| “Like the
dissemblers in early times, the
people of misguidance of modern
times also make the Prophet’s
(Upon whom be blessings and
peace) marriage with Zaynab a
pretext for criticism,
considering it to have been to
satisfy the lusts of the soul.” T
h e A n s w e r : God forbid, a
hundred thousand times! The hand
of such vile doubts cannot reach
up to that elevated one! Yes, he
was such that from the age of f
fifteen to forty when the blood
is fiery and exuberant and the
passions of the soul enf1amed,
sufficed and was content with a
single older woman like Khadija
the Great (May God be pleased
with her) with complete chastity
and purity - as is agreed by
friend and foe alike. His then
having numerous wives after the
age of forty, that is, when
bodily heat subsides and the
passions are quitened, is
evidence proving decisively and
self-evidently to those who are
even a little fair-minded that
such marriages were not to
satisfy the carnal appetites, but
were based on other important
instances of wisdom.
One of those
instances of wisdom is this: Like
the Prophet’s words, his
actions, states, conduct, and
deeds are the sources of religion
and the Shari’a, and the
authority for its injunctions.
Just as the Companions
transmitted the outward, public
things, the transmitters and
narrators Of the private matters
of religion and injunctions of
the Shari’a which were
manifested from his private
conduct in the personal sphere,
were his wives, and they carried
out that duty in fact. Perhaps
half of the private matters and
injunctions of religion come from
them. That is to say, numerous
wives of differing temperament
were required to perform this
necessary duty.
Now let us
consider his marriage with
Zaynab. In connection with the
verse,
Muhammed
is not the father of any of your
men, but [he is] the Prophet of
God and the Seal of the Prophets,
which is one
of the examples given in the
Third Ray of the First Light in
the Twenty-Fifth Word, it is
written that with its many
aspects, a single verse states
meanings appropriate to the
understandings of all classes of
men.
One class’s
share of understanding of the
above verse is this: according to
a sound narration based on his
own admission, Zayd, the Most
Noble Prophet’s (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) servant whom
he addressed as “my son,”
divorced his proud wife because
he did not find himself equal to
her. That is to say, with his
perceptiveness, Zayd realized
that Zaynab had been created with
an elevated character different
to his and that it was in her
nature to be a prophet’s wife.
And since he found himself to be
by nature unequal to her as a
spouse and this caused
incompatibility, he divorced her.
At God's command, the Most Noble
Prophet (Upon whom be blessings
and peace) took her. That is, as
indicated by the verse,
We joined
her in marriage to you
showing that
it was a heavenly contract, this
marriage was out of the ordinary,
above external relations, and
purely on the orders of Divine
Determining. Thus, the Most Noble
Prophet (Upon whom be blessings
and peace) submitted to the
decree of Divine Determining and
was compelled to do so; it was
not at the behest of carnal
desire.
The verse,
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,
comprises
an important injunction of the
Shari’a, a general instance of
wisdom, and a comprehensive,
general benefit pertaining to
this decree of Divine
Determining, and indicates that
adults calling the young “my
son” is not forbidden, as is
the matter of zihar, that is,
a man saying to his wife “you
are like my mother,” so that
ordinances should change due to
it? Also, rulers looking to their
subjects and prophets looking to
their communities and addressing
them in fatherly fashion, is due
to the function of prophethood;
it is not in respect of their
human personalities so that it
should be inappropriate for them
to take wives from them?
Another
class’s share of the
understanding of this verse is
this: a great ruler looks on his
subjects with paternal
compassion. If he is a spiritual
king holding both outward and
inward rule, since his compassion
is a hundred times greater than
that of a father, his subjects
look on him as his father, as
though they were his real sons. A
father’s view is not easily
transformed into that of a
husband, and a girl’s view into
that of a wife. So, since
according to this it is
inappropriate in the public view
for a prophet to take in marriage
the believers’ daughters, with
the purpose of repelling such a
doubt, the Qur'an says: “On
account of Divine mercy the
Prophet has compassion for you,
he deals with you in fatherly
fashion, and in the name of
prophethood you are like his
children. But in regard to his
human personality he is not your
father so that it should be
inappropriate for him to take a
wife from among you!? And if he
calls you “Son,” in respect
of the rulings of the Shari’a,
you cannot be his
children!..."
The
Enduring One, He is the Enduring
One!
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