33. Surah Al-Ahzaab

Commentary It has been repeatedly explained earlier that the majority of injunctions appearing in Surah Al-Ahzab relate to the reverence, love and perfect obedience of the Holy Prophet ﷺ or to the prohibition of causing any pain to him. The verses cited above have also been revealed in connection with some incidents of this nature. One such incident related to Sayyidna Zayd Ibn Harithah who was the slave of someone. It was during the days of Jahiliyyah that the Holy Prophet ﷺ had bought him from the famous bazaar of ` Ukaz. He was still very young at that time. The Holy Prophet ﷺ had freed him after purchasing him, and further honored him by adopting him as his son as was the common practice under the Arab custom of the time and went on to bring him up. In Makkah al-Mukarramah, he was called by the name of Zayd Ibn Muhammad. The Qur'an declared it to be an erroneous custom of the Jahiliyyah and prohibited the calling of the so-called or adopted son of a person as his 'son' and ordered that he should be attributed to his real father. Revealed in this connection were verses that have appeared earlier within this Surah: ادْعُوهُمْ لِآبَائِهِمْ (Call them by (the name of) their (real) fathers - 5) After the revelation of these injunctions, the noble Sahabah abandoned the practice of calling him by the name of Zayd Ibn Muhammad and started attributing him to his father, Harithah. A subtle point Not even the name of the greatest of the great Sahabi - of course, except that of the blessed prophets - was ever mentioned throughout the Qur'an with the sole exception of Sayyidna Zayd Ibn Harithah! Some respected elders while describing the wisdom behind it have said that the attribution of his parentage to the Holy Prophet ﷺ when severed under the injunction of the Qur'an had him deprived of a great personal honor. However, Allah Ta’ ala had it compensated by mentioning him in the Qur'an by name. Thus, the word: زَید (Zayd), being a word of the Qur'an, has its own distinct status. On every letter of this word, in accordance with the promise in Hadith, ten good deeds are recorded in the Book of Deeds. So, when his name is recited in the Qur'an, the reciter gets thirty good deeds in return just for pronouncing his name! Even the Holy Prophet ﷺ used to give him respect. Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ says, 'Whenever he has sent him on a military expedition, it is invariably him that he has made the commander of the forces.' (Ibn Kathir) A lesson to remember This, in a nutshell, was the reality of slavery at the advent of Islam when slaves were educated and trained till they became achievers and whoever from them proved his class and capability was given the rank of leaders. When Zayd Ibn Harithah grew to be a young man, the Holy Prophet ﷺ chose Sayyidah Zainab bint Jahsh, the daughter of his paternal aunt for marriage with him. A formal proposal of marriage was sent. Since Sayyidna Zayd was branded with the conventional label of being a freed slave, Sayyidah Zainab and her brother, ` Abdullah Ibn Jahsh rejected this proposal on the basis that they were nobler than him in terms of family and lineage. Revealed upon this incident was the verse: مَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ (And it is not open for a believing man or a believing woman - 36). The instruction given there is: When the Holy Prophet ﷺ orders someone to do something as an obligation, it becomes obligatory for that person to do it. The choice of not doing it does not remain valid under Islamic Law - even if the required act may not be obligatory or necessary in its origin. But, once he does order someone to do that, it become incumbent and obligatory on him. And should someone not do so, his or her action has been termed as open error at the end of the verse. When Sayyidah Zainab bint Jahsh ؓ and her brother heard this verse, they retracted from their rejection and agreed to the proposal of marriage. Thus, the marriage was solemnized. The dower of the bride was paid by the Holy Prophet ﷺ on behalf of Sayyidna Zayd which was ten dinars [ equal to approximately 4 tolas of gold), (equal to approximately 18-1/2 tolas of silver), one beast of burden, complete pair of ladies dress, 15 mudd (approximately 25 kilos) of flour and 10 mudd (approximately 5 kilos) of dates (Ibn Kathir). The well-known event in the background of the revelation of this verse is, according to the majority of commentators, no other but this very account of the marriage of Sayyidah Zainab bint Jahsh (Ibn Kathir, Qurtubi and Mazhari). Ibn Kathir and some other commentators have also reported two additional events of this nature. There too, it has been said that the cited verse has been revealed in the background of those events. One of these events is about Sayyidna Julaibib ؓ whose proposal to marry the daughter of an Ansari Sahabi was turned down by the father and his family. When this verse was revealed, they agreed and the marriage was solemnized. The