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if ye feek G o d and his apoftle, and the life to come, verily G o d hath prepared
for fuch of you as work righteoufnefs, a great reward. O wives of
the prophet, whofoever of yon lhall commit a manifeft wickednefs, the
punifhment thereof lhall be doubled unto her twofolda 5 and this, is eafy with
XXII. G o d : * but whofoever of you lhall be obedient unto. G o d and his apoftle
and (hall do that which is right, we will give her her reward twice ”, and we
have prepared for her an honourable provifion in paradife. O wives of the
prophet, ye are not as other women: if ye fear G o d , be not too compkifant
in fpeech, left he Ihould covet, in whofe heart is a difeafe o f incontinence ; but
fpeak the fpeech which is convenient. And fit ftill in your houfes; and fet
not out your felves with the oftentation of the former time o f ignorance and
obferve the appointed times of prayer, and give alms ; and obey G o d , and
his apoftle •, for G o d defireth only to remove from you the abomination of
vanity, ftnce ye are the houlbold of the prophet, and to purify you by a* perfe
c t purification11. And remember that which is read'in your houfes, of the
figns of G o d , and of the wifdom revealed in the K o r an ; for G o d is clear-lighted,
and well-acquainted with your actions. Verily the Moflems of either fex, and
the true believers of either fex, and the devout men, and the devout women,
and the men of veracity, and the women of veracity, and the patient men,
and the patient women, and the humble men and the humble women, and
the alms-givers of either fex, and the men who fall, and the women who fall,
and the chafte men, and the chafte women, and thofe of either fex who re-
member G o d frequently •, for them hath G o d prepared forgivenefs, and a
great reward. It is not f i t for a true believer of either fex, when G o d
and his apoftle have decreed a thing, that they Ihould have the liberty of
choofing a different matter of their own': and whoever is difobedient unto
G od
P I HP.*!: m1
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them, and the following words were'revealed;
v iz. It Jhall not be lawful fo r thee to take other women
to wife hereafter1, &c. From hence fome have
concluded, that a wife who has her option given
her, and choofes to ftay with her husband, lhall'
not be divorced ; tho’ others are of a contrary
opinion 2.
a Her punifhment Jhall be doubled;] For the
crime would be more enormous and unpardonable
in them, becaufe of their fuperior condition,
and the grace which they have received
from G od ; whence it is that the punifhment of
a free perfon is ordained to be double to that
of a Have 3, and prophets are more feverely reprimanded
for their faults than other men *.
b We will give her her reward twice;J viz.
Once for her obedience, and a fecond time for
her conjugal affe&ion to the prophet, and hand-
fome behaviour to him.
c With the oftentation o f the former time of ig-
norance;] That is, In the old time of idolatry.
Some fuppofe the times before the flood, or. the
time of Abraham to be here intended, when
women adorned themfelves with all their finery,
and went abroad into the ftreets to Ihew them- •
felves to the men
d G od defireth to. remove'from you the abomination,
&c.] The pronouns of the fecond perfon
. ip this part of the paflage being of the mafcu-
line gender, the Shiites pretend the fentence has
no connexion with the foregoing or the following
words; and will ^have it that by the houje-
hold o f the prophet are particularly meant Fatemo
and AH, and their two fons Hafan and Hojein,
to whom thefe words are diredled 6.
e It is not fit fo r a true believer, when God
and his apoftle have decreed a thing, that they
Jhould have the liberty of choofing, &c.] This verfe
* See after, in this chap. p. 349.
» aw 1. 1 Idem. 6 Idem.
2 f i l Be id aw 1. 3 See chap. 4. p. 64. 4 A lB u i-
G o d and his apoftle, furely erreth with a manifeft error. And remember
when thou laidft to him unto whom G o d had been gracious *, and on
whom thou alfo hadft conferred favours b, Keep thy wife to thy felf, and
fear G o d : and thou didft conceal that in thy mind which G o d had determined
to difcoverand didft fear men ; whereas it was more juft that thou (houldft
fear G o d . But when Z e i d i had determined the matter concerning her. and
had re fo lv edto divorce her, we joined her in marriage unto thee | j left a
crime Ihould be charged on the true believers, in marrying the wives of their
adopted fons, when they have determined the matter concerning themf : and
Y y 2 the
was revealed on account of Zeinab (or Zenobia)
the daughter of J ah aft, and wife of Zeid, Mohammed's
freed-man, whom the prophet fought
in marriage, blit received a repulfe from the lady
and her brother Abdallah, they being at firft
a verfe to the match; for which they are here reprehended.
