Surah Al-Ahzab 33:35-40 - Quran Translation Commentary

35. Verily the Muslim men and the Muslim women, the believing men and the believing women,⁷⁰ the obedient men and the obedient women,⁷¹ the truthful men and the truthful women,⁷² the patient men and the patient women,⁷³ the men of humility and the women of humility ⁷⁴, the men and the women who give charity, ⁷⁵ the men and women who fast, the men and the women who guard their private parts (chastity),⁷⁶ and the men and women who remember Allah much,⁷⁷ for them all Allah has kept ready forgiveness and a great reward.⁷⁸

36. It is not (becoming) for a believing man and woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His messenger (for them), that they should have any choice⁷⁹ in their matter, and whoever disobeys Allah and His messenger, he has verily gone astray in a clear misguidance.

37. And when you (O Prophet :) said to the man, whom Allah has favoured and you also have favoured; ⁸⁰ ‘keep your wife to yourself (do not divorce) and have fear of Allah ⁸¹ and were concealing in your Heart what Allah was to disclose ⁸² and were fearing people, where Allah had better right that you should fear Him.⁸³ So when Zaid performed his purpose concerning her, We gave her to you in marriage, ⁸⁴ so that there should be no difficulty ⁸⁵ for the believers in the matter of the wives of their adopted sons, when they have performed their purpose concerningthem. And the commandment of Allah was to be fulfilled.⁸⁶

38. There is no blame for the Prophet in what Allah has made his duty ⁸⁷. Such was the way of Allah with those (Prophets) who passed away before him⁸⁸ and the commandment of Allah is certain destiny.⁸⁹

39. Who delivered the messages of Allah and feared Him, and feared none except Allah.⁹⁰ And sufficient is Allah for reckoning.⁹¹

40. Muhammad is not the father of any man among you,⁹² but he is the messenger of Allah and last ⁹³ of the prophets, and Allah has knowledge of all things. ⁹⁴

Commentary

70. In the foregoing ayah there was special blessings for the holy wives of the Prophet. Here is general blessings for Muslim men and women. Here those attributes have been mentioned which are the desired standard, and every Muslim, whether man or woman, must develop in himself or herself these attributes. And on the basis of these attributes only he would be worthy of receiving forgiveness and great reward from Allah.

When the words Muslim and Momin or Islam and Iman are used together, then Islam means accepting the belief of monotheism (Tawheed) and adopting Islam as a religion. By Iman is meant acceptance from heart or sincere acceptance, that is: any person’s mere declaring himself to be a Muslim and claiming belief in the Islamic tenets is not sufficient, but for becoming a sincere Momin it is necessary that he should believe in these tenets form his heart, and he should be firm in his belief about the truth of Islam, that is, a person’s acceptance of Islam will be recognised by Allah only when his inner self also believes in what he openly says; otherwise there is no value and respect for the so-called Muslims, who are Muslims only in name.

71.’Qaniteen’ (obedient) is an attribute which shows loyalty in action and practice, that is after accepting Islam and having Iman they have practically adopted the attitude of loyalty to Allah.

72. To be truthful is a very good quality, but this quality is developed by only those persons who have the aspirations to rise high. Comfort loving persons have no hesitation in telling lies and in the modern times when the business of the world is carried on falsehood, adoption of truthfulness is a difficult task. But truthfulness is the cream of a man’s character, and is very dear to Allah. The Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, has said:

“Be truthful, for truth leads to virtue, and virtue leads to Paradise. A man speaks truth, and adopts truthfulness (as a habit) till he is registered as ‘Siddique’ (truthful) in Allah’s records.” -(Muslim-Kitab-ul- Bir).

73. For the explanation of ‘Sabr’ (Patience) please see Surah Ra’d Note No.51.

74. For the explanation of ‘Khushu’ (humbleness) see Surah Muminoon, Note No.2. Here ‘Khushu’ hints at salat.

75. ’Sadqa’ (Charity) includes Zakat also and every type of expenditure for the sake of Allah. For further explanation, please see Surah Taubah, Note No.189

76. Guarding private parts means guarding chastity as also covering the private parts. Please see Surah Muminoon, Note No.5.

