In the name of Allāh,
the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Peace and Blessings of Allāh on Mohammad.
DEDICATED TO
Allāh–the Glorious and the High,
Lord of the worlds
AND TO
Mohammad–who brought the world
to our feet and eternity to our arms.|
*
JESUS, MOHAMMAD
AND DIVORCE
One Christian claims that Jesus esteemed marriage and hated divorce much like God does,1 whereas the Prophet Mohammad commanded his adopted son, Zaid, to divorce his wife, Zainab, so he (Mohammad) could marry her–(Qur’an 33:36-38).
But God said (and as Christians say Jesus is God then Jesus said) a man can put away his wife for “some uncleanness”: “When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes, because he had FOUND SOME UNCLEANNESS in her: then let him WRITE HER A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT, and give it in her hand, and SEND HER OUT OF HIS HOUSE….And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand….Her former husband which sendeth her away, may NOT take her again to be his wife, after that she is DEFILED; for that is ABOMINATION BEFORE THE LORD”–(Deut. 24:1-4).
Honestly now, putting away a wife for “some uncleanness” is not an “esteem” for marriage. It is downright disgraceful. Why not have her remedy her “uncleanness”? And what if she finds “any uncleanness” in him? If she cannot give him a “Bill of Divorcement,” isn’t this prejudicial against her?
Jesus said that whoever divorces his wife except for fornica-tion and remarries has committed adultery and that whoever marries the divorced woman commits adultery, and that the man who remarries also commits adultery: “I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the cause of unchastity (fornication, in another translation), makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery;” “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and he who marries one who is divorced from a hus-band commits adultery”–(Matt. 5:32; Luke 16:18).
Unlike Allāh/Islam which allows amicable divorce when the parties can no longer live together the Christian woman is doomed to a life of marriage misery and a loveless and even brutal marriage or risk being labeled “adulteress” (who are required to be stoned to death in Judeo-Christian law) from earth all the way to next world. And so does the man who should marry her; as well as the husband who remarries another woman.
And whereas Allāh allows a divorced couple [who were mar-ried and divorced from their second or more partners] to remarry each other the Bible does not and considers the woman as being “defiled” [but the man is not “defiled;” talk about rabid miso-gyny].
And while the Muslim woman can initiate divorce, there is no mention of the Christian woman being able to do so.
Clearly the Christian teachings have chained couples who no longer are in love to a lifetime of marriage misery; and may drive the divorced man to drown his sorrow in drink (and drinking is allowed as Christ turned water into wine) and the divorced woman to wilt her (young and beautiful) self in want and loneliness. Or they can liberate themselves from their bondage and agonies by accepting the Divine truth of liberty and joy brought by Mohammad.
(Interestingly, whereas the Mosaic law says a man can divorce his wife for some “uncleanness” in her, here Jesus condemned this law; yet Jesus tells his followers to abide by what the scribes and Pharisees bid them do;2 and the scribes and Pharisees follow the Mosaic law. Jesus also condemned the Mosaic law of an eye for an eye and yet tells his people to obey the scribes and Pharisees.3 Jesus also condemned the Mosaic law of stoning the adulteress (Christians say Jesus abrogated this law) by saying he who is without sin to first cast a stone4 and yet he tells his people to follow the scribes and Pharisees who practice stoning. Perhaps this is why the Jews did not believe Jesus and perhaps thought him a fraud –that he was either confused or trying to confuse them).
Whereas Mohammad/Islam takes a very dim view of divorce, which is allowed only after all avenues of reconciliation have been exhausted, there is no ‘till death us do part” in Islam. If two people cannot live together in harmony it is better that they part in peace than live in misery. (Contrary to popular belief there is no “easy” divorce in Islam. See WOMEN or APOSTATE NONIE DARWISH & ISLAM).
That Mohammad commanded his adopted son, Zaid, to divorce his wife, Zainab, so that he, Mohammad, could marry her. To respond to this Christian folly, it is necessary to comment on the Qur’anic verses relating to Zainab and Zaid. (The following material is taken from Muhammad Ali’s Qur’anic commentaries on 33:36-37. Highlight added):
“And it behoves not a believing man
or a believing woman, when Allāh
and His Messenger have decided
an affair, to exercise a choice
in their matter”
(Qur’an 33:36).
