WHILE the events in the two sections above were occurring, Muhammad married Zainab daughter of Khuzaima, then married Umm Salama daughter of Abi Umayya bin al-Mughira, and then married again Zainab daughter of Jahsh after she was divorced by Zaid son of Haritha. It was Zaid who had been adopted as a son by Muhammad after being freed as a slave, having been purchased by Yasar for Khadijah. This is where the Orientalists and Christian missionary organizations then cried out loudly: Look! Muhammad has changed. Previously, when he was still in Mecca as a simple-living teacher who could control himself and taught monotheism, staying far from worldly desires, now he has become a man driven by lust, his mouth watering when he sees women. Not content with three wives in his household, he even married another three women as mentioned above. After that he married three more women, besides Raihana. Not content with marrying women without husbands, he even fell in love with Zainab daughter of Jahsh who was still bound as the wife of Zaid son of Haritha, his former slave. The reason was only because he once visited Zaid's house when he was not there, and he was received by Zainab. At that time she was wearing clothes that displayed her beauty, and this beauty greatly affected his heart. At that time he said "Glorified is He Who can turn the hearts of men!" He repeated these words again when he left that place. Zainab heard these words and saw the fire of love shining from his eyes. Zainab felt proud of herself and what she heard, she told Zaid. Immediately Zaid then went to the Prophet and said that he was willing to divorce her. Then the Prophet said to him:
Keep your wife well and do not divorce her. You should fear Allah.
But Zainab's relationship with Zaid was no longer good. Then he divorced her. Muhammad restrained himself from marrying her immediately although his heart was troubled. At that time the word of Allah came:
"Remember when you said to him on whom Allah had bestowed His favor and to whom you had done good: 'Keep your wife to yourself and fear Allah.' You were hiding in your heart what Allah was about to make manifest.
You feared the people, whereas it is more fitting that you fear Allah. So when Zaid had dissolved his marriage with her, We joined her in marriage to you, so that there should be no blame on the believers in the matter of marrying the wives of their adopted sons when they have dissolved their marriage with them. The command of Allah must be obeyed." (Qur'an, 33:37)
It was then that he married her. With this marriage, the brilliance of love and the burning fire of his passion could be extinguished. What kind of Prophet is this!? How could he permit for himself what he forbade others!? How could he not submit to the law that he claimed was revealed to him by Allah!? How also was this "harem" created, which reminds one of luxurious kings, not of righteous prophets who improve the lives of their communities!? Furthermore, how could he surrender to the power of love in his relationship with Zainab so that he had to ask Zaid his former slave to divorce her, and then he came forward to marry her! Such things were forbidden in the age of ignorance, but this religion's prophet allowed it, because he wanted to follow his desires, wanted to fulfill the impulses of his passion.
Whenever Orientalists and Christian missionary organizations speak about this matter in the history of Muhammad, they let their imaginations run completely wild; so much so that some of them describe Zainab—when seen by the Prophet—in a state of semi-nudity or almost naked, with her long black hair loose and flowing down over her soft, tender body, which would convey all the meaning of passionate love. Others mention that when she opened the door to Zaid's house, the wind blew and moved aside the curtain of Zainab's room. At that time she was lying on her bed wearing a nightgown. This sight greatly disturbed the heart of a man mad with passion for her beauty. He hid his feelings although in fact he could not endure it for long!
There are many such imaginative descriptions. We will find these in the works of Muir, Dermenghem, Washington Irving, Lammens and others, whether they are Orientalists or Christian missionary organizations. And what is truly regrettable is that in creating these stories, they all indeed took their sources from the books of the Prophet's history and quite a bit also from hadith. Then with what they described, they built ivory palaces from their own imagination about Muhammad and his relationship with women. Their reason is that he had many wives, reaching nine wives according to the more accurate opinion, or more according to other sources.