Holy Prophet ﷺ made a du'a (prayer) for extended means of livelihood for them. The noble Companions say that Allah had placed such barakah in their home that it was known to be the most generously kept home of Madinah at-Tayyibah. Later, Sayyidna Julaibib ؓ met with his shahadah in a Jihad. The Holy Prophet ﷺ bathed and shrouded his body with his own blessed hands. A similar event relating to Umm Kulthum bint 'Uqbah Ibn Abi Mu'ait has been reported in Hadith narrations (Ibn Kathir, Qurtubi) and there is no contradiction in them. It is possible that several events of this nature may have been the cause of the revelation of the verse. The Injunction to consider the principle of کفو (kuf) in marriage The reason why Sayyidah Zainab bint Jahsh ؓ and her brother ` Abdullah had initially rejected the proposal of marriage with Sayyidna Zayd Ibn Harithah was that the two of them had no familial and lineal homogeneity, which is desirable even in the sight of the Shari'ah. The Holy Prophet ﷺ said that girls should be married in their کفو (kuf': equal, alike, matching) (to be explained later). Therefore, a question arises here as to why the excuse of Sayyidah Zainab and her brother was not accepted in this case? The answer is that the equality, rather equalness (کَفَاءت :kafa’ ah) and likeness of spouses in their religion is certainly incumbent and necessary for the validity of the marriage. The marriage of any Muslim girl with any disbeliever is not halal (lawful) under the consensus of the Muslim ummah - even if the girl agrees to it. The reason is that this is not simply the right of a woman which may be dropped at her pleasure. Instead, it is the right of Allah and a Divinely imposed duty. On the contrary, equality of the spouses in financial and lineal status is the right of the girl and in the matter of lineal equality, the guardians too have right along with the girl. If a sane and adult girl, despite being from a wealthy family, were to drop her right by agreeing to marry some pauper, the choice is hers. And in lineal equality, if the girl and her guardians, all of them, abandon this right for the sake of some other major expedient consideration and agree to the proposal of marriage from a person who is lesser than them in terms of lineage and family status, then, they have the right to do so. In fact, should this be in view of higher religious consideration, the act of surrendering this right is most desirable and praiseworthy. It is for this reason that the Holy Prophet ﷺ has, on several occasions, recommended that this right should be ignored and marriage should be solemnized because of higher and more beneficial religious considerations. And clear indicators set forth in the noble Qur'an prove that the right of the Holy Prophet ﷺ on the men and women of his ummah is more than that of anyone else. In fact, it is more than that of their own self - as the Qur'an says: النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَىٰ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ that is, 'The Prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves - 33:6.' Therefore, in the case of Sayyidah Zainab ؓ and her brother, ` Abdullah, when the Holy Prophet ﷺ advised them to ignore their right to lineal equality and ordered them to agree to the marriage with Sayyidna Zayd Ibn Harithah ؓ ، it was their duty to bypass their personal opinion and their own rights in the face of this prophetic order. Therefore, it was on this refusal from them that this injunction of the Qur'an was revealed. As for the lineal consideration in marriage, one may ask when it was worthy of consideration in the sight of the Holy Prophet ﷺ himself, why would he himself not go by it? The answer to this doubt is already clear from the earlier submission, that is, this consideration is worth surrendering in favour of other higher and more beneficial religious considerations. During the blessed period of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، several marriages were solemnized among non-equals (ghayr-kuf' ) as based on these very kinds of beneficial religious considerations which do not violate the principle. The Issue of Equality in marriage (Kaf'ah) Marriage (nikah) is a matter in which the absence of homogeneity in the temperaments of the spouses disturbs the purpose of marriage, disturbs the process of fulfilling each other's rights and breeds mutual disputes. Therefore, the Shari` ah has ordered that kafa'ah (mutual likeness) should be taken into consideration. But, it never means that a man of high family background starts taking a man from a family lesser than him as low and mean. In Islam, the criterion of low and high is based on Taqwa and love for one's faith. Whoever does not have it, no matter how noble his family is, he yet has no status in the sight of Allah. So, this order to take kafa'ah (mutual equality) into consideration in marriages has been given only to keep the management of matters smooth and straight. In a