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Wives of the Prophet
According to the biographer Ibn Hisham (d. 834 ), the Prophet Muhammad married thirteen women. Khadijah bint Khuwaylid , Sawda bint Zama , Aishah bint Abi Bakr , Hafsah bint Umar , Zaynab bint Khuzaymah , Hind bint Abi Umayya (known as Umm Salama ), Zaynab bint Jahsh , Maymuna bint al-Harith , and Juwayriyah bint al-Harith were Arab; six of them were from Quraysh, and the rest were from other tribes. Safiyah bint Huyay was from a Jewish tribe. Rayhanah bint Zayd was from a Jewish tribe as well, although there is some doubt regarding her marriage to the Prophet; Asma bint al-Numan and Amra bint Yazid were both divorced by the Prophet before consummation. At the time of his death in 632 the Prophet left behind nine wives and a consort, Maryam the Copt . The wives of the Prophet are called “Mothers of the Faithful” (Umm al-Muminin) in the Quran ( 33:6 ) and forbidden in marriage to other men after the Prophet's death ( 33:53 ). They are regarded as moral exemplars for Muslim women. Aishah and Umm Salama in particular reported numerous hadiths from Muhammad and thus played a decisive role in the shaping of the Sunnah.
