The scandal spun around Hazrat Zainab bint Jash and Prophet Mohammad PBUH?

Question

This marriage has also been the target of many critics on Islam. As William Muir in his book “Mohammad and Islam” states so dramatically :

“Even in Arabia, to marry the divorced wife of an adopted son was a thing undeard of, and he foresaw the scandal it would create. But the flame would not be stifled. And so, casting his scruples to the winds, he resolved at last to have her”

I’ll start with a small introduction. Hazrat Zainab was the daughter of Prophet Mohammad’s father’s sister. So HAzrat Zainab was his first cousin. She was first married to Hazrat Zaid bin Harris who was a slave of Hazrat Khadija at one time. But when Hazrat Zaid’s father came to fetch him, Hazrat Zaid preferred staying with Prophet Mohammad and so, Prophet Mohammad adopted him. It is interesting to see what the Quran says about adopted sons:

Allah has not made for any man two hearts inside his body. Neither has He made your wives whom you declare to be like your mothers’ backs, your real mothers [Az-Zihar is the saying of a husband to his wife, “You are to me like the back of my mother” i.e. You are unlawful for me to approach], nor has He made your adopted sons your real sons. That is but your saying with your mouths. But Allah says the truth, and He guides to the (Right) Way

Call them (adpted sons) by (the names of ) their fathers: that is more just with Allah. But if you know not their father’s (names, call them) your brothers in faith and Mawalikum (your freed slaves). And there is no sin on you concerning that in which you made a mistake, except in regard to what your hearts deliberately intend. And Allah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful
[Al-Quran. 33: 4 – 5 ]

In the Arab pagan era, often, when a man had no sons, he would adopt someone else and make him take his name and then give him all the fortune he possessed. IT was unfair to daughter/daughters left behind and at that time, girls were not treated very well. It was also unfair to the other siblings of the adopted child. To finish off this absurd and unfair practice, the above verses were revealed.

When Hazrat Zaid bin Harris came of age, he expressed his desire to marry Hazrat Zainab. But Hazrat Zainab opposed to this proposal saying that Hazrat Zaid was a freed slave and whereas, she was from one of the noblest families of Makkah. But Prophet Mohammad will not hear of it because Islam condemns such giving of statue. In the eyes of Allah, only the most pious are the best. The fact that they are slave or black or white does not matter. So Hazrat Zaid bin Harris and Hazrat Zainab bint Jash was married but in a year Hazrat Zaid divorced his wife saying they were not of the same nature and therefore, couldn’t live happily. It was a blow to Hazrat Zainab because in those times, a woman divorced or widowed was looked down upon. Especially divorced women. This was also one of the reasons Mohammad married Hazrat Zainab. IT should be remembered too that because Hazrat Zainab was the cousin of Prophet Mohammad, they had come face-to-face many times in their lives.

Why than did he fall in love when she was married to his adopted son? As Montgomery Watt says in his book “Muhammad at Medina”:

“Despite the stories, then, it is unlikely that he was swept off his feet by the physical attractiveness of Zaynab. The other wives are said to have feared her beauty; but her age when she married Muhammad was thirty-five, or perhaps rather thirty-eight, which is fairly advanced for an Arab women. “

In another place he quotes:

“It is most unlikely that at the age of fifty-six such a man as he should have been carried away by a passion for a woman of thirty-five or more.”

In the book “Muhammad At Medina”, Montgomery Watt writes:

“The criticism of Muhammad, then was based on a pre-Islamic idea that was rejected by Islam, and one aim of Muhammad in contracting the marriage was to break the hold of the old idea over men’s conduct. How important was this aim compared with others which he might have had?”


With the above evidence, it is illogical to spin a scandal around Hazrat Zainab bint Jash and Porphet Mohammad as though they were characters out of a novel!!!!

Answer 1

salam alaikom wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh!
To non muslims, marriage between cousins are scandalous. Because they are unaware that the very bible itself does not prohibit such union. The parents of Jesus Christ were cousins too.
The marriage to a divorcee of an adopted son is not prohibited in islam as the adopted son is not from his bloodline, nor from his wives or children breastfed by his wives.There is no teaching in islam that the children we cared and nurtured will become our children as this does not come from our bloodline.But we can be their guardians and care for them as if they are our own.
There is nothing scandalous about this. Only the unaware and the ignorants used this statements to baffle believers. It's like saying "the earth is definitely not round."

Answer 2

Knowledge Seeker,

I am so glad my mom and dad had each other and no one else in their lives. To have more than one wife is not what I would want. I prefer one woman. I hope you would enjoy such a relationship of individual devotion and intimacy. May Allah bless you.

Answer 3

believe me, no one want to read along question like this. keep it simple.