Welcome to our weekly program "Path towards Enlightenment" in which we present you a fluent and easy-to-understand explanation of the ayahs of the holy Quran. We start from where we left you last Friday and here are ayahs 37 and 38 of Surah Ahzab:

 “When you said to him whom Allah had shown favour, and whom you [too] had shown a favour, ‘Retain your wife for yourself, and be careful of (your duty to) Allah,’ and you had concealed in your heart what Allah would bring to light, and you feared the people though Allah is worthier that you should fear Him, so when Zayd had got through with her (i.e. divorced her), We wedded her to you, so that there may be no blame on the faithful in respect of the wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have got through with them (i.e. divorced them), and Allah’s command is bound to be fulfilled.”

“There is no blame on the Prophet in respect of that which Allah has made lawful for him: Allah’s precedent with those who passed away earlier —and Allah’s commands are ordained by a precise ordaining–”

If you might recall, last week we said that faith requires the believers, whether man or woman, to be obedient to the commandments of God Almighty and the divine laws, as promulgated by the Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

The ayahs which we now recited to you refer to the well-known incident of the rocky marriage of Zayd bin Haretha and his wife, Zainab bint Jahsh that ended in divorce despite the Prophet’s earnest efforts to prevent separation between the couple. These ayahs relate to the previously explained account of the several wives that the middle-aged Prophet had married in the last ten years of his life in Medina to break the taboos and customs of the days of ignorance, following the passing away of his faithful wife of 25 long years, the Mother of all True Believers Omm al-Momineen Hazrat Khadija (peace upon her), during whose lifetime he had not taken any other spouse. It should be noted that Zayd was a slave of Hazrat Khadija (peace upon her), and the Prophet after freeing him had adopted him as a son. The Prophet, in order to create social equilibrium and remove the distinction of class amongst the Muslims, married his own cousin Zainab bint Jahsh to Zayd. The marriage encountered conflicts, prompting the Prophet to continuously advice the couple against divorce, reminding the husband of his duty towards God. Whatever the reason for the conflict, in view of the social status of the two, since the wife was a member of a prominent tribe and the husband was a former slave, there seemed to be lack of accord between the couple. Sometimes it happens that two persons are good but differ from the point of thought and taste and cannot continue their common life together. Thus, when Zayd divorced Zainab bint Jahsh, the Prophet, who had arranged the marriage, had to find a solution. As is clear by the ayah’s emphasis on the word “favour” shown by God to Zayd, it means faith and guidance that had been inspired in his heart. The ayah’s use of the word ‘favour’ again and this time shown by the Prophet, means Zayd had been freed from slavery and favoured as an adopted son. Thus the Prophet was faced with one of the sensitive issues of his life, and as the ayah means to say, it is God Almighty of whom we should be wary rather than fearing the dubious social norms of the people. It then tells the Prophet that it is God who now chose to wed him to the divorced Zainab bint Jahsh, in order to make it clear that the wives of adopted sons are not the same as real daughters-in-law. In other words, the Prophet choose his divorced cousin Zainab bint Jahsh as his wife for restoring her honour and dignity in society following her failed marriage to Zayd and the talk that even a former slave had divorced her. At the same time, the Prophet’s marriage to the divorced wife of his adopted son, by God’s command was necessary for breaking the taboos lingering in the society from the days of ignorance that there is no difference between a biological son and an adopted one. As ayah 38 means to say, the Prophet only fulfills God’s command and is not bound by the false traditions of the society, for, it has been the Law of God throughout history that Prophets should break up the wrong customs and eradicate them.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. In case of differences between husband-and-wife, utmost efforts should be made for reconciliation in order to prevent divorce.
2. When the differences are irreconcilable, then the only solution is divorce, through respectable parting of ways by keeping the honour of the two persons intact.
3. While fulfilling religious obligations, we should not fear the customs of the society, but should be wary of God Almighty.
4. The wrong customs should be broken, and as the Prophet showed by God’s commandment, an adopted son is not same as the biological son, nor his wife the same as the real daughter-in-law.

Now listen to ayah 39 of the same Surah:

“Such as deliver the messages of Allah and fear Him, and fear no one except Allah, and Allah suffices as Reckoner.”

This ayah says: the main duty of Prophets is to convey the divine mission without any fear of anyone in society, since God the Omnipresent suffices as Reckoner. It happens that many people understand that their customs are wrong but because of fear of the people and social taboos, they lack the courage to break such illogical norms of the society. Thus, it is the duty of the Prophets, the Imams, and the saintly leaders to fear no one, since God is Sufficient for them.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. Piety, firm faith in God, resolve, and courage in rejecting the wrong customs of the society, are the necessary factors for spread of the voice of truth and justice.
2. Only God, the Omnipresent, the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing, Who is nearer to us than our own jugular vein and is aware of even the thoughts that flash across our minds, is sufficient for the faithful as Reckoner.

Now we listen to ayah 40 of Surah Ahzab:

“Muḥammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Apostle of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets and Allah has knowledge of all things.”

In continuation of the previous ayahs, this ayah firmly rejects the customs of the days of ignorance regarding adopted sons, and says in clear words that Prophet Mohammad (blessing of God upon him and his progeny) is not the biological father of any man amongst you, including Zayd, whose divorced wife the Prophet married by God’s command, since she was not his real daughter-in-law. As the Emissary of God, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny) is the Seal of all Prophets. In other words, no divine messenger will come after Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). As the Last and the Greatest of all Prophets he is the father-figure for the whole Ummah and his every action is in the interests of mankind. The Prophet, of course, had some real biological sons by the names of Qasim, Tayyeb, Taher, and Ibrahim, but all of them died in infancy, and, therefore are not counted among the grown-up men. His only surviving child was his daughter Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon her), the Noblest-Ever lady, through whom the Prophet’s blessed progeny spread.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny) is not the biological father of any grown-up man, and his only surviving child, is his Immaculate Daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon her)
2.  Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny) is the Last and Greatest of all divine messengers and none will come after him.
3. Islam is the creed decreed by God Almighty for all humanity for all time, and the holy Qur’an is the Final Heavenly Scripture for the guidance of all mankind.

AS/ME