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About the marriage and divorce of the companions Zayd and Zaynab
– Often used by anti-islamics to vilify Prophet Muhammad
– They say the Prophet made this up in order to marry Zaynab
– Reason for this scandal comes from several weak reports from Muslim sources
– The scandalous story, based on weak hadiths state:
— Zayd was married to Zaynab
— The Prophet came by Zayd’s house to visit him
— Zayd wasn’t home but his wife was
— She came out in nightgown or more revealing than normal clothers
— Some reports say he saw her bathing
— Prophet hurried away muttering Allah moves the hearts
— When Zayd found out, he knew the Prophet wanted to marry Zaynab
— To please him, Zayd divorced his wife
— The Prophet married her and added verses in the Quran to justify it
– The true story is not so scandalous
– Who was Zayd?
– As a young boy, captured by Arab raiders and sold into slavery
– Eventually purchased or given as a gift to Khadijah
– She then gave him as a gift to Muhammad
– Some say she gave him Zayd before marriage as a wedding gift
– Others, after marriage to ease the pain of death of his son Qasim
– Whatever the case, the two grew very close
– Eventually, Zayd’s father and uncle tracked him down to Mecca
– They wanted to buy him back from Muhammad, but he left it up to Zayd
– Zayd chose to stay with Muhammad
– Muhammad then adopted him and he was called Zayd ibn Muhammad
– When the Prophet received the message of Islam, Zayd was one of the first 4 people to accept Islam.
– Only companion named in the Quran
– Zayd was killed during the battle of Mu’tah the first serious defeat for the Muslims
– Who was Zaynab?
– Her mother was the Prophet’s Aunt, sister of his father.
– Was married to someone else before Zayd, but he died.
– She became Muslim in Mecca and made the Hijra to Medina
– After marraige to Prophet Muhammad, she had some conflict with his other wives
– Aisha and Hafsah tried to trick the Prophet into believing her honey drinks made him smell bad
– Aisha used to say Zaynab was the only one who could rival her for the Prophet’s affections
– Zaynab’s sister Hamna was one of those who spread the rumor about Aisha being unfaithful
– Zaynab said she did this to help improve Zaynab’s status with the Prophet
– When Allah cleared Aisha, Hamna received 80 lashes along with the others as punishment
– Zaynab was the first of the Prophet’s wives to die after him.
– Imam Malik Muwatta mentions Umar leading her funeral procession as Caliph
– True story of the marriage
– Prophet was the one who encouraged them to get married
– Zaynab was reluctant at first
– Zayd was a former slave and she was from the Hashim clan and from the Quraish
– Within a year of being married they began having problems
– Zayd would come to the Prophet complaining but was told be good to her and have Taqwa http://sunnah.com/urn/642440
– At-Tabari states they had several arguments
– Eventually got to the point where Zayd wasn’t sharing the bed with her any longer
– Allah ordered the Prophet to grant them a divorce and marry Zaynab
– Prophet hid this revelation for some time
– Aisha mentioned that if there was any verse he could hide, it would have been that one http://sunnah.com/bukhari/97/48
– At the time, the Arabs took an adopted son as a the same as a biological son
– Prophet knew that people would use that to slander Islam if they found out
– Allah told him to fear Him and not the people
– Zayd mentioned by name to show it was a specific situation and not general
– Why did Allah order this?
– To show that the traditional method of adoption was unacceptable.
– These bonds made through state or traditional adoption are man-made and false, but biological connections are from Allah and real
– The outcome of this verse was that no one is allowed to be called son of Muhammad
– Adoption such as this is not permissible
– It is forbidden to marry one’s former daughter-in-law from a biological son http://quran.com/4/23
– but okay to marry from an adopted son
– After this incident, Zayd took on the name of his father
– Proof that there was no scandal
– The hadiths about the Prophet seeing Zaynab half-undressed are weak
– http://islamicresponse.blogspot.com/2008/07/allegations-concerning-muhammads_27.html
– The verse of Muhammad keeping something in his heart was about the divorce and marraige, not his desire for her
– If he wanted to marry her before, he could have
– They were first cousins and grew up together. He definitely knew she was beautiful
– Hadiths mentioned about how Zayd asked for a divorce are authentic