Actually we could refute all their words with the statement: Suppose all that is true, but what difference does it make to the greatness of Muhammad or his prophethood and apostleship? Laws that usually apply to the general public do not apply to great people, especially not to messengers and prophets. When Musa, peace be upon him, saw two men quarreling, one from his own people and the other from his enemy, he struck the enemy until he died, although such killing was forbidden, whether in war or in half-war. This means breaking the law. So Musa did not submit to the law, but this also does not mean it can discredit his prophethood or his apostleship, nor does it even diminish his greatness. And in the case of Isa, violating the law was even greater than all the other prophets and messengers. And the matter is not only limited to the power of his strength and will, but even his birth and life violated the law and the laws of nature. Before his mother an angel appeared as a perfect man, who would bring a pure and clean child to her. The woman was amazed and said: "How can I have a child when no man has touched me, and I am not an unchaste woman." The angel said that Allah willed for it to be a sign for mankind.
After she felt the pangs of childbirth, she said: "Oh, I wish I had died before this and become something forgotten." Then a voice called to her from below: "Do not sorrow, your Lord has provided beneath you a rivulet." She brought the child to her family. They said: "O Maryam, you have brought something terrible. In your cradle (at such a young age) Isa said to them: 'I am the slave of Allah' and so on."
No matter how much the Jews rejected all this, and by them Isa was attributed to Yusuf an-Najjar (Yusuf son of Heli), some scholars like Renan even until now consider it so. The greatness of Isa, his prophethood and apostleship, and his deviation from natural law and nature is a sign of Allah's miracle to him. But strangely, Christian missionary organizations ask people to believe in things outside the laws of nature concerning Jesus, while concerning Muhammad they have already passed their own judgment. Whereas what he did was not significant and was no more because Muhammad was too great to submit to the social laws that apply to every great person, to kings, to heads of state who in general were already preceded by constitutional laws that made them beyond reproach.
Actually we could refute all their words with an answer that would certainly destroy all the arguments of Christian missionary organizations and Orientalists who also wanted to follow their methods. But in doing so we would then rape history and rape the greatness of Muhammad and his apostleship. He was not a person as they described: a man whose thoughts were influenced by passion. Not one of his wives did he marry only because he was driven by lust or passion for sexual gratification. Even if some Muslim writers at certain times spoke of it as they pleased and presented this reason to the enemies of Islam with good intentions, the matter was because the prevailing tradition led them to a material understanding. They wanted to depict Muhammad as great in everything, also great in the life of passion. This is certainly a completely wrong depiction. Muhammad's life history simply cannot accept this, and his entire personal life by itself already rejects it.
He married Khadijah at the age of twenty-three, a young age, with a handsome appearance and a beautiful face, brave and upright. Yet even so Khadijah remained his only wife for twenty-eight years, until he passed the age of fifty. While the matter of polygamy was very common among Arab society at that time. Moreover, Muhammad was free to marry Khadijah or anyone else, in that he did not have a living male child with his wife, whereas female children at that time were buried alive and only male children could be considered as a replacement heir.
Muhammad lived with only Khadijah for seventeen years before his prophethood and eleven years after it; and during that time it never crossed his mind that he wanted to marry another woman. Neither during Khadijah's lifetime, nor before he married Khadijah, was it ever heard that he was among those easily tempted by the beauty of women, who at that time were indeed unveiled. In fact, they liked to show themselves off and displayed all kinds of jewelry, which was later forbidden by Islam. It would truly be strange if we were to see that after fifty years had passed, suddenly he changed so much that as soon as he saw Zainab daughter of Jahsh—at which time he already had five wives including Aisyah whom he always loved—he was suddenly so attracted that he was consumed day and night thinking about her. It would also be strange if we saw that after he had passed fifty years of age, for five years he was already married to more than seven women, and in seven years to nine wives. All of this, the motive was only because he was driven by passion for women, so that some Muslim writers—and also Western writers following in their footsteps—depicted him in such a way, so degrading that even for a materialist it would not be fitting, let alone for a great person whose teachings could change the world and change the course of the wheel of history, and still will change the world again, and will change the course of the wheel of history again.
