Did Hadrat Muhammad (SAW) marry any slave?

Question

He had intercourse with slave https://sunnah.com/nasai:3959 but did he marry any slave? Can you tell me names of his slave wives?

Answer 1

No.

A man can have lawful relations with a slave woman by the following means:

• Concubinage (تسري) rather than marriage. This can be done with a slave that he owns himself completely as ownership is inclusive of and greater than the rights granted by a marriage contract. The Prophet ﷺ did have concubines like Mariyah al-Qibtiyyah and Rayhaanah. The hadith you have linked to is about his concubine Mariyah. If you are asking about this instead of marriage then see: Did the Prophet (SAW) have a sex slave?

• Marriage with a slave woman after freeing her, in which case she no longer remains a slave. The Prophet ﷺ did have wives who were once captives\slaves before they were freed and then married, such as Juwayriyah bint al-Harith and Safiyyah bint Huyayy.

• Marriage to a woman while she remains a slave. The Prophet ﷺ did not have any slave wives.

The last one is because the Quran says the following about such a marriage:

ومن لم يستطع منكم طولا أن ينكح المحصنات المؤمنات فمن ما ملكت أيمانكم من فتياتكم المؤمنات والله أعلم بإيمانكم بعضكم من بعض فانكحوهن بإذن أهلهن وآتوهن أجورهن بالمعروف محصنات غير مسافحات ولا متخذات أخدان فإذا أحصن فإن أتين بفاحشة فعليهن نصف ما على المحصنات من العذاب ذلك لمن خشي العنت منكم وأن تصبروا خير لكم والله غفور رحيم

And whoever among you cannot [find] the means to marry free, believing women, then [he may marry] from those whom your right hands possess of believing slave girls. And Allah is most knowing about your faith. You [believers] are of one another. So marry them with the permission of their people and give them their due compensation according to what is acceptable. [They should be] chaste, neither [of] those who commit unlawful intercourse randomly nor those who take [secret] lovers. But once they are sheltered in marriage, if they should commit adultery, then for them is half the punishment for free [unmarried] women. This [allowance] is for him among you who fears sin, but to be patient is better for you. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.

^{— Quran 4:25}

This means that it is not permitted to marry a slave woman unless the following conditions are met:

• The person can not afford to marry a free woman. The Prophet ﷺ had free wives such as Sawdah, Aisha, Hafsa, Umm Habibah, Zaynab bint Jahsh etc. Further it was permitted for him to marry without mahr and consent so he could always afford to marry a free woman. So this condition was not fulfilled.
• The person fears committing fornication. The Prophet ﷺ was infallible and so did not risk committing adultery or any other sin and so this condition was not fulfilled.

So it was forbidden for him to marry slave women, and hence he did not ever marry any slave woman.

Ref:

وأما ما حرم عليه ... نكاح الأمة

The things that were forbidden to the Prophet ﷺ as his specialty include: ... marrying a slave woman

^{— Tafsir al-Qurtubi also see Kashshaaf al-Qinaa’ and Mawaahib al-Jaleel, and Asna al-Mataalib}