{"id":165,"date":"2015-02-25T21:47:10","date_gmt":"2015-02-25T21:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/azmi.co\/cust\/ngba-wp\/?page_id=165"},"modified":"2023-04-17T16:35:20","modified_gmt":"2023-04-17T16:35:20","slug":"mohammad-saudah","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nogodbutallah.org\/?page_id=165","title":{"rendered":"Mohammad-and Saudah"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the name of All\u0101h,
\n<\/span>the Beneficent, the Merciful.
\n<\/span>Peace and Blessings of All\u0101h on Mohammad.
\n<\/span>DEDICATED TO
\n<\/span>All\u0101h\u2013the Glorious and the High,
\n<\/span>Lord of the worlds
\n<\/span>AND TO
\n<\/span>Mohammad\u2013who brought the world
\n<\/span>to our feet and eternity to our arms.
\n*<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

SAUDAH<\/span><\/p>\n

One Christian critic on the Internet<\/i> wrote: \u201cIbn Kathir also said: “Concerning Q. 4:128 \u2018Aisha said: \u2018It concerns the man who has two wives. One of them has become old or is ugly and he does not like her company much, so she says: “Do not divorce me, and you are free from your obligations towards me.” “This Hadith is established in the Two Sahihs. What the verse seems to say that their reconciliation, on the condition that she gives up some of her rights, and the acceptance of the husband of that is better than complete separation, just as the Prophet kept Sauda on the condition that she gave her day to \u2018Aisha and did not divorce her but kept her amongst his wives and this was done in order that his nation might take him as their example and that this act is lawful and permissible.”<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Now the picture is clear; \u2018Aisha became the love of Mohammad, and Sauda became the servant of the daughters of the prophet. And after so many years where Sauda cooked, washed, mended, served the prophet and his daughters and comforted the prophet in his sorrows after the death of his first wife, when Sauda became old Mohammad wanted to divorce her for no reason except that she became old and unattractive. Bokhari Vol 3, # 259, 583; Vol 6, # 318,\u201d the Christian alleged.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Response:<\/span><\/i>(Please note: the \u201chighlighted\u201d portion in the above-text quoted by the Christian is <\/span>NOT<\/span> the words of \u2018Aisha or the hadith, it is the opinion of the commentator, Ibn Kathir)<\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Regarding the claim that \u201cIbn Kathir also said: “Concerning Q. 4:128 \u2018Aisha said: \u2018It concerns the man who has two wives. One of them has become old or is ugly and he does not like her company much, so she says: “Do not divorce me, and you are free from your obligations towards me,\u201dIT DOES NOT<\/span> REFER TO SAUDAH AND THE PROPHET. <\/span><\/strong>\u2018Aisha did not say her statement was in reference to the Prophet wishing to divorce Saudah. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 The Prophet did not keep Saudah \u201con the condition that she gave her day to \u2018Aisha and did not divorce her.\u201d To understand this relation between the Prophet, Saudah and \u2018Aisha, reading of Qur\u2019an 4:128 and the hadith of Bokhari Vol; 7, # 134 and 139 are necessary; the following is stated in Bokhari Vol. 7, # 134 and 139:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>(96) CHAPTER. \u2018If a wife fears cruelty or desertion on\u00a0her husband\u2019s part\u2026\u2019 ([Qur\u2019an] 4:128).\u00a0 <\/span>[Hadith] 134:\u00a0Narrated \u2018Aisha (All\u0101h be pleased with\u00a0her) regarding the verse:\u00a0 \u2018If a wife fears cruelty or desertion on her\u00a0husband\u2019s part\u2026\u2019 ([Qur\u2019an] 4:128). \u201cIt concerns the woman<\/i> whose husband does not want to keep her with\u00a0him any longer, but wants to divorce her and marry\u00a0some other lady, <\/strong><\/i>so she says to him: \u2018Keep me and do\u00a0not divorce me, and then marry another woman, and you\u00a0may neither spend on me, nor sleep with me.\u2019 This is indicated by the statement of All\u0101h (The Most High):<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u2018There is no blame on them if they arrange an amicable s<\/span>ettlement between them both and (such) settlement is\u00a0<\/span>better.\u201d ([Qur\u2019an] 4:128).\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This Qur\u2019anic verse (4:128) and this hadith are NOT about the Prophet and Saudah. There is no instance in the Prophet\u2019s life of any of his wives \u201cfearing cruelty or desertion\u201d from him; or of him declaring that he wanted to divorce any of his wives <\/span>\u2013even though he had the option of taking on or putting off any wives he desired\u2013(Qur\u2019an 33:50-51) and when he did neither; nor could the Prophet had divorced or wanted to divorce Saudah when she became \u201cold and unattractive\u201d because after he was given the choice to take on or put off any wives he desired All\u0101h forbade him to take or put away any of his wives after this choice\u2013(Qur\u2019an 33:52). <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 This Qur\u2019anic verse, as its import shows, is of a general nature and not specifically directed in a matter relating to the Prophet. The following statement in Bokhari Vol, 7 #139 makes the matter even clearer. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Regarding Saudah giving up her time to \u2018Aisha, Bokhari\u00a0notes Vol; 7, # 139 notes: (99) CHAPTER. (What is said regarding) the woman who gives up her turn with her\u00a0husband to one of his other wives, and how to divide the\u00a0turns.\u00a0 [Hadith] 139. Narrated \u2018Aisha:Saudah bint Zam\u2019a\u00a0gave up her turn to me (\u2018Aisha), and so the Prophet\u00a0(peace and blessings of All\u0101h be upon him) used to give\u00a0me (\u2018Aisha) both my day and the day of Saudah.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Clearly these two hadiths \u2013139, and 134 which are coupled to Qur\u2019an 4:128\u2013 are NOT related to each other. There is no reference to any \u201cfears (of) cruelty or desertion on her husband\u2019s part.\u201d <\/span>In all probability Saudah gave up her time because of her advanced age. According to Bokhari Vol; 6 # 318, Saudah was a \u201cfat huge lady;\u201d and \u201ca widow of advanced age,\u201d as Muhammad Ali notes, when the Prophet married her. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 It is preposterous to charge that the Prophet divorced, or wanted to divorce, Saudah because she became \u201cold and unattractive\u201d when she was \u201cold and unattractive\u201d to begin with, at the time of her marriage to the Prophet. Thus, Saudah could not have feared cruelty or desertion by the Prophet because she had become \u201cold and unattractive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 It is preposterous to entertain that the Prophet would divorce or want to divorce any of his wives because they had become \u201cold and unattractive,\u201d seeing that many of his wives were widows and with children when he married them. Moreover, a divorce in the sight of All\u0101h is a shameful deed<\/span><\/i>;<\/span> it is doubtful that the Prophet, who is\/was the best exemplar, would then divorce, or want to divorce, Saudah, which would not only be a shameful deed but would set a poor example for his community. To divorce one\u2019s wife because of her age and\/or looks could hardly be exemplary. <\/span>Men also lose their looks. If man is justified in leaving his wife because of age and looks, then women, seeing that they have rights as the rights against them\u2013(Qur\u2019an 2:228), would also be justified to leave husbands that have become \u201cold and unattractive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 If the Prophet was a voluptuary \u2013as Christians and the critics are fond of portraying him\u2013<\/span> and if he wanted to divorce any of his wives because she had become \u201cold and unattractive\u201d it is not credible that he would have held on to marriage-ties to widows and to the \u201cold and unattractive\u201d seeing that All\u0101h gave him the right to divorce any or all of his wives in favor of those whom he \u201cpleases\u201d and \u201cdesires\u201d\u2013(Qur\u2019an 33:51). And lustful old men usually relish vestal nubiles. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Contrastingly while the Christian carps blindly at the Prophet Mohammad and whereas a divorce is the last resort in Islam \u2013it is better for the couple to part in friendship than live in misery\u2013 <\/span>Christianity teaches, \u201cwhosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery\u201d\u2013(Matt. 5:32. <\/span>So the woman that puts away the man causes him to commit adultery; and the woman that marries him that is divorced is guilty of adultery).<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