77. ’Zikr-e-Ilahi’(Remembering Allah)-For explanation, please see Surah A’raf Note No.310, Surah Taha, Note No.16 and 161, and Surah Ankaboot, Note No.85.

78. Forgiveness is the Permit to Paradise, and great reward are the everlasting blessings which will be given as a reward for the good and virtuous deeds.

Here the guarantee of success in the Hereafter is given only to those persons who would develop in themselves these attributes, whether men or women. As for the so-called Muslims, their lives are bereft of these attributes, for them this guarantee is not there.

79. In this ayah a very important principle has been stated. After knowing the decision of Allah and His messenger concerning a matter about human life and affairs pertaining to it, no Muslim man or woman has a right to disagree with that decision. The decision may be about a disputed matter of personal or social nature, or it may be in the nature of court’s decision by the prophet, a Muslim must willingly accept it and must essentially obey it. To divide life into religious and non-religious compartments, and to reject many decisions of Allah and His messenger concerning family, economic and political life and adopt the secular way of living is manifest deviation from Islam.

So far as the decisions of Allah are concerned, they are in the holy Quran and they are to be obeyed unquestionably. As for the decisions of the Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, those in the hadith which are proven to be undisputed, narrated continually by reliable narrators, they are also unquestionably to be obeyed, except those which go against the teachings of the Quran, or which go against what the other reliable narrators have stated or which are contrary to the common sense and intellect, or the wordings of which may be very involved or whose certificate of reliability of their narrators may not be acceptable. When it cannot be said about such narratives that they are the sayings of the Prophet, they cannot be unquestionable. Accordingly, Umar (R) had rejected a hadith narrated by Fatimah bint Qais, in which it was stated that a woman who was given ‘Talaq-e-Bain’ (absolute divorced) was not entitled to get maintenance from her husband, and he had said:

“We will not give up the Book of Allah and the tradition of Our Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, on the statement of a woman. We do not know whether she preserved it (the saying) or she forgot.” -(Muslim Kitab-ut- Talaq).

80. Refers to Zaid bin Hartha, who was a slave. The Prophet had freed him before declaring his prophethood and had brought him up as his son. He was Prophet’s adopted son. Allah conferred on him this favour that he was provided the guardianship of the Prophet and was blessed with faith. Therefore, he is one of those lucky people who embraced Islam in its earliest days. The favour conferred by Prophet on him was this that he freed him and brought him up as one of his own family. On account of these favours Zaid (R) emerged as a very prominent Muslim and performed very laudable and noteworthy deeds. This is a prominent example of the progres a slave made in the Islamic ambience.

81. Zaid (R) had married Zainab Bint Jahsh (R), who was a cousin of the Prophet. This is a very good example of social equality where a freed slave is allowed to marry a highly placed lady of the top family of Makkah, the Quraish. Since their temperaments differed, the married life was not happy. Within one and a half years separation stared in the face. On this occasion, the Prophet wanted to prevent Zaid from divorcing his wife, and he directed him to fear Allah. But when Zaid saw that continuing married life would be difficult, he decided to divorce her.

A point culled from this incident is this that although Allah has given the right of talaq to man, man should have fear of Allah when giving talaq to his wife, that is by the wrong use of this right a woman can be made to suffer considerably, which would be disliked by Allah, and man will be accountable for that.

The second thing which is elicited is this that the Prophet did not want that Zaid should divorce his wife. Therefore, those narratives which sound like stories and relate that the Prophet was inclined to marry the wife of Zaid is contrary to what is stated in Quran and it is a view which does not conform to the unblemished character of the Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam. Therefore, these narratives are fit to be rejected. Similarly this narrative is also unacceptable that Zainab (R) was not prepared to marry Zaid (R), but she married him on the insistence of the Prophet, which ultimately ended with talaq.

