Untold: A History of the Wives of Prophet Muhammad

by Tamam Kahn

"Finally, we get to meet the first women of Islam. Thank you for this brave book." –Coleman Barks, author of Essential Rumi, and other books on the great Persian Language poet

"Brilliant and illuminating . . . awesome in the depth of its research, the grace of its prose, and the beauty of its poetic voices." Alicia Ostriker, author, poet, and Professor Emerita of English at Rutgers University

"Poet, historian and mystic, Tamam Kahn captures the voices and hearts of women you will never forget. I would gladly sit at these women's feet night after night to hear their stories. " -Elizabeth Cunningham, author of The Maeve Chronicles

Untold demystifies the most influential women at the dawn of Islam: Prophet Muhammad's wives. They are presented in all their variety, among them, Khadija, a successful merchant and his only wife for twenty-five years; Umm Salama, who helped forge an important peace treaty; Rayhana and Safiyya, two Jewish captives; and there are others. This unusual book combines short biographies with meticulous research. The reader enters seventh century Arab culture and the first moments of what came to be a new religion. This book is powerful women's storytelling.

Genres: Islam, Nonfiction, Religion, History, Biography

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 2010

Reviews

[Dear Azyza · Rating 3 out of 5]

It offers a stable foundation to use as a spring board to further ones research into the lives of the Wives of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. A little caution: author is not impartial in their portrayal of the stories and sees through a non-Islamic lense.

[Adisatrio Ramadhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

great stories

[megha · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was enlightening to see the prophet’s wives be humanized and down to earth not just idealized

[Alvi Harahap · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tidak banyak buku yang membahas istri-istri Nabi Muhammad SAW, dan buku ini pun membaca peluang itu dengan menyajikan kehidupan istri-istri beliau dari Khadijah hingga Maimunah yang merupakan istri terakhir Nabi Muhammad, beserta dinamika rumah tangga Rasulullah karena walaupun Muhammad adalah seorang Nabi, namun Muhammad juga adalah seorang manusia biasa, seorang suami yang kebetulan memiliki banyak istri.

Apabila mencari jawaban mengapa ATAU apa alasan Muhammad ber-Poligami? maka buku ini tidak secara tersurat menjawabnya. Tetapi dari membaca kisah rumah tangga Beliau dengan para istri-istri secara satu persatu, mudah-mudahan pertanyaan Poligami ini sendirinya dapat terjawab:)

Walaupun apabila nanti tidak terjawab, tetapi dari buku ini kita bisa tahu beberapa istri Beliau yang tidak popular seperti Mariya, istri Nabi yang berasal dari Mesir ataupun Asma, istri yang dicerai-kan oleh Nabi Muhammad, atau Aisyah loh yang ternyata secara tidak langsung mencetuskan 'perang urat-syaraf' antara kaum Suni dan Syiah.

[Tamam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marcia Z. Nelson, Religion Review Editor of Publisher's Weekly, calls UNTOLD "very distinctive."


I used UNTOLD in my "Women in Muslim Cultures" course and the students found it meaningful, moving, and powerful in bringing the lives and legacies of the wives to life. Tamam definitely brings readers inside the life of the Prophet and his wives in a unique and intimate way. Tamam has crafted a caring and careful set of portraits of these important women of early Islamic history. She has consulted numerous original and secondary sources to glean from them the essence of their lives to create a reading experience that is moving and insightful, both scholarly and personal. Highly recommended.
review by H. TALAT HALMAN, PH.D.
H. Talat Halman is Assistant Professor of Religion at Central Michigan University where he teaches courses in Islamic Studies and World Religions.

[W.B. Abdullah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enlightening and inspiring read...I encountered the women around the Prophet (pbuh) like I've never encountered them before...I learned so much about the personalities of these women from Tamam Kahn's reimaginings of their characters based on hadiths and historical references. Poetic, biographic, academic, and an easy-read, I'd recommend Untold to anyone desiring to meet and hold a conversation with the Mothers of the Faithful. It's also a great starting point for beginning research into their lives, as Tamam Kahn has a very extensive appendix of her notes and research into their lives.

[Rumaizah Bakar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Untold is really engaging, features fun but well-researched tales of the Prophet's wives, it brings the characters to life. For the first time, I could imagine each wife as a unique individual and remember them. It also portrays all of them as strong brilliant women with different personalities & talents, but not without humanly weaknesses, and gives high credit to the man who dared marry all of them, at the same time. It defies the common notion that Muslim women should just passively accept whatever comes their way.

[Leigh]

I'm just getting started. This isn't normally a genre I'd read but last week I was introduced to Tamam, who gave several books to the friend who introduced us and my friend offered one to me. To my surprise when I looked through I felt intrigued. Like someone else who commented, I'm not in love with reading poetry though I understand that she's using a traditional format. Unlike the other person, so far I haven't found that it makes a lot of difference to my reading if I skip the poetry. I'll update when I finish.

[Baca Buku Islam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Secara garis besar, sejarah singkat tentang para Ibunda Kaum Muslimin ini berisikan asal usul mereka dan penjelasan alasan Rasulullah menikahi mereka. Sebagian besar pernikahan didasari oleh alasan politik untuk mempersatukan wilayah atau bani/kelompok tertentu. Beberapa bagian dan kisah menarik untuk dicermati seperti istri-istri Rasulullah yang berasal dari kaum Yahudi dan pendapat-pendapat dari penulis terkait ketidakjelasan sejarah beberapa istri Rasulullah saw.

Selengkapnya di Yuk Baca Buku Islam

[Emily Osborne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a great idea, but the poetry threw me off. I knew that poetry was part of the book, but I hadn't realized that the author would use poetry to explain part of the story. I didn't care for it. It seemed overly dramatic and theatrical. Additionally, if you tried to skip the poetry, you might realize you missed part of the story.
Aside from the poetry it was pretty interesting though, and there aren't too many books on the subject.

[Nur Islah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dari buku ini saya jadi tahu kalau Asma dipulangkan ke keluarganya karena mengatakan kalimat yang merujuk ke perceraian kepada Nabi Muhammad. Padahal kalimat itu disarankan oleh Aisyah dan Hafsah yang cemburu pada istri baru cantik itu.

Kisah ditulis selang seling : cerita - puisi- cerita -puisi

Kalo saya mungkin lebih menikmati seandainya tidak pakai puisi.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was certainly an illuminating and fascinating read. At times, however, the book was difficult to read due to the way certain sentences were phrased. I initially attributed this to the poetic nature of the text, but I think the text could use some extra editing.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book on a faith love and true commitment. I recommend it to any women of any faith.

[Sinta Nisfuanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ulasan lengkap di Untold Stories

[Dr Zorlak · Rating 1 out of 5]

Insufferable pieties thinly and ineffectively disguised as research. Very disappointing.