders of the Quraish. She had migrated to Abyssinia with her
husband. Her husband embraced Christianity and deserted her. She
returned home but no one from her family would welcome her and
give her protection. The Rasool gave her status and a home.
Maimunah. When her second husband died in Mecca, she was left
penniless. The Rasool provided her with a home by giving her a legal
status.
Juwairiyah was also a widow. Her husband had been killed in a
battle. She was the daughter of the tribal chief of Bani Mustaliq.
Safiyyah’s father, brother and husband had all been killed in the
war. She had no one to support her.
‘A’ishah was the only virgin whom the Rasool married. He had
married her before he migrated to Madina, when she was about 19
years old.
The facts speak for themselves. With the solitary exception of
'A'ishah, the women whom the Rasool married were all elderly
Woman 300