Children of Muhammad

In chronological order, most Sunni sources list Muhammad's children as

• Qasim (598 – 601)
• Zainab (599 – 629)
• Ruqayyah (601 – 624)
• Umm Kulthum (603 – 630)
• Fatima (605 – 632[8])
• Abd Allah (611 – 615)
• Ibrahim (630 – 632)

A number of Shia sources argue that Zainab, Ruqayyah, and Umm Kulthum were adopted by Muhammad after the death of their mother, Hala, a sister of Khadija.[4][9] According to Abbas, most Shia Muslims hold that Fatima was Muhammad's only biological daughter,[4] whereas Fedele limits this belief to Twelver Shi'ism.[9] Hyder reports that this belief is prevalent among the Shias of South Asia.[5]

Muhammad's sons all died in childhood.[10][7] Their early deaths, according to Freedman and McClymond, was detrimental to a hereditary-based system of succession to Muhammad.[7] Alternatively, after the past prophets, writes Madelung, their descendants became the spiritual and material heirs to them in the Quran, a matter that is settled therein by divine selection and not by the faithful.[11][12]

Muhammad's daughters reached adulthood but they all died relatively young.[7] Fatima married Ali ibn Abi Talib, Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum married Uthman one after another, and Zainab married Abu al-As ibn al-Rabi. Umm Kulthum remained childless whereas Ruqayya gave birth to a boy Abd Allah, who died at the age of six.[13][14] Zaynab gave birth to a son Ali and a daughter Umama, whom Ali ibn Abi Talib married after Fatima's death.[15] Fatima gave birth to two boys, Hasan and Husayn, and it is through her that Muhammad's progeny has spread throughout the Muslim world.[16] The descendants of Fatima are given the honorific titles sayyid (lit. 'lord, sir') or sharif (lit. 'noble'), and are respected in the Muslim community.[17][9][18]

Muhammad's attitude and treatment towards his children, enshrined in hadith literature, is viewed by Muslims as an exemplar to be imitated.[19] However, critics have noted favoritism towards his daughter Fatima in refusing her husband Ali’s pursuit of a second wife, despite the Islamic legality of polygyny.[20] While there is evidence that Fatima was the favorite daughter,[21][22][9] Sunni traditions that place Ali in a negative light should be treated with caution as they mirror the political agenda of the time, according to Buehler.[16] In this case, it appears that the three versions of this tradition can all be traced back to al-Miswar ibn Makhrama, a companion who was nine when Muhammad died.[23] Reflecting the Shia view, Abbas praises the couple for their love and loyalty.[24]

• Muhammad's wives
• Companions of the Prophet
• Islam and children
• Sayyid

• Abbas, Hassan (2021). The Prophet's Heir: The Life of Ali ibn Abi Talib. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300252057.
• Madelung, Wilferd (1997). The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-64696-0.
• Jafri, S.H.M (1979). Origins and Early Development of Shia Islam. London: Longman.
• Hazleton, Lesley (2013). The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad. Atlantic Books Ltd. ISBN 9781782392316.
• Buehler, Arthur F. (2014). "FATIMA (d. 632)". In Fitzpatrick, Coeli; Walker, Adam Hani (eds.). Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopaedia of the Prophet of God. ABC-CLIO. pp. 182–7. ISBN 9781610691772.
• Fedele, Valentina (2018). "FATIMA (605/15-632 CE)". In de-Gaia, Susan (ed.). Encyclopedia of Women in World Religions. ABC-CLIO. p. 56. ISBN 9781440848506.
• Khetia, Vinay (2013). Fatima as a Motif of Contention and Suffering in Islamic Sources (Thesis). Concordia University.
• Haykal, Muḥammad Ḥusayn (1933). al-Fārūqī, Ismaʻīl Rājī (ed.). The Life of Muhammad (1994 revision of 1976 English translation ed.). Islamic Book Trust. pp. 76, 77. ISBN 9789839154177.
• Gwynne, Paul (2013). Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad: A Comparative Study. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118465493.
• Smith, Bonnie G., ed. (2008). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History: 4 Volume Set. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195148909.
• Freedman, David Noel; McClymond, Michael (2000). The Rivers of Paradise: Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, and Muhammad as Religious Founders. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 9780802829573.
• Yust, Karen-Marie, ed. (2006). Nurturing Child and Adolescent Spirituality: Perspectives from the World's Religious Traditions. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780742544635.
• Morimoto, Kazuo, ed. (2012). Sayyids and Sharifs in Muslim societies: The living links to the prophet (Illustrated ed.). Routledge. ISBN 9780415519175.
• Hughes, Thomas Patrick (1885). Dictionary of Islam. W. H. Allen.
• Ibn Warraq (2000). The Quest for the Historical Muhammad. Prometheus Books. ISBN 9781573927871.
• Q. Ahmed, Asad (2011). The Religious Elite of the Early Islamic Ḥijāz: Five Prosopographical Case Studies (Illustrated ed.). Occasional Publications UPR. ISBN 978-1900934138. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
• Haylamaz, Resit (2007). Khadija: The First Muslim and the Wife of the Prophet Muhammad. Tughra Books. ISBN 9781597841214.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Akbar, Syed (2006). Reliving Karbala : Martyrdom in South Asian Memory: Martyrdom in South Asian Memory. United States: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199706624.
• Soufi, Denise Louise (1997). The Image of Fatima in Classical Muslim Thought (PhD thesis). Princeton University. ProQuest 304390529.

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