Akhtab, of the line of Aaron—may Allah be pleased with them all.
Allah Most High said:
“The Prophet has a greater claim upon the believers than they have upon themselves, and his wives are their mothers.”
[Surah al-Ahzāb: 6]
This is universally known among the Muslim community. The Muslims unanimously agree that, after his death, it is forbidden for anyone else to marry these women and that they must be treated with due respect. Thus, they are the Mothers of the Believers with respect to the honor owed to them and the prohibition against marrying them, but they are not the Mothers of the Believers in the sense of unmarriageable kinship. Those unrelated to them may therefore neither be alone with them nor travel with them, as a man may be alone and travel with women who are his unmarriageable kin.
For this reason, they were commanded to observe the veil. Allah Most High said:
“O Prophet, tell your wives, your daughters, and the women of the believers to draw their outer garments closely over themselves. That makes it more likely that they will be recognized and not harassed.”
[Surah al-Ahzāb: 59]
And He Most High said:
“When you ask them for anything, ask them from behind a screen. That is purer for your hearts and theirs. It is not for you to offend the Messenger of Allah, nor ever to marry his wives after him. Indeed, that would be a grave matter in the sight of Allah.”
[Surah al-Ahzāb: 53]
Since they occupy the position of mothers with respect to the ruling that prohibits marriage, but not with respect to unmarriageable kinship, the scholars differed concerning their brothers: may any one of them be called “the maternal uncle of the believers”?
One view holds that each of them may be called “the maternal uncle of the believers.” According to this view, that status is not exclusive to Muāwiya. It also includes Abd al-Rahmān and Muhammad, the two sons (1) of Abū Bakr; Abd Allah, Ubayd Allah, and Āsim, the sons of Umar; Amr ibn al-Hārith ibn Abī Dirār, the brother of Juwayriya bint al-Hārith; and Utba ibn Abī Sufyān and Yazīd ibn Abī Sufyān, the two brothers of Muāwiya.