The mother of Zeinab, it is faid,
was Amima, the daughter of Abd'almotalleb, and
aunt to Mohammed 1.
a When thou faidft to him unto whom G od
had been gracious;] viz. Zeid Ebn Haretha, on
whom’ G ot? had bellowed the grace early to become
a Mofiem.
b And on whom thou hadfi conferred favours ;]
By giving him his liberty, and adopting him for
thy fon, & c.
Zeid was of the tribe of Calb, a branch o f the
Kbodaites, defcended from Hamyar the fon of
Saba; and being taken in his childhood by a
party o f free-booters, was bought by Mohammed,
or, as others fry, by his wife Khadijah before
Ihe married him. Softie years liter, Haretha,
hearing whpre his fon was, took a journey to
Mecca, and offered a confiderable fum for his
ranfom; whereupon Mohammed laid, Let Zeid
come hither; and i f he choofes to go with you,
take him without ranfom: but i f it be his choice
to ftay with me, why (beuld I not keep him ? And
Zeid being come, declared that he would ftay
with his Mafter, who treated him as if he were
his only fon.. Mohammed no fooner heard this,
but he took Zeid by the hand, and led him to
the black ftone o f the Caaba, where he publick-
ly adopted him for his fon, and conftituted him
his , heir ; with which the father acquiefced, and
returned home well-fatisfied. Froiii this time
Zeid was called the fon of Mohammed, till the
publication of Ifiam; after which the prophet
gave him to wife Zeinab 3.
c And thou didft conceal that in thy mind which
G od h#d determined to difcover i\ Namely, thy
affedtion to Zeinab. The whole intrigue is artfully
enough unfolded in this paflage ; the ftory
H i
is as follows.
Some years after his marriage, Mohammed
going to Zeid's houfe on feme affair, and not
finding him at home, accidentally call his eyes
on Zeinab, who was then in a drefs which discovered
her beauty to advantage, and was fo
fmitten at the light, that he could not forbear
crying out, G od be praifed, who turneth the
hearts o f men as he pleafethl This Zeinab failed
not to acquaint her husband with, on his return
home; whereupon Zeid, after mature reflection,
thought he could do no lefs than part with his
wife, in favour of his benefadlor; and therefore
refolved to divorce her, and acquainted Mohammed
with his refolution : but he, apprehending
the fcandal it might raifc, offered to diffuada
him from it, and endeavoured to ftifle the
flames which inwardly confumed him; but at
length, his love for her being authorized by this
revelation, he acquiefced, and after the term of
her divorce was expired, married her, in the latter
end of the 5th year of the Hejra 3.
d Z eid ;] It is obferved that this is the only
perfon, of all Mohammed's companions, whofe
name is mentioned in the Koran.
* We joined her in marriage unto thee;] Whence
Zeinab ufed to vaunt herfelf above the prophet’s
other wives, frying, that G od had made the
match between Mohammed and herfelf, whereas
their matches were made by their relations 4.
f Left a crime Jhould be charged on the true believers,
in marrying the wives o f their adopted
fons, &c.] For this feigned relation, as has been
obferved, created an impediment of marriage
among the old Arabs within the prohibited degrees,
in the fame manner as if it had been real;
and therefore Mohammed's marrying Zeinab, who
had been his adopted fon’s wife, occafioned great
fcandal among his followers, which was much
heightened by the Jews and hypocrites: but the
cuftom is here declared unreafonable, and abo-
liihe4 for the future.
1
&
1 ^ /B eid aw i, J allalo’ddin.
3 A l Be id aw 1, al J annabi, £sV.
3 A l J annabi. V. G acnier, Vie de Mob. /. 4.. c. •*, 4 Idem.