Hadiths are sayings or actions of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) witnessed by Muslims who lived during his time. If counting only the sahih hadiths, which in the rigorous standards in the sciences of hadith are the most authentic ones, there are around 15,000 of them. Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim alone, which are two of the most well-known collections, have about 2,400 and 7,500 hadiths, respectively.

Thus, hadiths are sayings and actions witnessed by Prophet Muhammad’s family, friends, and other companions, those close to him and even those who just met him for a few hours or days. Nothing about his life was hidden. What he did publicly and what he did privately was and is known for everyone to see. One does not need to be a scholar to get access to these. How he was at home, how he ate, how he went to bed, and even how he used the bathroom, Muslims have recorded.

Now, I want to focus on one category of narrators in particular and that is his wives. The ones that know you the most are your spouses. Outside, you can look like a saint! You can go to a masjid, church, or synagogue, go to charity events and give thousands of dollars, give speeches and appear as an amazing person in front of everyone. However, behind closed doors, your true colors show. You can either be consistent and be that great person you are everywhere else, or you can be a hypocritical monster. And your spouse will know that! At home, there’s no hiding.

So how was Prophet Muhammad? As we know, on the outside, his followers loved him. However, his enemies too had no choice, but to at least appreciate and respect him based on his character. And what did his wives say about him? Well, the same exact thing! His wives absolutely loved him! They too praised his great character and, in addition, how great of a husband he was. In fact, there was a time where the wives were given a choice by God Himself to divorce him if they wanted to, but they all chose to stay. And years and years after he passed away, they continued to praise him. You’d expect at least one wife in her old age to be like, “Now that decades have passed and my time has come too, let me tell you how he REALLY was!” But there was nothing! I will conclude with one hadith:

“When ‘Aisha, one of the wives of the Prophet (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهَا) was asked, ‘O mother of the believers, tell me about the character of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.’ ‘Aisha said, ‘Have you not read the Qur’an?’ The person said, ‘Of course.’ ‘Aisha said, ‘Verily, the character of the Prophet of Allah was the Qur’an.’”

[Source: Ṣaḥiḥ Muslim 746]