If this is something strange and unfitting, then it would also be strange for us to see that Muhammad's marriage to Khadijah bore offspring, both male and female, until before he reached the age of fifty, and that Maryam gave birth to Ibrahim after Muhammad was sixty years old and only from these two did offspring come. Whereas the wives were some who were in their youth, who could also become pregnant and give birth, whether on the husband's side or the wife's side, and some who were already of age, more than thirty years old, and before that had also had children. How also can this strange phenomenon in the Prophet's life be interpreted, a phenomenon that does not conform to the usual law, that applies equally to all nine women!? As a human being, it is certainly true that Muhammad's soul longed for a son, although—in his position as a prophet and messenger—in the spiritual sense he had become father to all Muslim people.
Then the events of history and its logic also became an honest witness testifying against the stories of Christian missionary organizations and Orientalists regarding the Prophet's polygamy. As we mentioned before, for 28 years he was married to only Khadijah alone, no one else. After Khadijah died, he married Sauda daughter of Zam'a, the widow of Sakran son of 'Amr son of 'Abd Shams. No source mentions that Sauda was a beautiful woman, or wealthy or had a position that would provide influence because of worldly desires in this marriage. Rather, the matter was that Sauda was the wife of a man who was among the first to embrace Islam, among those who bore various kinds of suffering in defending the faith, and who emigrated to Abyssinia when the Prophet advised them to emigrate across the sea. Sauda was also Muslim and emigrated with them, she also suffered hardship and pain. If after that Muhammad then married her to provide her with protection in life and to give her a place equal to the Mothers of the Believers, then this was fitting and deserving of high praise.
As for Aisyah and Hafsha, they are the daughters of two of his close advisors, Abu Bakr and Umar. This aspect is what made Muhammad bind himself with these two through the bond of marriage with their daughters. It was the same when he bound himself with Uthman and Ali by marrying both his daughters to them. Even if it is true what people say about Aisyah and Muhammad's love for her, then that love arose after marriage, not before. He proposed to her parents when she was nine years old and left her for two years before the marriage was consummated. Logic would not accept that he had already loved her at such a young age. This is further supported by his marriage to Hafsha daughter of Umar, which was also not because of the impulse of passionate love, with her father himself as a witness.
Truly," said Umar, "when we were in the age of ignorance, we did not value women. It was only after Allah gave judgment concerning them and gave them rights as well." And he said again: "When I was engaged in some matter, suddenly my wife said: 'Why don't you do this or that?' I replied: 'What business is it of yours, and what do you have to do with my affairs!' She retorted: 'It is strange Umar. You don't want to be contradicted, yet your daughter contradicts the Messenger of Allah until he is troubled all day long.' Umar then said: 'I took my cloak and went out, then went to Hafsha. "My daughter," I said to her. "Do you contradict the Messenger of Allah until he is troubled all day long?!" Hafsha answered: "Yes, we contradict him." "You should know," I said. "I warn you of Allah's punishment and the anger of His Messenger. My daughter, do not be deceived by the love of someone who has been fascinated by her own beauty to the love of the Messenger of Allah." He said again: "You should know that the Messenger of Allah does not love you, and if it were not for me you would surely have been divorced."
We have already seen, have we not, that Muhammad married Aisyah or married Hafsha not because of his love or because of an impulse of passion, but because he wanted to strengthen the bonds of the young Islamic society with his two close advisors. The same was true when he married Sauda, so that Muslim fighters would know that if they fell in defense of Allah's religion, their wives and children would not be left to live in misery and poverty.
His marriage to Zainab daughter of Khuzaima and to Umm Salama further confirmed this. Zainab was the wife of 'Ubaida son of al-Harith son of al-Muttalib who had died as a martyr, killed in the Battle of Badr. She was not beautiful, but was known for her kindness and willingness to help others, so much so that she was given the title Umm al-Masakin (Mother of the Poor). She was also already past youth. Only a year or two after that she also died. After Khadijah, she was the only one of the Prophet's wives who died before him.
