Detailed discussion about the verse “But you did hide in yourself (i.e. what Allaah has already made known to you that He will give her to you in marriage) that which Allaah will make manifest” [al-Ahzaab 33:37]

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

Introduction:

The status of
Prophethood is a noble one. Allaah chose the Prophets over all others on the
basis of knowledge. What is narrated in the books of isra’iliyyaat
(reports from Jewish sources) and some books of tafseer – unfortunately –
detracts from that noble status of the Prophets (blessings and peace of
Allaah be upon them). One example of that is the story narrated from some of
them which says that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) fell in love with Zaynab bint Jahsh, but he told her husband – Zayd ibn
Haarithah – “Keep your wife,” even though he was concealing his love for
her. It is not appropriate to the status of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) to narrate such a story or attribute it to
him (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)?

None of these
reports that have been narrated in the books of Tafseer from any of the
salaf is saheeh (sound), but there are those who have been misled by these
reports and have used them to explain the verses which speak of this issue.

Imam Ibn
Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

Ibn Jareer and
Ibn Abi Naatim narrated reports from some of the salaf (may Allaah be
pleased with them) which we would like to ignore completely, because they
are not saheeh, so we will not quote them.

Tafseer Ibn
Katheer
(6/424).

There is a
report from Anas ibn Maalik and ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with them
both) which indicates how difficult these verses were for the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Based on their deep knowledge,
these two Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) stated that if the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) were to have
concealed anything, he would have concealed this verse.

It was
narrated that Anas said: Zayd ibn Haarithah came complaining, and the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Fear Allaah
and keep your wife.” Anas said: If the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) had concealed anything, he would have
concealed this. He said: Zaynab used to boast to the other wives of the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saying: “Your
families arranged your marriages but Allaah arranged my marriage from above
the seven heavens.”

Narrated by
al-Bukhaari (6984).

Muslim (177)
narrated a report like that of Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) from
‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her).

Secondly:

The verse, the
reason for its revelation and a summary of its meaning:

Allaah said
(interpretation of the meaning):

“And
(remember) when you said to him (Zayd bin Haarithah
رضى الله عنه

the freed‑slave of the Prophet صلى الله عليه
وسلم) on whom Allaah has bestowed grace (by guiding him to Islam) and
you (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم too)
have done favour (by manumitting him): ‘Keep your wife to yourself, and fear
Allaah.’ But you did hide in yourself (i.e. what Allaah has already made
known to you that He will give her to you in marriage) that which
Allaah will make manifest, you did fear
the people (i.e., their saying that Muhammad
صلى الله عليه وسلم married
the divorced wife of his manumitted slave) whereas Allaah had a better right
that you should fear Him. So when Zayd had accomplished his desire from her
(i.e. divorced her), We gave her to you in marriage, so that (in future)
there may be no difficulty to the believers in respect of (the marriage of)
the wives of their adopted sons when the latter have no desire to keep them
(i.e. they have divorced them). And Allaah’s Command must be fulfilled”

[al-Ahzaab
33:37]

Shaykh ‘Abd
al-Rahmaan al-Sa’di (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

The reason for
revelation of these verses was that Allaah wanted to a prescribe a law for
all believers, that adopted sons did not come under the same rulings as real
sons, in any way, and that there was nothing wrong with those who had
adopted them marrying their wives (after divorce).

This was one
of the regular customs which could not be changed except by means of a major
incident. So Allaah wanted this law to be introduced by the words and
actions of His Messenger. When Allaah wills something, He creates a cause
for it. Zayd ibn Haarithah was called Zayd ibn Muhammad. The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had adopted him and he was
called by that name until the verse “Call them (adopted sons) by (the
names of) their fathers” [al-Ahzaab 33:5] was revealed, then he became
known as Zayd ibn Haarithah.

He was married
to Zaynab bint Jahsh, the daughter of the paternal aunt of the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). It had occurred to
the Messenger that if Zayd divorced her, he might marry her, and Allaah
decreed that there should happen between her and Zayd that which would cause
Zayd ibn Haarithah to come and ask the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) for permission to divorce her.

Allaah said “And
(remember) when you said to him (Zayd bin Haarithah
رضى الله عنه
__
the
freed‑slave of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم)
on whom Allaah has bestowed grace”
i.e., by blessing him with Islam.

“and you (O
Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم too) have
done favour” i.e., by manumitting him. When he came to you to consult
you about leaving her, you told him, advising him despite what you felt in
your heart towards her: “Keep your wife to yourself”, i.e., do not
leave her, and bear whatever you face from her with patience. “and fear
Allaah” in all your affairs in general, and with regard to your wife in
particular, for fearing Allaah encourages one to be patient.

“But you
did hide in yourself that which Allaah
will make manifest”. What he was hiding was that if Zayd divorced
her, he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would marry her.

“you
did fear the people” when you did not disclose what you were
thinking, “whereas Allaah had a better right that you should fear Him”,
because fearing Him brings all goodness and wards off all evil.

