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{{Quote|'''CITATION MISSING'''|Muqatil narrated that the prophet married Zaynab daughter of Jahsh to Zayd and she stayed with him for a while. Then one day the prophet came seeking Zayd but he saw Zaynab standing; she was white-skinned with a beautiful figure and one of the most perfect women in Quraysh. So he desired her and said, “Wondrous is Allah who changes the heart.” When Zaynab heard the prophet’s exaltation of her, she relayed it to Zayd who then understood (what he had to do). Zayd said to the prophet, “O prophet of Allah, allow me to divorce her, for she has become arrogant; seeing herself superior to me and she insults me with her tongue.” The prophet replied, “Hold onto your wife and fear Allah.” It was said that Allah had sent a wind which lifted the curtain to reveal Zaynab in her room. When the prophet saw her, he desired her, and '''it delighted Zaynab to be desired by the prophet'''. When Zayd returned home, she informed him of what had happened and Zayd was thus determined to divorce her.}}
{{Quote|'''CITATION MISSING'''|Muqatil narrated that the prophet married Zaynab daughter of Jahsh to Zayd and she stayed with him for a while. Then one day the prophet came seeking Zayd but he saw Zaynab standing; she was white-skinned with a beautiful figure and one of the most perfect women in Quraysh. So he desired her and said, “Wondrous is Allah who changes the heart.” When Zaynab heard the prophet’s exaltation of her, she relayed it to Zayd who then understood (what he had to do). Zayd said to the prophet, “O prophet of Allah, allow me to divorce her, for she has become arrogant; seeing herself superior to me and she insults me with her tongue.” The prophet replied, “Hold onto your wife and fear Allah.” It was said that Allah had sent a wind which lifted the curtain to reveal Zaynab in her room. When the prophet saw her, he desired her, and '''it delighted Zaynab to be desired by the prophet'''. When Zayd returned home, she informed him of what had happened and Zayd was thus determined to divorce her.}}


Zayd divorced Zaynab.<ref>{{Bukhari|9|93|516}}; {{Tabari|39|p. 181}}.</ref>
Zayd divorced Zaynab.<ref>{{Bukhari|9|93|516}}; {{Tabari|39|p. 181}}.</ref> “Zayd left her, and she became free.”<ref>{{Tabari|8|p. 3}}.</ref>
 
====Circumstances of the Marriage====
“Zayd left her, and she became free. While the Messenger of Allah was talking with Aisha, a fainting overcame him. When he was released from it, he smiled and said, “Who will go to Zaynab to tell her the good news? Allah has married her to me.” Then the Holy Prophet recited [Qur’an 33] to the end of the passage. Ayesha said, “I became very uneasy because of what we heard about her beauty and another thing, the loftiest of matters – what Allah had done for her by personally giving her to him in marriage. I said that she would boast of it over us.””<ref>{{Tabari|8|p. 3}}.</ref>


====Difficulties with the Marriage====
====Difficulties with the Marriage====
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Later apologists have said that this marriage was necessary to demonstrate that adoption was now abolished. Apparently they assume most Muslims would not believe this if they did not witness a live demonstration. But this was never mentioned at the time as a reason for the marriage.
Later apologists have said that this marriage was necessary to demonstrate that adoption was now abolished. Apparently they assume most Muslims would not believe this if they did not witness a live demonstration. But this was never mentioned at the time as a reason for the marriage.


