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1,001 Sayings and Deeds of the Prophet

Zaid

(The following is slightly different in content and presentation from the print version.)

As Aisha reminds us, God was always at the ready to help with her husband's sex life.

Narrated Aisha:

I used to look down upon those ladies who had given themselves to Allah's Apostle and I used to say, "Can a lady give herself (to a man)?"

But when Allah revealed: "You (O Muhammad) can postpone (the turn of) whom you will of them (your wives), and you may receive any of them whom you will; and there is no blame on you if you invite one whose turn you have set aside (temporarily)." (33.51)

I said (to the Prophet), "I feel that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires."

Bukhari 60.675

In His endeavor to fulfill His devoted spokesman's every carnal desire in an expeditious manner, God broke two taboos from what scriptures refer to as the period of ignorance, i.e., the time before Islam. Allah’s casual dismissal of two abiding moral imperatives would prove particularly detrimental to both the physical and emotional wellbeing of children to this day.

The first God-sanctioned travesty was, of course, the union of the child bride Aisha to a man old enough to be her grandfather, thus making daughters as young as nine, legal prey for pedophiles. The second breaking of a moral imperative from the time of ignorance would deny many an orphan boy a home and a living human being to call father. Again, it all had to do with Muhammad lusting after a female who would ordinarily have been off-limits. He was already married to six women when he walked in on his daughter-in-law Zaynab when she was almost naked, and just had to have her.

During the time of ignorance men adopted orphaned boys who then became part of their lineage and their de facto progeny, e.g., their heir. Because laws and traditions from the time of ignorance did not distinguish between an adopted and a natural born son, the taboo against marrying your natural born son's wife extended to an adopted one. Allah changed the rules so that His beloved mouthpiece could add his cousin and daughter-in-law to his collection of wives, concubines and slave-girls.

Orphaned Arab boys were a rarity until Muhammad warned their would-be benefactors that "If somebody claims to be the son of any other than his real father knowingly, he but disbelieves in Allah... let such a person take his place in the (Hell) Fire." To avoid the embarrassment at having his adopted son, whose wife he coveted, call him dad, Muhammad, with a complicit God, created the greatest disincentive for God-fearing men to take in orphaned boys.

Allah made what was taboo during the time ignorance a thing of the past. This allowed Muhammad— after Zaid prudently divorced her—to marry his former daughter-in-law, God having relegated her former husband to no more than an acquaintance for whom His spokesman provided room and board and a place to be intimate with the woman whose favours he now enjoyed.

33:37 And [remember] when you said to him whom Allah favoured and you favoured: (this is addressed to Zayd regarding his wife Zaynab) “Hold on to your wife and fear Allah”, while you concealed within yourself what Allah would reveal and feared other men, whereas Allah had a better right to be feared by you. Then, when Zayd had satisfied his desire for her, We gave her to you in marriage; so that the believers should not be at fault, regarding the wives of their adopted sons, once they have satisfied their desire for them. For Allah’s Command must be accomplished.

Narrated Anas bin Malik:

The Verse: "But you did hide in your mind that which Allah was about to make manifest." (33:37) was revealed concerning Zainab bint Jahsh and Zaid bin Haritha.

Bukhari 60.310

Allah had again redefined what is moral in order to satisfy His spokesman's baser instincts and in the process created orphans where before there were none, and worsen the lot of those fortunate enough to find a man still willing to take them in, by denying them an inheritance and the semblance of being an integral and equal member of the family.

Narrated Aisha:

Abu Hudhaifa, one of those who fought the battle of Badr with Allah's Apostle, adopted Salim as his son and married his niece Hind bint Al-Wahd bin Utba to him and Salim was a freed slave of an Ansari woman. Allah's Apostle also adopted Zaid as his son.

In the Pre-Islamic period of ignorance the custom was that, if one adopted a son, the people would call him by the name of the adopted-father [from] whom he would inherit as well, till Allah revealed: "Call them (adopted sons) By (the names of) their fathers." (33:5)

Bukhari 59.335

Zaid would die in one of the innumerable bloody pitiless battles to convert the people of the Peninsula and beyond. Muhammad ordered that the woman mourning his adopted son’s passing a little too loudly be silenced, but that proved impossible.

Narrated Aisha:

When the news of the martyrdom of Zaid bin Haritha, Ja'far and Abdullah bin Rawaha came, the Prophet sat down looking sad, and I was looking through the chink of the door.

A man came and said, "O Allah's Apostle! The women of Ja'far," and then he mentioned their crying.

The Prophet (p.b.u.h) ordered him to stop them from crying.

The man went and came back and said, "I tried to stop them but they disobeyed."

The Prophet (p.b.u.h) ordered him for the second time to forbid them.

He went again and came back and said, "They did not listen to me, (or "us": the sub-narrator Muhammad bin Haushab is in doubt as to which is right). "

Aisha added: The Prophet said, "Put dust in their mouths."

I said (to that man), "May Allah stick your nose in the dust (i.e. humiliate you). By Allah, you could not (stop the women from crying) to fulfill the order, besides you did not relieve Allah's Apostle from fatigue."

Bukhari 23.392