Adoption
in Islam
The Story of Prophet Muhammad's
Marriage
to Zainab Bint Jahsh
by
Syed Kamran Mirza
Adoption
in Islam
Islam
prohibits adopting children. Period. Adoption
in the technical sense is not allowed in Muslim Shariah law. This
is because Allah does not like this gesture of adopting orphan children.
Muhammad Rushed Ridha states, "Allah prohibited adoption in
Islam and annulled all the judgements pertaining to adoption. The
most important one of which was the prohibition of the wife of the
adopted son to the fostering father as though he is the natural
father. So Allah commanded his prophet to marry Zainab Bint Jahsh
in order to abolish pagan custom (Fatawa al-Imam)." Al-sabuni
states, "As to Zainab Bint Jahsh, the Messenger of Allah married
for no higher wisdom than to abolish the heresy of adoption (A-sabuni)."
I
don't know, how in the world Allah could dislike such noble deeds. I am
not sure what percentage of Muslims actually knows this divine law. I
do admit that I never knew this and, I was stunned when I first learnt
this from a real Mullah. How and why was this noble custom among human
being prohibited? We shall learn this history later in this essay.
Pre-Islamic
Arab Custom: Adoption of orphan/helpless
child was a very popular and moral practice amongst pre-Islamic Arabs.
By adopting orphan/helpless child, they used to consider adopted child
as their own. And they used to pass onto them the adopter's genealogy
and name, his investment of them with all the rights of the legitimate
son including that of inheritance and the prohibition of marriage on grounds
of consanguinity.
Post-Islamic
Custom: The all-wise legislator of Islam
willed to undo the above mentioned Arab practice of adopting children.
The divine legislator willed to give the adopted son only
the right of a client and co-religionist. For that reason a verse
was revealed: "God
did not make your adopted son as your own sons. To declare them so is
your empty claim. God's word is righteous and constitutes true guidance.
(Q.33:
4)." It follows from this revelation that the adopter may marry the ex-wife
of his adopted son and vice-versa. Thus Muhammad married Zainab in order
to provide a good example of what the All-wise legislator was seeking
to establish by way of rights and privileges for adoption. In this regard
God further said: "After
a term of married life with her husband, We permitted you to marry her
so that it may hence be legitimate and morally blameless for a believer
to marry the wife of his adopted son provided that wife has already been
divorced. That is God's commandment which must be fulfilled
(Q.33:
37)." Who, among the Arabs, could implement this noble legislation and thereby
openly repudiate the ancient traditions? The truth is, however, that Muhammad
was the exemplar of obedience to God; his life was the implementation
of that which he was entrusted to convey to mankind. His life constitutes
the highest ideal, the perfect example, and the concrete instance of his
Lord's command (M.H. Haykal, page-296-297).
Those
who are Muslims and are obedient to the Qur'an will not have adopted sons.
Muhammad's
Marriage to Zainab Bint Jashsh
Muhammad's
marriage to Zainab, who was the wife of his adopted son, led to many accusations
against Muhammad. The dissimulators said, "Muhammad prohibits the
wives of the son while he himself marries the wife of his son Zaid."
These incidents are not in harmony with the ethics and conventions that
Muhammad introduced to mankind, as Muslims claim. Abdullah Ibn Umar narrated:
"We have always called him [namely Zaid] Zaid Ibn Muhammad."
Abdullah Ibn Umar said, "We only called him Zaid Ibn Muhammad till
the verse "Muhammad is not the father of any of your men' was revealed.""
