Why are the wives of the Prophet Muhammad called “mothers of the faithful”?
Like any other person, the Prophet Muhammad was married and had children, and, like all other people, he tasted death when it came.
His wives still lived after his passing away. However, unlike other widows who, after the death of their husbands, have the right to remarry other men, the wives of the Messenger of God did not do that. The wives of the Prophet are called the mothers of believers in the Koran. Therefore, as a person is forbidden to marry his own mother, it was also forbidden for men to marry the wives of the Messenger of God . The name “mothers of the faithful” was bestowed upon them by God the Almighty himself in the Koran (meaning), “The Prophet (Muhammad) has a stronger affinity to the believers than they do themselves. And his wives are their mothers.” (Sura Al-Ahzab, ayah 6).
The expression “mothers of the believers” means only the prohibition to marry them and the obligation to honor them. That is, the wives of the Prophet Muhammad are revered by believers and, at the same time, they are forbidden for them, just like their own mothers.
As for the permissibility of looking at them or being alone with them, in this matter they are considered strangers (non-mahram). Tafsir scholar Ibn Kathir, commenting on this ayah, says, “Their prohibition does not apply to their daughters and sisters ...” In addition, the Prophet is much more valuable than a father for every believer (in the sense of mercy towards them), and his wives are mothers for all of us. The father gives a person an upbringing only in worldly life, while the Messenger of God is an educator both in worldly life and in the Hereafter. Therefore, his wives are in some way more valuable to a man than his father’s wives.
NASIR SULEIMANOV
