Surah al-Ahzab (The Confederates) 33 : 37

Overview (Verses 37 - 40)

Zaynab’s Marriage
 
The sūrah then refers to the Prophet’s marriage to Zaynab bint Jaĥsh and the rulings and directives that preceded or followed it:
 
You did say to the one to whom God had shown favour and you had shown favour, ‘Hold on to your wife and have fear of God.’ And thus you would hide in your heart that which God wanted to bring to light. You stood in awe of people, whereas it was God alone of whom you should have stood in awe. Then, when Zayd had come to the end of his union with her, We gave her to you in marriage, so that no blame should attach to the believers for marrying the spouses of their adopted sons when the latter have come to the end of their union with them. God’s will must be fulfilled. No blame whatsoever attaches to the Prophet for doing what God has ordained for him. Such was God’s way with those who went before him. God’s will is always destiny absolute. Those are the ones who convey God’s messages and stand in awe of Him, and hold none but God in awe. Sufficient is God to reckon all things. Muĥammad is not the father of any one of your men, but is God’s Messenger and the seal of all prophets. God has indeed fill knowledge of everything. (Verses 37-40)
 
Clear orders were given early in the sūrah prohibiting adoption and requiring that adopted children be called by their own fathers’ names, returning family relations to their normal structure: “He does not make your adopted sons truly your sons. These are only words you utter with your mouths, but God says the truth and He alone shows the right path. Call them by their fathers’ names; that is more just in God’s sight. If do not know who their fathers are, then treat them as your brethren in faith and your proteges. You shall not be blamed if you make a mistake, but for what your hearts intend. God is indeed Much- Forgiving, Merciful.” (Verses 4-5) However, adoption had its effects in the practical life of the Arabian society, and the annulment of these practical effects was not going to be as easy as the prohibition of adoption. Social traditions have a strong hold on people. Hence why practical examples are needed to serve as precedents. Initially too such precedents meet with a hostile reception.
 
We have already stated that the Prophet married his formerly adopted son, Zayd ibn Ĥārithah, who used to be called Zayd ibn Muĥammad, to Zaynab bint Jaĥsh, whose mother was the Prophet’s own paternal aunt. The Prophet wanted to achieve through this marriage the removal of class distinctions as also implementation of the Qur’ānic principle: “Truly, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most genuinely God-fearing.” (49: 13) He wanted to give this new Islamic value practical endorsement.
 
God’s will then dictated that the Prophet should undertake the annulment of the effects of adoption himself, by marrying Zayd’s divorcee. He was to confront society with this action, which no man could undertake despite the earlier prohibition against adoption. Therefore, God informed His Messenger that Zayd would be divorcing Zaynab and that he would marry her, and all to fulfil God’s purpose. By this time, relations between Zayd and Zaynab were troubled, the parties themselves aware that their marriage would not last long.
 
Time after time, Zayd complained to the Prophet that his life with Zaynab was not a happy one, saying that he could not carry on with her. Brave as he was in clearly and unhesitatingly confronting his people in matters of faith, the Prophet felt that the burden of Zaynab’s situation was too heavy for him to carry. He was uneasy about confronting people with the practical destruction of their old adoption tradition. Zayd was also very close to the Prophet. Therefore, he said to Zayd: “Hold on to your wife and have fear of God.” (Verse 37) In so doing, he was delaying this serious challenge to social norms: “And thus you would hide in your heart that which God wanted to bring to light. You stood in awe of people, whereas it was God alone of whom you should have stood in awe.” (Verse 37) The Prophet knew that God would eventually bring it all to light, just as he knew through God’s inspiration that it would take place. It was, thus, not a clear order from God. Had it been so, he would not have hesitated, not delayed for a moment. He would have declared it on the spot no matter what consequences he might have expected. Instead, it was simply an inspiration countered by the outcome he feared would take place. He thus waited until it was God’s will for it to happen, for Zayd to divorce Zaynab with neither of them paying any thought o what would happen next. The prevailing tradition considered Zaynab as divorced by Muĥammad’s son, and as such she was permanently unlawful for Muĥammad to marry. Up to this point, marriage between a man and the divorcee of his former adopted son was still unlawful. Changes to this rule had to wait until the Prophet’s marriage to Zaynab, so that it could be practically established, despite people’s reluctance.
 