Hadith, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been reported to have said that the nikah (marriage) of girls should invariably be through their guardians (that is, it is not appropriate even for a pubescent girl that she settles the transaction of her nikah (marriage) all by herself. Modesty demands that this matter should be handled by her parents and guardians). And he said that the nikah of girls should invariably be solemnized within their kuf' (equal, like). Though, the authority of this Hadith is weak but, with the support from the reports and sayings of the noble Sahabah, it becomes worth being used as an argument. In Kitab ul-'Athar, Imam Muhammad has reported Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ saying: "I shall issue an operative order that no girl from some high and recognized family should be given in marriage to another having a lesser status." Similarly, Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ and Sayyidna Anas ؓ have also stressed that kafa'ah (likeness) should be taken into consideration in nikah (marriage) - as reported from several authorities. Imam Ibn Humam has also written about it in details in Fath al-Qadir. Hence, the outcome is that the consideration of kafa'ah (equalness and likeness) in nikah (marriage) is desirable in religion, so that the spouses live in accord and harmony. But, should some other important consideration, more important than this kafa'ah, come up, then, it is permissible for the woman and her guardians that they surrender this right of theirs and marry in ghayr kuf, that is, other than equal and like. Particularly so, when there is some religious consideration in sight - if so, it is better and more merit worthy to do so, as proved from several events pertaining to the noble Sahabah. Incidentally, from this we also know that these events do not negate the basic premise of the issue of kafa'ah. Allah knows best.

The Second Event As ordered by the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، the marriage of Sayyidah Zainab bint Jahsh ؓ ' was solemnized with Sayyidna Zayd Ibn Harithah ؓ . But, their temperaments did not match and merge with each other. Sayyidna Zayd used to complain about the sharpness of her tongue, the airs she assumed because of her inborn lineal nobility and her failure to listen to him. On the other side, the Holy Prophet ﷺ was informed through revelation that Zayd would divorce her where after she would be married to him. On a certain day, Sayyidna Zayd presented these very complaints before the Holy Prophet ﷺ and showed his intention to divorce her. The Holy Prophet ﷺ had, though, come to know through Divine revelation that things would transpire in a way that Zayd would divorce her after which she would be married to him, but it was for two reasons that he stopped Sayyidna Zayd from giving a divorce. Firstly, because giving a divorce, though permissible in the Shari'ah of Islam, it is not desirable. In fact, it is the most detested and repugnant of things permissible - and the happening of something as a creational (Takwini) imperative does not affect the operative religio-legal order (al-hukm at-tashri' ). Secondly, also crossing his blessed heart there was the thought: If Zayd were to give divorce and Zainab were to be married to him consequently, the Arabs would, very much in line with their custom of the Jahiliyyah, throw taunts on him that he had married the wife of his son. Although, the Qur'an has already demolished this custom of Jahiliyyah in the previous verse of this very Surah Al-Ahzab, following which there was no danger for a believer, even no scruple about it. But disbelievers, who reject the authority of the Qur'an itself, would still come out with their taunts because of their pagan custom of taking an adopted son as the real son in all aspects of the Law. This very apprehension also became the cause of his prohibiting Sayyidna Zayd from divorcing his wife. Revealed thereupon was an endearing reprimand from Allah Ta’ ala in the following verses of the Qur'an: mmmm وَإِذْ تَقُولُ لِلَّذِي أَنْعَمَ اللَّـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَأَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِ أَمْسِكْ عَلَيْكَ زَوْجَكَ وَاتَّقِ اللَّـهَ وَتُخْفِي فِي نَفْسِكَ مَا اللَّـهُ مُبْدِيهِ وَتَخْشَى النَّاسَ وَاللَّـهُ أَحَقُّ أَن تَخْشَاهُ And (remember) when you were saying to the one who was favored by Allah and favored by you," Keep your wife to yourself, and fear Allah." And you were concealing in your heart what Allah was going to reveal, and you were fearing people, while Allah is more entitled to be feared by you. (33:37) The 'one favored' referred to here means Sayyidna Zayd ؓ and the first favour bestowed on him by Allah was that he was made a Muslim and secondly, that he was given the honor of staying in the company of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ . As for the favour done to him by the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، the first thing he did