Stem تُخۡفِیۡ - Quranic Morphology

English - Hazrat Molavi Sher Ali ^ra

And remember when thou didst say to him on whom Allah had bestowed favours and on whom thou also hadst bestowed favours: ‘Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear Allah.’ And thou didst conceal in thy heart what Allah was going to bring to light, and thou wast afraid of the people, whereas Allah has better right that thou shouldst fear Him. Then, when Zaid had accomplished his want of her so as to have no further need of her, We joined her in marriage to thee, so that there may be no hindrance for the believers with regard to the wives of their adopted sons, when they have accomplished their want of them. And Allah’s decree must be fulfilled.

اردو ترجمہ مرزا طاہر احمد خلیفة المسیح الرابعؒ

اور جب تُو اُسے کہہ رہا تھا جس پر اللہ نے انعام کیا اور تُو نے بھی اُس پر انعام کیا کہ اپنی بیوی کو روکے رکھ (یعنی طلاق نہ دے) اور اللہ کا تقویٰ اختیار کر اور تُو اپنے نفس میں وہ بات چھپا رہا تھا جسے اللہ ظاہر کرنے والا تھا اور تُو لوگوں سے خائف تھا اور اللہ اس بات کا زیادہ حق رکھتا ہے کہ تُو اس سے ڈرے۔ پس جب زید نے اس (عورت) کے بارہ میں اپنی خواہش پوری کر لی (اور اسے طلاق دے دی) ، ہم نے اسے تجھ سے بیاہ دیا تاکہ مومنوں پر اپنے منہ بولے بیٹوں کی بیویوں کے متعلق کوئی تنگی اور تردّد نہ رہے جب وہ (منہ بولے بیٹے) اُن سے اپنی احتیاج ختم کر چکے ہوں (یعنی انہیں طلاق دے چکے ہوں) اور اللہ کا فیصلہ بہرحال پورا ہو کر رہنے والا ہے۔

French

Et souviens-toi quand tu as dit à celui à qui Allāh avait accordé des bienfaits, et à qui toi aussi tu avais accordé des bienfaits : « Garde ta femme et ne divorce pas d’avec elle, et crains Allāh. » Et tu as dissimulé dans ton esprit ce qu’Allāh allait mettre à jour, et tu as craint les hommes, alors qu’Allāh y avait plus de droit que tu Le craignes. Ensuite lorsque Zaid eut interrompu toute relation avec elle, Nous l’avons unie en mariage avec toi, afin que pour les croyants il n’y ait aucun empêchement en ce qui concerne les femmes de leurs fils adoptifs, lorsque ceux-ci ont cessé toute relation avec elles. Et le décret d’Allāh doit être exécuté.

German

Und (gedenke der Zeit) da du zu dem sprachst, dem Allah Gnade erwiesen hatte und dem (auch) du Gnade erwiesen hattest: "Behalte deine Frau für dich und fürchte Allah." Und du verbargest in deiner Seele, was Allah ans Licht bringen wollte, und du fürchtetest die Menschen, während Allah mehr verdient, dass du Ihn fürchtest. Dann aber, als Zaid tat, was er mit ihr zu tun wünschte, verbanden Wir sie ehelich mit dir, damit für die Gläubigen keine Beunruhigung bestünde in Bezug auf die Frauen ihrer angenommenen Söhne, wenn sie ihren Wunsch ausgeführt haben*. Allahs Ratschluss muss vollzogen werden.

Chinese

(先知啊! 要记着,) 当你告诉那蒙受安拉和你施过恩惠的人说: “你要留下你的妻子吧! (不要与她离婚,) 应当敬畏安拉。” 你惧怕人们, 把安拉原要显示出来的隐藏在自己的心里, 其实安拉是更值得你惧怕的。当宰德对她已作了 (离婚的) 决定时, 我把她作为你的妻子, 以便信仰的人在与义子所 (离婚) 的妻子结婚时, 不再感到局促不安。安拉的命令总是要执行的。

Italian

E ricorda di quando dicesti a colui al quale Allah aveva concesso favori e al quale anche tu avevi concesso favori: «Tieniti tua moglie per te e temi Allah.» E tu celavi nel tuo cuore ciò che Allah stava per portare alla luce, e avesti paura della gente, mentre Allah merita ancor più di essere temuto da te. Allora, dopo che Zaid aveva realizzato la propria volontà rispetto a lei per cui non aveva più alcun bisogno di lei, Noi la unimmo in matrimonio con te, così che non ci fosse alcun impedimento tra i credenti, per quanto riguarda il matrimonio con le mogli dei loro figli adottivi, una volta che questi hanno realizzato la propria volontà rispetto ad esse. E il decreto di Allah deve essere compiuto.

