ONE HADITH A DAY
Narrated by Bukhari · Authentic hadith
عن أنس بن مالك رضي الله عنه قال: جاء زيدُ بنُ حارثة يشكو، فجعل النبيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول: «اتَّقِ اللهَ، وأمسِكْ عليك زوجَك»، قال أنس: لو كان رسولُ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كاتمًا شيئًا لكتم هذه، قال: فكانت زينبُ تَفْخرُ على أزواج النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم تقول: زوَّجَكنَّ أهاليكنَّ، وزوَّجني اللهُ تعالى من فوق سبع سموات، وعن ثابت: {وتُخفي في نفسِك ما اللهُ مُبْدِيهِ وتخشى الناسَ} [الأحزاب: 37]، «نزلت في شأن زينبَ وزيد بن حارثة».
“Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: Zayd ibn Hārithah came to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) complaining (about his wife). The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) kept on saying to him: "Fear Allah and keep your wife." Anas said: "If the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) were to conceal anything (of the Qur'an), he would have concealed this (verse)." Then Anas said: "Zaynab used to boast before the Prophet's wives and say: 'You were given in marriage by your families, while I was given in marriage by Allah, the Almighty, from above seven Heavens.'" Thābit narrated that the Qur'anic verse: {while you concealed within yourself that which Allah is to disclose, and you feared the people} [Sūrat al-Ahzāb: 37] was revealed in connection to the story of Zaynab bint Jahsh and Zayd ibn Hārithah (may Allah be pleased with both of them).”
Zayd ibn Hārithah (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) complaining about his wife Zaynab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her) and consulting him about divorcing her. Allah, the Almighty, had revealed to His Messenger that he would eventually marry Zaynab. This was revealed to him before Zayd divorced her. When Zayd came complaining about her to the Prophet and consulting him about divorcing her, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Fear Allah, O Zayd, and keep your wife." Allah, the Almighty, reproached him for that in the Qur'anic verse: {And remember (O Muhammad) when you said to the one on whom Allah bestowed favor and you bestowed favor, "Keep your wife and fear Allah," while you concealed within yourself that which Allah is to disclose. And you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him. So when Zayd had no longer any need for her, We married her to you in order that there not be upon the believers any discomfort concerning the wives of their adopted sons when they no longer have need of them. And ever is the command of Allah accomplished.} [Sūrat al-Ahzāb: 37] What the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) concealed within himself was dislike to marry her in fear of the people's expected disapproval of him marrying the ex-wife of his adopted son (adoption was legitimate among the Arabs before the advent of Islam). The statement of Anas: "If the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) were to con…