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

(33:35) Surely,⁸⁰ men who surrendered and women who surrender,⁸¹ believing men and believing women,⁸² devout men and devout women,⁸³ truthful men and truthful women,⁸⁴ patient men and patient women,⁸⁵ humble men and humble women,⁸⁶ charitable men and charitable women,⁸⁷ fasting men and fasting women,⁸⁸ men guarding their private parts and women guarding (them), men engaged much in Allah’s remembrance and women engaged much in (Allah’s) remembrance⁸⁹: Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a great reward.

(33:36) And, it was not for a believing man nor a believing woman that when Allah and His Messenger had decided a matter, there should be any choice for them in their affair;⁹⁰ and whoever disobeyed Allah and His Messenger, surely strayed into a manifest error.⁹¹

(33:37) And when you were saying to him whom Allah had shown favor, and you had shown favor,⁹² ‘Retain your wife to yourself and fear Allah.’ You were concealing in yourself⁹³ what Allah was to disclose.⁹⁴ And, you were fearing the people although Allah had better right that you should fear Him.⁹⁵ So, when Zayd had accomplished what he would of her,⁹⁶ We gave her to you in marriage,⁹⁷ so that there should not be any hindrance for the believers with regard to the wives of their adopted sons,⁹⁸ when they have accomplished what they would of them. And, Allah’s command had to be fulfilled.

(33:38) There could be no inconvenience for the Prophet in what Allah imposed on him: the way of Allah with those who went earlier;⁹⁹ and Allah’s command was a decree determined.¹⁰⁰

(33:39) Those who deliver Allah’s messages, and fear Him, and fear none other than Allah,¹⁰¹ - and sufficient is Allah as a Reckoner.

(33:40) Muhammad is not the father of any of your men,¹⁰² but Messenger of Allah and Seal of the Prophets.¹⁰³ And ever was Allah of all things knowing.

Commentary

80. Tirmidhi recorded a Hasan Gharib report on the authority of `Ummarah al-Ansariyyah that she said to the Prophet, “I do not see women addressed in the Qur’an. All the time it addresses women.” So Allah revealed this verse (Qurtubi).

We also have a report in Ahmad coming from Umm Salamah.

حدثنا عبد الرحمن بن شيبة قال سمعت أم سلمة قالت: "قلت يا رسول الله ما لنا لا نذكر في القرآن كما يذكر الرجال قالت: فلم يرعني منه يوما إلا ونداؤه على المنبر -يا أيها الناس قالت وأنا أسرح رأسي فلففت شعري ثم دنوت من الباب فجعلت سمعي عند الجرير فسمعته يقول: إن الله عز وجل يقول: إن المسلمين والمسلمات والمؤمنين والمؤمنات" (أحمد)

She said to the Prophet, “Why is it that we have not been addressed in the Qur’an as men have been addressed?” She said, “It was hardly a day, when I was doing my hair, that I heard him address the people from the pulpit of his mosque. I gathered my hair together and pressed my ear against the frond of the house’s wall and heard him say, ‘People, Allah has revealed, ‘Surely, men who surrendered and women who surrendered.. to the end of the verse.’” The hadith is also in Nasa’i (Ibn Kathir).

81. Muslim is someone who comes into peace after having been at war (with his Creator), and who offers no resistance thereafter (to Allah’s commands) - Zamakhshari.

82. Mu’min is someone who testifies to Allah, His Messenger, and all that demands testimony (Zamakhshari).

The words, “Surely, men who surrendered and women who surrendered, believing men and believing women” writes Ibn Kathir demonstrate that Iman and Islam are two different realities. Allah said about Bedouin Arabs (49: 14):

قَالَتِ الأَعْرَابُ آمَنَّا قُل لَّمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَكِن قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَا وَلَمَّا يَدْخُلِ الإِيمَانُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ

“Said the Bedouins, ‘We believed.’ Say, ‘You have not believed, but rather, you have surrendered. Faith has not yet entered your hearts.’” And a hadith of the Sahihayn says,

"لاَ يَزْنِي الزّانِي حِينَ يَزْنِي وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ." (الصحيحين)

“A fornicator does not fornicate when he fornicates, while he is a believer.” Iman departs from him during the act. Nevertheless, by consensus he does not become an unbeliever. Thus, faith is more specific than surrender (Ibn Kathir).

83. Qanit is someone who is actively engaged in obedience, all the time, consistently (Zamakhshari, Alusi).

Ibn Kathir defines it as “obedience accompanied by complete comfort and tranquility of heart.”

84. Sadiq is someone who is true of intentions, words and deeds (Zamakhshari).

The Prophet (saws) has said, as recorded by Muslim,

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللّهِ، قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: "إِنّ الصّدْقَ يَهْدِي إِلَىَ الْبِرّ. وَإِنّ الْبِرّ يَهْدِي إِلَىَ الْجَنّةِ. وَإِنّ الرّجُلَ لَيَصْدُقُ حَتّىَ يُكْتَبَ صِدّيقاً. وَإِنّ الْكَذِبَ يَهْدِي إِلَىَ الْفُجُورِ، وَإِنّ الْفُجُورَ يَهْدِي إِلَىَ النّارِ، وَإِنّ الرّجُلَ لَيَكْذِبُ حَتّىَ يُكْتَبَ كَذّاباً". (مسلم)

“Hold fast to truthfulness, for truthfulness leads to virtues and virtues lead to Paradise. A man keeps speaking the truth until he is written as ‘the truthful.’ And lies lead to sinfulness, and sinfulness leads to the Fire. A man keeps speaking lies until he is written as ‘the liar’” (Ibn Kathir).

