Mohammad and Zainab

  • Thread starter Thread starter Reuben_J
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
There is no authenticity to this story. It’s just a story, and not a very likely one either, just a whimsy that nobody really takes seriously. I’ve never heard it uttered by a single scholar who described the marriage of Muhammad to Zaynab–and I’m sure they’ve read at-Tabari. The story is very inconsistent with the known, authentic story.
What is the authentic story?
 
My first curiousity – how is that Mohammad happened to be in Zainab chamber and saw her naked? I mean don’t you knock first or at least, “knock, knock, anybody there?”.
Probably she was in a tent:
http://www.panoramio.com/photos/ori...088.jpghttp://up.7cc.com/upfiles/Tic62727.jpg
**“The Messenger of God went out one day seeking him. On Zaid’s door was a curtain, which the wind moved to show her unveiled in her chamber. The heart of the Prophet was stricken by admiration for her” (Annals of al-Tabari, 2:453).
"The Messenger of God saw her after he married her off, and he was deeply moved by her. Then he said, “Praise be to Him, who changes the hearts!” (al-Tabari -commentary, 22:12; al-Kashshaf, 2:359)***
That is true in (Quran 33:37):
تفسير الطبري:
وَذَلِكَ أَنَّ زَيْنَبَ بِنْت جَحْش فِيمَا ذُكِرَ رَآهَا رَسُول اللَّه صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَأَعْجَبَتْهُ , وَهِيَ فِي حِبَال مَوْلَاهُ , فَأُلْقِيَ فِي نَفْس زَيْد كَرَاهَتهَا لِمَا عَلِمَ اللَّه مِمَّا وَقَعَ فِي نَفْس نَبِيّه مَا وَقَعَ
 
This verse plainly says 'if the prophet desired to marry her … ’

**“33.50”: 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.
and this verse is not talking about Zaynab, nor does the word desire here mean lust , it means ‘‘wished to marry her’’

This is a totally different incident , and Muhammed didn’t marry this lady .
 
I wouldn’t know either but there was marked different in Mohammad’s libido after Khadijah’s death if the number of wives and women that he had was any pointer. These women were invariably young unlike Khadijah. Curious observers would be interested to know why the changes in Mohammad, from a one-woman man to a polygamist.

I have no doubt about that but this got nothing to do with the subject, does it?

What about the Quranic verses that I mentioned? Before or after Khadijah’s death?
umm, false, mos women muhammed married after Khadijah were old and were previously married. Some where even older than him himself .

if it was all about libido as you say , he would have got ALL he wanted and didnt bother when the Quraish tribe offered hom

Money and they woudl make him their richest
Leadership and they woudl make him their king
Girls and they would marry him the most beautiful and whomever he wanted

he refused all and insisted tp preach Islam . If he really wanted money he would have accepted all this right?
 
Probably she was in a tent:
Panoramio is no longer available

That is true in (Quran 33:37):
تفسير الطبري:
وَذَلِكَ أَنَّ زَيْنَبَ بِنْت جَحْش فِيمَا ذُكِرَ رَآهَا رَسُول اللَّه صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَأَعْجَبَتْهُ , وَهِيَ فِي حِبَال مَوْلَاهُ , فَأُلْقِيَ فِي نَفْس زَيْد كَرَاهَتهَا لِمَا عَلِمَ اللَّه مِمَّا وَقَعَ فِي نَفْس نَبِيّه مَا وَقَعَ
again , this is the interpretation of al tabari based on weak hadeeth. And again this story has no base.
 
I

I have no doubt about that but this got nothing to do with the subject, does it?

What about the Quranic verses that I mentioned? Before or after Khadijah’s death?
It has every thing to do with the subject because it deals with the accusation that you make ! and refutes them. If he wanted earthly life in all its best , he could have got it and no sweat!
 
The reason for this marriage must be understood in the light of some important details: Islam inherited the inhuman institution of slavery. There were scores of slave men and women in every house. Instantly freeing them, it is clear, would have resulted in a lot of social and economic problems. Islam, therefore, adopted a gradual methodology to do away with slavery. It undertook various measures in this regard.