Spanish

Y acuérdate de cuando dijiste a quien Al‑lah había concedido Sus favores y a quien tú también concediste tus favores: “Conserva tu esposa para ti y teme a Al‑lah”. Mas escondiste en tu corazón lo que A1‑lah iba a sacar a la luz, y tuviste miedo de los hombres, mientras que Al‑lah tenía mejor derecho a que Lo temieras. espués, cuando Zaid hubo cumplido lo que quería de ella, hasta el punto de no necesitarla más, la unimos en matrimonio contigo, para que no hubiese impedimento para los creyentes en cuanto a las esposas de sus hijos adoptados, una vez cumplido su deseo. Y el decreto de Al‑lah debe cumplirse.

اردو تفسیرِ صغیر

اور (اے نبی! یاد کر) جب تو اس شخص کو جس پر اللہ نے اور تو نے انعام کیا تھا‘ کہتا تھا کہ اپنی بیوی کو روک رکھ (اور طلاق نہ دے) اور اللہ کا تقویٰ اختیار کر اور تو اپنے دل میں[1] وہ بات چھپاتا تھا جس کو اللہ ظاہر کرنے والا تھا۔ اور تو لوگوں سے ڈرتا تھا‘ حالانکہ اللہ زیادہ حق دار ہے کہ تو اس سے ڈرے۔ پس جب زید نے اس (عورت) کے بارے میں اپنی خواہش پوری کر لی (یعنی طلاق دے دی) ہم نے اس (عورت) کا تجھ سے[2] بیاہ کر دیا تاکہ مومنوں کے دلوں میں اپنے لے پالکوں کی بیویوں سے نکاح کرنے کے متعلق ان کو طلاق مل جانے کی صورت میں کوئی خلش نہ رہے اور خدا کا فیصلہ بہرحال پورا ہو کر رہنا تھا۔

English - Short Commentary Translation

And call to mind when thou didst say to him on whom Allah had bestowed favours and on whom thou also hadst bestowed favours:[2357] ‘Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear Allah,’ and thou didst conceal in thy heart what Allah was going to bring to light, and thou didst fear the people, whereas Allah has better right that thou shouldst fear Him. Then, when Zaid had accomplished his want concerning her,[2357A] We joined her in marriage to thee, so that there may be no difficulty for the believers with regard to marriage with the wives of their adopted sons, when they have accomplished their wants concerning them. And Allah’s decree was bound to be fulfilled.[2357B]

English - Five Volume Translation

And remember when thou didst say to him on whom Allah had bestowed favours and on whom thou also hadst bestowed favours: ‘Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear Allah.’ And thou didst conceal in thy heart what Allah was going to bring to light, and thou wast afraid of the people, whereas Allah has better right that thou shouldst fear Him. Then, when Zaid had accomplished his want of her so as to have no further need of her, We joined her in marriage to thee, so that there may be no hindrance for the believers with regard to marriage with the wives of their adopted sons, when they have accomplished their want of them and have divorced them. And Allah’s decree must be fulfilled.[3104]

Important Words:

وطرا (want) has no verb. It means, a want, a need, an object of want or need; or that which one proposes to accomplish or of which one is desirous. They say قضی منه وطرہ i.e. he accomplished or obtained his want from him (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