On the same day Zaynab’s waiting-period ended, Muhammad fell into a prophetic trance, then happily announced to Aisha: “Someone must go to tell Zaynab the good news! Allah from above has just married her to me!While Aisha was “distressed by both immediate and potential troubles, having heard of Zaynab’s beauty,”<ref>Tabari 39:181.</ref> the divorced and disinherited Zayd was dispatched as messenger. He found Zaynab kneading bread, and her face was so radiant that he could not look at her while he delivered Allah’s message.<ref>Muslim 8:3330.</ref>
On the same day Zaynab’s waiting-period ended, “While the Messenger of Allah was talking with Aisha, a fainting overcame him. When he was released from it, he smiled and said, “Who will go to Zaynab to tell her the good news? Allah has married her to me.Then the Holy Prophet recited [Qur’an 33] to the end of the passage. Ayesha said, “I became very uneasy because of what we heard about her beauty and another thing, the loftiest of matters – what Allah had done for her by personally giving her to him in marriage. I said that she would boast of it over us.””<ref>{{Tabari|8|p. 3}}.</ref> 
 
Aisha was “distressed by both immediate and potential troubles, having heard of Zaynab’s beauty,”<ref>Tabari 39:181.</ref> the divorced and disinherited Zayd was dispatched as messenger. He found Zaynab kneading bread, and her face was so radiant that he could not look at her while he delivered Allah’s message.<ref>Muslim 8:3330.</ref>


Anas reported. When the ''iddah'' of Zaynab was over, Allah’s Messenger said to Zayd to make a mention to her about him. Zayd went on until he came to her and she was fermenting her flour. He (Zayd) said: As I saw her I felt in my heart an idea of her greatness so much so that I could not see towards her (simply for the fact) that Allah’s Messenger had made a mention of her. So I turned my back towards her, and I turned upon my heels, and said: Zaynab, Allah’s Messenger has sent (me) with a message to you. She said: I do not do anything until I solicit the will of my Lord. So she stood at her place of worship and the (verse of) the Qur’an (pertaining to her marriage) was revealed, and Allah’s Messenger came to her without permission…<ref>{{Muslim|8|3330}}.</ref>
Anas reported. When the ''iddah'' of Zaynab was over, Allah’s Messenger said to Zayd to make a mention to her about him. Zayd went on until he came to her and she was fermenting her flour. He (Zayd) said: As I saw her I felt in my heart an idea of her greatness so much so that I could not see towards her (simply for the fact) that Allah’s Messenger had made a mention of her. So I turned my back towards her, and I turned upon my heels, and said: Zaynab, Allah’s Messenger has sent (me) with a message to you. She said: I do not do anything until I solicit the will of my Lord. So she stood at her place of worship and the (verse of) the Qur’an (pertaining to her marriage) was revealed, and Allah’s Messenger came to her without permission…<ref>{{Muslim|8|3330}}.</ref>
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"Kulayni has narrated through correct chains of narrators from Imam Jaafar Sadiq that people asked him about the exegesis of the following verses: “O Prophet! surely We have made lawful to you your wives whom you have given their dowries, and those whom your right hand possesses out of those whom Allah has given to you as prisoners of war, and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who fled with you; and a believing woman if she gave herself to the Prophet, if the Prophet desired to marry her – specially for you, not for the (rest of) believers; We know what We have ordained for them concerning their wives and those whom their right hands possess in order that no blame may attach to you; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”"<ref>MAJLISI.</ref>
"Kulayni has narrated through correct chains of narrators from Imam Jaafar Sadiq that people asked him about the exegesis of the following verses: “O Prophet! surely We have made lawful to you your wives whom you have given their dowries, and those whom your right hand possesses out of those whom Allah has given to you as prisoners of war, and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who fled with you; and a believing woman if she gave herself to the Prophet, if the Prophet desired to marry her – specially for you, not for the (rest of) believers; We know what We have ordained for them concerning their wives and those whom their right hands possess in order that no blame may attach to you; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”"<ref>MAJLISI.</ref>


====Islamo-Apology for the Marriage====
====Reasons for the Marriage====
 
'''Divine Mandate'''. The traditional view is that Allah commanded Muhammad to marry Zaynab. There was no need to seek a reason. It was Allah’s will.
 