However, freeing these slaves was not the only problem, which was to be tackled. An even more important problem was to blend and graft them within the normal social structure of the society once they had been set free. Keeping in view the great sense of superiority the Arabs had over slaves, this was an extremely uphill task.

Consequently, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in order to make them acceptable as normal members of a society took a very radical step. **He persuaded his cousin sister Zaynab bint Jahsh to marry Zayd ibn Harithah, a slave boy he had set free and brought up as a son. **The marriage took place, but, unfortunately, it could not continue due to certain reasons (Zaynab was rather unhappy about the marriage, because of Zayd’s former slave status. Zayd was very uneasy about the marriage and asked the Prophet’s permission to divorce her). After this unfortunate dissolution of marriage, the only thing which could console Zaynab was if the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, married her.

Furthermore, it was necessary to reform a social custom concerning some erroneous concepts about an adopted son. According to this custom, the Arabs regarded the adopted sons and foster sons equally in all respects. This, of course, is against human nature and as such had to be abrogated. However, as a social custom, it was so deeply rooted in the Arab society that it could only be the Prophet’s personality, which could abolish it. Consequently, on the Almighty’s bidding, the Prophet married her to sympathize with her and to reform this custom.”

Excerpted, with slight modifications, from: renaissance.com.

So, in the light of the above, it’s clear that the Prophet’s marriage to Zaynab was for legislative reasons. A Divine order was revealed to him for this purpose, and it has to be borne in mind that the Prophet was very reluctant to do so, because of what people might say about his marrying his former “daughter-in-law”. But Allah, the Almighty, wanted to demonstrate in practice the absolute invalidity of adoption in the most practical manner.

More elaboration on this issue is made by the late Dr. Hammudah Abdul-Ati in his book Islam in Focus. He states:

“Before Islam, the Arabs did not allow divorcees to remarry. Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) was adopted by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and used to be called his son, in line with the custom among the Arabs before Islam. But Islam abrogated this custom and disapproved its practice.

Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was the first man to express this disapproval in a practical way. So he married the divorcee of his “adopted” son to show that adoption does not really make the adopted child a real son of the adopting father and also to show that divorcees have a right to remarry. Incidentally, this very Zaynab was Muhammad’s cousin, and had been offered to him for marriage before she married Zayd.

The story of this Zaynab has been associated in some minds with ridiculous fabrications as regards the moral integrity of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). These vicious fabrications are not even worth considering here.

Meedo: As it is in the explanation above, it was Muhammed Himself who asked Zaynab to Marry Zayd. If he wanted her for him , would he do so?
 
What is the authentic story?
Meedo is right, he did tell you the authentic story. To reiterate it, Muhammad arranged the marriage of Zayd and Zaynab but Zaynab was not satisfied with Zayd being her husband–she wanted a divorce from him. And then the Prophet was told to marry Zaynab by revelation, to indicate that adoption does not create lineage, and that it is possible (i.e., legally permissible) for a man to marry the divorced wife of his adopted son, because they do not have a true blood or breast relationship.
 
Yes, most probably in a tent but he could have called from the outside as a courtesy since it was obviously that a woman, a wife of someone stayed there.

I am thinking this incidence has far reaching implication on Muslims psychic and mentality today. It justifies that a Muslim man should lose his sexual control if he sees a woman scantily dressed and therefore no blame should be attributed to him if he acts according to his sexual desire after being provoked by seeing too much flesh.

I don’t deny that it could be an accident but the hadeeth implies it as the triggering point of Mohammad’s desire for this woman (Zainab). As I said it certainly was likely that Mohammad had design on her and that the ‘accident’ could be no accident at all.
That is true in (Quran 33:37):
تفسير الطبري:
وَذَلِكَ أَنَّ زَيْنَبَ بِنْت جَحْش فِيمَا ذُكِرَ رَآهَا رَسُول اللَّه صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَأَعْجَبَتْهُ , وَهِيَ فِي حِبَال مَوْلَاهُ , فَأُلْقِيَ فِي نَفْس زَيْد كَرَاهَتهَا لِمَا عَلِمَ اللَّه مِمَّا وَقَعَ فِي نَفْس نَبِيّه مَا وَقَعَ
This is being rejected by Muslim posters here and I’ll take their words for it. Nevertheless I think the explanation makes sense but I want to see the authentic hadeeth first as mentioned by Sister Amy.
 
