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The common view is that theIslamic prophetMuhammad had three sons, namedAbd Allah,Ibrahim, andQasim, and four daughters, namedFatima,Ruqayya,Umm Kulthum, andZaynab. Thechildren of Muhammad are said to have been born to his first wifeKhadija bint Khuwaylid, except his son Ibrahim, who was born toMaria al-Qibtiyya. None of Muhammad's sons reached adulthood, but he had an adult foster son,Zayd ibn Harithah. Daughters of Muhammad all reached adulthood but only Fatima outlived her father. Citing, among others, the reported advanced age of Khadija, someTwelver Shia sources contend that Fatima was the only biological daughter of Muhammad, as she is known to have enjoyed a closer relationship with Muhammad, compared to Ruqayya, Umm Kulthum, and Zaynab. That Fatima was the only biological daughter of Muhammad appears to be the mainstream view among TwelverShia Muslims.
In chronological order, mostSunni sources list the children of theIslamic prophetMuhammad as
The Sunni view is that they were all born to Muhammad's first wifeKhadija bint Khuwaylid, except Ibrahim, who was born toMaria al-Qibtiyya.[2]
It is improbable that the elderly Khadija could have given birth to so many children.[2] Some TwelverShia sources therefore contend thatRuqayya,Umm Kulthum, andZainab were adopted by Muhammad after the death of their mother Hala, who was Khadija's sister,[3][4] or that the three were daughters of Khadija from an earlier marriage.[5] Before successively marrying the earlyMuslimUthman ibn Affan, Ruqayya and Umm Kulthum were initially married to polytheists, something which Muhammad likely would have not permitted for his biological daughters, Shia authors argue.[5] They also cite the absence of historical evidence for a close relationship between Muhammad and Ruqayya, Zainab, or Umm Kulthum, unlike Fatima.[5] That Fatima was Muhammad's only biological daughter may indeed be the mainstream view in Shia Islam,[3] or at least inTwelver Shi'ism, the main branch of Shia Islam.[4] In particular, this belief seems to be prevalent among the Shias ofSouth Asia.[6]
Muhammad's sons all died in childhood,[7][8] although he also had an adult foster son,Zayd ibn Harithah.[9][8] Some have suggested that the early deaths of his sons were detrimental to a hereditary-based system of succession to Muhammad.[8] The alternative view is that the descendants of the past prophets become the spiritual and material heirs to them in theQuran, and that the succession to the past prophets is a matter settled by divine selection in the Quran and not by the faithful.[10][11]
Muhammad's daughters reached adulthood but they all died relatively young,[8] such that none outlived him except Fatima.[2]Fatima married Muhammad's cousinAli ibn Abi Talib. It is through her thatMuhammad's progeny has spread throughout theMuslim world.[1] The descendants of Fatima are given the honorific titlessayyid (lit. 'lord, sir') orsharif (lit. 'noble'), and are respected in the Muslim community.[1][4][12] Ruqayya and Umm Kulthum married Uthman ibn Affan one after another, and Zainab marriedAbu al-As ibn al-Rabi, anothercompanion of Muhammad. Umm Kulthum remained childless whereas Ruqayya gave birth to a boyAbd Allah, who died in childhood.[13][14] Zaynab gave birth to a son, namedAli, who also died in childhood, and a daughterUmama, whom Ali ibn Abi Talib married sometime after the death of Fatima in 632CE.[15] Muhammad's attitude and treatment towards his children, enshrined in thehadith literature, is viewed by Muslims as an exemplar to be imitated.[16]
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