Marriage of the Prophet (s) with Zaynab bt. Jahsh
The Prophet's marriage to Zaynab bt. Jahsh took place by divine command and intended to abolish the pre-Islamic custom that forbade marriage to the former wife of an adopted son. Zaynab, the Prophet's cousin and the former wife of Zayd b. Haritha (the Prophet's adopted son) married the Prophet (s) after her divorce and the completion of her waiting period ('idda). This action, which was accompanied by the revelation of verses in Qur'an 33, overturned a prevailing pre-Islamic tradition and was met with objections from the polytheists and the hypocrites.
Some Orientalists, relying on a report that Islamic scholars have identified as fabricated, have proposed non-divine motives for this marriage. According to Islamic scholars, this view was put forward to tarnish the Prophet's character and is rejected due to its incompatibility with the Qur'an, the Prophetic tradition, and the principle of the Prophet's infallibility.
Significance and Status
The Qur'an mentions the Prophet's marriage to Zaynab bt. Jahsh. According to exegetes, this marriage took place by God's command and was intended to break the pre-Islamic custom that prohibited marriage to the former wife of an adopted son. Zaynab, who had been the wife of Zayd b. Haritha (the Prophet's adopted son) married the Prophet (s) by divine instruction after her divorce. According to Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah, a Shi'a exegete, verses 37–40 of Qur'an 33 were revealed concerning this matter. In Tafsir-i nimuna, this marriage is described as a "dramatic story."
Some Orientalists, relying on narrations that some Islamic scholars consider fabricated or unreliable, have proposed non-divine motives for this marriage. These views, which were put forward to tarnish the Prophet's character, have been criticized and rejected by Islamic scholars.
Zaynab bt. Jahsh
Zaynab was a granddaughter of 'Abd al-Muttalib and a cousin of the Prophet (s). She married the Prophet (s) in the fifth year after the Hijra/626 CE, at the age of thirty-five. She was one of the Muhajirun and was known for her generosity. Zaynab passed away in the twentieth year after the Hijra/641 CE and was buried in al-Baqi'.
Prophet's Proposal of Marriage to Zaynab on Behalf of His Adopted Son
The Prophet (s) proposed marriage to Zaynab on behalf of his adopted son, Zayd b. Haritha. At first, Zaynab assumed that the Prophet (s) was proposing marriage for himself. When she learned that the proposal was on behalf of Zayd, she opposed the marriage. According to some reports, Zaynab suggested marriage to the Prophet (s) himself.
Some Shi'a and Sunni exegetes—and it has even been claimed that most commentators and historians—hold that after Zaynab's refusal, verse 36 of Qur'an 33 was revealed, a verse that denies believers any right of choice in the face of a divine command or the command of the Prophet (s). After the revelation of this verse, Zaynab left the decision regarding the marriage to the Prophet (s), and he married her to Zayd b. Haritha. Ali b. Ibrahim al-Qummi, a third/ninth-century Shi'a exegete, narrated the story of Zaynab's marriage to Zayd based on a report from Imam al-Baqir (a).
Zaynab's Divorce from Zayd and Marriage to the Prophet (s)
Difficulties arose in the marriage of Zayd b. Haritha and Zaynab. Zayd feared that if he divorced her, the Prophet (s) would be displeased with him. Zayd went to the Prophet (s) several times and informed him of his intention to divorce Zaynab, and each time the Prophet (s) advised him to be patient. In the end, Zayd divorced Zaynab. After the completion of her waiting period, the Prophet (s) married her.
The Prophet's marriage to Zaynab took place by God's command, and the Qur'anic expression "We married her to you" indicates the divine nature of this union. Zaynab took pride in this marriage and would say to the other wives of the Prophet (s) that while their families had married them to the Prophet (s), it was God who had married her to him. In gratitude for this marriage, she fasted for two months. This marriage has been counted among those unions, such as the marriage of Adam and Eve and the marriage of Ali (a) and Fatima (s), that are considered to have been arranged directly by God.
Some researchers have argued that although Zaynab was one of the Muhajirun and belonged to a prominent Meccan family, she married, by God's and the Prophet's instruction, a man who, according to pre-Islamic Arab custom, was considered socially lower than her. In return, after her divorce, God honored her and granted her the blessing of marriage to the Prophet (s). Some Shi'a and Sunni sources report that after the divorce, Zayd went to Zaynab and proposed marriage to her on behalf of the Prophet (s).
According to accounts from some Shi'a and Sunni exegetes, the Prophet (s) held a wedding banquet on the occasion of his marriage to Zaynab. After the banquet ended, a group of Companions did not leave the Prophet's home. As a result, verse 53 of Qur'an 33 was revealed, setting forth the etiquette of entering and being present in the Prophet's house.
Criticism from Opponents
The polytheists, Jews, and hypocrites exploited the Prophet's marriage to Zaynab as a pretext for mockery and reproach, portraying it as a violation of the pre-Islamic custom that forbade marriage to the former wife of an adopted son. Among the Arabs of that era, the wife of an adopted son was perceived as equivalent to an actual daughter-in-law, and marriage to such a woman was considered unlawful.
According to verse 4 of the Qur'an 33, God clarified that an adopted son does not carry the legal status of a biological son. Certain sources also associate the verse on the finality of prophethood (khatamiyya) with this event. David Powers, a scholar of Islamic studies, interprets the Prophet's marriage to Zaynab as connected to the doctrine of finality, preventing any claim of lineage or continued prophethood after him.
Critics further objected to the number of the Prophet's wives, claiming that Zaynab was his fifth spouse and that Islam limits marriage to four. However, the permissibility of marrying more than four women is regarded as one of the Prophet's special dispensations (khasā’is al-nabī), legislated to expand the scope of his authority in fulfilling divine missions.
False Accusations Against the Prophet (s)
According to a narration transmitted in some Islamic sources with slight variations, the Prophet (s), during a visit to Zaynab—who at the time was the wife of Zayd b. Haritha—was impressed by her beauty. When this was conveyed to Zayd, he expressed his willingness to divorce Zaynab, but the Prophet (s) opposed the idea. Nevertheless, Zayd divorced her, and after the completion of her waiting period, the Prophet (s) married her. Orientalists and Christian missionaries have relied on this report in an attempt to portray the Prophet (s) as lustful and lacking self-restraint.
Shi'a scholars consider this report to be fabricated due to its incompatibility with the Qur’an and the reliable Prophetic tradition, as well as with the Prophet's divinely guided upbringing (his infallibility). They argue that if such an event had been real, it would have caused the Prophet (s) to lose his standing among the Companions and the Muslim community. Mahmoud Mahdawi Damghani, a Shi'a researcher, maintains that this story was likely created under the influence of distorted narrations concerning David and Uriah.
By contrast, the few supporters of this report rely solely on the permissibility of an initial glance.