The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 262
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 262. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Meaning, “O Messenger! Say unto your wives, if you desire the life of this world and its adornment, come then, I will provide for you, but in this case you cannot remain to be my wives, and I will send you away with benevolence and generosity. If, however, you desire God and His Messenger, and desire the reward of the hereafter, then remember that God has prepared a great reward for those of you who do good and fulfill the desire of God. . . . . . . O wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other women if you are righteous, and offer Prayer in its true essence, and offer Zakāt, and fully obey God and His Messenger (because God has selected you for a special purpose). O members of the Prophet’s Household! Allāh the Exalted desires to remove from you all of your weaknesses and shortcomings and purify you completely, so that you may convey the Signs of Allāh and words of wisdom to the people, which are disclosed to you in your houses through the Prophet. God the Exalted desires to fulfill this task through you because although He is unseen and hidden from the eyes of people due to His being most Subtle, He is also aware of the needs of people due to His being All-Aware. Hence, it is necessary that He fulfill the task of the guidance of mankind by means of people. ” 1 In this verse of the Holy Qur’ān, the second and greater purpose from among the specific reasons of the Holy Prophet sa for practicing polygamy has been mentioned. In other words, so that suitable ladies could live with the Holy Prophet sa as his wives and be prepared for the education and training of other Muslim women. This is the very distinct purpose for which the marriages of the Holy Prophet sa took place. Furthermore, every individual can understand that this purpose was such as was specific to the person of the Holy Prophet sa. It is for this reason that the Holy Prophet sa was exempt from the limitations generally placed on Muslims in the practice of polygamy. In actuality, since the Holy Prophet sa was a law-bearing Prophet and through him the foundation of a new law, and a new society and civilization was to be placed, it was not 1 Al-Aḥzāb (33:29-30, 33-35)