According to Christianity, it is better that the couple should go to their graves in marital misery than have bliss with another; and that the divorced woman should spend her remaining (fifty years or more)\u00a0<\/i>of life denying her God-instilled feminine desires. (For Christian\u2019s teachings on women see Christianity-subjugates women<\/a><\/span>).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Christians believe that by blackening Mohammad they could snare a convert for Christ. This is reminiscent of Christians of yesteryear as noted by Muhammad Ali (writing about late nine-teenth century India):<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe preaching of the Christian missionary until a short time ago was of quite a different character from what it is today. In those days, the Christian missionary was under the impression that the darker the picture he drew of the Prophet of Islam, the greater would be his success in winning over converts from among the Muslims (and some ignorant ones were<\/i> snared)<\/span>\u2026Some of the Christian controversial books of those days must indeed be ranked as the filthiest literature that has ever been produced,<\/span> apart from the fact that the founder of the Arya Samaj and some of his blind votaries imitated the Christian missionary, and, later on, the Arya Samajist preacher even surpassed the Christian missionary in the art of vituperation<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026To call the Holy Prophet an impostor, Dajjal <\/i>or Anti-Christ, a deceiver, a dacoit, the slave of his sensual passions whose lust knew no bounds, and to attribute every conceivable crime to him became a habit with these Christian controversialists.<\/span>\u201d1<\/span><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, as Muhammad Ali continued, one Christian\u2019s writings \u201cwere found to be so grossly abusive that even\u00a0<\/span>Christians began to complain of them.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Like their fathers and grandfathers of yesteryear Christians have descended to the despicable depth of depicting Mohammad as depraved. <\/span><\/p>\n