As for Umm Salama, she had many children from her marriage to Abu Salama, as mentioned above, in that in the Battle of Uhud he was wounded, then recovered. The Prophet entrusted him to lead against Banu Asad who were successfully routed and he returned to Medina with war spoils. But the wounds from Uhud reopened and continued to bleed, and he suffered from it until his death. When he was on his deathbed, the Prophet was also present and continued to be by his side, praying for his good, until he died. Four months after his death, Muhammad asked for Umm Salama's hand. But the woman refused gently because she had many children and was no longer young. Only then finally did he marry her, and she herself took care of and looked after her children.
Would the Christian missionaries and Orientalists still claim after all this that it was because of Umm Salama's beauty that Muhammad was driven to want to marry her? If that were the only reason, there were still many other girls from the Muhajirin and Ansar who were far more beautiful, younger, richer and more radiant, and he would not be burdened with her children. But on the contrary, he married her for the same noble consideration, just like his marriage to Zainab daughter of Khuzaima, which made the Muslims love him even more and made them regard him even more as the Prophet and Messenger of Allah. Moreover, they all already considered him as their father. Father to all the poor, the oppressed, the weak, the miserable and the helpless. Father to everyone who had lost their father, who fell defending Allah's religion.
From what has been explained above, what can be concluded by pure historical research? What can be concluded is that Muhammad recommended one wife in ordinary life. He recommended this way with the example he gave during the time of Khadijah. For that the word of Allah in the Qur'an states:
"And if you fear that you cannot treat orphans justly, then marry what is lawful for you of women: two, three, or four. But if you fear that you cannot be just, then marry only one, or what your right hands possess. That is more appropriate to prevent you from committing injustice." (Qur'an, 4:3)
"And you will never be able to be perfectly fair and just as between women even if it is your ardent desire. But turn not away from a woman altogether, so as to leave her hanging." (Qur'an, 4:129)
These verses were revealed in the late eighth year of the Hijra, after the Prophet had married all his wives, to limit the number of wives to four, while before that revelation there was no limit. This also removed the argument: Muhammad permitted for himself and forbade for others. Then the verse was revealed that emphasized the preferability of one wife and recommended this because of fear that he could not be just, emphasized that being just would not be possible. However, in cases of societal life that he saw as exceptional, he saw a pressing necessity to marry up to four with the condition of being just. He had done this by the example he gave when Muslims were involved in warfare and many of them were killed and died as martyrs.
Tell me! When warfare is raging, contagious disease is spreading and uprisings are breaking out taking the lives of thousands and even millions of human beings, can one be certain that limiting to one wife is better and polygamy that is permitted by way of exception is not? Can the people of Europe—at this time, after the end of the World War—say that the monogamy system is the most appropriate system in practice, because they have indeed said that the system is perfectly appropriate in law? Is not the emergence of economic and social disorder after the war caused by the lack of organized cooperation between men and women in marriage, a cooperation that would be able to somewhat bring economic balance? I do not intend by this to make a legal judgment. I leave this matter to thinkers, to those in power to think about and plan for, with the constant note that when conditions of life have returned to normal, then what is best able to ensure the happiness of society is to limit men to only one wife.
Regarding the story of Zainab daughter of Jahsh and what was added by some hadith scholars, by Orientalists and Christian missionary organizations with various layers of imagination so that it became a love story romance, history as it really is can record that the example given by Muhammad and worthy of being proud of, and as an example of perfect faith, is that he applied the hadith which means: No one's faith is complete until he loves his brother as he loves himself. He set the first example when carrying out a ruling that was fundamentally intended to eliminate the traditions and customs of the age of ignorance, and at the same time established a new regulation, which Allah revealed as guidance and mercy for all worlds.