'''Need to Abolish Adoption'''. "The strangeness of the matter lies in the fact that the scholar Haikal presents Muhammad’s giving Zaynab in marriage to Zayd as a cogent argument to refute the claims of his opponents who hold that the matter was merely romance and infatuation! It is unbelievable that Haikal has no knowledge of the fact that “the heart of the Prophet was deeply moved by her after her marriage with Zayd”(22) which is found in trustworthy Islamic reference books. Al-Sabuni, however, excludes any love affair or romance from this marriage, as he says, “How can a man give a virgin woman to [another] person, and then desire her after she is deflowered?”(23) Al-Sabuni attacks the fraudulent “orientalists” and “missionaries” who claimed that God reproved Muhammad for his hidden desire for Zaynab. Yet, these “slanders” of the orientalist and missionaries have already been listed in Tabaqat Ibn Sa`d and al-Tabari’s works, as they have been quoted in the books that were written after them. Ibn Sa`d and al-Tabari were neither the enemies of Islam nor “fraudulent orientalists”. They did not know that Muhammad only married her to cancel and abolish the act of adoption.(24) This argument was not known at all at the time of al-Tabari!"
 
"We used not to call Zayd bin Haritha the freed slave of Allah’s Apostle except Zayd bin Muhammad till the Qur’anic Verse was revealed: “Call them by their fathers. That is more than just in the Sight of Allah.” (Q33:5)"<ref>{{Bukhari|6|60|305}}.</ref>
 
'''Need to Save Zaynab's Reputation'''.
 
'''Need to Recompense Zaynab'''.
 
'''Passion'''. “This may be regarded as one of the Prophet's love-stories.”<ref></ref>
 
{{Quote|'''CITATION MISSING.'''|If you say, “How did God reprove him for refraining to express something that he disapproved of expressing? The Prophet would not disapprove of expressing something unless it is worthy of disapproval for him and the people talk only against that which is considered loathsome to the intellects and habits. And why has He not reproved him concerning the same matter, ordering him to repress [his] lust and quell [his] soul to keep it from desiring and chasing after Zaynab? Why has He not kept His Prophet free from anything that would attach fault to him and expose him to gossip?” I would say, “How often a man is cautious about something and is ashamed to let people know about it, while it is inside him allowable, appropriate, absolutely lawful, indisputable, and God finds no fault in it! And perhaps entering into that which is allowable serves as a ladder whereby one can attain duties that leave a great effect on religion for which a man is rewarded. Unless he is cautious regarding this many people spread rumours about him, except those who have favour with God, knowledge, religion and God-given insight into the true state of affairs and into their essence, not their outward appearance. Do you know that when they would feast in the houses of the Messenger of God, reclining in their seats, not [showing desire] to leave, indulging in conversations, and the Messenger of God would be hurt by their sitting feeling upset by their speech, but constrained by shyness? Had the Messenger of God revealed what was hidden in his breast, and commanded them to disperse, they would have found it difficult [to receive] and there would be some defamatory talk. This is like man’s ambition for certain objects, such as a woman. It is a desire not characterised by ugliness in intellect or in religion, since it is not one of free choice. Also achieving what is allowable through legal means is nothing ugly; namely proposing to Zaynab and marrying her without Zayd’s suggestion that the Messenger of God marry her, or to console him for leaving her knowing firmly that Zayd’s soul was not attached to her at all, but was rather indifferent to her, and at the same time the soul of the Messenger of God was so attached to her. It was not offensive among them that a man would relinquish his wife for his friend so that the latter could marry her. When the Migrants entered Medina, they were consoled by the Helpers [al-Ansar] in everything, to the extent that if a man had two wives, he would relinquish one of them to the Migrant. So then, the matter was allowable on all sides, and it was not offensive at all. It also has not hurt or demoralised Zayd or anyone else. On the contrary, it has been the source of goodness; to mention only one of them, a cousin of the Messenger of God [that is Zaynab] secured herself [a marriage with] a close relative and high honour. As to the general good in his saying, “so that there would be no objection for believers in respect to their adopted sons’ wives once they have accomplished their purpose with them,” God should rather have reproved His Messenger when he kept it to himself by saying to him, “Hold on to your wife, and heed God.” Since God approves for him only conformity of conscience and outward [expression], and standing firm in the issues of truth so that the believers would follow his example and not be ashamed of fighting for their rights, even if it is bitter [to do so].}}


