MOTHERS OF THE BELIEVERS

The Prophet’s youngest wife Aisha's role in this regard is very special. All the biographers of the Prophet are in unison that the benefits bestowed on the ummah by Aisha in teaching, training, and propagation of Islam were more than most of the male Companions of the Prophet. This double reward was exactly in accordance with their privilege. One reward was for their good deeds. The second reward was because they performed good and pious deeds at the level of sacrifice. The Prophet’s wives were destined to play the role of guides for society. It would not have been possible for the wives of the Prophet to play a leading role in society unless people considered them superior in morals and character. The Prophet’s wives paid this price through extraordinary sacrifices. Therefore, they deserved a double reward. In the above-mentioned verse of the Quran, while addressing the wives of the Prophet, they are commanded that they should not adopt a soft tone while talking to the people. (33: 32) This directive indicates that there was a special plan in giving the status of Mothers of the Believers to the wives of the Prophet. They were expected to work and guide the believers in dawah (missionary) activity and training them. According to God’s plan, believers were to come to the wives of the Prophet to discover the teachings of Islam and find solutions to their religious questions. Among those who would come would not only be women but also men. Therefore, the said order was given so that there would be no possibility of any psychological complication while talking to the men. Thus, history has shown that it was in the time of the Prophet, and even after his death, many men and women kept coming to his wives to enquire about Islamic injunctions about various matters. This shows that it was of special interest that the Prophet was allowed to keep more than four wives. This arrangement was essential to expedite the purpose of the training. It is clear that one woman alone could not be enough to serve the needs of training and education of a society. This required a number of women to whom people could turn and then discover Islamic injunctions. The wives of the Prophet belonged to different tribes and different families. In this way, they became a source of reference for the tribe and family. Thus, history shows that men and women of every tribe and every family used to come to the houses of the Prophet’s wives and ask them for rules and issues according to their needs.