The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 423
IX - Repeated Treachery of the Jews, Compilation and Sequence of the Holy Qur ’ā n, Marriage of Ḥaḍrat Zainab ra , the Great Calumny and Mischief of the Hypocrites 423 perspective it is false and contradictory to the facts to assert that the Holy Prophet sa always received revelation according to his own wishes. The life of the Holy Prophet sa is full of examples where many a time he would receive revelation at odds with his own personal desire. As such, this very account is a shining example in itself. The Holy Qur’ān clearly states that the Holy Prophet sa was fearful of marrying Zainab ra and desired to avert this marriage. However, Allāh the Exalted commanded him to accept, and even slightly reprimanded him saying: “O Messenger! You are afraid on account of the people, whereas God is the only One Who has right to be feared. ” 1 Hence, if one contemplates, the very account under which Mr. Muir has raised an allegation on the basis of a false narration, establishes its falsehood. Similarly, it is mentioned in the Holy Qur’ān that on the occasion of the Ghazwah of Tubūk, when the Holy Prophet sa permitted various hypocrites to remain behind, a revelation was received saying: “O Messenger! Allāh forgive you. Why did you grant them permission? On this occasion, We had desired to separate the believers from the hypocrites. ” 2 In the same manner, when the Holy Prophet sa had lead the funeral prayer of ‘Abdullāh bin Ubayy bin Sulūl, chief of the hypocrites, and the Holy Prophet sa believed that there was no harm in doing so, the following divine revelation was sent down: “From now on, do not offer the funeral prayer of anyone from among these hypocrites, nor stand by his grave in prayer, because they are actually 1 Al-Aḥzāb (33:38) 2 At-Taubah (9:43)