Traditional Muslims have no problem with this story. Since Muhammad was the “perfect man,” anything he did must have been by definition an “excellent example”. But it has made Westernised Muslims uncomfortable. They have tried to deny that it happened.
Traditional Muslims have no problem with this story. Since Muhammad was the “perfect man,” anything he did must have been by definition an “excellent example”. But it has made Westernised Muslims uncomfortable. They have tried to deny that it happened.
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Muhammad Husain Haikal says, “As to Zaynab bint Jahsh, who has been wrapped up by orientalists and missionaries in an imaginary picture of romance and infatuation, true history judges that [Muhammad’s act with] her was one of the glorious deeds of Muhammad. Being the perfect example of faith, he applied to her the Hadith that says, ‘Man’s faith is not made perfect till he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.’ It is enough to destroy the story that it was he who betrothed her to his adopted son, Zayd.” The scholar Haikal does not fail to add that “we could have spared him all these sayings by saying, ‘Let it be true!’ Why would this detract from the greatness, message, and prophethood of Muhammad? The laws that bind [ordinary] people have no power over the luminaries, so how much more the messengers and prophets! Hasn’t Moses seen a dispute between two men; one was from his sect and the other from the enemy’s sect, so he thrust the enemy and killed, committing an unlawful murder? So Moses broke the law, and was not subject to it. Yet this did not detract from his prophethood or message, and did not diminish his greatness. The way Jesus broke the law [of nature] was even greater than Moses, and thus with Muhammad and the rest of the prophets. For his condition is not bordered by a certain limit of power or desire, he rather went beyond the laws of nature by his birth and life!”
Muhammad Husain Haikal says, “As to Zaynab bint Jahsh, who has been wrapped up by orientalists and missionaries in an imaginary picture of romance and infatuation, true history judges that [Muhammad’s act with] her was one of the glorious deeds of Muhammad. Being the perfect example of faith, he applied to her the Hadith that says, ‘Man’s faith is not made perfect till he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.’ It is enough to destroy the story that it was he who betrothed her to his adopted son, Zayd.” The scholar Haikal does not fail to add that “we could have spared him all these sayings by saying, ‘Let it be true!’ Why would this detract from the greatness, message, and prophethood of Muhammad? The laws that bind [ordinary] people have no power over the luminaries, so how much more the messengers and prophets! Hasn’t Moses seen a dispute between two men; one was from his sect and the other from the enemy’s sect, so he thrust the enemy and killed, committing an unlawful murder? So Moses broke the law, and was not subject to it. Yet this did not detract from his prophethood or message, and did not diminish his greatness. The way Jesus broke the law [of nature] was even greater than Moses, and thus with Muhammad and the rest of the prophets. For his condition is not bordered by a certain limit of power or desire, he rather went beyond the laws of nature by his birth and life!”


====Reasons for Third Marriage====
====Subsequent Career of Zayd====


'''Divine Mandate'''. The traditional view is that Allah commanded Muhammad to marry Zaynab. There was no need to seek a reason. It was Allah’s will.
Muhammad continued to find wives for Zayd. In 628, at Muhammad’s order, he married Umm Kulthum bint Uqba al-Umayyiya, a woman even more aristocratic than Zaynab and probably much younger.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:162-163.</ref> She bore him his son Zayd and his daughter Ruqayya.<ref></ref> Given the short duration of the marriage, they were probably twins. This marriage ended in divorce, though the circumstances are not known.<ref></ref> The child Zayd died in infancy, but Ruqayya lived to come under the protection of Caliph Uthman.<ref></ref>


