Behavioral Styles of the Prophet (May God's Peace Be upon Him) with Women

This paper has analyzed the behavior of the Prophet (s) with women in historical reports, traditions, and the deeds of the Prophet (s) in order to ascertain the standards for determining his lifestyle. The need for this research lies in the necessity for establishing a model to prevent the Muslims from going to extremes in how they look at women. The goal is to introduce a beneficial model in this area for the realization of an Islamic lifestyle. This article assumes that many false reports and perceptions exist concerning the Prophet’s (s) life and marriages. Thus, it is imperative that a careful study be made in this topic without going into extremes in order to present a model of the Islamic lifestyle. Women have been studied in the following contexts: women in the words and traditions of the Prophet (s), examples of his kind behavior withwomen in general, and behavioral style of the Prophet (s) with young girls, wives, captive women, sinful women, and women suffering from tragedies. Furthermore, there is a review on the Prophet’s (s) behavior toward his wives at various occasions. The style of the Prophet’s (s) behavior with women has been defined based upon recognizing women’s special status, social position, and the public interest. It becomes clear that it is important to maintain the special dignity of women, pay attention to their roles as mothers and wives, and not to ignore their social, political, and military role in the prophetic community. In general the Prophet (s) had a loving and compassionate attitude towards women. In addition, he set priority for the execution of God’s laws over personal desires and tribal ways in dealing with sinful women.