Children of Muhammad

The Children of Muhammad include the 3 sons and 4 daughters born to the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.[1] All we're born to Muhammad's first wife Khadija bint Khuwaylid[2] except one son, who was born to Maria al-Qibtiyya.[3] His attitude and treatment towards his children, enshrined in the hadith, is viewed by Muslims as an exemplar to be imitated.[4][5]

All Muhammad's children, except Fatimah, predeceased him and it is through Fatimah that Muhammad's lineage continued in the form of the respected Sayyid (meaning lord or sir) and Sharif (meaning noble).[6]

The early deaths of Muhammad's sons has been viewed as being detrimental to the cause of those who advocated that succession should be based upon family inheritance from Muhammad.[7]

List of children

Muhammad's children were:

Controversy

There is much controversy between Sunni and Shia regarding how many daughters were born to Muhammad. While most Sunnis accept that he had four daughters, most Shia accept Fatimah as his only actual daughter.

See also

References

  1. Muḥammad Ḥusayn Haykal (1 May 1994). The Life of Muhammad (revised ed.). The Other Press. pp. 76–7. ISBN 9789839154177.
  2. Paul Gwynne (23 Dec 2013). Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad: A Comparative Study. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118465493. According to Sunni Islam, Khadija bore Muhammad four daughters (Zaynab, Ruqayya, Umm Kulthum and Fatima) and two sons ('Abdallah and Qasim).
  3. G. Smith, Bonnie, ed. (2008). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History: 4 Volume Set (illustrated ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 17. ISBN 9780195148909.
  4. Adnan Oktar. The Prophet Muhammad (saas). A9 GROUP. pp. 190–95.
  5. Yust, Karen-Marie, ed. (2006). Nurturing Child and Adolescent Spirituality: Perspectives from the World's Religious Traditions. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 72. ISBN 9780742544635.
  6. Morimoto, Kazuo, ed. (2012). Sayyids and Sharifs in Muslim Societies: The Living Links to the Prophet (illustrated ed.). Routledge. p. 2. ISBN 9780415519175.
  7. Noel Freedman, David; J. McClymond, Michael, eds. (2000). The Rivers of Paradise: Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, and Muhammad as Religious Founders. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 497. ISBN 9780802829573. Muhammad's lack of male offspring—which would continue with his later wives as well—was to have serious implications for the future of Islam. When controversy surged over the question of succession, there was no male heir to the Prophet. The Shi'ites, who were to claim that the succession belonged by right to the closest male relative, could do no better than to point to Muhammad's cousin Ali as their candidate—which did not carry the day for them. Had there been a son, things might have turned out rather differently.

Further reading

M.J. Kister. "THE SONS OF KHADIJA" (PDF). Retrieved 22 February 2015.