130 THE MADINA PERIOD

concerning them. And the order of God is to be performed.
No blame attaches to the Prophet where God hath given him a permission. Sura Al-Ahzab (xxxiii) 37-8.

This relaxation of the moral law for Muhammad's benefit, because he was a prophet, shows how very easy the divorce between religion and morality becomes in Islam.

Another difficulty was that Zainab was the daughter of Jahsh, the daughter of his aunt Amina, who was the daughter of 'Abdu'l-Muttalib.1 A fresh revelation, however, by bestowing upon the Prophet a special and peculiar privilege, not accorded to his followers, removed the difficulty:—

O Prophet, we have allowed thee thy wives whom thou hast dowered and the slaves whom thy right hand possesseth out of the booty.2 God hath granted thee, and the daughters3 of thy uncle and of thy paternal and maternal aunts who fled with thee (from Mecca), and any believing woman4 who hath given herself up to the Prophet, if the Prophet desireth to take her—a privilege for thee above the rest of the faithful. Sura Al-Ahzab (xxxiii) 49.


1 Baidawi, vol. ii, p. 129.
2 The reference to slaves fixes the date of this verse after the massacre of the Bani Quraiza (A.D. 627), when Raihana, the first captured slave, was taken as a concubine. It is thus later than the affair with Zainab (A.D. 626) and is intended to justify what had already taken place.
3 This removes from the Prophet the restriction placed on other Muslims in Sura An-Nisa' (iv) 27 in which marriage with near relatives is forbidden.
4 Husain refers this to Zainab in his comment on the words
بنتُ عَمَّتِكَ 'daughter of thy paternal aunt.' This he explains asدختران عمهاى تو از اولاد عبد المطلب 'daughter of thy paternal aunt.' one of the children of 'Abdu'l-Muttalib.' Vol. ii, p. 204.
MARRIAGE WITH ZAINAB 131

Zainab and her husband did not encourage the suit of the Prophet, and are, thus reprimanded by the alleged command of God in the revelation:—

And it is not for a believer, man or woman, to have any choice in their affairs when God and His Apostle have decreed a matter; and whoever disobeyeth God and His Apostle erreth with palpable error.. Sura Al-Ahzab (xxxiii) 36.1

This settled the matter, and the marriage with Zainab was thus declared to be legal and right. Zaid was no longer spoken of as the son of Muhammad, but as Zaid ibn Haritha—son of Haritha.

This same Sura contains a verse (52) which prohibits Muhammad's adding to the nine wives he already possessed, but permits him to have as many concubines as he pleased—'slaves whom thy right


1 The commentators are unanimous in referring this verse to Zaid and Zainab. Thus:—
ترمزى اور معالم اور دوسرى تفاسير مين مروى هى كة آيت زينب كى حق نازل هوى
'In the commentaries of Tirmidhi, Mu'alim and others it is related that this verse came down in connexion with Zainab.' Khalasatu'l-Tafasir vol. iii, p. 559.
Abdu'llah ibn 'Abbas says:—
لمومن زيد لا مومنة زينب
'Believer is Zaid, believer (woman) is Zainab.' Tafsir-i-ibn 'Abbas, p. 484.
Baidawi states that it was revealed in the matter of Zainab bin Jahsh. Vol. ii, p. 129.
نزل فى زينب بنت جحش
Husain also says it refers to Zainab. Tafsir-i-Husaini, vol. ii, p. 201.
On the expression 'whosoever disobeyeth God and His Apostle' Husain makes this important statement which shows the co-ordinate authority of the Sunna and the Qur'an:—
وَ مَنْ يَعْص الله وَرَسُولَهُ وهركة عامى شود ومخالفت كند خداى تعالىا ورسول اورا يا از حكم كتاب وسنت بكذرد
He who is disobedient and opposes God and His Apostle, or who departs from the order of the Book (Qur'an) and of the Sunna.' Vol. ii, p. 207.