CHAPTER 5: WITH THE PROPHET & HIS WIVES (1)
Introduction
The life of the Prophet (pbuh) with his wives is amazing indeed. It reflects an astounding combination of human nature with prophethood the human nature taken to sublime levels of compassion and forgiveness, and the prophethood maintaining its supremacy amidst the most striking incidents that could arise between married people.
It also brings to life the personalities of his wives — the Mothers of the Believers. They were real human females who had many of the common characters (not necessarily vices) of females, such as jealousy, conspiracy, and uncontrollable anger.
We have presented in the previous chapter a few incidents that took place between the Prophet (pbuh) and his wives. In what follows, we present some additional ones — especially those that are particularly longer or include more details. A vast number of lessons can be derived from each of the forthcoming narrations. However, we only provide a limited number of comments that we deem necessary for clarifying some obscure incidents or deriving some important morals.
The Prophet’s Wives Form Two Teams
The Mothers of the Believers formed themselves into two opposing “teams”, the first led by ‘A’ishah, and the other by Umm Salamah. The goal of each “team” was attracting (as much as possible) the Prophet’s (pbuh) recognition and love.
Text of the Hadith
‘A’ishah reported that Allah’s Messenger’s (pbuh) wives were two teams; one team included ‘A’ishah, Hafsah, Safiyyah, and Sawdah, the other team included Umm Salamah and the rest of Allah’ Messenger’s (pbuh) wives (They were: Umm Salamah, Zaynab Bint Jahsh, Umm Habibah, Juwayriyah, and Maymunah. As for Zaynab Bint Khuzaymah, she died before Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) married Umm Salamah (see Fath ul-Bari 5: 258).). Knowing Allah’s Messenger’s (pbuh) superior love of ‘A’ishah, the Muslims who wanted to give a present to him would delay giving it until he was in ‘A’ishah’s house.
So Umm Salamah’s “team” asked her to talk to him and ask him to tell the people to give their presents regardless of which house of his wive’s he would be at. When it was her turn with the Prophet (pbuh) Umm Salamah told him that, but he did not give any response. When she told her “team” about this, they asked her to talk to him again. So she spoke to him when it was her next turn, and he still did not give any response. Her “team” told her, “Keep talking to him until he gives you a response.” On her next turn, she again brought that up with him. He (pbuh) said:
‘Do not hurt me in regard to A’ishah. Indeed, the revelation did not come to me while I was under any woman’s covers except A ishah’s. ‘
Umm Salamah said, “I repent to Allah from doing anything that would hurt you, O Allah’s Messenger.”
Umm Salamah’s “team” then asked Fatimah, Allah’s Messenger’s (pbuh) daughter, to intervene on their behalf. She went to him and said, “Your wives are asking you for justice in regard to the daughter of Abu Bakr.” He said, ‘O my daughter! Do you not love what I love?’ She replied, “Yes!” He pointed to A’ishah and said, ‘So love this one.’ She went back to them and informed them of what happened. They said, “We do not see that you were of any help to us.” They wanted her to go again to him, but she refused saying, “By Allah, I will never speak to him again in her regard.”
Finally, they sent Zaynab Bint Jahsh. Raging with anger, Zaynab stormed into ‘A’ishah’s house, where the Prophet (pbuh) was. She raised her voice saying, “O Allah’s Messenger! Indeed, your wives demand justice in regard to Ibn Abi’ Quhafah’s daughter. Are you only satisfied when she opens her little arms for you (to convince you of what she wants)?” She then turned to ‘A’ishah and started addressing her with harsh words. The Prophet(pbuh) tried stopping her, but she went on; and A’ishah remained silent, waiting for the Prophet’s (pbuh) permission to respond. Finally, he said, ‘Go ahead – defend yourself!’
‘A’ishah then responded with full force — leaving Zaynab totally speechless, “Until I saw the saliva dry in her mouth — unable to respond,” ‘A’ishah said.
The Prophet (pbuh) was pleased with that. He looked at ‘A’ishah approvingly and said,
‘Indeed, she is Abu Bakr’s daughter!’ (This is a combined narration recorded by al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others.)
Notes
1. The Prophet’s (pbuh) above statement, about the revelation coming to him under ‘A’ishah’s covers, clearly indicates that his favoring of ‘A’ishah was not haphazard or senseless. It was based on her excellent qualities that singled her out from among all his wives, and that made Jibrll come under her bed-covers to talk to the Prophet (pbuh) and bring him the revelation.
2. Our knowledge of Jibril’s modesty allows us to conclude that when he came to the Prophet (pbuh) under A ishah s covers, she must have been decently clothed for his presence.
3. The Prophet (pbuh) position in this narration may appear to be unfairly biased toward ‘A’ishah. However, as we stated earlier, the Prophet’s (pbuh) love for ‘A’ishah was a divine grant based on heer merits and excellence. By no means was it meant to hurt or deprive the other Mothers of the Believers. The Prophet (pbuh) treated them all equally in material matters. However, in terms of his love and emotion, ‘A’ishah had the greatest share. Her co-wives, like all other Muslim, were supposed to understand that and appreciate it — not for her sake, but for the sake of their love of Allah and His Messenger (pbuh).
The Prophet’s Wives Cooperate Against Him
Text of the Hadith
‘Aishah reported that Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) used to visit all of his wives after ‘asr prayer, spending a short time closely chatting with each one of them. He (pbuh) liked honey and sweets. Once a woman from among the relatives of Zaynab Bint Jahsh gave Zaynab a jar of honey as a present. So she would offer the honey to the Prophet (pbuh) when he visited her, which would briefly extend the duration of his visit.