This verse plainly says 'if the prophet desired to marry her … ’
“33.50”: 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.
40.png
Meedo:
and this verse is not talking about Zaynab, nor does the word desire here mean lust , it means ‘‘wished to marry her’’

This is a totally different incident , and Muhammed didn’t marry this lady .
I agree with you. I did not say desire means lust. How is that both you and Muslim Woman conclude that I think desire means lust?

The verse nevertheless allows Mohammad to marry the women he wished to marry. And this paved the way for his marriage to Zainab. I am saying that Mohammad ‘wished’ to marry her. Is it your position that Mohammad did not want to marry her but did so because Allah commanded him?
 
40.png
Meedo:
umm, false, mos women muhammed married after Khadijah were old and were previously married. Some where even older than him himself .
There were many younger than him, right? You haven’t answer my question – why the changes in Mohammad marital preference? He was a monogamist as long as Khadijah was alive but after her death he had multiple wives and concubines.
40.png
Meedo:
if it was all about libido as you say , he would have got ALL he wanted and didnt bother when the Quraish tribe offered hom

Money and they woudl make him their richest
Leadership and they woudl make him their king
Girls and they would marry him the most beautiful and whomever he wanted

he refused all and insisted tp preach Islam . If he really wanted money he would have accepted all this right?
I agree with that. Only it may not be necessarily be the reason. By staying married to Khadijah he maintained the legacy and the work he started there. Just imagine if Khadijah should divorce him, it would be a totally different scenario altogether for him. What he had built all this while was surely by his association with Khadijah; he would about to lose that and had to start anew if he left her. Therefore it is more than the question about money; it is about having to stick to Khadijah because that was where his future lies.
 
40.png
Meedo:
It has every thing to do with the subject because it deals with the accusation that you make ! and refutes them. If he wanted earthly life in all its best , he could have got it and no sweat!
As I mentioned earlier I disagree; I mean not necessarily so.
 
40.png
Meedo:
The reason for this marriage must be understood in the light of some important details: Islam inherited the inhuman institution of slavery. There were scores of slave men and women in every house. Instantly freeing them, it is clear, would have resulted in a lot of social and economic problems. Islam, therefore, adopted a gradual methodology to do away with slavery. It undertook various measures in this regard.

However, freeing these slaves was not the only problem, which was to be tackled. An even more important problem was to blend and graft them within the normal social structure of the society once they had been set free. Keeping in view the great sense of superiority the Arabs had over slaves, this was an extremely uphill task.

Consequently, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in order to make them acceptable as normal members of a society took a very radical step. He persuaded his cousin sister Zaynab bint Jahsh to marry Zayd ibn Harithah, a slave boy he had set free and brought up as a son. The marriage took place, but, unfortunately, it could not continue due to certain reasons (Zaynab was rather unhappy about the marriage, because of Zayd’s former slave status. Zayd was very uneasy about the marriage and asked the Prophet’s permission to divorce her). After this unfortunate dissolution of marriage, the only thing which could console Zaynab was if the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, married her.

Furthermore, it was necessary to reform a social custom concerning some erroneous concepts about an adopted son. According to this custom, the Arabs regarded the adopted sons and foster sons equally in all respects. This, of course, is against human nature and as such had to be abrogated. However, as a social custom, it was so deeply rooted in the Arab society that it could only be the Prophet’s personality, which could abolish it. Consequently, on the Almighty’s bidding, the Prophet married her to sympathize with her and to reform this custom.”
This certainly shows lack of compassion and sincerity. If a person wants to adopt a son, don’t you think it’s the same as he wants a son of his own? It’s certainly up to the father whether he considers the adopted son equal to his blood son. In any case your explanation does make sense if this is what Islam wants to teach.
40.png
Meedo:
Excerpted, with slight modifications, from: renaissance.com.