85. Sabir is someone who is steadfast in obedience as well as in abstinence (from the unlawful) - (Zamakhshari).

86. Khashi` is someone who is humble of heart and limbs (inwardly and outwardly) – Zamakhshari. It is also said that one is a Khashi` when he does not know who is on his right or left when he is in his Prayers (Alusi).

87. Mutasaddiq is one who purifies his wealth through charity (Zamakhshari). A hadith in the Sahihayn speaks of seven that will be provided with shade when there will be no shade except Allah’s. Of them, one would be someone who spent without his left hand knowing what his right hand spent. Another hadith says,

والصدقة تطفئ الخطيئة كما يطفئ الماء النار . رواه أبو يعلى ورجاله رجال الصحيح غير إسحاق بن أبي إسرائيل وهو ثقة مأمون

“Charity extinguishes sins just like water extinguishes fire” (Ibn Kathir). Haythami traced it as in Abu Ya`la’s collection whose narrators are all those that Sahih collectors used, except for one, who was trustworthy anyway (Au.).

88. Sa’im is someone who fasts ayyam al-bidh (3 days) of every month (Zamakhshari). This was the opinion of Sa`id b. Jubayr also.

Fasts are, as the Prophet has said, Zakah of the body (Ibn Kathir).

There is another possible connotation of the word “sa’im” as used in verse (19: 26),

إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ صَوْمًا

“I have vowed a sawm for the All-merciful” meaning, I shall not speak to anyone.

In the words of Asad, “The term sa’im, usually rendered as ”fasting", has here its primary connotation: “one who abstains [from anything]” or “denies to himself [anything] cf. 19:26, where the noun sawm denotes abstinence from speech.”

89. Dhakirin are those who pass through no moment but are in remembrance of Allah - either in heart, or by the tongue, or both; or busy with recitation of the Qur’an or in search of knowledge (Zamakhshari).

A hadith recorded in Ibn Abi Hatim, Abu Da’ud, Nasa’i and Ibn Majah says that if a man awakens his wife deep in the night and the two offer two cycles of prayers each, then that night they are written down as of those who “remember Allah much.”

Another transmission in Ahmad says,

عن أبي الدرداء قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: -ألا أنبئكم بخير أعمالكم؟ قال مكي: وأزكاها عند مليككم وأرفعها في درجاتكم وخير لكم من إعطاء الذهب والورق وخير لكم من أن تلقوا عدوكم فتضربوا أعناقهم ويضربوا أعناقكم؟ قالوا: وذلك ما هو يا رسول الله؟ قال: ذكر الله عز وجل.‏ (أحمد)

“May I not tell you about the best of deeds, the most purifying with your Lord, greatest in raising your ranks, better for you than exchange of gold and silver between yourselves, that you meet your enemy tomorrow and they strike at your necks and you strike their necks?” They said, “Do tell us, Messenger of Allah.” He said, “Remembrance of Allah.” [It is of Hasan status: Haythami). Another hadith preserved by Ahmad records that upon being asked the Prophet said that it was that jihad, fasting, Hajj, Prayer and charity that were best, which were accompanied by remembrance of Allah (Ibn Kathir).

To sum up: Islam is surrender while Iman is conviction. They are intricately related. On the simplest plain they are like the two faces of a coin. Devotion arises out of a proper combination of the two: Iman and Islam. Truthfulness is the most prominent quality of someone endowed with the two. A liar (as Sayyid notes) does not belong to Islam. While truthfulness is a permanent quality, patience and perseverance appear in times of crisis. They indicate the depth of conviction. But neither is truthfulness a mere principle to be strictly followed, nor patience and perseverance should be stoic. There is something else to them: it is khushu`: fear tempered with love. Fasts help strengthen the above qualities, as well as demonstrate one’s complete surrender: body and soul. Dhikr is the atmosphere in which a believer lives: at work, at home, in markets, or gatherings. He carries his own environment with him. It is that of dhikr (Au.).

90. It is reported as cause of revelation that the Prophet sought Zaynab bint Jahsh’s hand for his freed slave Zayd b. Haritha – (who was then about 45 year old: Au.). She as well as her brother refused. She thought she was better than him in lineage, (because he was a freed slave: Au.). Another report says Umm Kulthum bint `Uqbah b. Abi Mu`ayt, who belonged to the earliest emigrants (after Hudaybiyya peace treaty: Sayyid) offered herself to the Prophet. He accepted her for Zayd which she accepted but not her homefolk who became angry and said they had initially agreed because they thought he was seeking her hand for himself. (Zamakhshari, Qurtubi).

It is possible, writes Sayyid, that the Prophet arranged this marriage after Zayd had divorced Zaynab.

(There were other freed slaves married to free women: Miqdad b. al-Aswad who married Daba`ah bint Zubayr, Salim who married Fatimah the daughter of `Utbah, and Bilal who was the husband of a sister of `Abdul Rahman b. `Awf (Qurtubi).