was that he gave him his freedom from slavery. Secondly, he favored him by grooming and training him under his personal charge, he made him into a person who was respected even by the greatest of the great among the Sahabah. Onwards from here appears what he said to Sayyidna Zayd: اِمسِک عَلَیک زَوجَکَ وَ اتَّقِ اللہَ (Keep your wife to yourself and fear Allah). It means: 'Hold your wife in your bond of marriage, and do not divorce her and fear Allah.' The order to fear Allah at this place could also be taken to mean that divorce is a detested and repugnant act from which he should abstain. And it could also be taken in the sense that once he decides to hold her in his nikah, let not his temperamental distaste become a cause of falling short in the fulfillment of her due rights. What the Holy Prophet ﷺ said was correct and sound in its place. But, after having learnt about the event as it would transpire through Divine revelation and after the intention of nikah with Sayyidah Zainab ؓ having emerged in his heart, this advice of not divorcing given to Sayyidna Zayd ؓ had remained at the level of a sort of formal expression of good wishes - something not appropriate to the station of a messenger of Allah, particularly so because, along with it, included therein was the apprehension of taunts from the people. Therefore, in the cited verse, the admonition was revealed in the words which mean, 'you were concealing in your heart what Allah was going to reveal.' When the information about his marriage with Sayyidah Zainab ؓ was conveyed to him from Allah and the intention of marriage had already crossed his heart, then, the act of hiding this intention and indulging in such formal remarks was not appropriate to his station. As for the apprehension of taunts from people, it was said, 'and you were fearing people, while Allah is more entitled to be feared by you - (37). In other words, 'when you knew that this thing is going to take place as a matter destined by Allah Ta’ ala - without there being any apprehension or danger of His displeasure in that case - then, simply because of the apprehension of taunts from people, such remarks were not appropriate.' The details of this event appearing above have all been taken from Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Qurtubi and Ruh ul-Ma’ ani. As for the particular tafsir of the verse: تُخْفِي فِي نَفْسِكَ مَا اللَّـهُ مُبْدِيهِ (you were concealing in your heart what Allah was going to reveal - 37) that is, 'the thing that he kept to himself was the intention that should Zayd give the divorce, he would marry her in accordance with the Divine decree' - this tafsir was reported by Tirmidhi, Ibn Abi Hatim and other Hadith experts from a narration of Sayyidna ` Ali Ibn Husain Zain ul-` Abidin. Its words are as follows: اَوحَی اللہُ تعالیٰ اِلَیہِ ﷺ اَنَّ زَینَبَ سَیُطَلِّقُھَا زَیدُ وَّ یَتَوَوَّجُھَا بَعدَہ، عَلَیہِ الصَّلوٰۃ وَ السَّلَامُ (روح از حکیم ترمذی) Allah Ta` la had informed the Holy Prophet t through revelation that Zainab is going to be divorced by Zayd and after that she was to be married to him - Ruh ul-Ma'ani from Tirmidhi. And Ibn Kathir has reported the following words with reference to Ibn Abi Hatim: اِنَّ اللہَ اَعَلَمَ َبِیَّہ؛ اَنَّھَا ستکُونُ مِن اَزوَاجِہٖ قَبلَ اَن یَّتَزَوَّجَھَا فَلَمَّا اَتَاہُ زَیدُ لِیشکُوھَا اِلَیہِ قال اَتَّقِ اللہَ وَاَمسِک عَلَیکَ زَوجَکَ فَقَالَ اَخبَرتُکَ اِنِّی مُزَوِّجُکَھَا وَتُخفِی فی نَفسِکَ مَا اللہُ مُبدِیہِ؛ Allah Ta’ ala had made His prophet know that she (Sayyidah Zainab) will also become one of his blessed wives. After that, when Zayd came to him with a complaint against her, he said, 'Fear Allah, keep your wife, do not divorce her.' Thereupon, Allah Ta’ ala said, 'I had made it known to you that I shall have her married to you, and you were concealing in your heart the thing that Allah was going to disclose.' The majority of commentators - Zuhri, Bakr Ibn al-` Ala', al-Qushairi and Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi - have adopted this very tafsir, that is, the mention of the thing he was keeping to himself was but this intention of marriage under Divine revelation. Counter to this there are narrations in which the words," and you were concealing in your heart" have been explained as love for Zainab. About this tafsir, Ibn Kathir has said, 'we did not like to mention these narrations as none of these is sound.' Then the words of the Qur'an themselves lend support to this very tafsir mentioned above on the authority of Sayyidna Zain ul-` Abidin because, in this verse, Allah Ta’ ala has Himself said very clearly that the thing hidden in the heart was what Allah Ta’ ala is going to disclose - and the thing that Allah Ta’ ala disclosed in the next verse (37) is nikah or marriage with Sayyidah Zainab as said in: زَوَّجْنَاكَهَا (We gave her into your marriage -37) (Ruh ul-Ma'ani) To protect oneself against taunts thrown by people is praiseworthy unless it affects some objective of the Shari'ah A question