To dispel all their stories that we read from the source, it is enough if we mention that Zainab daughter of Jahsh is the daughter of Umaima daughter of Abd al-Muttalib, the aunt of the Messenger of Allah. She was raised under his care and with his help. So with that she was like his daughter or like his younger sister. He already knew Zainab and knew well whether she was beautiful or not before he married her to Zaid. He had seen her from the beginning of her growth, as a baby crawling until she approached adolescence and adulthood, and it was also he who proposed her to Zaid his former slave.
So, if people have already known all this, then all the imaginings and stories that claim he went to Zaid's house and he was not there, then he saw Zainab and was so fascinated seeing her beauty, so much so that he said: "Glorified is Allah who has turned the hearts of men!" Or also when she opened the door to Zaid's house, the wind happened to blow and move aside the curtain of Zainab's room, then he saw the woman in her gown lying—as if like Madame Recamier—suddenly his heart changed. He forgot Sauda, Aisyah, Hafsha, Zainab daughter of Khuzaima and Umm Salama. He also forgot Khadijah, who, as Aisyah said, never felt jealous toward the Prophet's wives like toward Khadijah when mentioned. If the feeling of love had even slightly crossed his heart, he would surely have proposed to her family for himself, not for Zaid. With this understanding of Zainab's relationship with Muhammad and the description we have put forward, all the imaginary stories that people brought are no longer able to be maintained and it turns out they simply have no true basis.
And what has history recorded? History records that Muhammad proposed to Zainab, his cousin, to Zaid his former slave. Abdullah son of Jahsh, Zainab's brother, objected, because his sister as a woman of the Quraysh tribe and of the Hashim family, and moreover she was still a cousin of the Messenger through her mother, would be under a slave purchased by Khadijah and then freed by Muhammad. This was considered a great shame to Zainab. And indeed this was very true at that time among the Arabs as a very great shame. There were indeed no noble women of honor who would marry with freed slaves, even if they had been freed. But Muhammad specifically wanted to eliminate all such considerations still ruling in their souls based only on tribal fanaticism. He wanted people to understand that an Arab is not higher than a non-Arab except through God-consciousness (taqwa).
"Indeed, the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is the one who is most pious among you." (Qur'an, 49:13)
Nevertheless he felt no need to force another woman for this outside his own family. Let Zainab daughter of Jahsh, his own cousin, bear the burden, who because she had abandoned tradition and destroyed the customs and institutions of the Arabs, became the target of what people said about her, something she did not want to hear. Let also Zaid, his former slave who he had made his adopted son, and who according to Arab custom and tradition was entitled to inherit the same as his own children, he too marry her. So he was willing to sacrifice, because it had been determined by Allah for adopted sons who had been made his children. Let Muhammad show his insistence that Zainab and her brother Abdullah son of Jahsh also accept Zaid as a husband. And for that let the word of Allah also come:
"And it is not for any believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, to have any choice about their affair. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed strayed into clear error." (Qur'an, 33:36)
After this verse was revealed there was no other way for Abdullah and Zainab his sister, except to submit and accept. "We accept, Messenger of Allah," they said. Then Zaid was married to Zainab after her dower was presented by the Prophet. And after Zainab became a wife, it turned out that she was not easily controlled and did not want to submit. In fact she often troubled Zaid. She was proud of herself regarding her lineage and said that she did not want to be subdued by a slave.
Zainab's bad attitude toward him was often complained to the Prophet by Zaid, and more than once he asked his permission to divorce her. But the Prophet answered him: "Keep your wife well and do not divorce her. You should fear Allah."
But Zaid did not long endure living with Zainab and her haughty attitude toward him. Then he divorced her.
