Muhammad
Muhammad's life is traditionally defined into two periods: pre-hijra (emigration) in Mecca (from 570 to 622), and post-hijra in Medina (from 622 until 632). Muhammad is said to have had thirteen wives in total (although two have ambiguous accounts, Rayhana bint Zayd and Maria al-Qibtiyya, as wife or concubine.) Eleven of the thirteen marriages occurred after the migration to Medina.
Women in pre-Islamic Arabia
According to Islamic history sources, the first wife of Muhammad, Khadija, was a prosperous business woman who proposed to Muhammad (as opposed to being proposed to). They additionally say the wife of his chief-rival, Abu Sufyan (Hind), was politically active and was present at the Battle of Badr including conflicting accounts of her personally defiling the body of one of Muhammad's uncles.