In any case, ultimately Zaynab gave her consent and the Prophet married her off to Zayd offering, on his behalf, the following as bridal gift: 10 Dinars and 60 Dirhams as mahr, and, in addition, an outer shroud, a shirt and lower garment, a cloak, fifty measures of foodstuff and thirty measures of dates (Alusi).

The marriage gifts to her were fabulous when compared to what the Prophet offered his own wives, or his daughters, which shows how much he was pleased with the match (Au.)

There are two other reports in Ahmad recounted by Ibn Kathir. We take the version as in Haythami’s Majma` al-Fawa’id, Abu Bazrah Aslami says there was a man called Julaybib who, when he encountered women, was played off and made fool of. I told my wife, “Do not let him enter upon you. If you did, I’ll punish you in such and such a way.” Now, if the Ansar had a widow, they would not marry her off without consulting the Prophet in hope that he might marry her himself. One of those days the Prophet (saws) said to a man, “Give me your daughter’s hand.” He said, “Gladly. I am honored, Messenger of Allah, a blessing for the eye!” He said, “But not for myself.” He asked, “Then for whom, Messenger of Allah?” He said “For Julaybib.” The man said, “Let me consult her mother.” He went to her and said, “The Messenger of Allah asks for your daughter’s hand.” She said, “Yes, blessing for the eye.” He said, “He is not asking her hand for himself, but for Julaybib.” She reacted, “Is it Julaybib? Is it Julaybib? By Allah, we shall not give her in marriage.

When the father got up to convey her refusal to the Prophet, the daughter asked her mother who it was who had proposed. Her mother told her who it was. She said, “Will you reject the Prophet’s proposal? Hand over my affair to him, he will not waste me away.” So the father went to the Prophet and told him what had happened. He said, “Get her ready,” and then married her off to Julaybib.

Then, the Prophet went out in one of his campaigns. When Allah (swt) had given him victory, he said, “Do you miss anyone.” They said no. He said, “But to me Julaybib is missing." He told them, “Look for him.” They found him by the side of seven men he had killed before they killed him. They said, “Messenger of Allah, here he is, by the side of seven he killed before they killed him.”

The Prophet went up to him and said, “He killed seven before he could be killed by them! He was of me and I am of him.” He said that twice or thrice. He took his head on his hands and he did not have a resting place but his hands until the grave was dug. Then he placed him in his grave.

Thabit added, “Thereafter, there was not a widow among the Ansar who spent more than she did” (his widow).And Is-haq b. Abdullah b. `Abdullah b. Abi Talha reported Thabit that he said, “Do you know how was it that the Prophet prayed for her?” He said, “O Allah, pour on her pouring and do not make her life laborious.” (Shorter versions of the reports concerning Julaybib are in Ahmad, Muslim and Nasa’i). It is said that when she consented to the Prophet’s choice, Allah revealed, “And, it was not for a believing man, nor a believing woman (that) when Allah and His Messenger had decided a matter, there should be a choice for them in their affair” (Ibn Kathir).

Allah saying that He did not send the angels but for sakinah, was meant to shift the faith of the believers from angels to Himself. He sent the angels only for their sake, otherwise He was sufficient for them.

91. Sayyid adds his comments: The Prophet aimed to destroy the taboos of the pre-Islamic times and create a Muslim society whose members were to each other like the teeth of a comb, without anything to distinguish one from the other, except by piety. Before Islam, freed slaves were considered lower than the free. Zayd b. Haritha was one of them. The Prophet wished to establish complete social equality by marrying him to Zaynab, a proud Hashemite. He was starting reformation from his own home and his own clan.

According to a report the Prophet himself went up to her and told her that he wished this union. She replied, “I am not going to marry him.” He insisted, “Of course you are going to.” She asked, “May I not consult myself?” According to other reports she said, “I am better than him in lineage.”

While this was going on this verse was revealed, “It was not for a believing man nor a believing woman, that when Allah and His Messenger had decided a matter, there should be any choice for them in their affair...”

"Whatever the case," writes Sayyid, "the verse established a rule that the first generation of Muslims accepted Islam wholeheartedly. The rule was none other than that they bend their will before Allah’s. This was the basic rule and the central principle of their lives. They realized that they, and all that they owned, belonged to Allah. He uses them as He wishes. He chooses for them what pleases Him. They are but a minor part of a large whole that He disposes as He will. He assigns them a role in the scheme of things. It is not they who choose their role. For, they do not know the whole scheme. If they are allowed to choose their role, they would choose otherwise, which would not fit into the scheme.

Therefore, it was reasonable for the earliest Muslims to surrender themselves, fully and wholly, without withholding anything. This put them in harmony with the rest of the created world. They began to float like planets and stars: each in its orbit, playing out their roles, without slowing down or hastening – just in line with the rest of the celestial objects.

This allowed them to accept in good cheer whatever came their way by Allah’s decree: neither hastily seeking the good, nor responding with grief to that which did not taste good. They waited for Allah’s decree to descend in the manner of someone habituated to it, never surprised or disappointed with whatever descended, nor did they try to hasten up the results. They just walked the distance in the company of Allah’s decrees, ending up where it ended. And they had no complaints, no regrets, no constriction, no pride, but always offering their best energies, wealth and efforts. They were dead sure that in this manner, they would be doing what Allah had willed, and that what Allah had willed would happen, and that every event is tied to a time and the final outcome has been designed and decreed.

