[33].Surah Al-Ahzab [The Confederates]: Ayat 37

৩৭. আল্লাহ যাকে অনুগ্রহ করেছেন; আপনিও যাকে অনুগ্রহ করেছেন; তাকে যখন আপনি বলেছিলেন, তোমার স্ত্রীকে তোমার কাছেই থাকতে দাও এবং আল্লাহকে ভয় কর। আপনি অন্তরে এমন বিষয় গোপন করছিলেন, যা আল্লাহ পাক প্রকাশ করে দেবেন আপনি লোকনিন্দার ভয় করেছিলেন অথচ আল্লাহকেই অধিক ভয় করা উচিত। অতঃপর যায়েদ যখন যয়নবের সাথে সম্পর্ক ছিন্ন করল, তখন আমি তাকে আপনার সাথে বিবাহবন্ধনে আবদ্ধ করলাম যাতে মুমিনদের পোষ্যপুত্ররা তাদের স্ত্রীর সাথে সম্পর্ক ছিন্ন করলে সেসব স্ত্রীকে বিবাহ করার ব্যাপারে মুমিনদের কোন অসুবিধা না থাকে। আল্লাহর নির্দেশ কার্যে পরিণত হয়েই থাকে।

Ayat 37. And (remember) when you said to him (Hazrat Zayd bin Harithah (May Allah be pleased with him); the freed slave of the Prophet [SAWW](PBUH) on whom Allah has bestowed Grace (by guiding him to Islam) and you (O Muhammad  [SAWW](PBUH) too) have done favor (by manumitting him) "Keep your wife to yourself, and fear Allah." But you did hide in yourself (i.e. what Allah has already made known to you that He will give her to you in marriage) that which Allah will make manifest, you did fear the people (i.e., Muhammad  [SAWW](PBUH) married the divorced wife of his manumitted slave) whereas Allah had a better right that you should fear Him. So when Hazrat Zayd (May Allah be pleased with him); had accomplished his desire from her (i.e. divorced her), Allah gave her to you in marriage, so that (in future) there may be no difficulty to the believers in respect of (the marriage of) the wives of their adopted sons when the latter have no desire to keep them (i.e. they have divorced them). And Allah’s Command must be fulfilled.

Tafseer of Surah Al Ahzab (The Confederates) Ayat 37. Behold! Thou didst say to one who had received the grace of Allah and thy favors: "Retain thou (in wedlock) thy wife, and fear Allah." But thou didst hide in thy heart that which Allah was about to make manifest: thou didst fear the people, but it is more fitting that thou should fear Allah. Then when Hazrat Zayd (May Allah be pleased with him) had dissolved (his marriage) with her, with the necessary (formality), We joined her in marriage to thee: in order that (in future) there may be no difficulty to the Believers in (the matter of) marriage with the wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have dissolved with the necessary (formality) (their marriage) with them. And Allah's command must be fulfilled. This was Hazrat Zayd (May Allah be pleased with him), son of Harithah, one of the first to accept the faith of Islam. He was freedman of the Prophet  [SAWW](PBUH), who loved him as a son and gave him in marriage to his own cousin Hazrat Zaynab (May Allah pleased with her). The marriage however turned out unhappy. Hazrat Zayd's (May Allah be pleased with him) marriage with the Prophet's  [SAWW](PBUH) cousin Hazrat Zaynab (May Allah pleased with her), daughter of Jahsh, did not turn out happy. Hazrat Zaynab (May Allah pleased with her) the high-born looked down upon Hazrat Zayd (May Allah be pleased with him) the freedman who had been a slave. And he was not comely to look at. Bom were good people in their own ways, and both loved the Prophet  [SAWW](PBUH), but there was mutual incompatibility, and this is fatal to married life. Hazrat Zayd (May Allah be pleased with him) wished to divorce her, but the Prophet  [SAWW](PBUH)  asked him to hold his hand, and he obeyed. She was closely related to the Prophet  [SAWW](PBUH) ; he had given a handsome marriage gift on her marriage to Hazrat Zayd (May Allah be pleased with him); and people would certainly talk if such a marriage was broken off. But marriages are made on earth, not in heaven, and it is no part of Allah's Plan to torture people in a bond which should be a source of happiness but actually is a source of misery. Hazrat Zayd's (May Allah be pleased with him)  wish-indeed the mutual wish of the couple-was for the time being put away, but it became eventually an established fact, and everybody came to know of it. All actual facts are referred to Allah. When the marriage is unhappy, Islam permits the bond to be dissolved, provided that all interests concerned are safeguarded. Apparently there was no issue here to be considered. Hazrat Zaynab (May Allah pleased with her) had to be considered, and she obtained the dearest wish of her heart in being raised to be a Mother of the Believers, with all the dignity and responsibility of that position. The Iddah or period of waiting after divorce (2:28 was duly completed. The Pagan superstition and taboo about adopted sons had to be destroyed. See 33:4-5

Hazrat Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah  [SAWW](PBUH) said, "The world is the believer's prison and the infidel's Jannah". [Muslim Book 42, Chapter 01, Hadith # 7058] 

As compared with the pleasures and luxuries, which are in store for a true believer in Jannah in the Hereafter, this world is a prison; and against the ceaseless torture that awaits the Kuffar (disbelievers) in Hell, this world is a Jannah for them. It can also mean that the way a Muslim saves himself in life from lusts and desires and leads a pious life with fear of Allah, this world is a prison for him because he is fettered in the chains of rules and regulations, while a Kafir (disbeliever) is free from all kinds of restrictions and is completely given to lusts and desires, and this is how this world is a Jannah for him. The purpose of this Hadith is to induce Muslims for the preparation of Al-akhirah (the Hereafter) and prevent them from unlawful luxuries of this world.