Muhammad's Daughters

muhammad took care to marry his daughters to good husbands. he married zaynab, the eldest, to abu al `as ibn al rabi` ibn `abd shams, whose mother was khadijah's sister, and who was an upright and successful citizen. this marriage proved a happy one despite the separation of the two spouses following zaynab's emigration to madinah after islam; as we shall see later. he married ruqayyah and umm kulthum to `utbah and `utaybah, the sons of his uncle abu lahab. these marriages did not last, for soon after the advent of islam, abu lahab ordered his two sons to divorce their wives. it was `uthman that married both of them one after the other. fatimah, who was still a child, did not marry 'ali until after islam.

still, muhammad's life during these years was one of well being, peace, and security. were it not for the loss of his sons, it would have been a very happy one blessed with progeny and khadijah's constant love and loyalty. during this period it was natural for muhammad to allow his soul to wander, his mind and imagination to contemplate and to listen to the makkan dialogue concerning their religion, to jews and christians concerning theirs, as well as to the tatter's critique of makkan religion. he could afford to give these problems his time and energy and to concern himself with them far more than could his compatriots. endowed with such penetrating insight and prepared for conveying the divine message to mankind and ready for guiding their spiritual life to the true path, muhammad could not enjoy his peace and security while men sank in misguidance and untruth. it was necessary for such a soul as he had to seek the truth perennially and everywhere, for only by such seeking and soul searching would it receive that which god was about to reveal. despite this keen and noble obsession with the spiritual, this natural impulsion to religion, muhammad never sought to become a priest nor a wise counselor, such as waraqah ibn nawfal and others were, to whom men ran for advice. rather he sought first to convince himself of the truth, not to pass it on to others. consequently, he spent long intervals alone, completely absorbed in his thoughts and meditation, and hardly ever given to communicating his ideas to anyone.