The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) – Volume III — Page 18
Seal of the Prophets - Volume III 18 ْ قَبْلِكُم الْكِتَابَ مِن اُوتُوا “O Ye Muslims! This day lawful for you are. . . chaste believing women and chaste women from among those who were given a Book (of law) before you. ” 1 Through this last injunction a clear distinction has been established between the Ahl-e-Kitāb and those who are not from the Ahl-e-Kitāb. In other words, where the marriage of a Muslim man to a non-Muslim woman from the Ahl-e-Kitāb has been deemed legal, his marriage to an idolatrous women who believes in no revealed book has been deemed unlawful in all circumstances. Now the question may arise that the Sariyyah of ‘Īṣ took place prior to the Treaty of Ḥudaibiyyah, in which Abul-‘Āṣ was captured; therefore, how is it possible that the Holy Prophet sa applied the injunction revealed after the Treaty of Ḥudaibiyyah, mentioned in Sūrah Mumtaḥinah on the occasion of the Sariyyah of ‘Īṣ? The answer to this is that no doubt, at first glance, this seems like an objectionable fact. However, if this instance is analysed it can be reconciled in two manners. Firstly, no doubt, although the injunction of Sūrah Mumtaḥinah, in which marriage to idolatrous women have been prohibited in all circumstances was revealed later, but nonetheless, the injunction of Sūrah Al-Baqarah (in which at least future marriage to idolatrous women was prohibited) had already been revealed. Perhaps the Holy Prophet sa had interpreted this very injunction with caution and instructed Ḥaḍrat Zainab ra to refrain from marital relations until Abul-‘Āṣ becomes a Muslim, and then later, a concurrent injunction was also revealed. Secondly, it is also possible that as some scholars have written, in actuality, the Sariyyah of ‘Īṣ and the incident of the capture of Abul-‘Āṣ took place after the Treaty of Ḥudaibiyyah, but historians have erroneously placed it before the Treaty of Ḥudaibiyyah. 2 However, in our opinion, the first explanation seems more correct and plausible. Allāh knows best. Another question which also arises here is that if the Nikāḥ of Ḥaḍrat Zainab ra was considered annulled on account of the disbelief of Abul-‘Āṣ ra , then why were they permitted to live together after he became a Muslim, without a new Nikāḥ ? One school of thought has answered this question by asserting 1 Al-Mā’idah (5:6) 2 Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 3, pp. 126-127, Sariyyatu Zaid-ibni Ḥārithata Ilal-‘Īṣ, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)