So, in the light of the above, it’s clear that the Prophet’s marriage to Zaynab was for legislative reasons. A Divine order was revealed to him for this purpose, and it has to be borne in mind that the Prophet was very reluctant to do so, because of what people might say about his marrying his former “daughter-in-law”. But Allah, the Almighty, wanted to demonstrate in practice the absolute invalidity of adoption in the most practical manner.



Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was the first man to express this disapproval in a practical way. So he married the divorcee of his “adopted” son to show that adoption does not really make the adopted child a real son of the adopting father and also to show that divorcees have a right to remarry.
Thanks for the explanation. I am sorry it is not convincing and it’s hard to believe that Mohammad did not desire (wish to marry) Zainab. The Quranic verses available that I see do not support that contention (that he did not want to marry Zainab).
40.png
Meedo:
Meedo: As it is in the explanation above, it was Muhammed Himself who asked Zaynab to Marry Zayd. If he wanted her for him , would he do so?
As I said - the Khadijah factor notwitstanding.
 
Meedo is right, he did tell you the authentic story. To reiterate it, Muhammad arranged the marriage of Zayd and Zaynab but Zaynab was not satisfied with Zayd being her husband–she wanted a divorce from him. And then the Prophet was told to marry Zaynab by revelation, to indicate that adoption does not create lineage, and that it is possible (i.e., legally permissible) for a man to marry the divorced wife of his adopted son, because they do not have a true blood or breast relationship.
Do you have any scriptural reference that Zaynab was not satisfied with Zaid? I mean there is hadeeth that says differently so do you have any other refence to support this?

I can accept the ‘official’ reason for Mohammad to marry Zainab though certain aspect of it is surely not very convincing to me.
 
I can accept the ‘official’ reason for Mohammad to marry Zainab though certain aspect of it is surely not very convincing to me.
I think this discussion is going every where.

The Islamic history is wha i told you Ruben. But ofcourse if you want to interpret everything in a way that would cast doubt on Muhammed Character then i can’t stop you.
 
I think this discussion is going every where.

The Islamic history is wha i told you Ruben. But ofcourse if you want to interpret everything in a way that would cast doubt on Muhammed Character then i can’t stop you.
Meedo, with due respect, you are just you. There are other aspect of how Mohammad marriage to Zainab is seen and they are not unreasonable altogether.

You were only giving me the official version but there is an absence of any information of what happened between Mohammad and Zainab. You have no hadeeth on them too. Those that are mentioned you have rejected as not authentic.

If you are in my shoe you would wonder why there is so scarce an information on this whereby there is so much that had been written on Mohammad on other things. In any case there are some Muslims who do agree that the incidence in question where Mohammad saw Zainab in her chamber improperly dressed. They agree that this is one time where his heart fell for her. So it’s a desire, an attraction to Zainab.

You have presented that this marriage is devoid of desire and attraction on the part of Mohammad and purely a command of Allah. That’s where I say your stance is not convincing nor your are fully knowledgeable in this whole issue.

Thanks anyway for the clarification and as I said I can accept whatever you say is Islam’s belief and teachings as they are. Not to agree with them is another thing altogether.
 
In the name of Allah , Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Salaam/peace
…I can accept the ‘official’ reason for Mohammad to marry Zainab .
Pl. tell me your personal opinion
(without the impression u got from anti - Islamic sites )-- if Prophet had lust for Zainab , why he did not marry her before arranging her marriage ?
 
Now if Mohammad did not desire her, how about Zainab? Did Zainab want to marry him on her personal accord?

If Islam protrays marriage such as this, then I say this is a very hollow marriage without any fundamental basis on how a marriage should be. I don’t question Islam teaching on this but my comment would be Islam looks at marriage as very artificial and convenient. A marriage of convenience should never be a basis fo marriage.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top