The second category of necessities daily life is praised and
boasted of when it is abundant and includes such things as marriage and rank.
The necessity for marriage is agreed upon in the Shari`ah and in custom. It is a proof of
perfection and sound masculinity. It has always been customary to boast of and
praise a lot of it and, as far as the Shari`ah is concerned, it is a transmitted sunna.
Ibn `Abbas said, “The best
of this community is the one with the most wives,” indicating the Prophet. [1]
The Prophet said, “Marry and procreate. I want to increase communities by you.”
[2]
He forbade celibacy. This
is because marriage brings with it restraint of the appetites and lowering the
eye as the Prophet pointed out. He said, “Whoever has the capacity should
marry. It lowers the eyes and protects the private parts.” [3]
For this reason the `ulema’ do not consider it something that
detracts from the virtue of abstinence. Sahl at-Tustari said, “Women were loved
by the Master of the Messengers, so how could we abstain from them?” Ibn
`Uyayna says something to the same effect.
The most ascetic of the
Companions had a lot of wives and slave-girls and had much sexual intercourse
with them. More than one of them disliked the idea of meeting Allah unmarried.
It might be asked, “How can
it be that marriage has so many virtues when Allah praised Yahya, son of
Zakariyya, for being chaste? How could Allah praise him for not doing
something considered to be a virtue? Furthermore, `Isa ibn Maryam remained
celibate. If things were as you claim, would he not have married?”
The answer is this. It is
clear that Allah did praise Yahya for being chaste. It was not as someone has
said, that he was timid or without masculinity. Astute commentators and
critical scholars reject this assertion, saying that it would imply an
imperfection and a fault that is not fitting for one of the prophets. It means
that he was protected from wrong actions, i.e. it was as if he were kept from them.
Some say that he was from all his bodily appetites, and some say he did not
have any desire for women.
It is clear from this that
the lack of the ability to marry is an imperfection. Virtue lies in its taking
place. Therefore the absence of it can only be through the existence of a
counter virtue, either striving as in the case of `Isa, or by having
sufficiency from Allah as Yahya did, since marriage frequently distracts from
Allah and brings a person down into this world.
Someone able to marry and
carry out the obligations incurred by marriage without being distracted from
his Lord has a lofty degree. Such is the degree of our Prophet, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace. Having many wives did not distract him from
worshipping his Lord. Indeed, it increased him in worship in that he protected
his wives, gave them their rights, earned for them and guided them. He clearly
stated that such things were not part of the portion of his earthly life but
that they are the part of the portion the the earthly life of others.
He said, “He made me love in this world of yours, women and
scent, and the coolness of my eye (i.e. my delight) is in the prayer,” [4] and
then he indicated that his love for women and scent are worldly things for
other people whereas his occupation with them was not for his worldly life, but
for the life of the Next World because of otherworldly benefits of marriage
already mentioned and his desire to come out to the angels wearing scent. Scent
also encourages intercourse, assists it and stimulates it. He loved these two
qualities for the sake of others and for the restraint of his appetite. His
true love, particular to him, lay in witnessing the Jabarut of his Lord and intimate conversation
with Him. That is why he made a distinction between the two loves and separated
the two conditions, saying: “and the delight of my eye is in the prayer.”
Yahya and `Isa were on the
same level regarding the trial of women. However, there is an extra virtue in
satisfying women’s needs. The Prophet was among those who have been given the
ability to do so and he was given it in abundance. This is why he was allowed a
greater number of wives than anyone else.
It is related from Anas,
“The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to visit his wives
in one hour of the day or night, and there were eleven of them.” [5]
Anas said, “We used to say
that he had been given the power of thirty men.” [6] Something similar was
related from Abu Rafi`. Tawus said, “The Prophet was given the power of forty
men in intercourse.” A similar statement came from Safwan ibn Sulaym.
Salama, the female client
of the Prophet, said, “The Prophet would go around in the night to nine of his
wives and then purify himself from each of them before going to the next. He
said, ‘This is better and purer.’” [7]
The Prophet Sulayman said,
[8] “I went around in the night to a hundred or ninety-nine women.” So he had
that capacity as well. Ibn `Abbas said, “There was the semen of a hundred men
in the loins of Sulayman, and he had three hundred wives and three hundred
slave-girls.” An-Naqqash and others related that he had seven hundred wives and
three hundred slave-girls.
While the Prophet Da’ud was
being ascetic and eating from the work of his own hands, he had ninety-nine
wives and he completed the hundred by marrying Uriya’. Allah mentions that in
His Mighty Book when He says, “This brother of ours had ninety-nine ewes.”
(38:23)
In the hadith of Anas, the
Prophet said, “I have been preferred over people in four things: generosity,
courage, much intercourse and great power.” [9]
As for rank, it is normally
praised by intelligent men. There is esteem in the hearts according to rank.
When He described `Isa, Allah said, “He is noble in this world and the Next.”
(2:45)
However, it is also the cause of much misfortune and is harmful
for some people in relation to the Next World. That is why people have censured
it and praised its opposite. The Shari`ah also praises obscurity and censures
exaltedness in the earth.
The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, possessed
modesty, position in the hearts of men and their esteem both before his
prophethood, during the Jahiliyya,
and after it. Then they rejected him, injured him, injured his Companions and
tried to harm him secretly. But whenever he encountered them face to face, they
showed him respect and gave him what he needed. The traditions about this are
well-known and we will give some of them.
Anyone who had not seen the
Prophet before would become perplexed and terrified when he saw him. This was
related about Qayla. When she saw the Prophet she trembled with terror. He
said, “Poor girl, you must be calm.” [10]
In the hadith of Abu
Mas`ud, it tells of a man who stood before the Prophet and trembled. He said to
him, “Relax, I am not a king.” [11]
As for his inestimable
worth by reason of his being a Prophet, the honour of his position by being a
Messenger, his exalted rank being chosen by Allah and his honour in this world.
It is as great as it is possible to be. And in the Next World, he will be the
master of the Children of Adam. [12] The implication to be drawn from this
section forms the basis of this entire chapter.
___________________________________________
[1] al-Bukhari.
[2] Ibn Mardawayh in his Tafsir from ibn `Umar, marfu` with a weak
isnad. at-Tabarani also has something similar in al-Awsat.
[3] at-Tabarani, and Muslim
and al-Bukhari.
[4] al-Hakim and an-Nasa’i.
[5] al-Bukhari and
an-Nasa’i
[6] an-Nasa’i related that.
It is also in al-Bukhari.
[7] Sound hadith related by Abu Dawud.
[8] Ibid.
[9] at-Tabarani.
[10] In ash-Shama’il of at-Tirmidhi and the Sunan of Abu Dawud. Ibn Sa`d transmitted it.
[11] Mursal
hadith from Qays in
al-Bayhaqi. al-Hakim has it and says it is sound.
[12] As in the hadith of al-Bukhari.
(Qadi `Iyad ibn Musa al-Yahusubi, Kitab ash-Shifa’ bi-ta`rif
huquq Mustafa ,translated by Aisha Abdarrahman
Bewley and published by Madinah Press, asMuhammad Messenger of Allah,
Ash-Shifa of Qadi `Iyad. p.46-49)