While the Christian (and critic) tries to paint Mohammad as a libertine, let us see what facts reveal about Mohammad. <\/span>Mohammad was born in 570 AC (After Christ). He received the call to prophethood in 610. He died in 632. His ministry lasted 22\/23 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

For twenty-five years Mohammad lived a life of celibacy. For twenty-nine years, from 25-54, he lived in a monogamous marriage, with a woman fifteen years his senior. Only from 54 did he enter into multiple marriages. After the death of his first wife, Khadijah, Mohammad married Saudah, \u201ca widow ofadvanced age;\u201d then \u2018Aisha; <\/a>Hafsa, <\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>a widow; Zainab, \u201cdaughter of Khuzaimah,\u201d a widow; Umm Salmah, a widow; Zainab<\/a><\/span><\/span>, the former wife of Zaid; Umm Habibah, a widow; Juwairiyah, Maimunah, and Safiyyah<\/span>, <\/a><\/span>three widows taken as war captives, whose marriages \u201cin each case\u201d \u201cled to the union and pacification of a whole tribe;\u201d and in the case of his marriage to Juwairiyah \u201ca hundred families\u201d of her tribe, \u201cthe Bani Mustaliq\u201d \u201cwas at once liberated by the Muslims;\u201d and Mary, the Coptic.2<\/span><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

During this twenty-three year period of his mission the Prophet Mohammad suffered persecution; bloodied from stoning (at Ta\u2019if); death threats; exile; fasted, and spent two-thirds of the night in prayer\u2013(Qur\u2019an 17:79; 73:2-4, 20; 76:25-26); went hungry; cobbled his own shoes and mended his own garments; sought the welfare of the poor and the orphans and the Woman; fought the slave-masters and freed the slaves; fought at least four wars \u2013Badr, Uhud, Hunain and Allies\u2013<\/span>and toiled alongside his people, planned for the welfare of the State, and preached the Divine Message to the people. Surely, such a person can hardly be labeled a voluptuary. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 If Mohammad had sought to have the female sex \u201cabandoned\u201d to his desire, it is doubtful that he would have waited until the heat of his youth had dissipated, neither would he have pursued widows who were old and laden with children, there were scores of virgins of beauty and youth (which lustful old men often relish) for him to command. And when he became victorious, instead of enrobing himself in fine silk and jewelry, wore only coarse garments; instead of choosing a crown and scepter of gold and gems, he had only a wooden staff; instead of choosing a bed of cushion and linen, had only a mat of palm fiber; (and as noted, instead of choosing a harem of vestal nubiles, he ennobled in the sanctity of marriage the elderly, the widow, and the fallen);<\/span> instead of leaving monuments of stones to himself he charged us with the precepts of God. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 This man who never lied, refused all wealth, and who returned the riches to his conquered subjects could hardly be viewed as an \u201cimpostor\u201d whose enthusiasm of his \u201cyouth\u201d was to gratify the \u201cappetites\u201d of a man. The reasons for the Prophet Mohammad’s several marriages were manifold: (1) Social (2) Federal (3) Diplomatic (4) Compassion (5) Divine Instructions (6) Religious expediency. (For a comment on \u201cfables invented by Christian writers who seek to vilify Islam\u201d see Muhammad Ali\u2019s Qur\u2019anic comm. 2517 \u2013to Qur\u2019an 66:1. MA’s translation of the Qur’an can be viewed\/downloaded at <\/span><\/span>www.muslim.org<\/a><\/span>).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

NOTES<\/span><\/p>\n

1.<\/span> Muhammad Ali, The Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement<\/i>, pp. 78-80, 81 <\/span><\/p>\n

2.<\/span> Muhammad Ali, Qur\u2019anic comm. 2000.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the name of All\u0101h, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Peace and Blessings of All\u0101h on Mohammad. DEDICATED TO All\u0101h\u2013the Glorious and the High, Lord of the worlds AND TO Mohammad\u2013who brought the world to our feet and eternity to our arms. * SAUDAH One Christian critic on the Internet wrote: \u201cIbn Kathir also said: “Concerning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-165","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nogodbutallah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nogodbutallah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nogodbutallah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nogodbutallah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nogodbutallah.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=165"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nogodbutallah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6289,"href":"https:\/\/nogodbutallah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/165\/revisions\/6289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nogodbutallah.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}