Nevertheless, despite realization of the above, they did their best, expending all that they owned, without wasting time, not withholding any effort, nor any means that could be employed. Yet, they did not try what they were not capable of, had no power for, trying to be supermen, and did not wish to be praised for what they were required to do, nor claiming to have done what they did not do.

It was this balance between Allah’s decree, and the efforts of him who spent all the power that he possessed that produced the results. (It was also a fine balance between efforts and expectations). This was the balanced act that the mountains declared was beyond them and refused to bear."

(Sayyid’s quote ends here).

How strong and deep the feelings against freed slaves (mawali: sing. mawla) were, at the time of the Prophet can be judged from the following incident which took place within one hundred years after the Prophet’s demise. One of the mawali married a girl from the Banu Sulaym tribe. So, Muhammad b. Bashir – a Kharijite – traveled to Madinah to meet its governor Ibrahim b. Bishar b. Isma`il to complain of the marriage. The governor asked the mawla to present himself. When he came, he separated between the husband and wife, whipped the man a hundred lashes, and shaved his head, beard and eyebrows (“Duha al-Islam,” Muhammad Amin). Incidents of this kind and many others that history has recorded and which led to the struggle between the free and the former slaves (although many of good lineage) in the Abbasid state, tells us something about the level of reformation the Prophet achieved when he got a free woman married to a mawla (Au.).

92. The allusion is to Zayd b. Haritha. Allah (swt) had favored him by allowing him company of the Prophet and guiding him to Islam. Indeed, he was the earliest of believers. The Prophet (saws) had favored him by freeing him from slavery and then adopting him as his son. He was so close to him that he used to be referred to as “the beloved.” In fact, even his son Usama was referred to as “the beloved, the son of the beloved.” `A’isha said, in a report preserved by Ahmad, that, “Whenever the Prophet sent a group in campaign, he made him the leader if he happened to be among them; and that, had he remained alive, the Prophet would have surely declared him his successor” (Ibn Kathir).

A brief account concerning Zayd is as follows. He belonged to the North Arabian tribe of Banu Kalb. He was taken captive as a child, bought by Hakim b. Hizam b. Khuwaylid at the Makkan market. He gifted him to her aunt Khadijah. Khadijah gifted him to the Prophet before he was commissioned. He freed him and declared him his son. One of those days Zayd’s uncle happened to be in Makkah. He looked hard at Zayd but was not too sure. He asked him, “What’s your name lad?” He answered, “Zayd.” He asked, “Whose son?” He said “Haritha.” He asked, “Whose son?” He answered, “Shurahbil Kalbi.” He asked, “What’s your mother’s name?” He answered, “Su`da; and I was with my maternal uncles in Tayy.” His uncle grabbed him and hugged him. He sent for his brother and others and they came. They asked him who his master was and were told that it was Muhammad ibn `Abdullah. So they went up to him and requested his release. He said, “Let him in. If he prefers you, you can take him.” When he came he asked him, “Do you know who these people are?” He said, “Yes. This is my father, this is my brother and this is my uncle.” The Prophet asked him, “What kind of man I was with you?” Zayd began to cry and asked, “Why do you ask that?” He replied, “I give you the choice. If you wish to go with them you are free. But if you decide to stay with me, then you know how I have been to you.” He said, “I am not going to choose anyone else.” His uncle pulled him and said, “Zayd! Do you prefer slavery to living with your father and uncle?” He said, “Yes, by God, if it is the slavery of Muhammad.” At that the Prophet said, “Bear witness that I will inherit him and he will inherit me.” Then onward he was always referred to as Zayd b. Muhammad until Allah revealed (33: 5), “Call them by their father’s names.” It is said that he used to attend Quraysh circles too. (When the Prophet sought Zaynab’s hand for him, he was already married with a lady called Umm Ayman, who had borne him Usamah: Asad). The Prophet had to find a match for Zaynab because she was one of the family, and husbandless (Au.).

Scholars have pointed out that since Zayd lost the honor to be referred to as Zayd b. Muhammad, and felt quite aggrieved about it, Allah compensated him by registering his name in the Qur’an for Muslims to recite throughout history. No other Companion shares this honor with Zayd. (In the same vein we have another example. When the Prophet told Ubayy b. Ka`b that he had been ordered to listen to his recitation, he wept and asked, “Have I been named?”) Zayd died in the Mutah encounter along with Ja`far and `Abdullah ibn Rawaha. They led the Muslim force in that battle and gained martyrdom one after another (Qurtubi).

