An Argument From His Own Life

So that's number one. Number two, at the age of twenty-five, he chooses to marry a woman who's fifteen years older than himself, and she is a widow or divorced. Muhammad (peace be upon him), being from the noble family of Banū Hāshim, could have chosen for himself any woman he wanted in Makkah. And if he was interested in these desires, he would have chosen for himself a young woman to marry, rather than marrying a lady who is fifteen years older than him. She was forty years old when Muhammad (peace be upon him) married her. Number three, Muhammad (peace be upon him) remains with ʿĀʾishah^* until he reaches the age of fifty. And the age in which men would have strong desires towards women would be from a young age to around the age of fifty—that's the young age of a man when the desires would be the strongest. So for Muhammad (peace be upon him) to remain married to Khadījah in a very happy marriage—and it isn't reported at all that Muhammad (peace be upon him) had any intentions of marrying anybody else, he didn't even contemplate the idea, there are no reports of that—so for Muhammad (peace be upon him) to continue with Khadījah (may Allah be pleased with her), from the age of twenty-five to the age of fifty, is a clear indication. That is the argument.

Khadījah (may Allah be pleased with her) passes away. Muhammad (peace be upon him) remains as a bachelor for about two to three years. Later on, he marries another widow, Sayyidah Sawdah (may Allah be pleased with her). The reasons for him marrying Sawdah are because Sawdah (may Allah be pleased with her) was in Abyssinia. She came back to Makkah, and her husband passed away. So Muhammad (peace be upon him), out of his care for his companions, married her. Her husband died; she doesn't have anyone to provide for her. Muhammad (peace be upon him) marries her, and she was quite old in age—because later on in Madīnah, Sawdah ended up giving up her night to ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her), because she was very old in age.

Suddenly, within the last ten years of Muhammad's life (peace be upon him), Muhammad (peace be upon him) married many women, to the extent that when he died he left behind nine widows. So how come this change? From the age of twenty-five to fifty he only married Khadījah (may Allah be pleased with her), but then, within the last ten years of his life—it's ten years, because for two or three years he was unmarried—for the last ten years of his life he marries and he leaves behind nine widows. What is the reason?