Surah Al-Ahzaab: Verse 4 - ما جعل الله لرجل من... - English

Commentary

Previous verses carried instructions to the Holy Prophet ﷺ asking him not to act upon their advice and not to be cajoled into what they wanted to achieve. In the cited verses, there is a refutation of three customs prevailing among disbelievers as well as of their false notions.

(1) During jahiliyyah, Arabs used to say about a person who was smarter than others that he had two hearts in his chest cage.

(2) Then they had a custom about their wives following which a person would declare his wife to be like the back of his mother, or some other part of the body, and go on to say, 'you are, for me, like the back of my mother.' This, in their usage, was called "Zihar." It is a derivation from: Zahr, which means 'back'. They thought that if a person who had done "Zihr" with his wife, she becomes haram (unlawful) to him forever.

(3) And then they had another custom under which one person would make the son of another his so-called or adopted son and who so would take a son in that manner, the boy would become known as 'his' son and would be addressed as such. According to their practice, this so-called or adopted son used to be recognized in all rules and regulations as a 'real' son. For instance, he would be regarded as a sharer even in inheritance, like a real offspring along with the children from his loins. Then, they would also regard the marriage relations of the so-called or adopted son as falling under the standard rule whereby the marriage with a category of certain women is unlawful. For example, as marriage with the wife of one's real son remains unlawful even after he has divorced her, they also took the divorced wife of the so-called or adopted son to be unlawful for that person.

Since the first of the three notions of the period of Jahiliyyah were not tied up with religious belief or conduct, therefore, the Shari'ah of Islam had no need to refute it. To determine whether there is just the one heart inside the chest or, may be, there are two as well was simply a case of anatomical inquiry. That it was obviously false was known to everyone. Therefore, most likely, the matter of its refutation was also introduced as a prologue to the other two issues and it was said: The way false is the saying of the people of Jahiliyyah - that 'someone could have two hearts in his chest', the falsity of which is known to everyone - similarly, false are their notions in the matters of Zihar (falsely declaring one's wife unlawful to him like his mother) and adoption of sons.

As for the injunctions governing the two issues of Zihar and adopted son, these are among the social and familial issues that have a great importance in Islam - to the extent that even their subsidiary details have been given in the Qur'an by Allah Ta’ ala Himself. unlike other matters, this has not been left at the declaration of principles only with its detailed enunciation entrusted with the Holy Prophet t. Regarding both these issues, the people of Jahiliyyah, following their baseless whims, had a bunch of self-made laws relating to the lawful and the unlawful, the permissible and the impermissible. It was the duty of the True Religion that it should refute these false notions and make the truth manifest. Therefore, it was said:i It means: 'You are wrong in thinking that, should someone call his wife the equal or like of his mother, the wife does not go on to become unlawful for him forever like his real mother. Just because you say so, a wife does not become a mother, in reality. Your mother is but she who gave birth to you.' Now, at least, the notion of the people of Jahiliyyah that Zihar makes one's wife unlawful for ever is refuted by this verse. What happens next? Does saying so bring about any legal effect? The standing injunction in this connection appears in Surah al-Mujadalah [ 58:2-4] where saying so has been called a sin and abstention from it obligatory. And it is provided there that he who has made such a declaration should offer a kaffarah (expiation) of having done zihar after which having intercourse with his wife becomes lawful for him. The details of this issue will appear in the Commentary on Surah al-Mujadalah (Ma` ariful-Qur'an, Volume VIII).

The second issue was that of the mutabanna, i.e adopted son. About that, it was said: وَمَا جَعَلَ أَدْعِيَاءَكُمْ أَبْنَاءَكُمْ (nor did he make your adopted sons your (real) sons - 4). The word: اَدعِیَاء (ad'iya' ) is the plural of: دَعِیُّ (da'iyy) which means a so-called son. The sense is that the way no man has two hearts inside him and the way by likening one's wife to one's mother, the wife does not become the mother - similarly, the so-called son does not become your real son. In other words, neither will he be entitled to a share in inheritance with other sons, nor the precepts of the unlawfulness of marriage will apply to him. For example, the way the divorced wife of a real son is unlawful for his father forever, the divorced wife of an adopted son is not unlawful for his so-called father. Since this last matter affects many other matters, therefore, it was complimented by another injunction, that is, even an adopted son should be attributed to his real father, and not to the person who has adopted him - because, this spells out the danger of misgiving and confusion creeping in many matters.

