The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 312
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 312 Bakr; and ‘Uthmān shall receive a better wife than Ḥafṣah. ” 1 The Holy Prophet sa said this because he had already intended to marry Ḥafṣah ra and to give his own daughter Ummi Kulthūm ra to Ḥaḍrat ‘Uthmān ra in marriage. Both Ḥaḍrat ‘Uthmān ra and Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr ra were aware of this and this is why they turned down the proposal of Ḥaḍrat ‘Umar ra. Some time thereafter, the Holy Prophet sa married his daughter Ummi Kulthūm ra to Ḥaḍrat ‘Uthmān ra , and this has already been mentioned above. Following this, the Holy Prophet sa sent a proposal himself to Ḥaḍrat ‘Umar ra for Ḥafṣah ra. What more could Ḥaḍrat ‘Umar ra have asked for? He very happily accepted this proposal. 2 In Sha‘bān 3 A. H. , Ḥaḍrat Ḥafṣah ra was married to the Holy Prophet sa and became a part of his household. 3 When this marriage had taken place, Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr ra said to Ḥaḍrat ‘Umar ra “Perhaps your heart has been saddened on my account. The fact is, that I was already aware of the intention of the Holy Prophet sa , but I could not reveal his secret without permission. Of course, if the Holy Prophet sa had not intended so, I would have most gladly married Ḥafṣah. ” 4 One special wisdom in marrying Ḥafṣah ra was that she was the daughter of Ḥaḍrat ‘Umar ra , who one could say was considered to be the most eminent Companion after Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr ra , and he was from among the most intimate friends of the Holy Prophet sa. Hence, in order to further strengthen mutual relations and to compensate the grief of Ḥaḍrat ‘Umar ra and Ḥafṣah ra , which they had sustained by the untimely demise of Khanīs bin Ḥudhāfah ra , the Holy Prophet sa deemed it appropriate to marry Ḥafṣah ra himself. Another general wisdom under consideration was that if the Holy Prophet sa had a greater number of wives, the tasks of preaching and propagation, as well as education and training, could be performed on a much wider scale with greater ease, and in a more excellent manner among the women - who constitute half, if not, more than half of the world’s population in some respects. 1 Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 4, p. 394, Ḥafṣah Ummul-Mu’minīn, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) 2 Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābun-Nikāḥ, Bābu ‘Arḍil-Insānibnatahu. . . . . , Ḥadīth No. 5122 3 Tārīkhur-Rusuli Wal-Mulūk (Tārīkhuṭ-Ṭabarī), By Abū Ja‘far Muḥammad bin Jarīr Aṭ-Ṭabarī, Volume 3, p. 61, Thumma Dakhalatis-Sanatuth-Thālithatu Minal-Hijrah / Maqtalu Abī Rāfi‘ Al-Yahūdiyyi, Dārul-Fikr, Beirut, Lebanon, Second Edition (2002) 4 Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābun-Nikāḥ, Bābu ‘Arḍil-Insānibnatahu. . . . . , Ḥadīth No. 5122