|
Zainab bint Jahsh, may Allah be pleased with her, married
the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in 5 AH,
when she was thirty-five and the Prophet was fifty-eight, but only after her
pervious marriage, which had been arranged by the Prophet himself, had ended
in divorce. As with all the marriages of the Prophet Muhammad, there was
much for all the Muslims to learn from it.
Zainab bint Jahsh was the Prophet Muhammad's cousin, her mother Umayma being
the daughter of Abdul Muttalib, Muhammad's grandfather, who, while he was
alive, had ensured the safety of his grandson, thanks to his position as one
of the most respected leaders of the Quraish. Thus Zainab bint Jahsh came
from one of the noblest families of the Quraish, and everyone expected her
to eventually marry a man with the same high social status.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was well aware that
it is a person's standing in the eyes of Allah that is important, rather
than his or her status in the eyes of the people. He wanted her to marry a
young man called Zayd ibn Harith, whose background was very different to
that of Zainab bint Jahsh. Zayd had been taken prisoner while he was still a
child during one of the inter-tribal wars that had been common before the
coming of Islam. He had been sold as a slave to a nephew of Khadijah (may
Allah be pleased with her) who had given Zayd to her as a gift. In turn,
Khadijah had given him to the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah
be upon him) in the days before the revelation of the Qur'an had begun, and
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had given him his
freedom and adopted him as his own son, at the age of eight.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had watched
both Zayd and Zainab grow up, and thought they would make a good couple, and
that their marriage would demonstrate that it was not who their ancestors
were, but rather their standing in the sight of Allah, that mattered. When
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) asked for her hand on
behalf of Zayd, Zainab had her family were shocked at the idea of her
marrying a man who in their eyes was only a freed slave. Moreover, Zainab
had wanted to marry the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
himself and in fact he had already been asked by her family whether or not
he would like to marry her. At first both she and her brother refused, but
then the following ayat was revealed:
It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when a matter has been
decided by Allah and His Messenger, to have any say in their decision; and
whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has most clearly gone astray.
(Quran 33:36)
When Zayd, who had also had misgivings about the proposed match, and Zainab
realized that there was no difference between what the Prophet wanted and
what Allah wanted, they both agreed to the marriage, the Prophet providing a
handsome dowry for Zainab on Zayd's behalf. The marriage, however, was not a
success. Although both Zainab and Zayd were the best of people, who loved
Allah and His Messenger, they were very different and in the end they could
not overcome their incompatibility. Zayd asked the Prophet's permission to
divorce Zainab more than once, and although he was counseled to hold onto
his wife and to fear Allah, in the end the divorce took place. The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) then was ordered by Allah to
marry Zainab bint Jahsh, while he did in 5 AH, when he was fifty-eight years
old, and she was thirty-five years old. In doing so, he demonstrated beyond
doubt that in Islam an adopted son is not regarded in the same light as a
natural son, and that although a father may never marry a woman whom his
natural son has married and then divorced, the father of an adopted son is
permitted to marry a woman who was once, but is no longer, married to that
adopted son. Furthermore, by marrying Zainab, the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) also confirmed that it is permissible for
cousins to marry, and , at the same time, Zainab was given her heart's
desire to be married to the Best of Creation.
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) received
the command to marry Zainab while he was with A'isha. After he had received
the revelation, he smiled and said, "Who will go and give Zainab the good
news?" and he recited the ayat that he had received. Some say that it was
Zayd himself who told her the good news. When Zainab heard the news, she
stopped what she was doing and prayed to thank Allah. Afterwards, she was
fond of pointing out that her marriage had been arranged by Allah. It was at
this point that the Prophet changed her name from Barra to Zainab.
Zainab's wedding feast was also the occasion for another ayat of Qur'an to
be sent down. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
sacrificed a sheep and then commanded his servant, Anas, to invite the
people to partake of it. After they had eaten, two men remained there after
the meal chatting. The Messenger of Allah went out and said goodnight to his
other wives and then came back and the two men were still there chatting. It
was very hard on the Prophet who did not like to criticize people directly,
and so he waited patiently until they left. Then Allah sent down the
following ayat which is known as "The Ayat of Hijab":
O you who believe! Do not go into the Prophet's rooms except after being
given permission to come and eat, not waiting for the food to be prepared,
However, when you are called, then go in and when you have eaten, then
disperse, and do not remain wanting to chat together. If you do that, it
causes injury to the Prophet though he is too reticent to tell you. But
Allah is not reticent with the truth. When you ask his wives for something,
ask them from behind a screen. That is purer for your hearts and their
hearts. It is not for you to cause injury to the Messenger of Allah nor ever
to marry his wives after him. TO do that would be something dreadful in the
sight of Allah. Whether you make something known or conceal it, Allah has
knowledge of all things. There is no blame on them regarding their fathers
or their sons or their brothers or their brothers' s sons or their sisters'
s sons or their women or those their right hands own. Have fear of Allah.
Allah is witness over everything. Allah and His angels pray blessings of the
Prophet. O you who believe! Pray blessings on him and ask for peace for him.
(Quran 33:53-56)
Zainab was a woman who was constantly immersed in the worship of Allah. It
is related by Anas ibn Malik that once the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) entered the mosque and found a rope hanging down between
two of the pillars, and so he said, "What is this?" He was told, "It is for
Zainab. She prays, and when she loses concentration or feels tired, she
holds onto it." At this time the Prophet said, "Untie it. Pray as long as
you feel fresh, but when you lose concentration or become tired, you should
stop."
Zainab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her) was with the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for six years, and lived for
another nine years after his death, dying at the age of fifty, in 20 AH, and
thus fulfilling the Prophet's indication that she would be the first of his
wives to die aftehim. Zainab bint Jahsh, like Zainab bint Khuzayma before
her, was very generous to the poor, and indeed the Prophet said, when
speaking of her to his other wives, "She is the most generous among you."
It has been related by A'isha that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah
be upon him) once said to his wives, "The one who has the longest hands
among you will meet me again the soonest." A'isha added, "They use to
measure each other's hands to see whose as longest, and it was the hand of
Zainab that was the longest, because she used to work by hand and give away
(what she earned) in charity." The Messenger of Allah said to Umar, "Zainab
bint Jahsh is one who is full of prayer." A man said, "Messenger of Allah,
what is that?" He said, "The one who is humble and earnest in prayer."
A'isha also said that Zainab, "I have never seen a woman so pure as Zainab,
so God-fearing, so truthful, so attentive to family ties, so generous, so
self-sacrificing in everyday life, so charitable, and thus so close to
Allah, the Exalted."
Several years after the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
had died, when Umar was the khalif, great wealth came to the Muslims as a
result of their victories in fighting the Persians. The immense treasures of
Chosroes, the Persian Emperor, fell into their hands, and when Umar (may
Allah be pleased with him) sent Zainab a pile of gold as her share of the
treasure, she called her maid servant and told her to take a handful of it
to so-and-so, naming one of the poor people of Medina. One after another,
she named all the poor people whom she knew, until they had all received a
share of the treasure. Then she told her maidservant to see what was left.
All that remained of the large pile of gold was eighty dinars, and this she
accepted as her share, thanking Allah for it; but, because she believed so
much money was a temptation, she asked Allah that she would never witness
such a large distribution of wealth again.
By the time a year had passed, when Umar again came to distribute money
amongst those wives of the Prophet who were still alive, her prayer had been
granted for she had already passed away, may Allah be pleased with her.
Source > > http://www.a2youth.com |
