Marriage to Zaynab bint Jahsh

The Prophet married Zaynab bint Jahsh after Zayd ibn Haritha's divorce from her in Dhu al-Qa'da of year 5 AH — demolishing the Jahiliyya rule of adoption that made an adopted son's wife forbidden ¹.

Zaynab bint Jahsh was the daughter of the Prophet's aunt and was married to Zayd ibn Haritha, who was regarded as the Prophet's son; Zayd divorced her ². In the Arabs' Jahiliyya an adopted son carried all the prohibitions and rights of a true son — a deep-rooted rule that brought harms in marriage and inheritance, which Islam came to erase ³. God commanded His prophet to marry her to demolish the rule in deed as it had been demolished in word; he married her in Dhu al-Qa'da of year five of the hijra, in the days of the siege of Banu Qurayza, after her waiting period ended ¹. Concerning it came down from Sura al-Ahzab al-Ahzab 37 "when Zayd had no more need of her, We wed her to you so there be no hardship on the believers regarding the wives of their adopted sons", and with it verses settling the matter of adoption, among them al-Ahzab 5 "call them by their fathers — that is more equitable before God" and al-Ahzab 40 "Muhammad was not the father of any of your men" ⁴. The hypocrites stirred whisperings and wide false propaganda around this marriage, some of which affected the weak among the Muslims — particularly as she was his fifth wife while the Muslims did not then know marriage beyond four was lawful, and Zayd had been considered a son ⁵.

The Sunnis read the marriage as a divine command to demolish the adoption rule in legislation and deed, citing the verse's rebuke of him for fearing the people ⁶. Modern studies treat the event within their broader criticism of his multiple marriages and of the apologists' narratives, keeping the details to the transmitted texts' face ⁷.