As the verse deals with an incident of very great historical importance, it demands and deserves a somewhat detailed explanation. Zaid bin Harith, to whom the words "on whom Allah had bestowed favours and on whom thou also had bestowed favours" refer, belonged to the tribe of Kalb. In his childhood he was kidnapped and sold as a slave in Mecca where he was bought by Khadijah’s brother and given over to her. On her marriage with the Holy Prophet Khadijah presented Zaid to him who at once emancipated him. Zaid was so much attached to the Prophet that when later his father and uncle begged of the Holy Prophet to let him go with them as the grief of his separation from home had almost killed his mother, the Prophet readily gave his permission. But Zaid himself flatly refused to part company with the Holy Prophet, exclaiming that he was dearer to him than his father and mother. The Prophet was so deeply touched by Zaid’s fidelity and love for him that he at once declared him (Zaid) to be his son and henceforward Zaid came to be known as the Prophet’s son. Zaid remained throughout his life a most beloved and faithful disciple of the Holy Prophet and sealed his fidelity to Islam and the Prophet with his blood on the battlefield of Mu’tah.

Zainab was the daughter of the Holy Prophet’s aunt, hence a full-blooded Arab, intensely proud of her ancestry and exalted social status. Islam had envisaged and given to the world a civilization and culture in which there were to be no class divisions, no hereditary nobility, no vested interests. All men were to be free and equal in the sight of God. The Holy Prophet wanted to start with his own family the carrying into actual effect of this noble ideal of Islam. He wished to marry Zainab to Zaid, who in spite of having been liberated by the Prophet and called his son, unfortunately still carried the stigma of slavery in the minds of some people. It was exactly this stigma of slavery, this invidious distinction between 'free' and 'slave' which the Holy Prophet sought to remove by Zainab’s marriage to Zaid. In deference to the Holy Prophet’s wish Zainab agreed to the proposal. The purpose of the Holy Prophet was achieved. The marriage levelled to the ground all class distinctions and divisions. It was a practical demonstration of Islam’s noble ideal. The marriage, however, ended in failure, not so much due to a difference in the social status of Zainab and Zaid as to the incompatibility of their dispositions and temperaments and also due to a feeling of inferiority from which Zaid suffered. The failure of the marriage naturally grieved the Holy Prophet. But it also served a very useful purpose. In pursuance of Divine command, as mentioned in the latter part of the verse under comment, the Prophet himself married Zainab, thus cutting at the very root of another obnoxious and deep-seated Arab custom, viz. that it was a sacrilege to marry the wife of one’s adopted son. The custom of adoption was abolished and with it went also this foolish notion. Thus Zainab’s marriage with Zaid served one very noble object and its failure another highly useful purpose.

The words "fear Allah" signify that Zaid wanted to divorce Zainab, and as divorce according to Islam is very hateful in the sight of God, the Holy Prophet exhorted him not to do so.

The clause, "And then…thou shouldst fear Him," may apply to both Zaid and the Holy Prophet. Applying to Zaid it would mean that Zaid did not like that the cause of his separation from Zainab should come to light, perhaps because as the words "fear Allah," indicate the fault lay more with him than with Zainab. As, however, applying to the Holy Prophet, the words would signify that as the marriage between Zaid and Zainab was arranged at his instance and wish, he naturally did not like its breaking. The clause also shows that the Prophet feared that the break-down of the marriage which was arranged by him and which had been entered into in deference to his special wish, but which resulted in an ostensible failure of the experiment in Islamic brotherhood, would cause some mental confusion and uneasiness among people whose faith was weak. This was the anxiety that lay heavy on the Prophet’s heart. The words, "thou didst fear men," seem to point to this fear of his. But, as mentioned above, God had His own purpose in the failure of this marriage. He wanted to show that there was nothing in this failure to be afraid of. On the contrary, it was a blessing in disguise and was intended to serve a great purpose and therefore the Prophet’s fear was unfounded.