'''Need to Abolish Adoption'''. "The strangeness of the matter lies in the fact that the scholar Haikal presents Muhammad’s giving Zaynab in marriage to Zayd as a cogent argument to refute the claims of his opponents who hold that the matter was merely romance and infatuation! It is unbelievable that Haikal has no knowledge of the fact that “the heart of the Prophet was deeply moved by her after her marriage with Zayd”(22) which is found in trustworthy Islamic reference books. Al-Sabuni, however, excludes any love affair or romance from this marriage, as he says, “How can a man give a virgin woman to [another] person, and then desire her after she is deflowered?”(23) Al-Sabuni attacks the fraudulent “orientalists” and “missionaries” who claimed that God reproved Muhammad for his hidden desire for Zaynab. Yet, these “slanders” of the orientalist and missionaries have already been listed in Tabaqat Ibn Sa`d and al-Tabari’s works, as they have been quoted in the books that were written after them. Ibn Sa`d and al-Tabari were neither the enemies of Islam nor “fraudulent orientalists”. They did not know that Muhammad only married her to cancel and abolish the act of adoption.(24) This argument was not known at all at the time of al-Tabari!"
Umm Kulthum then married Al-Zubayr ibn Al-Awwam,<ref></ref> and Zayd married Al-Zubayr’s sister (and Khadijah’s niece) Hind.<ref></ref> Umm Kulthum was unhappy with Al-Zubayr, who was violent, and she engineered a divorce from him.<ref></ref> It is not known whether Zayd was happy with Hind.


"We used not to call Zayd bin Haritha the freed slave of Allah’s Apostle except Zayd bin Muhammad till the Qur’anic Verse was revealed: “Call them by their fathers. That is more than just in the Sight of Allah.” (Q33:5)"<ref>{{Bukhari|6|60|305}}.</ref>
Zayd commanded the Muslim army at the Battle of Muta in 629 and was among the first to be killed there.<ref></ref>
 
'''Need to Save Zaynab's Reputation'''.
 
'''Need to Recompense Zaynab'''.
 
'''Passion'''. “This may be regarded as one of the Prophet's love-stories.<ref></ref>
 
{{Quote|'''CITATION MISSING.'''|If you say, “How did God reprove him for refraining to express something that he disapproved of expressing? The Prophet would not disapprove of expressing something unless it is worthy of disapproval for him and the people talk only against that which is considered loathsome to the intellects and habits. And why has He not reproved him concerning the same matter, ordering him to repress [his] lust and quell [his] soul to keep it from desiring and chasing after Zaynab? Why has He not kept His Prophet free from anything that would attach fault to him and expose him to gossip?” I would say, “How often a man is cautious about something and is ashamed to let people know about it, while it is inside him allowable, appropriate, absolutely lawful, indisputable, and God finds no fault in it! And perhaps entering into that which is allowable serves as a ladder whereby one can attain duties that leave a great effect on religion for which a man is rewarded. Unless he is cautious regarding this many people spread rumours about him, except those who have favour with God, knowledge, religion and God-given insight into the true state of affairs and into their essence, not their outward appearance. Do you know that when they would feast in the houses of the Messenger of God, reclining in their seats, not [showing desire] to leave, indulging in conversations, and the Messenger of God would be hurt by their sitting feeling upset by their speech, but constrained by shyness? Had the Messenger of God revealed what was hidden in his breast, and commanded them to disperse, they would have found it difficult [to receive] and there would be some defamatory talk. This is like man’s ambition for certain objects, such as a woman. It is a desire not characterised by ugliness in intellect or in religion, since it is not one of free choice. Also achieving what is allowable through legal means is nothing ugly; namely proposing to Zaynab and marrying her without Zayd’s suggestion that the Messenger of God marry her, or to console him for leaving her knowing firmly that Zayd’s soul was not attached to her at all, but was rather indifferent to her, and at the same time the soul of the Messenger of God was so attached to her. It was not offensive among them that a man would relinquish his wife for his friend so that the latter could marry her. When the Migrants entered Medina, they were consoled by the Helpers [al-Ansar] in everything, to the extent that if a man had two wives, he would relinquish one of them to the Migrant. So then, the matter was allowable on all sides, and it was not offensive at all. It also has not hurt or demoralised Zayd or anyone else. On the contrary, it has been the source of goodness; to mention only one of them, a cousin of the Messenger of God [that is Zaynab] secured herself [a marriage with] a close relative and high honour. As to the general good in his saying, “so that there would be no objection for believers in respect to their adopted sons’ wives once they have accomplished their purpose with them,” God should rather have reproved His Messenger when he kept it to himself by saying to him, “Hold on to your wife, and heed God.” Since God approves for him only conformity of conscience and outward [expression], and standing firm in the issues of truth so that the believers would follow his example and not be ashamed of fighting for their rights, even if it is bitter [to do so].}}


