A foremost characteristic of life in the home of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was love. Love is the quality most necessary to ensure happiness. When love is present, happiness is assured. The Prophet preferred a life of poverty, which was sometimes close to, if not below, the subsistence level. Yet this did not detract from the fact that his was a very happy home, with love spreading from its rooms to those who were associated in any way with the Prophet’s family.
Should love be removed from the life of any family, happiness becomes lacking for everyone, no matter how affluent the family may be.
Should love be removed from the life of any family, happiness becomes lacking for everyone, no matter how affluent the family may be. Wealth can buy comfort and luxury, but it cannot buy love and happiness. Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) experienced first a life of poverty when he was brought up by his uncle Abu Talib, who had a large family and small means. The Prophet had to work and earn his living when he was still in his early teens. Then he experienced a life of comfort and plenty when he lived with his first wife, Khadijah, who was rich and he looked after her business. Then in Madinah, he lived a life of poverty, even though he could have had whatever he wanted. He was the head of state and all its resources were at his disposal. Yet he preferred to live on the borderline of poverty. When he had more than enough for his family’s needs for the day, he gave away all that was extra.
His life with Khadijah was the symbol of happiness. She cherished his company and looked after him in the most exemplary way. She realized that he combined characteristics of the noblest type that made him unique among men. On her part, Khadijah combined beauty, good sense, mature judgment, and a loving and generous heart. They were the happiest of couples. They lived together for 15 years or longer before he began to receive his message. Theirs was a happy life of a loving couple. When he received his message, she realized that her task became greater, and she fulfilled it with exemplary devotion. He might spend a whole day speaking to people and telling them about Islam, stressing that they needed to believe in God as the only deity in the universe, and receiving nothing but one hostile reaction after another. Yet he was assured that once he steps home, a comforting heart will be there to receive him and dispel all that troubled his caring soul. He was pained by the fact that people could not realize that the guidance he gave them was for their own good and happiness in both this life and the life to come. She reassured him that such stubborn rejection was the result of ignorance or selfishness, and that it was bound to be temporary, and once people saw the truth inherent in it, they were bound to accept it.
Khadijah was his only wife for 25 years or longer. When she died, she left a huge vacuum in his life that no woman could easily fill.
Khadijah was his only wife for 25 years or longer. When she died, she left a huge vacuum in his life that no woman could easily fill. Later, the Prophet needed to marry several other women with social, political or legislative reasons leading to each of his marriages. God allowed him any number of wives, exempting him from the condition that allows man no more than four wives at the same time. Despite the fact that some of these marriages were in quick succession, love spread its wings on the Prophet’s homes, with all inhabitants benefiting from it. No man’s life was documented in such details as the Prophet’s life, yet we do not have a single incident when any of his wives felt anything other than love toward him. Never was any of them hurt by an angry word or an insult. He never raised his hand in earnest or in jest to express an angry feeling.
`A’ishah was the one he loved most, but this did not mean that he did not love the others or that he showed them any disfavor. He felt for them and prayed that God would not hold him accountable for his feelings, which were beyond his control. Yet his treatment of all his wives was an exemplary exercise in complete fairness. However, `A’isha
Comments