It was also Allah's will that He wanted to remove the attachment of the adopted son to his family and their lineage, which had long been followed by Arab society, also the granting of all the rights of a biological son to an adopted son, including the implementation of the law of inheritance and lineage, and so that the adopted son and his followers only have the rights of a follower and as a brother in faith. Thus the word of Allah came down:
"Allah has not made for any man two hearts within his breast, nor has He made your adopted sons as your biological sons. Those are only words of your mouths. But Allah says what is true, and He shows the right way." (Qur'an, 33:4)
This means that an adopted son may marry the former wife of his adoptive father, and a father may marry the former wife of his adopted son. But how to implement this? Who among the Arabs could dismantle customs that had been passed down for generations. Muhammad himself, even though with a will already so firm and understanding well the meaning of Allah's command, still felt not capable of carrying out that provision by marrying Zainab after she was divorced by Zaid, it still crossed his mind what people might say, because he had breached the rotten custom that had deep roots in the hearts of Arab society. That is what Allah desired in His word:
"And you were hiding in your heart what Allah was about to reveal, and you feared the people, whereas it is more fitting that you fear Allah." (Qur'an, 33:37)
But Muhammad is an example in all matters, whom Allah has commanded and who has been entrusted to convey to mankind. He was not afraid of what people would say about his marriage to his former slave's wife. Fear of people means nothing compared to his fear of Allah in carrying out all His commands. Let him just marry Zainab so that it becomes an example of what Allah abolished regarding the rights already determined in the matter of adopted father and adopted son. In this matter the word of Allah was revealed:
"So when Zaid had dissolved his marriage with her, We joined her in marriage to you, so that there should be no blame on the believers in the matter of marrying the wives of their adopted sons when they have dissolved their marriage with them. The command of Allah must be obeyed." (Qur'an, 33:37)
This is the actual historical event regarding the matter of Zainab daughter of Jahsh and her marriage to Muhammad. She is the daughter of his aunt, he had seen her and known well how beautiful she was before she was married to Zaid, and it was he who proposed her to Zaid, and he also saw her after her marriage to Zaid, because at that time face-covering had not yet been established.
Yet from Zainab's own side, in accordance with the stipulations of family relationships on one hand, and as the wife of Zaid his adopted son on the other hand, Zainab contacted him for some matters in her own affairs and also because of Zaid's frequent complaints about this. All the legal stipulations had been revealed. Then it was further reinforced by the event of Zaid's marriage to Zainab and then his divorce, then Muhammad's marriage to her afterwards. All these legal stipulations, which raised the status of the freed slave to that of a free person of honor, and which eliminated the rights of adopted sons through a practice that cannot be obscured or interpreted otherwise.
After all that, is there still any influence from the stories that are constantly repeated by the Orientalists and Christian missionary organizations, by Muir, Irving, Sprenger, Well, Dermenghem, Lammens and others, who like to write the life history of Muhammad? Yes, sometimes this is the impulse of missionary evangelism openly, sometimes the way of missionary evangelism in the name of science. The existence of old hostility toward Islam is a hostility that has deep roots in their hearts, since the occurrence of the series of Crusades of old. That is what inspired all of them in their writing, which in dealing with the matter of marriage, especially Muhammad's marriage to Zainab daughter of Jahsh, made them rape history, seeking the weakest stories if only they could be inserted and connected to it.
If what they said were indeed true, certainly we could still reject it by saying that greatness does not submit to the law. That before that, Musa, Isa and Yunus, they were above the laws of nature, above the provisions of society that apply. Some because of their birth, and some in their lifetime, but that did not reach to discredit their greatness. On the contrary, Muhammad, he laid down the best provisions of society with the revelation of Allah, and carried out by the command of Allah, which in this case constitutes a very high example, as an excellent example in carrying out what Allah had commanded. Or perhaps what the Christian missionary organizations desire is that he divorce his wives and not have more than four wives as was later prescribed for the Muslims, after his marriage with them all?
Would he even then have been safe from their criticism? Actually, Muhammad's relationship with his wives is a truly honorable and magnificent relationship, as we have already seen sufficiently in the statement of Umar ibn al-Khattab which we have already mentioned; and such examples we will find in several parts of this book. All of that will be an example that speaks for itself, that no one has been able to honor women as Muhammad has ever given, no one has been able to raise the status of women to the place she deserves as Muhammad has done.
Loading the full version…