arises here as to why the Holy Prophet ﷺ chose to conceal this matter which became the cause of Divine displeasure only to avoid the taunts of a hostile people? To answer that, it can be said that there is an essential general rule in this matter which stands proved from the Qur'an and Sunnah. According to this rule, when doing an act may cause misunderstanding among people or may invite their taunts, then, in order to protect the faith of people and save them from the sin of throwing taunts, it is permissible to avoid that act, subject to the condition that this act itself should not be one of the objectives of the Shari'ah, and no religious injunction of halal and haram is related with it - even though, the act in itself be praiseworthy; In this matter, a precedent exists in the Hadith and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ who said: When the Baytullah was constructed during the period of Jahiliyyah, several things have been done contrary to the original structure laid out by Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) . First of all, some part of Baytullah was left outside the constructed area. Then, there were two doors for people to enter inside the Baytullah in the original foundational plan of Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) ، one towards the East and another towards the West because of which there used to be no difficulty with the entry in and exit from Baytullah. The people of the Jahiliyyah made two unwarranted changes in it. They blocked the Western door totally and raised the Eastern door which used to be at ground level so high that no one could enter inside it without the help of a ladder. The purpose was to let only those they permitted go in. The Holy Prophet ﷺ said: 'Had there been no danger of throwing neo-Muslims into misunderstanding, I would have raised the Baytullah once again in accordance with the Abrahimic foundation.' This Hadith is present in all authentic books. From this we know that it was to save people from misunderstanding that the Holy Prophet ﷺ abandoned this intention of his, an intention which was, otherwise, praiseworthy in the light of the Shari'ah. And against this there came no admonition from Allah which also shows that this conduct of his was acceptable with Him. But, this matter of reconstructing the Baytullah in accordance with the Abrahimic foundation was not something among the objective of Shari'ah, nor something relating to the precepts of halal and haram. As for the event of the marriage of Sayyidah Zainab ؓ ، there was an Islamic legal objective to be achieved therewith, that is, to refute an evil custom of the Jahiliyyah and to dispel, practically and openly, the erroneous notion of marriage being unlawful with the divorced wife of an adopted son. The reason is that eradication of wrong customs, dragging on and on among peoples for ages, becomes actually possible only when it is implemented practically and demonstrated openly. The Divine command had unfolded to fulfill this objective in a perfect manner in the case of the marriage of Sayyidah Zainab ؓ . On the basis of this deposition, the apparent dichotomy between the abandonment of the reconstruction of Baytullah and the implementation of the marriage of Sayyidah Zainab ؓ as Divinely ordained stands resolved, and answered. And it seems that the Holy Prophet ﷺ took the oral communication of this injunction which has appeared in the earlier verses of Surah Al-Ahzab (Verses 4 5) as sufficient for declaring the law, while the need and wisdom of its practical demonstration escaped his attention. Therefore, he let it remain concealed despite the knowledge and intention. Allah Ta’ ala put it right and said: لِكَيْ لَا يَكُونَ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ حَرَ‌جٌ فِي أَزْوَاجِ أَدْعِيَائِهِمْ إِذَا قَضَوْا مِنْهُنَّ وَطَرً‌ا (so that there may not be a problem for the believers in marrying wives of their adopted sons, when they finish their desire for them - 37). It means: We gave Zainab in marriage to you so that Muslims do not have to face any practical difficulty in marrying the divorced wives of adopted sons. And the statement: زَوَّجْنَاكَهَا literally means: 'We solemnized her nikah with you' or 'We gave her into your marriage.' This tells us that Allah Ta’ ala blessed this nikah with such distinction that He Himself solemnized it - which makes it exempt from the usual conditions of nikah or marriage. And it could also mean : 'We gave the command for this nikah, now you marry her in accordance with the Islamic rules and conditions.' Some of the commentators have preferred the first probability while some others have gone by the second. As for the saying of Sayyidah Zainab ؓ before other women, "Your nikah was done by your parents. My nikah was done by Allah Ta’ ala Himself on the heavens," which appears in Hadith narrations, it turns out to be true both ways. Under the first probability, it is very clear while the other one too is not contrary to it.