“All the commentators agree that this verse was revealed on the occasion when the Holy Prophet demanded Zainab, his cousin through his aunt, in marriage for Zaid, his adopted son. Both Zainab and her brother were averse to this match, because Zaid was a freedman, and it was in obedience to this revelation that their scruples were overcome and Zainab accepted Zaid for her husband….The verse has no connection with the subsequent events, which brought about the divorce and Zainab’s marriage with the Holy Prophet. It, moreover shows that it was the Prophet himself who had arranged this marriage between Zainab and Zaid, and were it not in deference to his wishes, Zainab would never have consented to the alliance.”
(It is doubtful that Mohammad would have insisted that Zainab should marry Zaid if Mohammad had desired Zainab for himself).
“And when thou saidst to him to whom
Allah had shown favour and to whom
thou hadst shown a favour: Keep
thy wife to thyself and keep thy duty
to Allah; and thou concealedst in thy heart
what Allah would bring to light,
and thou fearedst men, and Allah has
a greater right that thou shouldst fear Him.
So when Zaid dissolved her marriage-tie,
We gave her to thee as a wife, so that there
should be no difficulty for the believers
about the wives of their adopted sons,
when they have dissolved their marriage-tie”
(Qur’an 33:37)
(Was it lust for Zainab that Mohammad concealed in his heart, or was it fear of his niece’s marriage dissolving? It is odd that if Mohammad had written the Qur’an as some say, and if he was guilty of lust for Zainab, that he should have entered such a verse into the Qur’an that would cast aspersions upon his character. It is odd that Allāh and Mohammad would consider Mohammad’s “love” –an emotion instilled by Allāh– for a woman as something to be “feared” of Allāh. To say that Allāh would bring to light Mohammad’s desire by having him marry Zainab would be to imply that Allāh would cause the dissolution of this marriage, in order to satisfy Mohammad’s carnal desire. This is absurd. Allāh instructs us to seek conciliation rather than dissolution; and the Prophet taught that of all the things Allāh has made, divorce is the most shameful).
“This verse [Qur’an 33:37, quoted above] consists of two distinct and separate parts, the first dealing with Zaid’s divorce of Zainab, and the second beginning with so when Zaid, etc; with the Holy Prophet’s marriage with Zainab, and therefore a full explanation of the events in connection with this marriage is necessary. Zaid belonged to the tribe of Kalb, and was taken prisoner in childhood and sold as a slave at Makkah, where he was bought by Khadijah’s brother, who gave him over to his sister, and she in her turn presented him to the Holy Prophet, who, as was his wont, liberated him. But Zaid was so much attached to the Holy Prophet, that when the Prophet gave him the option of accompanying his father to his home or of remaining with him, Zaid chose the latter course. On account of his great attachment, Zaid was called the son of Muhammad, and he was one of the early converts to Islam. It is to these events that the opening words of the verse refer, when they speak of Zaid as being one to whom Allah as well as the Prophet had shown favour.
Zainab was the daughter of the Prophet’s own aunt, Umaimah, daughter of ‘Abd al-Muttalib. She was one of the early converts to Islam, and the Holy Prophet pro-posed to her brother that she should be given in marriage to Zaid. Both brother and sister were averse to this match, and only yielded under pressure from the Holy Prophet, for which see the last note. It is related that they both desired that the Holy Prophet himself should marry Zainab. In fact, when marriage was first proposed to Zainab, she gave her assent under the impression that the Prophet wanted her for himself (Rz), but the Prophet insisted that she should accept Zaid (IJ).