Christian and other hostile Critics of Islam pretend to find in the Holy Prophet’s marriage to Zainab a basis for mean attacks on him. It is stated that the Prophet, having by chance seen Zainab, became enamoured of her beauty and Zaid, having come to know of his desire to marry her, sought divorce from her. The fact that the Holy Prophet’s most inveterate enemies, before whose eyes the whole affair had actually taken place, dared not attribute the base motives ascribed to him by these critics after so many centuries, completely knocks the bottom from under this base and totally unfounded charge. Zainab was the Prophet’s own cousin and being so closely related to him he must have seen her many times, for "Purdah" had not as yet been enjoined. Besides, it was in deference to his own persistently expressed wish that Zainab had reluctantly agreed to marry Zaid. It is on record that she and her brother had desired before her marriage with Zaid that she should be taken in marriage by the Holy Prophet himself. What wasit that prevented the Holy Prophet from marrying her when she was a virgin and when she herself ardently desired to get married to him? The whole story evidently seems to be a figment of the "fertile" imagination of the Holy Prophet’s hostile critics and it is an insult to human intellect to give the least credence to it. But while there are some Christian critics like Muir and Margoliouth who find fault with the Holy Prophet for having married Zainab, there are others better informed and more honest like the good and noble Rev. Bosworth Smith who found nothing in this marriage to cavil at. The Rev, gentleman says:

"It should be remembered, however, that most of Mohammed’s marriages may be explained, at least, as much by his pity for the forlorn condition of the persons concerned, as by other motives. They were almost all of them widows who were not remarkable either for their beauty or their wealth, but quite the reverse. May not this fact, and his undoubted faithfulness to Khadijah till her dying day, and till he himself was fifty years of age, give us additional ground to hope that calumny or misconception has been at work in the story of Zainab" - ("Mohammed and Mohammedanism").

اردو ترجمہ مودودی

اے نبیؐ، یاد کرو وہ موقع جب تم اس شخص سے کہہ رہے تھے جس پر اللہ نے اور تم نے احسان کیا تھا کہ "اپنی بیوی کو نہ چھوڑ اور اللہ سے ڈر" اُس وقت تم اپنے دل میں وہ بات چھپائے ہوئے تھے جسے اللہ کھولنا چاہتا تھا، تم لوگوں سے ڈر رہے تھے، حالانکہ اللہ اس کا زیادہ حقدار ہے کہ تم اس سے ڈرو پھر جب زیدؓ اس سے اپنی حاجت پوری کر چکا تو ہم نے اس (مطلقہ خاتون) کا تم سے نکاح کر دیا تاکہ مومنوں پر اپنے منہ بولے بیٹوں کی بیویوں کے معاملہ میں کوئی تنگی نہ رہے جبکہ وہ ان سے اپنی حاجت پوری کر چکے ہوں اور اللہ کا حکم تو عمل میں آنا ہی چاہیے تھا

English - Sahih

And [remember, O Muhammad], when you said to the one on whom Allah bestowed favor and you bestowed favor, "Keep your wife and fear Allah," while you concealed within yourself that which Allah is to disclose. And you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him. So when Zayd had no longer any need for her, We married her to you in order that there not be upon the believers any discomfort concerning the wives of their adopted sons when they no longer have need of them. And ever is the command of Allah accomplished.

اردو ترجمہ احمد علی

اور جب تو نے اس شخص سے کہا جس پر الله نے احسان کیا اور تو نے احسان کیا اپنی بیوی کو اپنے پاس رکھ الله سے ڈر اور تو اپنے دل میں ایک چیز چھپاتا تھا جسے الله ظاہر کرنے والا تھا اور تو لوگوں سے ڈرتا تھا حالانکہ الله زیادہ حق رکھتا ہے کہ تو اس سے ڈرے پھر جب زید اس سے حاجت پوری کر چکا تو ہم نے تجھ سے اس کا نکاح کر دیا تاکہ مسلمانوں پر ان کے منہ بولے بیٹوں کی بیویوں کے بارے میں کوئی گناہ نہ ہو جب کہ وہ ان سے حاجت پوری کر لیں اور الله کا حکم ہوکر رہنے والا ہے

English - Talal Itani

And when you said to the one, Allah bestowed favor on him and you bestowed favor on him, "Keep to yourself your wife and fear Allah." But you concealed within yourself what Allah (was to) disclose. And you fear the people, while Allah has more right that you (should) fear Him. So when ended Zaid from her necessary (formalities), We married her to you so that not there be on the believers any discomfort concerning the wives (of) their adopted sons when they have ended from them necessary (formalities). And is (the) Command (of) Allah accomplished.

