The wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) were a source of education for his companions and their successors. People went to them on all occasions to ask about the Prophet’s practice in different areas. Since the Prophet’s action in any matter related to religion is a Sunnah, or a tradition to be followed, people who were keen to learn different ways of increasing their reward in the life to come realized that the best source of information was his wives who saw his practice at home.

Therefore, whoever needed to learn something in respect to the Prophet’s private practices, he went to one of his wives to inquire about it.

Anas ibn Malik reports: “Three men came to the Prophet’s homes inquiring from his wives about his worship at home. When they were told the details, they appeared to think that it was less than what is adequate. They said to each other: ‘Our position is far below that of the Prophet. He has been forgiven all his sins, past, present and future.’ One of them said: ‘I will pray all night every night for the rest of my life.’ The second said: ‘I will fast every day without fail.’ The third said: ‘As for me, I will never marry.’ The Prophet went to them and said: ‘Are you the ones who said so and so? By God, I am the most God-fearing person among you, yet I fast some days and do not fast on others, and I pray at night but I also sleep, and I do marry. Such is my tradition and anyone who does not follow my tradition does not belong to me.’” (Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.)

We note here that men went to the Prophet’s wives in his lifetime, inquiring about his voluntary worship. Ibn Hajar, who wrote a voluminous commentary on Al-Bukhari’s Sahih, or anthology of authentic Hadiths, says that “this Hadith shows that it is permissible to inquire about the practice of the best God-fearing people in order to follow what they do, and that it is perfectly in order to ask women about this if it is difficult to find it out through men.”

We are told in the Qur’an that following the Prophet’s practice in any matter pertaining to religion is strongly recommended and earns reward from God. Alqamah, a scholar of the Tabieen generation, reports: “I said to Lady Ayesha: ‘Mother of the believers! Tell me about the Prophet’s practice and whether he singled out certain days for particular voluntary worship.’ She said: ‘No. He used to offer his voluntary worship all the time. Who of you can do what the Prophet used to do?’” (Related by Muslim.)

Another Hadith that shows how Muslims always aimed to learn from the Prophet’s wives mentions that Ibn Abbas, Al-Musawwir ibn Makhramah and Abd Al-Rahman ibn Azhar, all companions of the Prophet, sent Kurayb to Ayesha telling him to extend greetings to her on their behalf and ask her about offering two rakahs of voluntary prayer after the obligatory Asr prayer. They told him to say to her: “We have been told that you offer them and we have learned that the Prophet ordered them not to be offered.” Ibn Abbas says: “I used to be with Umar ibn Al-Khattab telling people not to offer them.”

Kurayb said: “I went to Ayesha and asked her the question they sent me with. She said: ‘Go and ask Lady Umm Salamah.’ I went back to them and reported what she said. They sent me again to Umm Salamah with the same question. Umm Salamah said to me: ‘I heard the Prophet ordering people not to offer such prayer, but on a later occasion I saw him offering them after he prayed the obligatory prayer of Asr. This was when he came into my home as I had visitors from the Haraam clan of the Ansar. I sent the maid to him telling her: ‘Stand by his side and say: Umm Salamah told me to ask you, Messenger of God, about these two rakahs you are offering, as she heard you telling people not to offer them. Should he signal to you with his hand, then stand back.’ The maid did as she was told, and the Prophet signaled with his hand when she finished.

Therefore, the maid stepped back. When he finished his prayer, he said to me: ‘You have asked about these two rakahs offered after Asr. I received a delegation from the Abd Al-Qays clan and I was preoccupied with them so I could not offer the two rakahs after Zuhr. These two are in place of those I missed.’” (Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.)

We conclude our discussion about how the Prophet’s wives always remained interactive with the rest of the Muslim community despite having to be always behind a screen when men attended them. We cite a Hadith here that gives a more detailed picture of how people really kept contact with them. Aisha bint Talhah reports: “I used to be at Ayesha’s home as she raised me and I was in her care. People used to contact me from all areas. Older men used to come to me because of my relation with her, and younger men used to consider me as a sister, giving me gifts and sending me letters from every province. I would say to Ayesha: ‘Aunt! This letter has been sent by this man, and this is his gift.’ She would say to me: ‘Daughter! Answer him and send him a gift in return. If you do not have something to send him, I will give you.’ She would give me something to send.” (Related by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad.)