Historical
views: There are many conflicting stories
about this scandalous happening and all these stories are based on Sahih
Hadiths and Muslim biographies and books. It is worthwhile to quote here
what Ibn Sa`d and al-Tabari said
concerning this story:
Muhammad
Ibn Yahya Ibn Hayyan narrated, "The Messenger of God came to Zaid
Ibn Haritha's house seeking him. Perhaps the Messenger of God missed him
at that time, that is why he said, 'Where is Zaid?' He went to his house
seeking him and, when he did not find him, Zainab Bint Jahsh stood up
to [meet] him in a housedress, but the Messenger of God turned away from
her. She said, 'He is not here, Messenger of God, so please come in; my
father and mother are your ransom.' The Messenger of God refused to come
in. Zainab had hurried to dress herself when she heard that the Messenger
of God was at her door, so she leapt in a hurry, and the Messenger of
God liked her when she did that. The heart of the Prophet was filled with
admiration for her He went away muttering something that was hardly understandable
but for this sentence: 'Praise be to God who disposes the hearts.' When
Zaid came back home, she told him that the Messenger of God came. Zaid
asked, 'You asked him to come in, didn't you?' She replied, 'I bade him
to, but he refused.' He said, 'Have you heard [him say] anything?' She
answered, 'When he had turned away, I heard him say something that I could
hardly understand. I heard him say, "Praise be to God who disposes
the hearts." ' Zaid went out to the Messenger of God and said, 'O
Messenger of God, I learned that you came to my house. Did you come in?
O Messenger of God, my father and mother are your ransom. Perhaps you
liked Zainab. I can leave her.' The Messenger of God said, 'Hold on to
your wife.' Zaid said, 'O Messenger of God, I will leave her.' The Messenger
of God said, 'Keep your wife.' So when Zaid left her, she finished her
legal period after she had isolated herself from Zaid. While the Messenger
of God was sitting and talking with `A'Lisha, he was taken in a trance,
and when it lifted, he smiled and said, 'Who will go to Zainab to tell
her that God wedded her to me from heaven?' The Messenger of God recited;
'Thus you told someone whom God had favoured and whom you yourself have
favoured: "Hold on to your wife." ' `A'Lisha said, 'I heard
much about her beauty and, moreover, about how God wedded her from heaven,
and I said, "For sure she will boast over this with us." ' Salama,
the slave of the Messenger of God, hurried to tell her about that. She
gave her some silver jewellery that she was wearing."
More
help from Allah:
So,
this charge that the dissimulators, among others, leveled against Muhammad
(pbuh) necessitated the revelation of more Qur'anic verses:
(Sura
al-Ahzab Q.33:
40): "Muhammad is not the father of any of your men,
but [he is] God's Messenger and the Seal of the Prophets. God is Aware
of everything!"
(Sura
al-Ahzab Q.33:
37): "We married her off to you so that there would
be no objection for believers in respect to their adopted sons' wives
once they have accomplished their purpose with them. God's command must
be done!"
In
the verse (33:37) there is stated a particular purpose for this revelation
and action of Muhammad. It is not for himself, but it is for the future
of the Muslim community. It is so that in future there may not be a problem
if anybody (father-in-law) wants to marry the divorced wife of an adopted
son. "We permitted you to marry her so that it may hence be legitimate
and morally blameless for a believer to marry the wife of his adopted
son." Without
adoption, there cannot be any adopted son either. Therefore, the explicitly
stated reason for the revelation of this verse does not exist. Muhammad
himself dissolved the original adoption of Zaid when the above revelation
came. Also, it is a mystery why in the world,
any father-in law will need to marry his adopted son's wife.
Critical
(Orientalist) version:
Muhammad
fell in love with Zainab, daughter of Jahsh, while she was the wife of
Zayd bin Harithah, his own adopted son. Once, when he passed by the house
of Zayd in the latter's absence, he was met by Zainab wearing clothes
which exposed her beauty. Muhammad's heart was inflamed. It is reported
that when his eyes fell upon her, he exclaimed, "Praise be to God
who changes the hearts of men" and he repeated this expression at
the time of his departure from her home. Zainab heard him say this and
noticed desire in his eye. Zainab proudly reported this happening to her
husband. Zayd immediately went to see the Prophet and offered to divorce
his wife. Muhammad answered, "Hold to your wife and fear God." Thereafter, Zainab was no longer a docile wife and Zayd had to divorce
her. Prophet Muhammad married Zainab Bint Jahsh who was his daughter-in-law.
That was definitely taboo in pre-Islamic Arabia, and the Prophet of Islam
lifted this taboo in order to satisfy his own lust and fulfill his own
desire. They also relate that when Muhammad saw her she was half-naked,
that her fine black hair was covering half of her body, and that every
curve of her body was full of desire and passion. Others relate that when
Muhammad opened the door of the house of Zayd the breeze played with the
curtains of the room of Zainab, thus permitting Muhammad to catch a glimpse
of her stretched out on her mattress in a nightgown.
