Why did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) marry Zaynab when Zayd was married to her

Why did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) marry Zaynab when Zayd was married to her?

Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) married Zaynab (Allah be pleased with her) after Zayd (Allah be pleased with him) divorced her.

Please read the following, by one of the foremost imams of Islam:

Qadi ‘Iyad on the Story of Zayd and Zaynâb

Qadî 'Iyad ibn Mûsa al-Yahsûbî

Translated by Aisha Bewley from Muhammad, Messenger of Allâh: Ash-Shifa of Qadi ‘Iyad, Madinah Press, Granada (1991), pp. 352-354

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If you asked what Allâh means in the story of Zayd ibn Haritha by His words,

"When you said to the one whom Allâh had blessed and you have blessed, 'Keep your wife' and you were concealing in yourself what Allâh should reveal, fearing other men; and Allâh has a better right for you to fear Him. When Zayd had accomplished what he would of her, then We gave her in marriage to you, so that there should not be any fault in the believers, concerning the wives of their adopted sons when they had accomplished what they would of them; and Allâh’s command must be performed." (Qur'ân, 33:37)

know without doubt that the Prophet(P) is innocent of the apparent meaning and he ordered Zayd to keep his wife when Zayd wanted to divorce her, as a group of commentators have mentioned.

The soundest version concerning this matter is in what the commentators have related from ‘Ali ibn Husayn. Allâh knew better than His Prophet that Zaynâb would be one of his wives. When Zayd complained about her to the Prophet(P), he told him, "Keep your wife and fear Allâh." He hid in himself what Allâh had intimated to him about his marriage to her but Allâh brought it into the open by bringing her marriage to an end through Zayd’s divorcing her.

‘Amr ibn Fâ'id said that Az-Zûhrî said that Jîbrîl came to the Prophet(P) to tell him that Allâh would make him marry Zaynâb bint Jahsh. That was what he concealed in himself. The commentators verify this by Allâh’s saying, "The command of Allâh must be performed", i.e. you must marry her. This makes it clear that the only thing Allâh revealed about the matter was that he was going to marry her. He indicated that what the Prophet(P) concealed was part of what Allâh had intimated to him.

Allâh continues in this story, "There is no fault in the Prophet in what Allâh has decreed for him." (33:37) He indicates that the Prophet(P) was in no way at fault in the matter. At-Tabârî said that Allâh would not say His Prophet(P) had acted wrongly by doing something He had made lawful for Messengers before him. Allâh then continues, "The sunna of Allâh with those who passed away before" (33:38) i.e. among the Prophets regarding what He had made lawful for them.

If it had been the way it is related in the hadîth of Qatâdâ, where it talks of what happened in the heart of the Prophet(P) when he admired her and wanted Zayd to divorce her, there would have been a great fault in it and which would not befit him. That would rather have been the action of someone who extends his eyes to what has been forbidden to him of the fruits of the life of this world.[1] Doing this would have been manifesting in respect of Zayd that same blameworthy envy referred to in the ayah alluded to above, which is not pleasing to Allâh and to which no godfearing person is prone. How then could that be the case with the Master of the Prophets?

Al-Qûshayrî said that saying such a thing is a great audacity on the part of the one who says it and a lack of recognition of what is due to the Prophet(P) and of his supreme excellence. How could it be said that he saw her and admired her when she was his cousin and he had been seeing her since the time when she was born? Women did not veil themselves from him and he himself had married her to Zayd.

Allâh made Zayd divorce Zaynâb and marry the Prophet(P) to remove the barrier set up by ties of adoption and invalidating its customs. He says, "Muhammad is not the father of any of your men." (33:40) And He says, "So that there would not be any fault for the believers regarding the wives of their adopted sons." (33:37)

Abû`l-Lâyth as-Samarqândî said that if people ask what is the benefit in the Prophet(P) commanding Zayd to keep Zaynâb when Allâh had informed him that she was to be his wife, it is that the Prophet(P) forbade Zayd to divorce his wife because of the disharmony between Zayd and her while concealing in himself what Allâh had informed him about. When Zayd divorced her, he feared that people would say he was marrying his son’s wife, so Allâh commanded him to marry her to make what he was doing lawful for his community as Allâh said, "So that there would not be any fault for the believers regarding the wives of their adopted sons." (33:37)

It is said that the Prophet’s(P) command to Zayd to keep Zaynâb was to restrain the appetite which comes to the self from its desire. If we allow this, it must be that he saw her and suddenly thought her beautiful. Things like this are unobjectionable since it is the nature of the Banu Adam[2] to find beauty beautiful. The sudden glance is forgiven. Then he restrained himself from her and told Zayd to keep her.

Abu Bakr ibn Fûrak said that the Prophet(P) was free from hypocrisy and manifesting the opposite of what was inside him. Allâh freed him of that when he said, "There is no fault in the Prophet in what Allah has decreed for him." (33:38) Whoever thinks that about the Prophet(P) has lied.

He said that the timidity (khashya) referred to here does not mean fear itself (khawf). It means to be modest or shy, i.e. he was shy before them because they would say, "He has married his son’s wife." The Prophet’s(P) fear of people was because of the lies spread by the hypocrites and Jews when they made controversies for the Muslims by saying, "He has married his son’s wife" after he had forbidden them to marry the wives of their sons. Allâh censured him for this and freed him from paying any attention to them concerning what He had made lawful for him as He censured him for his deference to his wives’ pleasure in Sura at-Tahrim when He said, "Why do you make haram what Allah has made halal for you?" (66:1) This is the same as when Allâh says to him, "You fear people and it is more fitting to fear Allah." (33:37)

Al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali and `Aishâ related, "If the Messenger of Allâh, may Allâh bless him and grant him peace, had concealed anything, he would have concealed this ayat since it contains blame of him and uncovers what he had concealed."

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References

[1] See Qur'ân, 20:131

[2] The sons of Adam, i.e. mankind.

Wassalam,

Faraz Rabbani