The Enemy Alliance

The wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) wanted him to increase their monthly allowance so they could live a more comfortable life.

Even though he said that he couldn't afford to pay more, they kept asking for an increase, and the Prophet (ﷺ) was not happy with that attitude.

Then verses 28-29 were revealed, giving them a choice: if they truly wanted a fancy lifestyle, the Prophet (ﷺ) would divorce them so they could enjoy life freely.

But if they chose Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ), they would be blessed with great rewards.

They all chose Allah and His Prophet (ﷺ).

We also love and honor the ten companions who were promised `Jannah` (Paradise): Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, 'Ali, Az-Zubair, Talhah, 'Abdur-Rahman ibn 'Awf, Abu 'Ubaidah ibn

Al-Jarrah, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, and Sa'id ibn Zaid (R.

A.

).

We also love the people of Badr and the people who made the pledge under the tree.

And we love and honor all the other companions (`sahabah`).

Umm Salamah (R.

A.

), the Prophet's wife, asked him, 'Why are men always mentioned in the Quran, but women are not?

'

In response to her question, verse 35 was revealed, which speaks about the qualities and rewards of both Muslim men and women.

To reward Zaid (R.

A.

), the Prophet (ﷺ) freed him and adopted him as his son, before adoption was banned.

Allah did Zaid (R.

A.

) a favor by guiding him to Islam, and the Prophet (ﷺ) did him a favor by freeing him.

The Prophet (ﷺ) then asked an important family from the Tribe of Quraish to marry their daughter Zainab bint Jahsh (R.

A.

) to Zaid (R.

A.

), but they refused because of his background.

So verse 36 was revealed, and finally the family agreed.

After Zaid (R.

A.

) and Zainab (R.

A.

) got married, things didn't work out between them, so Zaid (R.

A.

) wanted to divorce her, but the Prophet (ﷺ) asked him to keep his wife.

Later, adoption was banned, so Zaid (R.

A.

) was no longer considered to be the Prophet's own son.

Verse 40 tells the believers that the Prophet (ﷺ) is not the father of any of their men, because his three sons died in childhood.

The Prophet (ﷺ) was told by Allah that he was going to marry Zainab (R.

A.

) after her divorce, just to teach people that it is okay to marry the ex-wives of their former adopted sons.

When Zaid (R.

A.

) came to tell the Prophet (ﷺ) that he still wanted to divorce his wife, the Prophet (ﷺ) was shy of what people were going to say.

Then verses 37-40 were revealed to make the situation clear to everyone.

Someone may ask, 'If a Muslim man is allowed to marry up to 4 wives, how come the Prophet (ﷺ) had more than 4 wives?

' To answer this question, it's important to understand a few things.

The Quran is the only holy book that places a limit on the number of wives a man can have.

Under certain conditions, a Muslim man may marry up to four wives as long as he is able to provide for them and be fair with all of

them; otherwise, it is not allowed.

With the exception of Prophet 'Isa (A.

S.

) and Prophet Yahya (A.

S.

), who never got married, almost all other faith leaders in the Bible had more than one wife.

For example, the Bible says that Prophet Sulaiman (A.

S.

) had a total of 1,000 women (1 Kings 11:3) and his father, Prophet Dawood (A.

S.

), had many women (2 Samuel 5:13).

When we look at the Prophet's married life, we see the following: Until the age of 25, he was single.

From age 25 to 50, he was married only to Khadijah (R.

A.

), who was 15 years older than him.

From age 50 to 53, after Khadijah's death, he was married only to Sawdah (R.

A.

), who was older than him with many children.

From age 53 to his death at the age of 63, he married nine times.

Many of these marriages were to widows who had lost their husbands and were left with their children without a provider.

In some cases, he married to build strong ties with his companions and neighboring tribes, including some of his worst enemies, who then became his biggest supporters after

he married a woman from their own tribe.

Of all the women he married, 'Aishah (R.

A.

) was the only one who was never married before him.

If a man with great authority wanted to marry just for pleasure, he could have done it when he was younger, and he could have married only young

women with no children.

We also need to understand that the Prophet (ﷺ) had a special status.

This is why certain things were allowed for him, but not for others.

For example, he was allowed to fast for days (day and night) without eating or drinking, but this is not allowed for anyone else.

Then after eating, they would chat with each other for a long time.

This practice was very annoying to the Prophet (ﷺ), but he was too shy to ask them to leave.

Finally, verse 53 was revealed, telling the believers to visit only if there was a reason, and to come for food only if they were invited.

The verse also instructed them not to stay for too long, so the Prophet (ﷺ) would have time for himself and his family.

According to verse 56, Allah says that He showers the Prophet (ﷺ) with praises and blessings, and His angels pray for him.

The Prophet (ﷺ) has also been blessed with great favors in this life and the Next.

Today, there are close to 2 billion Muslims in the world, meaning about 1 out of every 4 people on the planet is a Muslim.

Of all prophets, he will have the most followers in Jannah (Paradise).

He is the best human to have ever walked the face of this earth and the finest prophet ever sent.

We know every single detail of his life, including: how he lived, taught, and dealt with his family; what he said before and after eating, leaving and entering

his house; how he purified himself, took a shower, and made `wudu'` (ablution); and his physical description.

There are millions who follow his example—the way he prayed, lived his life, ate, drank, and slept.

He will be the first to enter Jannah.

He will make `shafa'ah` by asking Allah to make things easy for us on Judgment Day.

We honor his name every time we call the `Azan` (call to prayer), and we pray to Allah to shower His blessings on him and his family at

the end of every `salah` (prayer).

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, 'Whoever sends blessings upon me once, Allah will shower that person with blessings 10 times!

'

A great Egyptian scholar named 'Abdullah ibn Al-Hakam said that he saw Imam Ash-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) after his death in a dream, so he

asked him: 'What has Allah done to you?

' Imam Ash-Shafi'i replied, 'He has showered me with mercy and forgiveness, and I have been received in Jannah with honor.

'

Imam 'Abdullah asked, 'And why do you think you got this great honor?

' Imam Ash-Shafi'i answered, 'Because of one sentence I put in my book, `Ar-Risalah`, which reads: 'May Allah shower as many blessings upon Muhammad as the number of

those who remember Him and the number of those who fail to remember Him.

'

Imam 'Abdullah said that when he woke up, he opened the book and found this sentence in it.

The same warning is also given to those who offend the Prophet (ﷺ) by calling him a liar or saying bad things about him and his family.

The passage also warns those who abuse the believers and say false things about them.