Why did the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) get married more than once?

Question:

Why did the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) get married more than once?

Answer:

Prophet’s multiple marriages have their own wisdom and purpose ordained by God Almighty. In this he is no different than previous prophets such as Abraham, Moses, Ya’coob, David, etc., who all had more than one wife. It is wrong to judge them by the standards of our modern secular values and ideals.

If we approach the marriages of the Prophet, peace be upon, based on his mission in light of the milieu he was called upon to fulfil, it is not hard to discover that his marriages were never primarily motivated by sexual considerations. Rather, they had much higher purposes in the divine plan. These goals were mainly related to his mission of unifying Arabs, and also, not less importantly, intended to set standards for reforming intractable customs that had caused so much misery and destruction for humanity.

Arabs before the rise of Islam were a race who fought relentlessly for even the most trivial matters, and no one before the Prophet, peace be upon him, had ever succeeded in unifying them. The Prophet unified them; marriage proved to be one of the means of achieving this unity. Again, widow marriage was a curse in Arabia as well in other major parts of the world such as India. In most of these societies a widow was considered more like a pariah or curse for the entire family. Almost all of the women that the Prophet married were widows with one
exception.

A still important factor to consider: The most sexually active phase in anyone’s life before he reaches the age of fifty; we must remember that in this phase, the Prophet had only one wife, and that too a woman who was fifteen years senior to him. The Prophet married her when he was twenty five, when she was forty years. She dies at the age of sixty five. It was only after her death and especially in Madinah, after he had dedicated himself to task of building a nation, he married a number of women belonging different Arab clans, most of them widows. By marrying them he was setting a precedent to reverse the taboo of widow marriage. Secondly, he was paying back his due to some of the companions who had perished in battles leaving behind widows with children, just as he was also seeking to unify the Arab tribes. Such a function of marriage is inconceivable for us today.

Having said this, I must, however, further add: We need not apologize for the Islamic teachings concerning human sexuality: Unlike some religions which hold a very negative views of sexuality, Islam celebrates sexuality within the framework of marriage, and looks at it in a fairly positive light, and the Prophet of Islam, peace be upon him, best represents this ideal.

The question of Prophet’s multiple marriage should never pose a problem for the faithful when they heed the statement of Allah in the Qur’an concerning his marriages:
“(Hence) no blame whatever attaches to the Prophet for (having done) what God has ordained for him. (Indeed, such was) God’s way with those that have passed away afore-time- and remember that God’s will is
always destiny absolute!” (Al-Ahzab: 38).

Source: Islam.ca