The marriage was, however, not a happy one. Zainab was harsh of temper, and she never liked Zaid on account of the stigma of slavery, which attached to his name. Differences arose, and Zaid expressed a desire to the Holy Prophet of divorcing Zainab. The news was grieving for the Prophet, for it was he who had insisted upon the marriage, and he therefore advised Zaid not to divorce her. He feared that people would object that a marriage which had been arranged by the Prophet was unsuccessful. According to one interpretation, it is to this circumstance that the words refer, and thou fearedst men, and Allah has a greater right that thou shouldst fear Him. According to this interpretation it is also to the same matter that the words and thou concealedst in thy heart what Allah would bring to light refer, for the Prophet did not like that the disagreements between Zainab and Zaid should become generally known. The Prophet’s injunction to Zaid not to divorce his wife is contained in unmistakable terms in the Holy Qur’an. But it was all in vain, and Zaid at last divorced Zainab. According to another interpretation, however, the words and thou concealedst in thy heart to thou shouldst fear Him, are a continuation of the advice which the Prophet gave to Zaid not to divorce Zainab (Rz). This interpret-ation suits the context even better than the first inter-pretation, for as we are further told in v. 39, the prophets fear none but God.
After Zainab was divorced the Holy Prophet took her in marriage, that being the wish of the lady and her relatives before her marriage with Zaid, and the Prophet was, now that the marriage arranged by him proved unsuccessful, morally bound to accept their wishes. Moreover, the Qur’an had declared against an adopted son being regarded as if he were a real son, and now there was an opportunity where the Holy Prophet could by his own example deal a death-blow to that custom. This reason is plainly given in the second part of the verse: We gave her to thee as a wife, so that there should be no difficulty for the believers about the wives of their adopted sons. The Qur’an does not give any other reason for the marriage.
This simple story is made the basis of a mean attack on the Holy Prophet. It is stated that the Prophet having seen Zainab by chance through a half-open door, was fascinated by her beauty, and that Zaid, having come to know of this, divorced her, and then she became the Prophet’s wife. That Muir and Arnold, not to mention more prejudiced writers, accept this, only shows how far religious prejudice may carry “criticism.” It is admitted that Zainab was the daughter of the Prophet’s real aunt; it is admitted that she was one of the early believers in Islam who fled to Madinah; it is admitted that the Prophet himself had arranged the marriage between Zaid and Zainab; and finally it is admitted that Zainab desired, as did also her brother, before she was married to Zaid, that she should be taken in marriage by the Holy Prophet. What was it then which prevented the Prophet from marrying her when she was a virgin? Had he not seen her before? He was so closely related to her that on the face of it such a supposition is absurd. Then there was no seclusion of women before Zainab’s marriage with the Prophet, a fact the truth of which is attested by Muir himself. Having not only seen her when she was a virgin, but knowing her fully well on account of her close relationship to him and her early belief in Islam, while both she and her relatives were desirous that the Prophet should take her for a wife, what hindered the Prophet from marrying her? The story is so absurd that any man possessing ordinary common sense would unhesitatingly reject it.” (Comm.1990, 1991).
The entire Zainab affair –her marriage to Zaid, a former slave, her divorce and her remarriage to the Prophet– is a guidance for Muslims; in that it shows that a freed-man could marry a free woman and that a man could marry the wife of his adopted son.
Muslim “sources” that give this story a “sexual interpretation,” as Ibn Warraq states in his WHY I AM NOT A MUSLIM, need to reason the Qur’an and Islamic history carefully. (For a debunking of Ibn Warraq’s book see WHY I AM NOT A MUSLIM),
*
NOTES
1. Matthew 19:7-8.
Contrary to Christian’s claim, Christianity is brutally and rabidly misogynistic. Christians may not be practicing it but their God/Scripture demands their applying the law, and heaven/para-dise lies in obeying the commands/God.
Muslim women who convert to Christianity believing that Christianity ameliorates their lot are woefully deluded –these Muslim women know nothing about Islam even know even less about Christianity. To trade Islam for Christianity, or for any other religion, is like trading the superior of an item for an inferior one; no religion can be shown to be superior to, or equal with, Islam. Islamic SHARI’AH IS THE SUPREME SYSTEM.
Such Muslim women need to learn Islam and confront their males over their transgression against the injunctions of Allāh and demand their God-given rights.
Whereas Islam has ennobledWOMANand given her rights alongside man from the cradle all the way to paradise, Chris-tianity has woman mired in the bog of disgrace and degradation from birth to death and even beyond. (See CHRISTIANITY-WOMEN).
2. Matthew 23:2-3.
3. Matthew 5:38-39.
4. Lev. 20:10-12; Deut. 22:22; John 8:3-7.