Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (12/11)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

and public interests: so that he would have a connection with every tribe, and thus all the Arab tribes would have a connection to the Prophet ﷺ. For marriage ties are the counterpart and equivalent of blood ties. Allah placed them side by side in His saying:

“And He is the One Who created human beings from water, then made for them ties of blood and ties of marriage.” [al-Furqān 25:54]

Another reason was that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ wished for more people to transmit from him matters of private practice that occur only within the home. Thus, his wives learned from him; consequently, many sunnahs that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not openly perform were transmitted from his wives, may Allah be pleased with them. This also included safeguarding their chastity and consoling their hearts, as in the case of Safiyyah bint Huyayy, may Allah be pleased with her. She had been taken captive in the campaign of Khaybar, and her father was the chief of Banu al-Nadir. It is well known that the heart of a woman—the daughter of the chief of Banu al-Nadir—would be broken upon being taken captive. So the Prophet ﷺ wished to console her heart and married her. (1)

Had he wished merely to satisfy desire, all of his wives would not have been previously married except for one, for a virgin is undoubtedly preferable to a previously married woman. Indeed, he ﷺ said to Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him: “Why did you not marry a virgin, so that you could play with her and she could play with you?” (2)

In any case, we say that plural marriage is good because of the benefits it entails, but subject to the condition mentioned by Allah, the Most High: that a person be able to deal justly.

Some scholars held that it is sunnah to limit oneself to one wife. They reasoned that this is safer for one’s conscience from injustice, for if he marries two or more, he may be unable to deal justly between them; and because it is more conducive to preventing

(1) Reported by al-Bukhari in The Book of Marriage, chapter: “Whoever makes the emancipation of a slave woman her bridal gift” (5086), and by Muslim in The Book of Marriage, chapter: “The virtue of emancipating one’s slave woman and then marrying her” (1365 [84]), on the authority of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him. (2) Reported by al-Bukhari in The Book of Marriage, chapter: “Marrying previously married women” (5079), and by Muslim in The Book of Marriage, chapter: “The recommendation to marry a virgin” (715 [56]), on the authority of Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him.

العامة؛ حتى يكون له في كل قبيلة صلة، فتكون كل قبائل العرب لها صلة بالنبي ﷺ؛ لأن المصاهرة قسيم النسب، وعديل النسب، عَادَلَ الله بينهما في قوله: ﴿وَهُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ مِنَ المَاءِ بَشَرًا فَجَعَلَهُ نَسَبًا وَصِهْرًا﴾ [الفرقان: ٥٤]، ومن جهة أخرى أن رسول الله ﵊ أراد أن يكثر الأخذ عنه في الأعمال الخفية التي لا تكون إلا في البيوت، فزوجاته تأخذن عنه، ولهذا كان كثير من السنن التي لا يعلنها الرسول ﷺ تؤخذ من زوجاته ﵅، وكذلك تحصين فروجهن، وجبر قلوبهن، كقضية صفية بنت حيي ﵂، وكانت أسيرة في غزوة خيبر، وأبوها سيد بني النضير، ومعلوم أن امرأة بنتاً لسيد بني النضير تؤخذ أسيرة سوف ينكسر قلبها، فأراد النبي ﷺ أن يجبر قلبها فتزوجها (١)، ولو كان يريد أن يقضي الوطر، ما كانت زوجاته كلهن ثيبات إلا واحدة؛ لأن البكر بدون شك أحسن من الثيب، حتى قال ﷺ لجابر ﵁: «هلا بكراً تلاعبك وتلاعبها» (٢)، فعلى كل حال نقول: التعدد خير لما فيه من المصالح، ولكن بالشرط الذي ذكره الله ﷿، وهو أن يكون الإنسان قادراً على العدل. وذهب بعض أهل العلم إلى أنه يسن أن يقتصر على واحدة، وعلل ذلك بأنه أسلم للذمة من الجَوْرِ؛ لأنه إذا تزوج اثنتين أو أكثر فقد لا يستطيع العدل بينهما، ولأنه أقرب إلى منع

(١) أخرجه البخاري في النكاح/ باب من جعل عتق الأمة صداقها (٥٠٨٦)؛ ومسلم في النكاح/ باب فضيلة إعتاقه أمته ثم يتزوجها (١٣٦٥) (٨٤) عن أنس ﵁. (٢) أخرجه البخاري في النكاح/ باب تزويج الثيبات (٥٠٧٩)؛ ومسلم في النكاح/ باب استحباب نكاح البكر (٧١٥) (٥٦) عن جابر ﵁.