Surah Al-Ahzaab (33) — Ayah 1

O Prophet! Fear Allah [1] and do not obey the disbelievers and the hypocrites. Surely, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.

[1]
The Atmosphere of Fear and Panic in Madinah After the Battle of Uhud:

Although most of this surah was revealed after the Battle of Ahzab (5 AH), the initial verses are from much before the Battle of Ahzab. In Makkah, the only enemies of the Prophet ﷺ and the Muslims were the Quraysh of Makkah. But after migrating to Madinah, the Jews, polytheists, and hypocrites of Madinah all became enemies of the Prophet ﷺ. They were determined to defame Islam and the Messenger of Islam and to wipe them off the face of the earth. The temporary defeat suffered by the Muslims in the Battle of Uhud greatly emboldened the enemies. The polytheist tribes twice deceived the Messenger of Allah ﷺ by demanding reciters for preaching and then killed them. An atmosphere of fear and panic constantly prevailed over Madinah. And the enemies of Islam had launched a vigorous propaganda campaign against Islam.

Social Reforms and the Issue of Slavery:

And this was the very period in which, through revelation, the moral training of the Muslims and the process of social reforms was also ongoing, and among these social reforms, a very important issue was that of slavery. Slavery was so widespread in Arab society that it would not be wrong to say that more than half of the Arab population at that time consisted of slaves. Moreover, these slaves were considered a much inferior and lower class of beings compared to free people, and Islam wanted to introduce several reforms in this regard.

The Class Division Between Slave and Free:

A link in this chain was that Zayd bin Harithah was the Prophet’s ﷺ slave, whom the Prophet ﷺ freed and adopted as his son. Thus, people used to call Sayyiduna Zayd Zayd bin Muhammad. These freed slaves also did not have the same status in society as free people. In terms of social honor and dignity, they formed a kind of intermediate third class, above the slaves but still not considered equal by the free people. In this regard, Islam took several steps and introduced many reforms. For example, although Islam did not completely abolish slavery, as there were some expediencies in this, it did adopt such measures that as many slaves as possible could attain the blessing of freedom, and this is a separate topic that requires considerable detail.

The Marriage of Your Freed Slave Zayd to Sayyidah Zaynab:

Regarding freed slaves, Islam’s intention was that at least such people should be given equal status to free people. Accordingly, in line with this divine intention, the Prophet ﷺ proposed marriage for his freed slave and adopted son Zayd to his paternal cousin Sayyidah Zaynab. Sayyidah Zaynab’s family was the Prophet’s own family, who were considered people of very high status in free society. How could they possibly accept such a proposal? Thus, they flatly refused the proposal on this very basis, and since this proposal was not made by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ of his own accord but by Allah’s command, verse 36 of this surah was revealed upon their refusal, in which Sayyidah Zaynab’s relatives were informed that “when Allah and His Messenger decide a matter, it is not for the believers to have any choice in it.” Thus, they submitted to Allah’s command, and the marriage of Sayyiduna Zayd and Sayyidah Zaynab took place. However, even after the marriage, cordial relations could not develop between the spouses, and the reason for this was the same class distinction that had taken root in society.

Your Advising Zayd and the Matter Reaching Divorce:

Sayyidah Zaynab did submit to Allah’s command, but it was not within her power to suddenly change her nature. She could not show her husband the respect that a wife should show her husband. Since Sayyiduna Zayd was also dear to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his adopted son, he repeatedly complained to the Prophet ﷺ about this distress and mental anguish, and also said that he would divorce Zaynab. But the Prophet ﷺ kept forbidding Sayyiduna Zayd from divorcing her. The beginning of every difficult task is from the person of the Prophet:

The Command to Marry Sayyidah Zaynab:

There was another corruption present in Arab society, which was that they considered an adopted son in every respect like a real son, and Islam wanted to take a reformative step in this matter as well. But since this was an extremely difficult step, whoever intended to open this closed door would become the target of the entire Arab society’s criticism and reproach. Therefore, Allah selected the person of the Prophet for this difficult task. During the time when Sayyiduna Zayd was considering divorcing Sayyidah Zaynab, the Prophet ﷺ had already received an indication from Allah that now Sayyidah Zaynab would be married to him ﷺ. Two objectives were intended by this divine indication: one, that Sayyidah Zaynab, who had submitted to Allah’s command despite her personal dislike, would be comforted by marrying the Prophet ﷺ in the future; and second, that the false notion in society that an adopted son is in every respect like a real son would be eradicated.

The Taunts and Criticism of Disbelievers and Hypocrites on the Marriage:

When the Prophet ﷺ received the indication through revelation to marry Sayyidah Zaynab, all those dangers came to mind, when all the enemies would taunt him, saying, “Look! This Prophet has married his daughter-in-law, even though he himself declares marriage to a daughter-in-law to be forbidden.” It was probably due to the fear of such taunts and criticism that the Prophet ﷺ kept forbidding Zayd from divorcing her. In this context, these initial verses of the surah were revealed, and Allah directly addressed His Prophet, saying that there is no need for you to fear these disbelievers and hypocrites, nor to pay attention to their words. The only One worthy of fear is Allah. You should fear only Him and obey only His revelation. Allah knows well the wisdom behind His commands and why He is issuing such a command, and those who will raise a clamor in reaction to this marriage—Allah is fully aware of them as well.