Chinese Commentary ^*

اردہ تفصیرِ صغیر نوٹس ^*

1

بعض مفسرین کہتے ہیں کہ رسول کریم صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ’’نعوذ باللہ‘‘دل میں حضرت زینبؓ کو نکاح میں لانے کا ارادہ رکھتے تھے مگر اس کو چھپاتے تھے تاکہ لوگ ٹھوکر نہ کھائیں مگر اصل میں اس کے یہ معنے ہیں کہ آنحضرت صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم کو معلوم ہو چکا تھا کہ حضرت زیدؓ حضرت زینبؓ کو طلاق دینا چاہتے ہیں اور آپ اس معاملہ کو پوشیدہ رکھ کر حضرت زیدؓ کو نصیحت کرتے تھے تاکہ لوگوں کو یہ ٹھوکر نہ لگے کہ ایک شریف خاندان کی لڑکی ایک آزاد غلام سے بیاہ کر رسول کریم صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم نے اچھا کام نہیں کیا بلکہ فتنہ کا دروازہ کھول دیا ہے۔ بعض علماء کہتے ہیں کہ ز ینبؓ کا نکاح آنحضرت صلی اللہ

2

ہم پہلے لکھ چکے ہیں کہ تاریخ سے یہ ثابت ہے کہ رسول کریم صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم نے حضرت زینبؓ سے نکاح کیا تھا مگر اس آیت میں زَوَّجْنٰکَھَا کے الفاظ ہیں۔ جس کے معنے یہ ہیں کہ ’’ہم نے تجھ سے اس کا بیاہ کر دیا‘‘ سو یاد رکھنا چاہیے کہ عربی زبان میں جو فعل کسی کے دخل دینے سے ہو وہ اسی کی طرف منسوب ہوتا ہے۔ چونکہ الہاماً اللہ تعالیٰ کی طرف سے نکاح کا حکم ہوا تھا اس لئے یہ فعل اللہ تعالیٰ کی طرف منسوب کیا گیا۔

English - Arberry

When thou saidst to him whom God had blessed and thou hadst favoured, 'Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear God,' and thou wast concealing within thyself what God should reveal, fearing other men; and God has better right for thee to fear Him. So when Zaid had accomplished what he would of her, then We gave her in marriage to thee, so that there should not be any fault in the believers, touching the wives of their adopted sons, when they have accomplished what they would of them; and God's commandment must be performed.

English - Maududi

(O Prophet), call to mind when you said to him whom Allah had favoured and you had favoured: “Cleave to your wife and fear Allah,” and you concealed within yourself for fear of people what Allah was to reveal, although Allah has greater right that you fear Him. So when Zayd had accomplished what he would of her, We gave her in marriage to you so that there should not be any constraint for the believers regarding the wives of their adopted sons after they had accomplished whatever they would of them. And Allah's command was bound to be accomplished.

English - Ahmed Ali

When you said to him who had been favoured by God and was favoured by you: "Keep your wife to yourself and fear God," you were hiding something God was about to bring to light, for you had fear of men, though you should fear God more. And when Zaid was through with her, We gave her to you in marriage, so that it may not remain a sin for the faithful (to marry) the wives of their adopted sons when they are through with them. God's command is to be fulfilled.

English - Yusuf Ali

Behold! Thou didst say to one who had received the grace of Allah and thy favour: "Retain thou (in wedlock) thy wife, and fear Allah." But thou didst hide in thy heart that which Allah was about to make manifest: thou didst fear the people, but it is more fitting that thou shouldst fear Allah. Then when Zaid had dissolved (his marriage) with her, with the necessary (formality), We joined her in marriage to thee: in order that (in future) there may be no difficulty to the Believers in (the matter of) marriage with the wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have dissolved with the necessary (formality) (their marriage) with them. And Allah's command must be fulfilled.