Prefacing an answer to doubts and objections The opening sentence of verse 38: سُنَّةَ اللَّـهِ فِي الَّذِينَ خَلَوْا مِن قَبْلُ ۚ وَكَانَ أَمْرُ‌ اللَّـهِ قَدَرً‌ا مَّقْدُورً‌ا (a customary practice of Allah in the case of those who have gone before--- And Allah's command is pre-determined by destiny - 38) is a preface to doubts to be encountered in the wake of this marriage, particularly about why so much concern was shown in the case of this marriage despite there being other wives in the household. It was said: 'This is a sunnah of Allah (His customary practice not restricted to Muhammad al-Mustafa t. It has continued to be so in the case of earlier prophets as well, that is, under the dictate of beneficial religious considerations, permission was given for multiple marriages. Well recognized among them are Sayyidna Dawud (علیہ السلام) and Sayyidna Sulaiman Sayyidna Dawud (علیہ السلام) had one hundred wives in his nikah and Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) ، three hundred. Now, if permission came for the Holy Prophet ﷺ to have several marriages under beneficial religious considerations - this nikah being included therein - why should it be taken as something far-fetched? Neither is it contrary to the dignity and status of a prophet and messenger of Allah, nor against the norms of zuhd and taqwa. In the last sentence, it was also said that the matter of nikah (marriage) too, like that of rizq or sustenance, is Divinely decided as to who will be married to whom. That which is written in the eternal destiny has to occur. In this event relating to Sayyidna Zayd ؓ and Sayyidah Zainab ؓ the factors of their mutual temperamental difference, the displeasure of Sayyidna Zayd ؓ and then his resolve to divorce her were all chains of this very creational and destined imperative.

Mentioned next are particular attributes of the prophets علیہم السلام about whom we have learnt a while ago that they were permitted to have several wives in earlier times. It was said: الَّذِينَ يُبَلِّغُونَ رِ‌سَالَاتِ اللَّـهِ (those who convey the messages of Allah and have awe of Him and have no awe of anyone except Allah - 39), that is, all these esteemed prophets, may peace be upon them, convey the messages of Allah to their respective communities without fear of anyone. A wise consideration Perhaps, in this, there may be a hint towards the wisdom behind the multiplicity of marriages allowed to the noble prophets (علیہم السلام) in that all their sayings and doings must necessarily reach their communities, while being men, they spend a substantial part of their time in the section of the house where women and children live. During this time, if there comes a revelation or the prophet himself gives some order or does something, it all becomes a property held by their wives in trust on behalf of the community which can be transferred to it through wives alone. Other alternates are not free of difficulties. Therefore, should prophets have several wives, it would become easier to convey accounts of their words and deeds and their personal character in family life. Allah knows best. The second attribute of the noble prophets has been described as: وَيَخْشَوْنَهُ وَلَا يَخْشَوْنَ أَحَدًا إِلَّا اللَّـهَ (and have awe of Him and have no awe of anyone except Allah - 39) It means that these prophets keep fearing Allah and fear none but Allah. It is also included there that they, if appointed to preach something by practicing it as based on beneficial religious consideration, never fall short in it - and if some people throw taunts at them for doing so, they do not fear it. A doubt and its answer Here, while mentioning the prophets, it has been said that they do not fear anyone except Allah. But, in the verse previous to it while referring to the Holy Prophet ﷺ it was said: تَخْشَى النَّاسَ (you fear people - 37). How would this be correct? The answer is that, in the cited verse, this matter of prophets not fearing anyone other than Allah has been mentioned in connection with the conveying of Divine messages while the Holy Prophet t, faced the fear of being taunted in a matter which was obviously of a worldly nature. It had nothing to do with his mission and prophethood. But, as soon as it became clear to him from the cited verses that this marriage too was a part of the practical aspect of his mission and prophethood, no fear of taunts, thereafter, from anyone stopped him from doing what he had to. And this marriage took place despite the objections raised by many disbelievers - which they still keep doing.