“So when
Zayd had accomplished his desire from her” means, when he willingly
turned away from her and separated from her, “We gave her to you in
marriage” and We only did that for an important purpose, which is, “so
that (in future) there may be no difficulty to the believers in respect of
(the marriage of) the wives of their adopted sons” when they see that
you married the (former) wife of Zayd ibn Haarithah, who had previously been
named after you.

Tafseer
al-Sa’di
(p. 665, 666)

There is a
great difference between the idea that what he (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) was concealing in his heart was love for Zaynab, and the
fact that what was being concealed was his thinking of marrying her. It is
for this reason that Zaynab (may Allaah be pleased with her) used to boast
that the One Who had arranged her marriage was Allaah, may He be exalted, as
stated above, where we quoted the report concerning that from Saheeh
al-Bukhaari. This supports the correct view and no other view is
acceptable, that what he was concealing was the idea of marrying her, and
that he was afraid of what the people would say about that.

Thirdly:

Detailed
discussion about the verse

1 – Imam
al-Qurtubi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

It was
narrated from ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn that the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) had received revelation from Allaah telling him that
Zayd was going to divorce Zaynab and that he should marry her on the basis
that Allaah was giving her to him in marriage. When Zayd complained to the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) about Zaynab’s
attitude, and said that she did not obey him, and told him that he wanted to
divorce her, the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said to him, by way of good manners and advice: “Fear Allaah in
what you say and keep your wife”, but he knew that Zayd was going to divorce
her and that he was going to marry her, and this is what he was concealing.
He did not intend to tell him to divorce her, because he knew that he was
going to marry her, The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) was afraid of what the people would say about him if he
were to marry Zaynab after Zayd, who was his freed slave, if he told him to
divorce her. But Allaah rebuked him for that fear of what the people would
say about something that Allaah had permitted to him and for telling him to
keep her even though he knew that he was going to divorce her, and He told
him that Allaah was more deserving of being feared, i.e., in all things.

Our scholars
(may Allaah have mercy on them) said: This is the best interpretation of
this verse and it is the view adopted by the prominent mufassireen and the
well-versed scholars, such as al-Zuhri, al-Qaadi Bakr ibn al-‘Ala’
al-Qushayri, al-Qaadi Abu Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi and others.

What is meant
by the words “you did fear the people”
refers to his concern about the propaganda of the hypocrites, suggesting
that he had forbidden marrying sons’ wives, but he married the wife of his
own son.

As for the
report which says that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) liked Zaynab the wife of Zayd, and some immoral people even use
the word “fell in love”, this comes from one who is ignorant of the
infallibility of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him), who was protected against such things, or from one who has no respect
for him.

Tafseer
al-Qurtubi
(14/190, 191).

2 – Shaykh
al-Shanqeeti (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

The correct
view – in sha Allaah – concerning this issue is that which we have said the
Qur’aan points to, which is that Allaah told His Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) that Zayd was going to divorce Zaynab, and
that He would give her to him (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) in marriage, and at that time she was still married to Zayd. When Zayd
complained to him (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) he said
to him: “Keep your wife and fear Allaah.” Allaah rebuked him for saying
“Keep your wife” after he knew that she was to become his own wife, for fear
that if he disclosed what he knew about her becoming his wife, the people
would say that he wanted to marry his son’s wife at the time when she was
still married to Zayd.

Two things
point to that:

The first is
what we have mentioned above, that Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted,
said: “But you did hide in yourself that which
Allaah will make manifest”.
This is what Allaah had disclosed to him, which is that He was giving her to
him in marriage, when He said: “So when Zayd had accomplished his desire
from her (i.e. divorced her), We gave her to you in marriage”. Allaah
did not disclose anything of that which they claim, namely that he loved
her. If that had been what was meant, then Allaah would have disclosed it as
you see.

The second
point is that Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, clearly stated that
He was the One Who gave her to him in marriage, and that the divine wisdom
behind this marriage was to put an end to the prohibition on marrying the
wives of adopted sons, as He says, “So when Zayd had accomplished his
desire from her (i.e. divorced her), We gave her to you in marriage, so that
(in future) there may be no difficulty to the believers in respect of (the
marriage of) the wives of their adopted sons”. The phrase “so that
(in future) there may be no difficulty to the believers” clearly
explains the reason behind this marriage, as we have said. The fact that
Allaah is the One Who gave her to him in marriage for this important purpose
clearly shows that the reason why he married her was not because he loved
her and that is why Zayd divorced her – as they claim. It is explained by
the words of Allaah, “So when Zayd had accomplished his desire from her…”
because it indicates that Zayd had accomplished his desire from her, and no
longer had any interest in her, so he divorced her by his own choice, and
Allaah knows all things.

Adwa’
al-Bayaan
(6/582, 583).

4 – The
scholars of the Standing Committee were asked:

What is the
story of Zayd ibn Haarithah and his marriage to Zaynab, whom the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) married after him? How did
their marriage begin, and how did it end? We have heard some people in some
Arab countries say that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) fell in love with Zaynab and other things that I cannot bear to
tell you what I have heard. Please advise me.

