Muhammad's wives or
Wives of Muhammad were the thirteen women married to the
Islamic prophet
Muhammad. Muslims refer to them as
Mothers of the Believers (
Arabic: أمهات المؤمنين
Ummahāt al-Muʾminīn). Muslims use the term prominently before or after referring to them as a sign of respect. The term is derived from :
Muhammad's life is traditionally delineated as two epochs:
pre-hijra (emigration) in
Mecca, a city in western
Arabia, from the year 570 to 622, and
post-hijra in
Medina, from 622 until his death in 632. All but two of his marriages were contracted after the
Hijra (migration to Medina).