When they noticed that, the other wives became jealous. Led by A ishah and Hafsah, they decided to put an end to it. “By Allah, we will scheme something,” ‘A’ishah said. They agreed that when the Prophet approached either of them, she would pretend that she was repulsed by a foul odor coming from him, which resembled that of a wild desert plant called maghafir.
Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) hated foul odors. When he went to A’ishah she inquired about the foul odor emanating from him. “You must have eaten some maghafir, I can surely smell the odor of maghafir coming from you,” she added. He denied that and said that he only had some honey at Zaynab’s. She said, “The bees must have fed on maghafir Bowers.” When he (pbuh) went to Hafsah, she said the same. The Prophet (pbuh) believed the story and made an oath never to take of that honey. The next time he went to Zaynab she said, ”O Allah’s Messenger, I will give you some honey.” He replied, ‘I have no desire for it.’ So Allah (swt) revealed:
“O Prophet! Why do you prohibit for yourself that which Allah has made lawful for you, seeking the approval of your wives? Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. Allah has already ordained for you the (procedure for) dissolution of your oaths.(See al-Ma’idah 5:89) Allah is your Protector, and He is Knowing and Wise.” (At-Tahrim 66:1-2)
Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) made an oath never to eat that honey, and he confided this to ‘A’ishah:
‘I have taken some of that honey, but will never take it anymore. I have also made an oath in that regard, so inform no one about it.’
However, ‘A’ishah did not hold the secret, but informed Hafsah about it. Allah (swt) then revealed that to him, and he reproached A’ishah for exposing his secret:
“And (remember) when the Prophet confided to one of his wives a statement; and when she informed (another) of it and Allah showed that to him, he made known part of it and ignored a part. And when he informed her about it she said, “Who told you this?” He said, “The One Who is Knowing and Acquainted has informed me.” (At-Tahrim 66:3), (The above is a combined narration from A’ishah, recorded by al-Bukhari, Muslim and others.)
Different Opinions
There is a number of different opinions as to who were the two wives that cooperated against the Prophet (pbuh), what is the thing that he prohibited upon himself, and what the secret was that one of them exposed. The following are the most common views found in the books of tafsir and Hadith:
1. The two wives were ‘A’ishah and Hafsah; the thing that the Prophet (pbuh) prohibited was eating honey at Zaynab’s; the secret that he confided to ‘A’ishah was his oath of prohibiting the honey upon himself; ‘A’ishah exposed his secret to Hafsah. This opinion is the strongest, and is the one presented above. It is supported by the reports of al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others, and is further supported by Umar’s statement to Ibn ‘Abbas in the next section.
There are other (weaker) reports, similar to the above one, specifying the wife who had the honey as Sawdah or Umm Salamah. (Recorded by at-Tabarani, Ibn Sa’d, and others. )
2. The wives were three: ‘A’ishah, Sawdah, and Safiyyah; the thing that the Prophet (pbuh) prohibited was eating honey at Hafsah’s. When the Prophet (pbuh) prohibited the honey upon himself, Sawdah sympathized with him and said, “Subhan Allah (exalted is Allah)! By Allah we have denied him (of the honey).” But ‘A’ishah hushed her, “Be quiet!” (Recorded by al-Bukhari (the Book of Divorce).). Some scholars hold the opinion that the narrators have mixed the names of the Mothers of the Believers. Others, such as Ibn Kathir, see nothing wrong in assuming that both incidents (this and the above one) have truly occurred, but only one of them (the above one) was the cause for revealing the ayat.
3. The two wives were ‘A’ishah and Hafsah; the thing that the Prophet (pbuh) prohibited was approaching Mariyah; the secret that he confided to Hafsah was his oath of prohibiting Mariyah upon himself; Hafsah exposed his secret to ‘A’ishah.
Abu Hurayrah, Ibn ‘Umar, Ibn ‘Abbas, and Anas reported that Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) once had intercourse with Mariyh, the mother of his son Ibrahim, in Hafsah’s house. Hafsah accidentally saw them in her house and was upset. She said, “O Allah’s Messenger! Out of all your wives, you choose to do this in my house, on my bed, and during my day?” She told ‘Aishah about that, and the two of them cooperated on urging the Prophet (pbuh) to prohibit Mariyah for himself. He then promised Hafsah never to approach Mariyah. He made an oath in that regard, and ordered Hafsah not to tell anyone about it, but she told ‘Aishah. (Recorded by an-Nasa’i, Ibn Mardawayh, and others. An-Nasa’i report from Anas is verified to be authentic by al-Albani (Sahih un-Nasa’i no. 3695). Ibn Kathir indicated (in his Tafsir) that al-Haytham Bin Hajar indicated (in Fath ul-Bari) that the various isnads of this hadith strengthen each other, and mentioned another narration recorded by Sa’id Bin Mansur with an authentic isnad to Masruq (who is a tabi’i), without mentioning a sahabi (i.e., mursal).)
This could be another authentic cause for the revelation of the above ayat.
4. Except for one difference, this is similar to the previous story. In order to please Hafsah, the Prophet (pbuh) told her that her father will follow Abu Bakr as his successor, and asked her to keep that secret from ‘A’ishah, but she told her. This is an unauthentic narration.(Recorded by at-Tabarani (in al-Kabir) from Ibn ‘Abbas. Verified to be weak by Ibn Kathir (in his Tafsir).)
Thus, the first and third opinions are the correct ones as to the cause for the revelation of the first five ayat of Surah at-Tahrim. The following table summarizes the above discussion:
By Muhammad Mustafa al-Jibaly
Comments
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.