English - Five Volume Commentary ^*

3104

Important Words:

وطرا (want) has no verb. It means, a want, a need, an object of want or need; or that which one proposes to accomplish or of which one is desirous. They say قضی منه وطرہ i.e. he accomplished or obtained his want from him (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

As the verse deals with an incident of very great historical importance, it demands and deserves a somewhat detailed explanation. Zaid bin Harith, to whom the words "on whom Allah had bestowed favours and on whom thou also had bestowed favours" refer, belonged to the tribe of Kalb. In his childhood he was kidnapped and sold as a slave in Mecca where he was bought by Khadijah’s brother and given over to her. On her marriage with the Holy Prophet Khadijah presented Zaid to him who at once emancipated him. Zaid was so much attached to the Prophet that when later his father and uncle begged of the Holy Prophet to let him go with them as the grief of his separation from home had almost killed his mother, the Prophet readily gave his permission. But Zaid himself flatly refused to part company with the Holy Prophet, exclaiming that he was dearer to him than his father and mother. The Prophet was so deeply touched by Zaid’s fidelity and love for him that he at once declared him (Zaid) to be his son and henceforward Zaid came to be known as the Prophet’s son. Zaid remained throughout his life a most beloved and faithful disciple of the Holy Prophet and sealed his fidelity to Islam and the Prophet with his blood on the battlefield of Mu’tah.

Zainab was the daughter of the Holy Prophet’s aunt, hence a full-blooded Arab, intensely proud of her ancestry and exalted social status. Islam had envisaged and given to the world a civilization and culture in which there were to be no class divisions, no hereditary nobility, no vested interests. All men were to be free and equal in the sight of God. The Holy Prophet wanted to start with his own family the carrying into actual effect of this noble ideal of Islam. He wished to marry Zainab to Zaid, who in spite of having been liberated by the Prophet and called his son, unfortunately still carried the stigma of slavery in the minds of some people. It was exactly this stigma of slavery, this invidious distinction between 'free' and 'slave' which the Holy Prophet sought to remove by Zainab’s marriage to Zaid. In deference to the Holy Prophet’s wish Zainab agreed to the proposal. The purpose of the Holy Prophet was achieved. The marriage levelled to the ground all class distinctions and divisions. It was a practical demonstration of Islam’s noble ideal. The marriage, however, ended in failure, not so much due to a difference in the social status of Zainab and Zaid as to the incompatibility of their dispositions and temperaments and also due to a feeling of inferiority from which Zaid suffered. The failure of the marriage naturally grieved the Holy Prophet. But it also served a very useful purpose. In pursuance of Divine command, as mentioned in the latter part of the verse under comment, the Prophet himself married Zainab, thus cutting at the very root of another obnoxious and deep-seated Arab custom, viz. that it was a sacrilege to marry the wife of one’s adopted son. The custom of adoption was abolished and with it went also this foolish notion. Thus Zainab’s marriage with Zaid served one very noble object and its failure another highly useful purpose.

The words "fear Allah" signify that Zaid wanted to divorce Zainab, and as divorce according to Islam is very hateful in the sight of God, the Holy Prophet exhorted him not to do so.

The clause, "And then…thou shouldst fear Him," may apply to both Zaid and the Holy Prophet. Applying to Zaid it would mean that Zaid did not like that the cause of his separation from Zainab should come to light, perhaps because as the words "fear Allah," indicate the fault lay more with him than with Zainab. As, however, applying to the Holy Prophet, the words would signify that as the marriage between Zaid and Zainab was arranged at his instance and wish, he naturally did not like its breaking. The clause also shows that the Prophet feared that the break-down of the marriage which was arranged by him and which had been entered into in deference to his special wish, but which resulted in an ostensible failure of the experiment in Islamic brotherhood, would cause some mental confusion and uneasiness among people whose faith was weak. This was the anxiety that lay heavy on the Prophet’s heart. The words, "thou didst fear men," seem to point to this fear of his. But, as mentioned above, God had His own purpose in the failure of this marriage. He wanted to show that there was nothing in this failure to be afraid of. On the contrary, it was a blessing in disguise and was intended to serve a great purpose and therefore the Prophet’s fear was unfounded.