There is a hadith from Sayyidna Ibn ` Umar ؓ appearing in al-Bukhari, Muslim and others in which it has been said: 'Before the revelation of this verse, we used to call Zayd Ibn Harithah by the name of Zayd Ibn Muhammad (because the Holy Prophet ﷺ had taken him in as his mutabanna, adopted son). After the revelation of this verse, we abandoned this practice.'

Ruling

This tells us about many people who call the children of others as 'son' which, if because of simple affection, not because of declaring him an adopted son or a mutabanna , then, this would though be permissible, still, it is not the better choice, because it looks like violating the prohibition, at least in appearance. (As in Ruh a1-Ma` ni from al-Khafaji Ala al-Baidawi)

And this is the same matter which, by throwing the Quraish of Arabia into deception, led them to commit a sin of terribly serious proportions to the extent that they started blaming the Holy Prophet t by saying that he had married the divorced wife of his 'son', while in fact, he was not his son, but only a mutabanna (adopted son) - something that will be mentioned in this very Surah a little later.

Abolition of Adoption

Before Allah discusses ideas and theoretical matters, He gives tangible examples: one man cannot have two hearts in his body, and a man's wife does not become his mother if he says the words of Zihar to her: "You are to me like the back of my mother." By the same token, an adopted child does not become the son of the man who adopts him and calls him his son. Allah says:

(Allah has not made for any man two hearts inside his body. Neither has He made your wives whom you declare to be like your mothers' backs, your real mothers...) This is like the Ayah:

(They cannot be their mothers. None can be their mothers except those who gave them birth) (58:2).

(nor has He made your adopted sons your real sons.) This was revealed concerning Zayd bin Harithah, may Allah be pleased with him, the freed servant of the Prophet . The Prophet had adopted him before prophethood, and he was known as Zayd bin Muhammad. Allah wanted to put an end to this naming and attribution, as He said:

(nor has He made your adopted sons your real sons. ) This is similar to the Ayah later in this Surah:

(Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the last (end) of the Prophets. And Allah is Ever All-Aware of everything.) (33:40). And Allah says here:

(That is but your saying with your mouths.) meaning, `your adoption of him is just words, and it does not mean that he is really your son,' for he was created from the loins of another man, and a child cannot have two fathers just as a man cannot have two hearts in one body.

(But Allah says the truth, and He guides to the way.) Sa`id bin Jubayr said:

(But Allah says the truth,) means, justice. Qatadah said:

(and He guides to the way) means, the straight path. Imam Ahmad said that Hasan told them that Zuhayr told them from Qabus, meaning Ibn Abi Zibyan, that his father told him: "I said to Ibn `Abbas, `Do you know the Ayah,

(Allah has not made for any man two hearts inside his body.) What does this mean' He said that the Messenger of Allah stood up one day to pray, and he trembled. The hypocrites who were praying with him said, `Do you not see that he has two hearts, one heart with you and another with them' Then Allah revealed the words:

(Allah has not made for any man two hearts inside his body.)" This was also narrated by At-Tirmidhi, who said, "It is a Hasan Hadith". It was also narrated by Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim from the Hadith of Zuhayr.

An Adopted Child should be named after His Real Father

(Call them (adopted sons) by their fathers, that is more just with Allah.) This is a command which abrogates the state of affairs that existed at the beginning of Islam, when it was permitted to call adopted sons after the man who adopted them. Then Allah commanded that they should be given back the names of their real fathers, and states that this was more fair and just. Al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated that `Abdullah bin `Umar said: "Zayd bin Harithah, may Allah be pleased with him, the freed servant of the Messenger of Allah , was always called Zayd bin Muhammad, until (the words of the) Qur'an were revealed:

(Call them (adopted sons) by (the names of) their fathers, that is more just with Allah.)" This was also narrated by Muslim, At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa'i. They used to deal with them as sons in every respect, including being alone with them as Mahrams and so on. Hence Sahlah bint Suhayl, the wife of Abu Hudhayfah, may Allah be pleased with them both, said: "O Messenger of Allah! We used to call Salim our son, but Allah has revealed what He has revealed. He used to enter upon me, but I feel that Abu Hudhayfah does not like that. The Prophet said:

(Breastfeed him and he will become your Mahram. )" Hence when this ruling was abrogated, Allah made it permissible for a man to marry the ex-wife of his adopted son, and the Messenger of Allah married Zaynab bint Jahsh, the divorced wife of Zayd bin Harithah, may Allah be pleased with him, Allah said:

(So that (in future) there may be no difficulty to the believers in respect of the wives of their adopted sons when the latter have no desire to keep them) (33:37). And Allah says in Ayat At-Tahrim:

