Infertility among the Mothers
of the Believers
The wives of Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam)
are often understood as examples for Muslim women to follow. When Muslim women
are given models of performance they turn to these women to show piety,
steadfastness, honesty and obedience. However what appears to be forgotten
amongst many is that most Mothers of the believers would be defined as
infertile today. Among these women are two who would be classified as having
secondary infertility, both having children prior to their marrying Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam).
All others bearing no children at all. Let us take a look at these women.
Sawda: She was married to Muhammad (salalahu
walayhe wasalam) shortly after the
death of Khadijah, three years before the hijrah. She was a widow having
married once before. There are conflicting reports in reference to her having
children. Those that claim she had a child attribute one son to her. She bore
no children while married to Muhammad (salalahu
walayhe wasalam).
Aisha: She was married to Muhammad (salalahu
walayhe wasalam) in the same year
as Sawda, although her marriage was not consumated until after the migration
to Madinah. She was the youngest wife of Muhammad (salalahu
walayhe wasalam) and the only
virgin. She bore no children in her marriage.
Hafsa: She was married to Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam)
after becoming a widow at the time of the battle of Badr. She is said to have
been around the age of nineteen at the time. She had no children in her first
marriage to khumays b. Hudhafah and she bore no children in her marriage to
Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam).
Umm Salamah: She married Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam)
in the year 4 a.h. She was previously married to Abdullah ibn Abdu'l Asad and
they had four children together, Zaynab, Salamah, Umar and Durra. She married
Muhammad after becoming a widow and was still nursing Zaynab. She bore no
children with Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam).
Zaynab bint Jahsh: She was a cousin of Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam)
and previously married to his adopted son Zayd bin Thabit. After Zayd had
divorced her in 5 a.h she was married to Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam)
by the decree of Allah. She bore no children in either marriage.
Juwayriyya: She was married to Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam)
after the battle of the ditch in 5a.h. She was captured and than freed by
Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam) in which she converted to Islam and
married him. She was previously married before being a muslim to Musafi' ibn
Safwan. She bore no children in either marriage.
Rayhana: She was also of the captive women. She
was freed, converted and than married Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam) in 6
a.h. She was married once before and had no children from any of the
marriages. She died before Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam).
Umm Habiba: She married Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam)
in the year 7 a.h. She was previously married to Ubaydullah ibn Jahsh who
turned apostate after migrating to Abyssinia. She bore one daughter, Habiba
after her emigration to Abyssinia. She bore no children in her marriage to
Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam).
Safiyya: She was from the Banu Israel and capture
during the attack on Khaybar in 7 a.h. She was freed and converted to Islam
than married Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam). She was married twice before
her conversion she bore no children in any marriage.
Maymuna: She married Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam)
in 7 a.h., she was the last to be married by Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam).
She was previously married to Ma'sud ibn 'Amr ath Thaqafir and Abu Ruhm ibn
Abdu'l Uzza. She bore no children in any marriage.
We can make the assumption that a fertility
problem did not lie with Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam). He had children
with his first wife Khadijah, four girls and two boys. And he had one child,
Ibrahim, with Maryam the copt slave who was given to him as a gift after 7 a.h.
She had relations with Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam) based on her being
a right hand possession.
When we take these women as examples such
exemplary women it becomes curious why our ummah has decided to place so much
emphasis on a woman's ability to procreate. Here we have the life of Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam)
who is the best of examples, and yet we have the desire to measure the worth
of a Muslim women by her ability to produce children. We fail to also keep in
mind that these examples for Muslim women did not produce children in their
marriage to Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam). That they can be defined as
infertile in light of the common day definition and Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam)
did not divorce them, nor did he demean them for not having children. Their
status as Muslim women were in no way defined in their ability or inability to
have children. We have no record of this even being an issue among these
women, yet we make it an issue between every couple even if we hardly know
them.
It is my hope that all of my fellow infertile
Muslim sisters find strength in the memory of these women. Even though they
bore no children with Muhammad (salalahu walayhe wasalam) he loved and
respected them and they are given a status unlike other women in our ummah