Apologetics
views:
Muhammad
Husain Haikal, for one, in the course of "refuting" the claims
of V. Vacca in the Encyclopaedia of Islam regarding Zainab, speaks about
a "glorious deed" of Muhammad, which the orientalists and missionaries
have turned into a romance. He says, "As to Zainab Bint Jahsh, who
has been wrapped up by orientalists and missionaries in an imaginary picture
of romance and infatuation, true history judges that [Muhammad's act with]
her was one of the glorious deeds of Muhammad. Being the perfect example
of faith, he applied to her the Hadith that says, 'Man's
faith is not made perfect till he loves for his brother what he loves
for himself'.
Apologists
conclude that it is one of the truly great facets of Muhammad's personality.
It proves beyond question that Muhammad was the perfect exemplar of his
own legislation, especially of such laws as were intended to replace the
tradition and customs of pre-Islamic Arabia. He was the exemplar of the
new system that God revealed through him as a mercy and guidance to mankind.
On
the other hand, Arab custom and tradition demanded that the adopted son
inherit from his adopted father, like the latter's legitimate children.
And since this custom too was the object of Muhammad's attack, his choice
of Zayd as the spear point of the first reform, would actually make of
him -- if he were prepared to give up the inheritance to which Arabian
custom gave him title -- the spearhead of another Islamic
legislation prohibiting inheritance to any but the blood heirs and relatives
of the deceased. This indeed furnished the revelation: "No
believer, whether man or woman, has the freedom to choose otherwise than
as God and His Prophet have resolved in any given case. To do so is to
disobey God and His Prophet, to err and fall into manifest misguidance
(Q.33:
37)"
Comments:
There
is a considerable moral problem with such a self-serving revelation. It
is quite clear that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was attracted to Zainab before
Zaid divorced her and it might well have been the true reason for the
divorce itself. And Qur'anic verses do make clear that there was something
going on before Zaid divorced Zainab. The entire melodrama: Zaid's divorce
of Zainab, Muhammad's marriage with Zainab and subsequent revelations
of several Qur'anic Ayats from Allah to purify this scandalous happening
is something to ponder very seriously. There is more in this strange story.
That this action is immoral and this revelation/justification of it self-serving
and not fitting for a true word of God is an important aspect, but not
a contradiction within the Quran - even though contradicting the true
character of God, who is moral purity. Prohibiting
adoption is no way a moral action. Prohibitions of alcohol drinking, smoking,
gambling, sorceries, killing, etc., could be a moral action.
But why was there prohibition of adoption?
To
summarize, the logical difficulty is that Allah (?) causes a scandal and
then sends Gabriel to officially justify the scandalous action of Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) with Qur'anic revelations is morally incorrect and too
much of a coincidence.
Some
after thoughts: Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
cannot get away from the culpability of this salacious behavior of his
with Zainab. If he had this forthrightness in his mind, he would have
vigorously fight with his conscience and not allow this marriage to go
through. But the reality was quite the opposite. He had surrendered to
his passion and thus had marred his "unblemished" character.
If all the Muslims in the present-day world follow Muhammad's inglorious
example, seduce theirs daughter-in-law, and then cause a divorce and then
to add insult to the injury marry her, what would happen then? Just think
the consequences. In more enlightened society if a man does what Mohammad
(pbuh) did with Zainab he would be looked up as a lascivious character.
Not all the Qur'anic Ayats of this world will be able to change that. To have faith is one thing, but
to have a blind faith is another matter, altogether!
Addendum:
Adoption - Islamic Style
References
1. Holy Qur'an , translated by A,.
Yousuf Ali, Amana corp., 1983
2. The life of Muhammad By: M. H. Haykal, 8th ed. 1982
3. Annals of al-Tabari 2:563, 453
4. ibid 4:43
5. Fatawa al- Imam, 5:1910
6. Tabaqat, 8:103
7.Nisa' al-Nabi, 13th ed.
Mr.
Syed Kamran Mirza writes from Virginia, USA. His E-mail is: Syed_mirza@hotmail.com |