First of all this is not proved by any hadith, and for such proof it is necessary that the hadith should be authentic. Mere writing by a biographer or being found in a third class book of hadith like that of Abi Hatim is not sufficient proof of its being the saying of the Prophet. Besides, no instance can be cited where the Prophet might have compelled any lady to marry against her will-So much so that the former husband of Barirah was very much anxious to re-marry her and even the Prophet witnessed his anxiety and restlessness, and wished that Barirah should go back to her former husband, but he did not compel her to do so, did she go back to her former husband in remarriage. Then how could he compel his own cousin to marry a person who was previously a slave?

82. From the last words of the ayah (the commandment of Allah must be fulfilled) it is clear that the Prophet was commanded to marry Zainab after the completion of the formality of talaq by Zaid, so that the custom of the jahiliyah that the father cannot marry the divorced wife of the adopted son may be discontinued. But the Prophet was afraid that the idolaters and the hypocrites would get a chance to start some mischief against him. Therefore, he wanted that neither Zaid should divorce his wife, nor should he bring her into his own nikah. But Allah was going to bring out in the open this fear which he was feeling in his heart. Accordingly Allah not only revealed this fear of the Prophet, He also warned him that it is not proper to have any fear in the matter of any command of Allah. It does not mean that the Prophet had been hesitating in obeying Allah’s command, because till then the time for obeying the command had not come. But once when the hint was given from Allah, then it did not become a Prophet to worry about obeying His command.

From the context of the ayah, this interpretation of the ayah seems to be appropriate, but in some narratives, quite the contrary view has been expressed, and these narratives have found a place in some commentaries of Quran. A summary of these narratives is: that apparently the Prophet was asking Zaid not to give Talaq to his wife, but he really wanted that Zaid should divorce Zainab, so that he might wed her afterwards. This was the thing which he was concealing in his heart. But to refute these narratives, only these words of the ayah are sufficient: “...... what Allah was to disclose” Now the question is: what point Allah bring to light in connection with this incident ? whether this thing that he should divorce his wife and the Prophet may wed her, or that he was preventing Zaid from divorcing his wife and did not want that chance to marry his divorced wife should come up. Allah did not bring to light the first thing. Then how did the narrators know that the Prophet had concealed the desire to marry Zainab in his heart? However the second thing that the Prophet did not want that Zaid should divorce her and the chance to marry her should come up and the people may get a chance to raise objection, is quite clear from the text of the ayah.

83. This is a warning to the Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, that it is not correct to pay any heed to the fear of what the people would say or do in the matter of obeying the command of Allah. This Quranic criticism of the Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, is a clear proof of the Quran’s being the word of Allah, and it is also an open example of the Prophet being a truthful messenger. If the Quran were a book, authored by the Prophet, then it would not have contained instances in which the slightest miscalculation on the part of the Prophet is severely criticized.

84. That is: When Zaid divorced his wife, and the period of ‘Iddat’ was over, Allah commanded the Prophet to marry her. Accordingly, he obeyed Allah’s command and Zainab bint jahsh came in the nikah of Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam.

Ibn Hisham writes:

“The messenger of Allah married Zainab bint jahsh Ibn Rasibul Asariyah. Her brother Abu Ahmed bin Jahsh gave her in marriage. The Prophet gave her four hundred dirham as Mehr (dower). Before this she was married to his freed slave. Zaid bin Hartha. In her case only Allah has revealed this ayah:

‘So when Zaid completed the necessary formality. We gave her to you in marriage.” -(Seerat Ibn Hisham.Vol.4. page 322).

If this narrative is correct, then it means that this nikah was performed according to the Shariah. However, since it was performed under the command of Allah it was a little distinguished from other nikahs. For this reason Zainab (R) used to consider her nikah as a thing to be proud of. In the Bukhari it is stated:

“Zainab bint jahsh (R) used to say proudly to the other wives of the Prophet that their nikah was performed by their home people, but her nikah was performed by Allah from the seventh heaven.” -(Tafseer Ibn Katheer, Vol. III, P.491).