(The wives of your sons from your own loins) (4:23). The wife of an adopted son is not included because he was not born from the man's loins. A "foster" son through breastfeeding is the same as a son born from one's own loins, from the point of view of Shari`ah, because the Prophet said in the Two Sahihs:

(Suckling makes unlawful as lineage does.) As for calling a person "son" as an expression of honor and endearment, this is not what is forbidden in this Ayah, as is indicated by the report recorded by Imam Ahmad and the Sunan compilers -- apart from At-Tirmidhi -- from Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: "We young boys of Banu `Abd Al-Muttalib came to the Messenger of Allah at the Jamarat; he slapped us on the thigh and said,

(O my sons, do not stone the Jamarah until the sun has risen.) This was during the Farewell Pilgrimage in 10 AH.

(Call them by their fathers.) This is concerning Zayd bin Harithah, may Allah be pleased with him. He was killed in 8 AH at the battle of Mu'tah. In Sahih Muslim it is reported that Anas bin Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "The Messenger of Allah said:

(O my son.)" It was also reported by Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi.

(But if you know not their father's then they are your brothers in the religion and Mawalikum (your freed servants).) Here Allah commands that adopted sons should be given back their fathers' names, if they are known; if they are not known, then they should be called brothers in faith or freed servants, to compensate for not knowing what their real lineage is. When the Messenger of Allah left Makkah after performing his `Umrat Al-Qada', the daughter of Hamzah, may Allah be pleased with her, started following him, calling, "O uncle, O uncle!" `Ali took her and said to Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her, "Take care of your uncle's daughter," so she picked her up. `Ali, Zayd and Ja`far -- may Allah be pleased with them -- disputed over of which of them was going to take care of her, and each of them gave his reasons. `Ali said, "I have more right, because she is the daughter of my paternal uncle." Zayd said, "She is the daughter of my brother." Ja`far bin Abi Talib said: "She is the daughter of my paternal uncle and I am married to her maternal aunt -- meaning Asma' bint `Umays." The Prophet ruled that she should stay with her maternal aunt, and said:

(The maternal aunt has the same status as the mother.) He said to `Ali, may Allah be pleased with him,

(You belong to me and I belong to you.) He said to Ja`far, may Allah be pleased with him,

(You resemble me both in your looks and in your attitude.) And he said to Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him,

(You are our brother and our freed servant.) This Hadith contains a number of rulings, the most important of which is that the Prophet ruled according to the truth, and that he sought to appease all the disputing parties. His saying to Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him,

(You are our brother and our freed servant.) is as Allah says in this Ayah:

(your brothers in faith and your freed servants. ) Then Allah says:

(And there is no sin on you concerning that in which you made a mistake,) meaning, if you call one of them after someone who is not in fact his father, by mistake, after trying your best to find out his parentage, then Allah will not attach any sin to this mistake. This is like the Ayah in which Allah commands His servants to say:

(Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error) (2:286). It was reported in Sahih Muslim that the Messenger of Allah said:

(Allah says, "Certainly I did (so).") In Sahih Al-Bukhari, it was recorded that `Amr bin Al-`As, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "The Messenger of Allah said:

(If the judge makes Ijtihad and reaches the right decision, he will have two rewards; if he makes Ijtihad and reaches the wrong decision, he will have one reward.) In another Hadith:

(Allah will forgive my Ummah for mistakes, forgetfulness and what they are forced to do.) And Allah says here:

(And there is no sin on you concerning that in which you made a mistake, except in regard to what your hearts deliberately intend. And Allah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.) meaning, the sin is on the person who deliberately does something wrong, as Allah says elsewhere:

(Allah will not call you to account for that which is unintentional in your oaths) (2:225). Imam Ahmad narrated from Ibn `Abbas that `Umar said: "Allah sent Muhammad with the Truth and revealed to him the Book. One of the things that was revealed in it was the Ayah of stoning, so the Messenger of Allah stoned adulterers and we stoned them after he died." Then he said, "We also used to recite, `Do not attribute yourselves to anyone other than your fathers, for this is disbelief, to attribute yourselves to anyone other than your fathers."' The Messenger of Allah said:

(Do not exaggerate in praising me as `Isa bin Maryam was praised upon him be peace and blessings. I am just a servant of Allah. Say, "He is His servant and Messenger.") Or Ma`mar may have said:

(As the Christians praised the son of Maryam. ) This was also narrated in another Hadith:

(Three things that people do are parts of disbelief: slandering a person's lineage, wailing over the dead and seeking rain by the stars.)