These facts refute all contrary reports upheld by people hostile to Islam, in the past as well as in the present, and who have fabricated all sorts of legends around the situation.
 
The whole thing was exactly as God said: “When Zayd had come to the end of his union with her, We gave her to you in marriage, so that no blame should attach to the believers for marrying the spouses of their adopted sons when the latter have come to the end of their union with them.” (Verse 37) This was, then, one of the heavy burdens the Prophet had o bear in connection with his message. Extremely uneasy, he had to face society with it. Indeed he was reluctant to so confront people, even though he had no hesitation whatsoever in confronting them with the essence of faith based on God’s oneness, or with his denunciation of false deities and alleged partners with God, or with criticizing their forefathers.
 
“God’s will must be fulfilled.” (Verse 37) It cannot be overturned. It just comes about and nothing can stop it. Therefore, the Prophet’s marriage to Zaynab took place after she had completed her waiting period. He then sent Zayd, her former husband and the person he loved most, to carry his proposal o her.
 
Anas reports: “When Zaynab finished her waiting period, the Prophet said o Zayd ibn Ĥārithah: ‘Go and propose to her on my behalf.’ He went to her home and saw her making her dough. He said: When I saw her I was in so much awe that I could not look at her, and say that God’s Messenger wished to marry her. Therefore, I turned my back on her and, looking away, I said: Zaynab! I have happy news for you. God’s Messenger has sent me to propose to you.’ She said: ‘I will do nothing until I have consulted my Lord.’ She then went to pray. The Qur’ānic verse was revealed, and the Prophet came and entered her home without knocking.” [Related by Muslim, Aĥmad and al-Nasā’ī.] Al-Bukhārī relates on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik that “Zaynab used to take pride among the Prophet’s other wives, saying to them: ‘It was your families that gave you in marriage while it was God Himself who, from over the seventh heaven, gave me in marriage.’“
 
To be expected, the matter did not pass easily. Rather, it came as a big surprise to the whole Muslim community, while the hypocrites were quick to circulate their allegations that the Prophet had ‘married his son’s wife’. The question, however, was that of establishing a new principle. Therefore, the Qur’ān emphasized this and removed its strange aspects: “No blame whatsoever attaches to the Prophet for doing what God has ordained for him.” (Verse 38) It was God who ordained that the Prophet should marry Zaynab and abolish the Arabian tradition that prohibited marriage to a former wife of an adopted son. Since God ordained this, no blame attaches to the Prophet. He was not the first prophet to find himself in such a position: “Such was God’s way with those who went before him.” (Verse 38) This, then, comes to pass in accordance with God’s consistent law which is not subject to people’s ideas which in any case lack sound basis. “God’s will is always destiny absolute.” It will always be done, unhindered by anything or anyone. It runs according to God’s wisdom to achieve the goal He sets out.
 
This rule also applied to earlier messengers: “Those are the ones who convey God’s messages and stand in awe of Him, and hold none but God in awe.” (Verse 39) When God commands them to do something, they are not swayed in some other direction by other people: indeed the latter are of no importance. They fear no one other than God who Charged them with the task of delivering His message and putting it into action: “Sufficient is God to reckon all things.” (Verse 39) It is He who holds them to account. They are accountable to no one else.
 
“Muĥammad is not the father of any one of your men.” (Verse 40) Zaynab was not his son’s wife, and Zayd was not his son; he was Ĥārithah’s son. Hence, when the matter is looked at from the angle of reality, it carries no blame whatsoever. Muĥammad was in the same relation o all Muslims, including Zayd ibn Ĥārithah: it is a relation between a prophet and his community. He is “God’s Messenger and the seal of all prophets.” (Verse 40) He thus puts in place God’s permanent law to be applied by all mankind for the rest of time. “God has indeed full knowledge of everything.” (Verse 40) He knows what suits humanity and sets its life on the best course. He has ordained that the Prophet act in accordance with His wisdom and knowledge. Furthermore, He has set in motion the laws and regulations that best serve people’s interests and bring them happiness.