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Women of Prophet Muhammad - Concubines

This category of consorts of the prophet forms a separate category, since these women were not actually given over in marriage with an 'aqd-nikaah and a mahr to the prophet, but were rather his personal property, "what the right hand possesses." That is to say, explicitly, that these were his sex slaves, also known as "concubines", were obliged to have sex with him. As such Muhammad availed himself of them sexually although they were not actually granted the status of his wives in Islamic law. Never-the-less, they are also considered "mother of the believers", and the prophet's conduct towards them constitutes a fundamental building block of Islamic law vis-à-vis sexual slavery.

Name Status Date Details Notable Early Sources
Rayhana bint Zayd ibn Amr Sexual slavery May 627. Her first husband was one of the 600-900 Qurayza men whom Muhammad beheaded in April 627. He enslaved all the women and selected Rayhana for himself because she was the most beautiful. When she refused to marry him, he kept her as a concubine instead. She died shortly before Muhammad in 632.
Mariyah bint Shamoon al-Qibtiya Sexual slavery c. June 629. She was one of several slaves whom the Governor of Egypt sent as a present to Muhammad. He kept her as a concubine despite the objections of his official wives, who feared her beauty. Mariyah bore Muhammad a son, Ibrahim.
Al-Jariya Sexual slavery After 627. She was a domestic slave belonging to Zaynab bint Jahsh, who made Muhammad a present of her. She seems to have been an "unofficial" concubine who did not have a regular turn on his roster.
Tukana al-Quraziya Sexual slavery Unknown, but probably in the last months of Muhammad's life. She was a member of the defeated Qurayza tribe whom Muhammad selected as one of his personal slaves. She appears to have been another "unofficial" concubine without a regular turn on the roster. After Muhammad's death, she married Abbas.

References

  • ↑ Guillaume/Ishaq 466.
  • ↑ Al-Tabari, Vol. 9, pp. 137, 141; Al-Tabari, Vol. 39, pp. 164-165.
  • ↑ Bewley/Saad 8:92-94, 153.
  • ↑ Guillaume/Ishaq 653.
  • ↑ Al-Tabari, Vol. 9, pp. 137, 141; Al-Tabari, Vol. 39, pp. 193-195.
  • ↑ Bewley/Saad 8:148-151.
  • ↑ Ibn al-Qayyim, Za’d al-Ma’ad 1:114.
  • ↑ Majlisi, Hayat al-Qulub 2:52.
  • ↑ Ibn al-Qayyim, Zaad al-Ma’ad 1:114.

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