93. Ibn Jarir documents Qatadah’s strange opinion, seconded by none, to the effect that although the Prophet was exhorting Zayd to retain Zaynab, he was (secretly) wishing that he should divorce her. He records another freakish report by Ibn Wahab (who was not a Companion) to the effect that once the Prophet went to Zayd’s house and, as he stood at the door, a waft of wind played with the curtain, and he saw Zaynab with her face uncovered. (According to a version of Muqatil b. Hayyan, he saw her in a single gown, with no other apparel on: Qurtubi). She pleased him and the thought came to him that he should marry her. Qatadah’s opinion is obviously weak, for, if the Prophet had to play double games, he would have played them on his adversaries at Makkah and Madinah. It is apparent from his life and character that he was artless, straight-forward and upright, who never said something that he did not mean. As for Ibn Wahab’s story, he does not state the source of his story. By the criteria set by Hadith scholars such reports belong to the trash. Hence no commentator ever took notice of them. The reports are incongruous too. Zaynab was closely related to the Prophet. They were from the same extended family. (She was a daughter of Umaymah, who was a daughter of `Abd al-Muttalib, the Prophet’s grandfather; that is, a maternal cousin: Shabbir). He must have been seeing her all the time, right from childhood, including in recent times since hijab commandments were revealed a few months after her separation from Zayd. We might, however, remind ourselves that it was the habit of the earliest Muslim scholars to faithfully report everything they received, leaving it to the listeners to conduct their own research if they so wished, and accept or reject what they reported. So, Qatadah reported what he heard: whatever his source. But none of the major commentators such as Ibn `Abbas, `Ikrimah, Mujahid, Sa`id b. Musayyib, Sa’id ibn Jubayr or their students have said anything of this sort (Au.).

Alusi adds: Qadi `Iyad has similarly discounted the narrative of Ibn Wahab as a story spun for ears with a taste for gossip. In fact, there are a few more. One of them says that after his visit when the Prophet was returning, Zayd met him on the way who heard him say words that he couldn’t make out. When he went home and was told by Zaynab of the Prophet’s visit, he smelled something. He went back to him and said, “Apostle of Allah. Why did you not enter my house in my absence? Maybe you would have liked Zaynab, and I would have divorced her.” According to another story, Alusi continues, Zayd met the Prophet in the street and found him saying words of glorification to Allah. When he went home and learnt of the Prophet’s visit to his house, he guessed that Zaynab must have entered his heart (hence the glorification). So he told Zaynab, “Why should I not divorce you so that the Prophet can marry you?” She replied, “I fear you will divorce me but he will not marry me.” (Apart from contradiction between the various versions, an important element is missing: Who was it of the Companions who had accompanied the Prophet to Zayd’s house to report what had happened? As for glorification, was there a time when the Prophet was not glorifying Allah, chanting His greatness, and seeking forgiveness? Finally, if Zayd had ever discovered in the Prophet any propensity for such behavior, he would have long back packed and joined his northern tribe - Au.).

None the less, one of the contemporary commentators has added his own “little bit” to the stories. He asserts that it was Zaynab who was in love with the Prophet since long, but had suppressed it and married Zayd simply because of the Prophet’s insistence. These additions tell us how predisposed ears are to spicy stories (Au.).

Ibn Kathir discounts the above as well as a few others that he says the earlier scholars have transmitted, but through undependable chain of narrators.

Ibn al-`Arabi has pointed out that the Prophet saw Zaynab morning and evening. Why did he not fall in love with her until she had spent a few months with Zayd?

The explanation that `Ali b. al-Husayn (Zayn al-`Abidin) offered is that (the Prophet, after having compelled Zaynab to marry Zayd) learned through Revelation that he would be required to marry Zaynab. But he felt quite uncomfortable about it, fearing people’s comments that he married his adopted son’s former wife. Therefore, when Zayd went to him complaining that Zaynab mistreated him, spoke to him roughly, humiliated him, and so on, he advised him to fear Allah and retain his wife (so that he may not have to marry her if she was divorced). So Allah said, “You were concealing in yourself what Allah was to reveal,” that is, the fact that you will be required to marry her if she is divorced. “And, you were fearing the people although Allah had better right that you should fear Him,” that is, you should have paid no attention to the expected criticism of the people – in this case, the hypocrites. This, writes Qurtubi, is the right explanation which most commentators, such as Zuhri, Qadi Bakr b. `Ala al-Qushayri, Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabiyy and others have accepted. Hakeem Tirmidhi has stated in his Nawadir al-Usul that this is a gem of an explanation from `Ali b. Hussain. And Nuhhas said, adds Qurtubi, that the Prophet was at no fault for concealing the news in his heart that he might be asked to marry Zaynab. This can be deduced from the fact that Allah did not direct the Prophet to seek forgiveness, nor censured him in any other way.

`A’isha is reported in major Hadith works that if the Prophet could conceal anything of the Revelation, he would have concealed this one, “You were concealing in yourself what Allah was to reveal. And, you were fearing the people although Allah had better right that you should fear Him. So, when Zayd had accomplished what he would of her, We gave her to you in marriage” (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).

On the topic under discussion, Abdullah al-`Ati’s note, made in his “Family Structure in Islam” should be of some interest:

“This story (of the reported circumstances of the Prophet’s marriage to Zaynab) is exciting, embarrassing, and extremely doubtful if not altogether incredible. It is exciting because it has stirred many critical comments and accusations by Western writers as well as counter accusations and comments by Muslim writers. It is embarrassing because a great many scholars have labored tirelessly to build a case for or against the person of Muhammad in order to confound truth with legend, innocently or otherwise, or to disentangle the one from the other. It is even more embarrassing to the social scientist who wants to choose between the sociological and the physio-psychological explanation.

