Why is the private life of the Prophet (PBUH) mentioned in the Quran?

- Why is the private life of the prophet mentioned in the Quran instead of, for instance, the description of prayer in detail?
- What is the wisdom behind the private life of the prophet being mentioned in the Quran?

Dear Brother / Sister,

By marrying women with different characteristics and traits, the Prophet (pbuh) set an example in terms of guiding all humanity in similar events that will take place until the Day of Judgment. In addition, since each wife had different aspects, guidance was presented to all humanity in different ways.

Half of human life is private; half of the people are women. Women with different characteristics were definitely necessary for this private life to be led in accordance with the sunnah and for half of humanity to live in accordance with the sunnah.

That is the most important wisdom behind the Prophet’s marrying many women.

Our Lord started to convey the religion of Islam with Adam, the first human and the first prophet, and based on His wisdom, He either sent books with prophets or ordered prophets to convey the message with the previous books.

When humanity evolved at a certain point, He sent Muhammad (pbuh) and gave him the Quran as a book whose shari’ah and decrees will not change until the Day of Judgment.

A book without a teacher or a teacher without a book is unthinkable; similarly, a prophet without a book or a book without a prophet is also unthinkable.

The fact that all of the prophets are human and have human characteristics is very important in terms of being an example for humanity because in accordance with the secret of testing,

- For example, a prophet who is an angel will eliminate free will and force people to believe; so, there would be no difference between Abu Jahl and Abu Bakr.

- In addition, prophets who could be angels would not be “role models” for people.

The Quran was revealed gradually in 23 years and every verse of it was revealed based on an individual or social event. Thus, the Prophet (pbuh) was able to explain the meaning of the verse very clearly, and the Companions, who saw the event, understood it in the best way.

The verses that were sent down in this way in 23 years were explained by the Prophet (pbuh); the issue was understood very well by the Companions who experienced the event, and then it was transferred to the next generations through memorization and writing. Thus, the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh) formed.

In dozens of its verses, the Quran orders us to follow Allah, that is, the Quran, and the Prophet, that is, the Sunnah, and to take the Prophet as a role model.

Therefore, the Quran gives examples from the life of our Prophet from time to time and points out that we should learn what he did, what he said, and his biography.

On the other hand, the wives of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) also played a very important role in this issue.

We learn almost all of the issues that interest women from the wives of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), that is, from the mothers of the ummah.

In the face of the events that occurred, the wives of the Companions applied to the wives of the Prophet (pbuh) and they asked them about the issues that they were afraid to ask the Prophet (pbuh) directly, probably about private issues; thus, they resolved the issues.

The mothers of the ummah mainly conveyed the ummah the issues related to women but they also played an important role in conveying the explanations of many issues of Islam and belief to us.

- One of the most important reasons why prayer and some other deeds of worship are not given in detail in the Quran is to show that the duty of the Prophet (pbuh) is not only to convey the message but also to explain it.  

 “…We have sent down unto thee (also) the Message; that thou mayest explain clearly to men what is sent for them, and that they may give thought.” (an-Nahl, 16/44) This duty of explaining is indicated in the verse above.

- Thus, that the details of some issues, especially the deeds of worship, are not given in the Quran is an important lesson for some ignorant people who want to exclude the Prophet (pbuh).

Let those who regard the Prophet (pbuh) only as the mailman of the revelation hear and understand it.

The second issue:

- First of all, we should state that the life of the Prophet (pbuh) mentioned in the Quran does not include so many details – unlike what is thought.    

The information given in the Quran about the life of the Prophet is very little compared to information about the lives of the other prophets mentioned in the Torah, the Gospel and the Quran.

- Secondly, some of the reasons for the information given about the private life of the Prophet (pbuh) can be explained as follows:

a) First of all, some sections from the private life of the Prophet (pbuh) aim to educate the Bedouins who had just come from the Era of Jahiliyya. For instance, verses 1-4 of the chapter of al-Hujurat and verse 53 of al-Ahzab can be considered among them.

b) The most important issue that is criticized the most by the opposers of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), who was accepted as being at the peak of all nice traits like chastity, honesty, virtue and reliability, is his marriage.   

It does not comply with the consciousness of belief to say that the Prophet (pbuh), who cannot be thought of doing anything without the permission of Allah, married without His permission.  

However, the hypocrites (munafiqs), who did not believe really but pretended to believe, tried to influence some new Muslims with the rumors they spread.

Therefore, those issues are mentioned in the Quran and their reasons are explained. (see al-Ahzab, 50-52)

Questions on Islam