The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 422
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 422 these marriages of the Holy Prophet sa took place, was a time when the greatest burden of the responsibilities of prophethood was being shouldered by him and the Holy Prophet sa was becoming fully engrossed in the fulfillment of his countless and heavy responsibilities. In my view - and I would presume the same for every just and noble person - this very fact alone establishes that these marriages of the Holy Prophet sa were a part of his responsibilities of prophethood, for which he destroyed his own domestic peace in order to support the objectives of preaching and training. An evil person searches for an evil motive in the actions of others, and due to his own filthy state, is often at a loss to understand the pure intentions of others. However, a noble person knows and understands that often the same action is performed by a sinister man with evil intent, while a pious man can and does perform the same action with a good and pure intention. I would also like to mention that in Islām the purpose of marriage is not so that a man and woman can come together in order to satisfy their carnal desires. Although the union of man and woman is a genuine purpose of marriage so that human life can continue, there are also many other wholesome purposes as well. Hence, in identifying the motives behind the marriages of such a person whose every movement in life was a testimony to his selflessness and purity and twisting them towards ill-intent in the manner of wicked people cannot harm the person with regards to whom this opinion is voiced, but instead the inner state of the critic can well be understood. I shall say no more in response to this allegation. 1 - َ وَاللّٰه ُ الْمُسْتَعَان ُ عَلی ٰ مَا یَصِفُوْن Would the Holy Prophet sa Concoct Revelation According to His Own Will? Mr. Muir and Margoliouth have also taunted that the Holy Prophet sa invented revelation as per his own desire on this occasion. In other words, when he desired to marry Zainab ra in order to make it legal and save himself from the objection of people, the Holy Prophet sa hid behind ‘revelation’. In doing so, they have both hinted that the Holy Prophet sa was not a recipient of divine revelation, etc. ; rather, God-Forbid, the Holy Prophet sa would craft his own revelation and attribute it to God. In my capacity as a historian, I have nothing to do with the religious aspect of this question, but from a historical 1 And it is Allāh alone Whose help is to be sought against what they assert. [Publishers]