"Choosing the former is closer to the norms of social science and usually promises a greater explanatory potential. But in this particular case, it may displease the conventional students of Islam who are in the habit of looking at everything related to Islam as divine, super-social, and above criticism, and also those who tend to view the builders of the Islamic system as socially insensitive distorters and the system itself as lax aberration.

“The story itself may be partly apocryphal, since it is not reported in the early sources. The Qur’an relates only the essential facts. It tells of Zaynab’s reluctance to marry Zayd, and of the strained domestic life of the couple. In this version Muhammad exhorts Zayd to keep his wife and to be mindful of Allah – an admonition motivated by Muhammad’s fear of the people’s expected reaction to the dissolution of a marriage which he had encouraged. "Significantly, the Qur’an criticizes the Prophet’s motive and reminds him to fear God’s displeasure, rather than that of the people.

“The Qur’anic story concludes with Zayd’s divorce of Zaynab and her lawful re-marriage to Muhammad. Observers who examine the story in its social context find it incredible and suggest, according to Watt, that it ‘must be taken with a grain of salt.’ The story contains too many elements which do not accord with better verified circumstances: Muhammad’s life style, character and career, his community role and age at the time, his continued relations with both Zaynab and Zayd, before as well as after their unsuccessful marriage; Zaynab’s advancing age; the long institutionalization of adoption; finally, Muhammad’s sensitivity to his contemporaries’ censure – all such considerations cast doubt on the story of a passionate stroke of love. Aside from the credibility or incredibility of the story itself, it is unlikely that an age-old social institution like adoption, could be abrogated for such transient personal motives” (p. 25-26, American Trust Publications).

94. Allah promised that He would reveal what the Prophet was concealing. So, Allah’s revelation should determine what it was that the Prophet was concealing: whether it was his love for Zaynab or it was his fear that Allah will oblige him to take Zaynab as his wife? The revelation informed us, although implicitly, that it was the latter, through words: “So, when Zayd had accomplished what he would of her, We gave her to you in marriage” (Rawa’i`).

95. `Ali b. Husayn said that Allah had informed the Messenger that ultimately Zaynab would be his wife (Ibn Jarir).

Thanwi’s comment might be noted: This directive applies to cases where a religious need is affected. If it is not affected, but rather, there is fear of commotion among the people, then, one might make note of it and not blindly disregard the people’s criticism. A case in point is the intended reconstruction of the Ka`ba, to include the Hatim, but the idea was ultimately abandoned because it was legitimately feared that it would lead to fitnah among the laity. This is not the kind of fear of the people that is likely to be censured.

96. One of the implications of the words is, “when Zayd had no desire left in him for her.”

97. `Abdullah b. Jahsh reported that when `A’isha and Zaynab debated each other’s position with reference to the Prophet, Zaynab would say, “And I was married to him up in the heavens” (Ibn Jarir). The report is also in Bukhari (Ibn Kathir).

Muslim, Nasa’i and Imam Ahmad recorded the following details. It speaks volumes about the faith and trust between the Prophet and Zayd. Anas b. Malik said, “When Zaynab had been through her waiting period, the Prophet told Zayd b. Haritha (her former husband), "Go to her, and give her my proposal." He went up to her house and found her fermenting dough. When he saw her, as he himself said, “I was filled with awe,” (because she was going to be the Prophet’s wife). He reported, “I could not dare tell her that the Prophet wished to take her as a wife. So, I showed my back to her turning on my heels. I said, ‘Zaynab! The Prophet has sent his word to you.’ She replied, ‘I am not going to do anything of this sort without seeking to know my Lord’s wish.’ Then she stood up in her Prayer-corner. But revelation came down and the Prophet entered into her house without seeking her permission (Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).

98. In pre-Islamic times an adopted son was treated as real with all the implications that went with such relationship. But Allah did not approve of real-time effects on relationship of such false premise. So He married his adopted son’s former wife to the Prophet in order to leave no prejudice in the hearts of the believers against any such relationship. Such a measure was necessary in view of the custom being so deeply rooted (Ibn Kathir).

The implication of this piece is clear: It was not to appease the Prophet that he was given Zaynab in marriage, but rather to establish a rule (Razi).

Mawdudi adds: The deep rooted custom of treating an adopted son as real son, would have continued even if commandment declaring such a relationship as null and void had been sent down. Since no Prophet was to follow, Allah made His last Prophet to break the taboo, once and for all, most forcefully, to kill the custom and bury it in the sand.

This ayah places the doubtist into a tight spot. If he believes that the Prophet authored the Qur’an, then, what purpose did the ayah serve him when it said, “And you were concealing in yourself what Allah was to reveal. And, you were fearing the people although Allah had better right that you should fear Him”?

99. The allusion could be to the ways of the Prophets of past in matters of multiple wives: Da’ud and Sulayman are cases in point who had several wives (Kashshaf, Qurtubi), or could have a general import as pointed out by Asad, who writes, “the prophets who preceded Muhammad, in all of whom, as in him, all personal desires coincided with their willingness to surrender themselves to God..”

100. That is, Allah’s decree had to come to pass. Nothing could have prevented it or averted it. What He wills, takes place, and what He does not will, does not happen (Ibn Kathir). That is, way back before the creation, it had been decreed that the Prophet should marry Zaynab (Au.).