Any way it is confirmed by Quran and hadith that the nikah of Zainab bint Jahsh (R) with the Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, was performed under the command of Allah, therefore, the absurd stories which have been written in connection with this nikah are automatically refuted. May Allah forgive Ibn Jarir Tabari, who did not take proper care and has quoted such a narrative which tells of a vulgar and ill-bred story in connection with this nikah, that it can be construed as an insult of the holy Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam. Such narratives provide a chance to the enemies of Islam to cast aspersions on the personality of the Prophet. We do not consider it proper to quote this narrative here and think that this explanation of Allama Ibn Katheer would be sufficient:

“On this occasion Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn Jarir have quoted some sayings of the past companions of the Prophet, but we did not think it fit to relate it here on account of its incorrectness.” - (Tafseer Ibn Katheer, Vol. III, P. 491).

85. This is the good reason for which Allah had given specific command to His messenger to marry the divorced wife of his adopted son. This nikah removed the obstacle which was coming in the way of marrying the divorced wives of the adopted sons from the times of jahiliyah, and an important rule of the Islamic family law was brought into light.

Zainab (R) was married to Prophet at a time when he already had four wives. The special permission given to the Prophet for marrying more than four wives was on account of various religious necessities. But objectors close their eyes to these necessities and hurl insults against the personality of the Prophet, thus they themselves are misguided and try to misguide others. In the modern times the denigrators have made this a special topic of their objections. Perhaps they do not realize what is the result of spitting at the moon.

86. When Allah had given the command to His Prophet to marry, it was essential that this command be obeyed.

Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the messenger of Allah and last of the prophets, and Allah has knowledge of all things.O you who believe! Remember Allah with much remembrance. And recite His praises (tasbeeh) morning and evening. (AL-Quran)

87. That is: The Prophet should be reassured that whatever task Allah has appointed for him, even if it is his own nikah, in doing that task no blame would come upon him, there is nothing wrong in doing it. He should neither care for the objections nor should he be bothered by the thought that it would be made a means of raising doubts about Islam, for Allah knows best what is good for the religion.

88. Before this also Allah had been giving, to the past Prophets (peace be upon them), commands that were trying from this view point that those commands could be made the means of their character-assassination by their opponents. But without caring for the reproaches of the people, they obeyed the commands of Allah and this is the very tradition of the prophets.

The Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, also obeyed the command of Allah and married Zainab (R), and followed the very tradition of the prophets, despite what his opponents said. In the beginning when he had got only a hint from Allah, this thought was creating anxiety in his mind as to what would the opponents say and they would make it the means of putting a blot on his character. When Allah’s clear command was received, he unhesitatingly obeyed it.

In the modern times when the followers of the Western civilization do not find any defect in his unblemished character, they make the number of his wives a butt of their criticism and taunts, although it is quite clear that he did not contract these marriages for his own pleasure, but for the great benefit of his faith, and this nikah with Zainab (R) was performed by him under the direct command of Allah, otherwise he was not at all desirous of that, And when this is the reality, it is not necessary to adopt an apologetic attitude in trying to reply to these denigrators and misguided objectors.

89. When Allah gives a command to his prophet, its nature is that of pre-ordained decision, and it has essentially to be obeyed. It cannot be avoided.

90. That is: This has been the way of the prophets that they conveyed the messages of Allah to the people, and in this connection they did not care for anybody’s objection or reproach, and feared Allah only.(O Prophet!) you have to follow their footsteps.

91. When Muhammad, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, is not the father of any man among you, then Zaid is neither his son, nor Zainab is his daughter-in-law. Then after Zainab’s getting divorce what is wrong or blame worthy in his marrying her?

92It may be noted that the Prophet (S.A. W.) did have male children, but they died in childhood. And at the time of the revelation of this ayah, no male child of the prophet was alive. Afterwards, he got a son from Maria Qibtiyah, who was named by him as Ibrahim, but he also died in young age.

93.’Khatam’ occurring in this ayah means the last. In the reliable Arabic Dictionary, Lisan-ul- Arab, it is stated: Khatamuhum = Akhiruhum “Nation’s khatam, i.e. their last person. (Lisan-ul- Arab, Vol.12, page 164).