They replied:

Zayd was the
son of Haarithah ibn Shurahbeel al-Kalbi, the freed slave of the Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), who manumitted
him and adopted him, so he was known as Zayd ibn Muhammad, until Allaah
revealed the words “Call them (adopted sons) by (the names of) their
fathers” [al-Ahzaab 33:5], then he was called Zayd ibn Haarithah. Zaynab
was the daughter of Jahsh ibn Rabaab al-Asadi, and her mother was Umaymah
bint ‘Abd al-Muttalib, the paternal aunt of the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). As for the story of Zayd’s
marriage to Zaynab, the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) is the one who arranged that for him, because he was his
freed slave and adopted son, so he approached her on behalf of Zayd, but she
refused and said: I am of a better lineage than him. It was narrated that
Allaah revealed the words “It is not for a believer, man or woman, when
Allaah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any
option in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allaah and His Messenger, he
has indeed strayed into a plain error” [al-Ahzaab 33:36] concerning
that. So she responded in obedience to Allaah and so as to fulfil the
wishes of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him). She lived with Zayd for nearly a year, then there arose between
them the kind of problems that may arise between a husband and wife, and
Zayd complained about her to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), because of their position in relation to
him, as he was his freed slave and adopted son, and Zaynab was the daughter
of his paternal aunt Umaymah. It is as if Zayd hinted that he wanted to
divorce her, but the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) told him to keep her and be patient with her, even though he
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) knew from the revelation of
Allaah that he would divorce her and she would become his wife. But he was
afraid that the people would criticize him for marrying his son’s wife, as
that was forbidden during the Jaahiliyyah. Allaah rebuked His Prophet for
that in the words “And (remember) when you said to him (Zayd bin
Haarithah رضى الله عنه
the freed‑slave of the Prophet صلى الله عليه
وسلم) on whom Allaah has bestowed grace (by guiding him to Islam) and
you (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم too)
have done favour (by manumitting him): ‘Keep your wife to yourself, and fear
Allaah.’ But you did hide in yourself (i.e. what Allaah has already made
known to you that He will give her to you in marriage) that which
Allaah will make manifest, you did fear
the people (i.e., their saying that Muhammad
صلى الله عليه وسلم married
the divorced wife of his manumitted slave) whereas Allaah had a better right
that you should fear Him”
meaning – and Allaah knows best – you hid in yourself that which Allaah had
told you, that Zayd would divorce his wife Zaynab and you would marry her,
in obedience to Allaah’s command, and in fulfilment of His wisdom, but you
feared the people’s comments and criticism of you for that, but Allaah is
more deserving that you should fear Him and announce what He has revealed to
you about your situation and that of Zayd and his wife Zaynab, without
worrying about what the people will say or how they will criticize you.

With regard to
the marriage of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
to Zaynab, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
proposed to her after the end of her ‘iddah following her divorce from Zayd,
and Allaah gave her to him in marriage without any wali (guardian) or
witnesses, because he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is
the wali of all the believers, and is closer to them than their own selves.
Allaah said (interpretation of the meaning): “The Prophet is closer to
the believers than their ownselves” [al-Ahzaab 33:6]. Thus Allaah
abolished the jaahili custom of adoption, and made it permissible for the
Muslims to marry the wives of those whom they had adopted, after the latter
separated from them by death or divorce, as a mercy from Him towards the
believers and so as to relieve them of hardship.

As for the
reports which say that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) saw Zaynab from behind a screen and that he was attracted to her
and fell in love with her, and Zayd found out about that and began to
dislike her, and he wanted to give precedence to the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) concerning her, so he divorced her so that
he could marry her after him, none of that has been proven by means of any
sound isnaad. The Prophets are of the highest status and are too chaste in
heart and too noble and honourable in attitude to do any such thing.
Moreover, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is
the one who had arranged her marriage to Zayd (may Allaah be pleased with
him), and she was the daughter of his paternal aunt. If he had been
attracted to her, he would have kept her for himself in the first place,
especially since she was reluctant to marry Zayd and did not agree to it
until the verse was revealed, then she agreed. This was the decree of Allaah
which He arranged in order to abolish jaahili customs, and to show mercy to
the people and make things easier for them, as Allaah says (interpretation
of the meaning):

“So when
Zayd had accomplished his desire from her (i.e. divorced her), We gave her
to you in marriage, so that (in future) there may be no difficulty to the
believers in respect of (the marriage of) the wives of their adopted sons
when the latter have no desire to keep them (i.e. they have divorced them).
And Allaah’s Command must be fulfilled.

38. There
is no blame on the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)
in that which Allaah has made legal for him. That has been Allaah’s way with
those who have passed away of (the Prophets of) old. And the Command of
Allaah is a decree determined.

39. Those
who convey the Message of Allaah and fear Him, and fear none save Allaah.
And Sufficient is Allaah as a Reckoner.

40. Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is not
the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allaah and the
last (end) of the Prophets. And Allaah is Ever All‑Aware of everything”

[al-Ahzaab
33:37-40].

Shaykh ‘Abd
al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Razzaaq ‘Afeefi, Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn
Ghadyaan, Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Qa’ood.

Fataawa
Islamiyyah
(18/137-141).

And Allaah
knows best.