For Muslims in general the permitted maximum number of wives has been restricted to four. But, in the case of the Prophet Muhammad, this restriction was not applicable. By the special permission of Almighty God, he took more than four wives. The wisdom behind it was that the Prophet should experience no problem in the performance of his mission. ‘Restriction’ here refers to the problems encountered in the execution of the prophetic mission. In view of various missionary and reformative imperatives, the Prophet felt the need to marry more than four women. In view of these religious considerations, Almighty God did not apply the restriction of four wives in his case. For example, the advantage of the Prophet’s marriage to Umm Salmah and Umm-Habibah was that Khalid ibn Walid, the famed general, and Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, the influential leader no longer opposed him. And the wisdom in the Prophet’s marriage with ‘A’ishah was that a young and intelligent lady should be in his company permanently, so that after him she could teach religion to people for a long period. Accordingly, ‘A’ishah acted as a recorder of the Prophet’s thoughts, words and deeds, and for half a century after his demise, went on nobly serving the cause of Islam by promulgating his ideas.