====The Wedding====
====The Wedding====


"He married Zaynab ibn Jahsh ibn Riyab al-Asadiya. Her brother Abu Ahmed married her to him, and the apostle gave her 400 ''dirhams''. She had been previously married to Zayd ibn Haritha, the freed slave of the apostle, and it was about her that God sent down:  
"He married Zaynab ibn Jahsh ibn Riyab al-Asadiya. Her brother Abu Ahmad married her to him, and the apostle gave her 400 ''dirhams''. She had been previously married to Zayd ibn Haritha, the freed slave of the apostle, and it was about her that God sent down:  
'So when Zayd had done as he wished in divorcing her, We married her to you.'"<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref>
'So when Zayd had done as he wished in divorcing her, We married her to you.'"<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref>


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Two of the wedding guests sat around talking long after Muhammad gestured that the party was over. Allah sent down a revelation: “O Believers! Do not come to dinner in the Prophet’s houses without an invitation; do not arrive before the meal is ready, and do not sit around talking after you have eaten. This annoys the Prophet; he is too shy to ask you to leave, but Allah is not shy of telling the truth...”<ref> Q33:53; Bukhari 60:314, 315, 316, 317; 62:84, 92; 65:375; 74:256, 288; Muslim 8:3333, 3334, 3336.</ref>
Two of the wedding guests sat around talking long after Muhammad gestured that the party was over. Allah sent down a revelation: “O Believers! Do not come to dinner in the Prophet’s houses without an invitation; do not arrive before the meal is ready, and do not sit around talking after you have eaten. This annoys the Prophet; he is too shy to ask you to leave, but Allah is not shy of telling the truth...”<ref> Q33:53; Bukhari 60:314, 315, 316, 317; 62:84, 92; 65:375; 74:256, 288; Muslim 8:3333, 3334, 3336.</ref>
====Subsequent Career of Zayd====
Muhammad continued to find wives for Zayd. In 628, at Muhammad’s order, he married Umm Kulthum bint Uqba al-Umayyiya, a woman even more aristocratic than Zaynab and probably much younger.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:162-163.</ref> She bore him his son Zayd and his daughter Ruqayya.<ref></ref> Given the short duration of the marriage, they were probably twins. This marriage ended in divorce, though the circumstances are not known.<ref></ref> The child Zayd died in infancy, but Ruqayya lived to come under the protection of Caliph Uthman.<ref></ref>
Umm Kulthum then married Al-Zubayr ibn Al-Awwam,<ref></ref> and Zayd married Al-Zubayr’s sister (and Khadijah’s niece) Hind.<ref></ref> Umm Kulthum was unhappy with Al-Zubayr, who was violent, and she engineered a divorce from him.<ref></ref> It is not known whether Zayd was happy with Hind.
Zayd commanded the Muslim army at the Battle of Muta in 629 and was among the first to be killed there.<ref></ref>


===The Order of the Veil===
===The Order of the Veil===

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