Imam Razi has an interesting note on Qada’ wa Qadr. Qada’ is that which is originally intended. Qadr on the other hand is that which occurs as its consequence, but not the purpose for which the command was originally promulgated. It is similar to a man traveling to a town. We can refer to his primary purpose as the Qada’. On the way he enters into a village (and might meet with an evil therein: Au.). This entry is by the Qadr that he had not intended as the primary purpose of the journey. Qada’ is always good, while all that is evil in the world is by (Allah’s) Qadr.

But this requires some more thought and reconciliation. The Prophet said in the famous Hadith Jibril, “You should believe in Qadr: the good of it and the bad of it” (Au.).

101. (That should be the way believers should conduct themselves: fearless of any criticism and unmindful of the consequences: Au.). We have a hadith in Ahmad on the authority of Abu Sa`id al-Khudri. The Prophet said,

عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ؛ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: لاَ يَحْقِرْ أَحَدُكُمْ نَفْسَهُ. قَالُوا: يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ! كَيْفَ أَحَدُنَا نَفْسَهُ؟ قَالَ (يَرَى أَمْراً، للهِ عَلَيْهِ فِيهِ مَقَالٌ، ثُمَّ لاَ يَقُولُ فِيهِ. فَيَقُولُ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، لَهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ: مَا مَنعَكَ أَنْ تَقُولَ فِي كَذَا وَكَذَا؟ فَيَقُولُ: خَشْيَةُ النَّاسِ. فَيَقُولُ: فَإِيَّايَ. كُنْتَ أَحَقَّ أَنْ تَخْشَى (ابن ماجة: في الزوائد: إسناده صحيح رجاله ثقات)

“Let not one of you belittle himself in that he sees a commandment of Allah (that is being ignored) and which needs to be spoken against, but he does not say it. Allah will say (on Judgment Day), ‘What prevented you that you should speak out?’ He will reply, ‘My Lord, I feared the people.’ He will reply, ‘I had greater right to be feared.’” The report is also in Ibn Majah and `Abdul Razzaq’s (Musannaf) – Ibn Kathir.

The above version is from Ibn Majah whose transmitters were trusted by Haythami.

102. Although the Prophet had sons, they all died in their infancy and so the description is accurate: he was “not the father of any of your men” (Ibn Jarir), but rather a spiritual father of his followers (Asad).

The ayah makes a statement as well as predicts the death in infancy of the Prophet’s future son Ibrahim, through Mariyah. She was a slave girl gifted to him by the Muqawqis of Egypt two or three years after the revelation of this verse. The Prophet’s earlier sons too, through Khadijah – Qasim, Tayyib and Tahir – had already died at Makkah in their infancy (Au.).

Thanwi, himself a Sufi, offers a rejoinder to the pseudo-Sufis among whom it is common that the Sheikh is regarded as the spiritual father, and one of the upshots is that a woman-disciple does not observe hijab in his presence. This, warns Thanwi, is unacceptable. The Prophet was a true spiritual father of the Ummah, yet he observed the rules.

103. If it is asked, how could Muhammad be the final Prophet when he himself predicted that `Isa (asws) will appear at the end of times? The answer is that (`Isa was commissioned earlier than Muhammad: Ibn Kathir) his personal tenure is over. When he comes again, it will be as a follower of the Shari`ah brought by our Prophet (Kashshaf, Shafi` and others).

Finality of the Prophet

It might be noted that Allah did not say, “Khatam al-Rusul,” but rather “KhatamunNabiyyin.” KhatamunNibiyyin denies that there should be any rasul thereafter, for, every rasul is a nabiyy, but every nabiyy is not a rasul. The deduction, in view of the fact that a nabiyy is a lower order envoy than rasul, is that denial of the advent of any nabiyy is a greater denial of the advent of any rasul. There are numerous ahadith on the topic of our Prophet being the seal of the Prophets. One in Ahmad has Ubay b. Ka`b reporting his father that the Prophet (saws) said,

عَن الطّفَيْلِ بنِ أُبَيّ بنِ كَعْبٍ عَن أَبِيهِ أَنّ رَسُولَ اللّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: "مَثَلِي في النّبِيّينَ كَمَثَلِ رَجُلٍ بَنَى دَاراً فأحْسَنَهَا وأَكْمَلَهَا وَجَمَلَهَا وَتَرَكَ مِنْهَا مَوْضِعَ لَبنَةٍ، فَجَعَلَ النّاسُ يَطُوفُونَ بالبِناء ويَعْجَبُونَ مِنْهُ، وَيَقُولُونَ لَوْ تَمّ مَوْضعُ تِلْكَ اللّبِنَةِ وأَنَا في النّبِيّينَ بِمَوْضِعُ تِلْكَ اللّبِنَةِ".. . وَبِهَذَا الإِسْنَاد عَن النبّي صلى الله عليه وسلم قالَ: "إذَا كانَ يَوْمُ القِيَامَةِ كُنْتُ إِمَامَ النّبِيّينَ وَخَطِيبَهُمْ وَصَاحِبَ شَفَاعَتِهِمْ غَيْرَ فَخْرٍ". (قال أبو عيسى: هَذا حديثٌ حَسَنٌ صحيحٌ غريب.‏)

“My example among the Prophets is like that of a man who built a house, and did it well, complete and beautiful. However, he left the space of a single brick blank. So the people started going around the house admiring it but remarking, ‘Only if this blank space of a brick could be filled!’ Lo! Among the Prophets I am that brick.”

