May 28th, 2017

In the Islamic faith, Muhammed is considered to have been a prophet sent by God to teach the ways of a righteous life. Religion aside, Muhammed's personal life was a turbulent one. Born around 570 BC, his father died before he was born, and his mother when he was around 6. After this he moved between foster parents, eventually working as a merchant in his teens. At around 25 he was wed to a 40 year old widow named Khadija. Their marriage lasted 25 years, and although it was a happy one, they were saddened by the death of five of their six children (their two sons in childhood, and their three daughters as young adults). After Khadija's death in 619, Muhammed would go on to marry 10 other women. He also bore one other son, who also died in infancy. Muhammed's 10 later marriages were mainly politically motivated - forging inter-tribal relationships or agreeing to take widows into his care, both contractually assured through marriage. These 10 marriages were also to women much younger than Muhammed. One bride in specific, Aisha, was 6 at the time of marriage (Muhammed would have been roughly 52). They consummated the marriage when she was 9. Muhammed passed away on the 8$^{th}$ of June, 632.

Bonus:

After Muhammed's death disagreement erupted over who should succeed him in leading the Muslim world. As none of Muhammed's three sons had survived to adulthood, the logical successor was not clear. The father of Aisha, Abu-Bakr, who had been especially close with Muhammed, was nominated to be the first caliph (successor of Muhammed). This became a popular choice. However, Muhammed had left one living offspring: Fatimah. In life, Muhammed had also held Fatimah's husband, Ali, in high esteem. Ali was also Muhammed's cousin, and many insisted he should be the first caliph. To bolster this claim, it was said Muhammed had appointed Ali as his successor right before his death. This disagreement caused a major schism amongst Muslims, and resulted in the two branches of Islam that are still prevalent today: Sunni Islam, that consider Abu-Bakr the rightful successor; and Shia Islam, that supports Ali's claim.

Bonus 2:

Abu-Bakr was Muhammed's Father-in-Law through his daughter Aisha. However, because of Aisha and Muhammed's large age difference (roughly 46 years), Abu-Bakr was in fact approximately two years younger than his Son-in-Law.

-E