He was Just with His Wives

The justice and equality displayed in the Prophet’s (Peace be upon him) relationship with all his wives (may Allah be pleased with them) was exemplary, even though Allah had revealed this verse to him:

“You may defer [the turn of] any of them that you wish, and you may receive any that you wish, and there is no blame on you if you invite one whose [turn] you had set aside. This is better, that they may be comforted and not grieve, and may be satisfied — all of them — with what you give them: and Allah knows [all] that is in your hearts: and Allah is All-Knowing, Most Forbearing.” (Qur’an, Surah Al-Ahzab, 33: 51)

Muhammad Rasheed Raza explained this Qur’anic verse saying:

Through this verse, Allah removed from His Prophet (Peace be upon him) the restrictions that He had placed upon the rest of the Ummah, in terms of the strict observance of fairness and equality with one’s wives. Allah permitted him to keep in waiting, whichever of his wives he wished to delay, to stay with, whichever of them he wished, and to stay away from any of them if he wanted to. In spite of this, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) continued to treat them with equality and justice, as he was used to doing.[1]

 “Even during his final illness, when it became difficult for him to move each day from one wife’s house to the others, as he would during his health, he would ask: “Where will I be tomorrow? Where will I be tomorrow?” (seeking ‘A’ishah’s turn).”[2]

It is true that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) loved ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) the most, due to her beauty, intelligence, youth, and the fact that she was Abu Bakr’s daughter. It should be clear that he did not love her more because he considered the other wives to be of low intellect or lineage, and nor did he ever differentiate between them with regards to how much he spent on them, how many nights he slept with them, or how he behaved with them.

Furthermore, in spite of how much he loved ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), the Prophet (Peace be upon him) never refrained from correcting her when she misbehaved with any of the other wives, as we can see from the hadith in which Umm Salamah may Allah be pleased with her) sent a meal she had prepared, and when ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) came and (in her anger and jealousy) flipped over the dish containing the food, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) made her give one of her own dishes in compensation for Umm Sal amah’s dish, which she had broken.[3]

The great stance of justice and equality that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) took here is worth contemplating.

 “Once, out of jealousy, ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) criticized Safiyah (may Allah be pleased with her), saying: O Messenger of Allah, have you noticed how short Safiyah is? He (Peace be upon him) replied: “Indeed you have said something (so bad) that if it were mixed into the sea, it would pollute the entire sea.”[4]

The two hadiths above illustrate the beautiful manners of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), especially regarding how fair he was to each of his wives, and this serves as an example for all husbands, teaching them how to be just and fair in their dealings with their wives.