On the same authority, the Prophet also said, “On the Judgment day I shall be the leader of the Prophets, their speaker, and one to intercede – but no pride (in that).”

Tirmidhi declare it Hasan Sahih. The Sahihayn also have a similar version in their collections. Another report in Ahmad is on the authority of Anas. The Prophet said,

حدثنا أَنَسُ بنُ مَالِكٍ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: "إِنّ الرّسَالَةَ وَالنّبُوّةَ قَدْ انْقَطَعَتْ فَلاَ رَسولَ بَعْدِي وَلاَ نَبيّ. قَالَ فَشَقّ ذَلِكَ عَلَى النّاسِ فَقَالَ: لَكِنْ المُبَشّرَاتِ. فَقَالُوا يَا رَسُولَ الله وَمَا المُبَشّرَاتُ، قَالَ رُؤْيَا المُسْلِمِ وَهِيَ جُزْءٌ مِنْ أَجْزَاءِ النّبُوّةِ". (قال الترمذي: هذا حديثٌ حسنٌ صحيحٌ غريبٌ)

“Messengership and Prophethood have terminated. So, there will be no Messenger, nor a Prophet after me.” The narrator added, “That sounded a bit hard on the people. So he added, ‘Except for good tidings.’ They asked, ‘What are good tidings O Messenger of Allah?’ He answered, ‘A Muslim’s dreams. It is part of Prophethood.’ Tirmidhi declared it Hasan, Sahih, Gharib. (Meaning: through one chain of narration it is Gharib, but Sahih through another chain, while Gharib through a third chain: Au.).

Muslim and Tirmidhi have also documented that the Prophet said,

عن أبي هُرَيرَةَ أنَّ النَّبيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيهِ وسَلَّم قال: فُضِّلتُ على الأنبياءِ بستٍّ: أعطيتُ جوامعَ الكلمِ ونصرتُ بالرُّعبِ وأحلَّتْ لي الغنائمُ وجُعلتْ ليَ الأرضُ مسجداً وطهوراً وأرسلتُ إلى الخلقِ كافَّةً وخُتمَ بي النَّبيُّونَ (هذا الحَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ).‏

“I have been given preference over other Prophets in six things: I have been given short and meaningful words, I have been helped through awe, booty has been made lawful for me, (bare) earth has been made a place of prostration and a means of cleanliness, I have been sent to the entire mankind, and (the series of) Prophets was terminated with me.”

A report preserved by Ahmad says,

"إني عند الله لخاتم النبيين وإن آدم لمنجدل في طينته" (أحمد)

“I was the seal of the Prophets with Allah, while Adam lay in dust.”

Zuhri has been recorded (in the Sahihayn: H. Ibrahim) as reporting,

عَنِ الزّهْرِيّ. سَمِعَ مُحَمّدَ بْنَ جُبَيْرِ بْنِ مُطْعِمٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ أَنّ النّبِيّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ: "أَنّا مُحَمّدٌ. وَأَنَا أَحْمَدُ. وَأَنَا الْمَاحِي الّذِي يُمْحَىَ بِيَ الْكُفْرُ. وَأَنَا الْحَاشِرُ الّذِي يُحْشَرُ النّاسُ عَلَىَ عَقِبِي. وَأَنَا الْعَاقِبُ" (مسلم)

“I have several names: I am Muhammad, I am Ahmad, I am Mahi (the Eraser) who will erase unbelief, I am Hashir, (the Gatherer) after whom Allah with gather the people (on Judgment Day), and I am `Aqib (the last after whom there will be no Prophet)” - Ibn Kathir.

On the other hand, continues Ibn Kathir, those who stood up as false prophets, carried their own signs of falseness. They were utmost in falsehood, lies and immorality in all that they said or did, e.g., Musaylimah the Liar of Ymamah or Al-Aswad al-Ansi of Yemem. In contrast, Prophets were utomost in righteousness, truthfulness, wisdom, uprightness and justice in all that they said or did.

Mufti Shafi`, who has a whole book on the topic, adds the following here. The Prophet (saws) said,

عَنِ النّبِيّ صلى الله عليه وسلم. قَالَ: "كَانَتْ بَنُو إسْرَائِيلَ تَسُوسُهُمُ الأَنْبِيَاءُ، كُلّمَا هَلَكَ نَبِيّ خَلَفَهُ نَبِيّ، وَإنّهُ لاَ نَبِيّ بَعْدِي. وَسَتَكُونُ خُلَفَاءُ فَيكْثُرونُ" (صحيحين)

“Children of Israel were led by prophets. Whenever a prophet died, another followed him. However, there will be no prophet after me. But there will be rightly guided caliphs: many of them.”

The report is in the Sahihayn and other collections.

In his book, Al-Iqtisad fi al-I`tiqad, Imam Ghazzali has also stressed on this point and has said that whoever tries to interpret the verse in any other way is speaking the kind of junk that demands that he be declared unbeliever because the Ummah has reached consensus over the issue of the finality of the Prophet’s Messengership. Qadi `Iyad has expressed similar opinions in his Shifa’.