And the meaning of Khatamunnabiyyeen is the Last of the prophets. On this occasion the difference between a Rasool and Nabi should be noted that compared to Nabi (Prophet) the office of Rasool (messenger) is special, that is every messenger is a prophet, but every nabi is not a messenger by office. Therefore, when with the ayah the Prophet’s being the last prophet has been made clear, then his being the last messenger (Rasool) is automatically clear. The meaning of the ayah is that after Muhammad, (S.A. W.) no prophet or messenger will come therefore, the perfection of the religion has to take place at his hands, and it demands that the custom of a ban on marrying the divorcee of an adopted son which was in vogue from the times of jahiliyah, should be ended at his hands, and it should be clear to the people that this nikah is absolutely proper and lawful. And if this custom of the Jahiliyah is not ended by him, there will be no Prophet after him who would deal the final blow. The statement about the finality of the prophethood mentioned in the ayah is an important part of the Islamic belief. Quran does not only prophesy about any coming prophet, as other divine scriptures had done in the past, but it also asserts that Muhammad, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, is the last Prophet, and also states that the religion of Allah has been made perfect (Surah Maidah:3). That is: when Islam has reached the stage of the full moon and is giving light to the world, there is no need for any other light to the world. And it is also guaranteed that the guidance which has been revealed to this Prophet will surely and definitely be preserved and survive, because its responsibility has been taken by Allah himself. (Surah Hijr -9)

Therefore, there is no possibility of any alteration in its wording, and therefore, no need to send down any other prophet to correct it.

For example a few authentic hadith are presented here:

“Abu Hurairah has reported that the messenger of Allah has stated: ‘My likeness and that of the other prophets is of a person who has built a beautiful and grand building, but he has left in a corner a place for a brick empty. People go round it and wonder, however, looking at the empty space they say: ‘What is the matter: Here a brick has not been placed.’ The Prophet said that he was that brick, and I am the last of the prophets.’ -(Bukhari Kitabul Ahadithul Anbiya)

“Bani Israil were led by the prophets. When one prophet died, other prophet would take his place. But there will be no prophet after me, but there will be khalifas. -(Bukhari, Kitab-ul- Manaqib)

“I have been sent as a messenger to all the creatures and with me the series of the prophets has been culminated.” -(Muslim Kitab -ul- Masajid).

“I am the last prophet, and there is no prophet after me.” -(Tirmizi Abwab-ul- Fitan).

There is complete agreement on his being the last prophet on the part of the entire Ummah. Allama Aloosi states:

“Allah’s book is the deciding word on the Messenger being the last prophet. Sunnah has also stated so openly, and there is complete agreement of the Ummah on this point. Therefore, a person who would make a claim against this, would be declared a kafir, and if he insisted in his claim, he would be beheaded.” (Ruhul Ma’ani,Vol.22,page 21).

Allama Ibn Katheer writes:

“Allah (Tabarak Wa Tala) in his Book and His messenger (S.A.W.) in His Sunnah, authentically and continually reported, have informed that there is no prophet after him, so that people should know that after him whoever would claim that position, would be a liar, mischievous and a deceiver. He is himself misguided and will misguide others.(Tafseer Ibn Katheer,Vol.3,P.494).

After this clear belief about the last prophet, about which Quran and hadith are the last words and there is full agreement of the Ummah over it, in recent times a few people have presented a wrong and misguiding interpretation of this belief and have raised a great cause for mischief. The foundation of the Qadiani religion is on this false belief, and the Bahai religion is also the claimant of a new prophethood, though the false claim for prophethood is the misguidance of the first order and a very severe crime:

“Who is more wrong-doer than the one who attributes a lie to Allah, or claims:’ A revelation has come to me,’ when nothing has been revealed to him.”-(Surah An’am.93).

And those who believe in the false claimants of prophethood, in fact they believe in ‘taghut’ (rebels), while people have been asked to reject them.

94. This is a hint at the fact that Allah had taken the decision on the finality of prophethood on the basis of His knowledge. He also knows the conditions prevailing in future, therefore, there is no possibility of any error in his decision. Now this sun will be emitting light till the Day of Resurrection.