Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 104
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 104 fondness for her he could have married her at any time after Khadija’s death. He had himself arranged her marriage with his freedman, Zaid bin Haritha, whom he loved as a son and whom he had adopted. When Zaid, despite the Holy Prophet’s urging that he cle ave to his wife, made up his mind to divorce her, the Holy Prophet felt himself under an obligation to provide her solace and comfort, but hesitated to offer her marriage as, according to Arab custom, marriage with a woman who had been married to one’s ado pted son was not considered lawful. He feared that such a marriage would draw hostile criticism upon him. While he was in that state of mind, he received divine assurance that adoption did not establish any legal relationship between the adopted son and th e adoptive father, and that, therefore, his hesitation in offering marriage to Zainab should be laid aside. At the time of her marriage to the Holy Prophet, she was thirty - eight years of age, which for Arab women of the time was a period of advanced middle age. There was thus nothing in the circumstances attendant upon this marriage, which could justify the reflection that it had been inspired by passion or desire. The subject is adverted to in the Holy Quran (33:38). About the same time, the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, had experience of two very significant spiritual visions at the highest level. In one of these, he was conducted to Jerusalem where he encountered several of the past prophets and went through other s piritual experiences, which constituted strong indications of the victory and supremacy of Islam. This spiritual journey is referred to in the Holy Quran in 17:2. The other vision was one in which his spirit ascended to