Christian and other hostile Critics of Islam pretend to find in the Holy Prophet’s marriage to Zainab a basis for mean attacks on him. It is stated that the Prophet, having by chance seen Zainab, became enamoured of her beauty and Zaid, having come to know of his desire to marry her, sought divorce from her. The fact that the Holy Prophet’s most inveterate enemies, before whose eyes the whole affair had actually taken place, dared not attribute the base motives ascribed to him by these critics after so many centuries, completely knocks the bottom from under this base and totally unfounded charge. Zainab was the Prophet’s own cousin and being so closely related to him he must have seen her many times, for "Purdah" had not as yet been enjoined. Besides, it was in deference to his own persistently expressed wish that Zainab had reluctantly agreed to marry Zaid. It is on record that she and her brother had desired before her marriage with Zaid that she should be taken in marriage by the Holy Prophet himself. What wasit that prevented the Holy Prophet from marrying her when she was a virgin and when she herself ardently desired to get married to him? The whole story evidently seems to be a figment of the "fertile" imagination of the Holy Prophet’s hostile critics and it is an insult to human intellect to give the least credence to it. But while there are some Christian critics like Muir and Margoliouth who find fault with the Holy Prophet for having married Zainab, there are others better informed and more honest like the good and noble Rev. Bosworth Smith who found nothing in this marriage to cavil at. The Rev, gentleman says:

"It should be remembered, however, that most of Mohammed’s marriages may be explained, at least, as much by his pity for the forlorn condition of the persons concerned, as by other motives. They were almost all of them widows who were not remarkable either for their beauty or their wealth, but quite the reverse. May not this fact, and his undoubted faithfulness to Khadijah till her dying day, and till he himself was fifty years of age, give us additional ground to hope that calumny or misconception has been at work in the story of Zainab" - ("Mohammed and Mohammedanism").

English - Short Commentary Notes ^*

2357

Zaid bin Harith, a young freed man of the Holy Prophet whom he had adopted as his son before adoption was declared unlawful in Islam.

2357A

Had divorced her; Watar means, need; want; an object of want (Lane).

2357B

Zainab was the daughter of the Holy Prophet’s aunt, hence a full- blooded Arab lady, intensely proud of her ancestry and exalted social status. Islam had envisaged and given to the world a civilization and culture in which there were no class divisions, no hereditary nobility, no vested interests. All men were free and equal in the sight of God. The Holy Prophet wanted to start with his own family to carry into actual effect this noble ideal of Islam. He wished to marry Zainab to Zaid, who in spite of having been freed by the Prophet, unfortunately still carried the stigma of slavery in the minds of some people. It was exactly this stigma of slavery, this invidious distinction between 'free' and 'slave' which the Holy Prophet sought to remove by Zainab’s marriage with Zaid. In deference to the Holy Prophet’s wish Zainab agreed to the proposal. The purpose of the Holy Prophet was achieved. The marriage levelled to the ground class distinctions and divisions. It was a practical demonstration of Islam

English - Pickthall

And when thou saidst unto him on whom Allah hath conferred favour and thou hast conferred favour: Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear Allah. And thou didst hide in thy mind that which Allah was to bring to light, and thou didst fear mankind whereas Allah hath a better right that thou shouldst fear Him. So when Zeyd had performed that necessary formality (of divorce) from her, We gave her unto thee in marriage, so that (henceforth) there may be no sin for believers in respect of wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have performed the necessary formality (of release) from them. The commandment of Allah must be fulfilled.

English - Muhammad Ali ^ra

And when thou saidst to him to whom Allah had shown favour and to whom thou hadst shown a favour: Keep thy wife to thyself and keep thy duty to Allah; and thou concealedst in thy heart what Allah would bring to light, and thou fearedst men, and Allah has a greater right that thou shouldst fear Him. So when Zaid dissolved her marriage-tie, We gave her to thee as a wife, so that there should be no difficulty for the believers about the wives of their adopted sons, when they have dissolved their marriage-tie. And Allah’s command is ever performed.

English - Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khan ^ra

Call to mind when thou didst say to him on whom Allah had bestowed favours and thou also hadst bestowed favours: Cleave to thy wife and be mindful of thy obligation to Allah; and thou didst conceal in thy mind that which Allah was about to bring to light (that Zaid had decided to divorce his wife) and thou wast afraid of the people, whereas Allah has better right that thou shouldst fear Him. Then, when Zaid had carried into effect his decision concerning her, We joined her in marriage with thee, so that there should be no constraint in the minds of the believers in the matter of marrying the wives of their adopted sons after they had divorced them. Allah’s decree is bound to be fulfilled.

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