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Al-Aʿraj reported: “The Messenger of Allah allotted Zaynab bint Jahsh, at Khaybar, one hundred wasqs (a large measure of grain) from its produce.”
It is also narrated from ʿAmrah, from ʿĀʾishah, who said:
“May Allah have mercy on Zaynab. In this world she attained a distinction no one else could attain: Allah Himself married her [to the Prophet], and the Qur’an spoke of her marriage. The Messenger of Allah said to us: ‘The one of you who will join me the soonest is she whose arm is the longest.’ ”
With these words he gave her the glad tidings that she would be the first of us to follow him, and she is his wife in Paradise.
I say: Her sister was Ḥamna bint Jahsh, the one who spoke against ʿĀʾishah in the incident of the Slander, vigorously defending her sister Zaynab ⦗1⦘, whereas Zaynab herself was safeguarded by Allah through her piety.
Ḥamna was the wife of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, and she had undertaken the Hijrah.
Al-maghafir is a kind of resin resembling al-natif; it oozes from the ʿurfut tree, is collected on a piece of cloth, then sprinkled with water and drunk. It gives off an unpleasant smell.
There is another cause reported for the revelation of the verse. Saʿid ibn Mansur – with an isnad judged sound by al-Hafiz – transmits from Masruq that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ swore to Hafsa that he would not approach his bond-woman and said, “She is forbidden to me.” The verse requiring expiation for his oath was then revealed, together with the command not to forbid himself what Allah had made lawful to him.
Al-Diyaʾ al-Maqdisi, in al-Mukhtara from the Musnad of Haytham ibn Kulayb, cites through the chain of Jarir ibn Hazim – from Ayyub, from Nafiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar – that the Prophet ﷺ said to Hafsa: “Do not tell anyone: Umm Ibrahim is forbidden to me.” He did not go near her until Hafsa informed ʿAʾisha, whereupon Allah revealed: qad farada Allahu lakum tahillata aymanikum (“Allah has already prescribed for you a way to absolve your oaths”).
Al-Tabarani, in Ashrat al-Nisaʾ, and Ibn Marduwayh transmit through Abu Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman – from Abu Salama, from Abu Hurayra – that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was with Mariya in Hafsa’s house. Hafsa returned, found them together and exclaimed: “O Messenger of Allah, in my house you do this with me and not with your other wives!”; the rest of the report is similar.
Al-Tabarani also records, through al-Dahhak from Ibn ʿAbbas, that Hafsa entered her house and found the Prophet ﷺ lying with Mariya; she reproached him, and the narration proceeds along the same lines. Al-Hafiz comments that these various chains reinforce one another, so it is possible that the verse was revealed for both reasons jointly.
Al-Nasaʾi relates, through Hammad – from Thabit, from Anas – a concise version of the story: the Prophet ﷺ had a bond-woman with whom he had relations, and Hafsa and ʿAʾisha continued to press him until he declared her forbidden. Then Allah revealed: ya ayyuhaʾl-nabi lima tuharrimu ma ahalla Allahu laka (“O Prophet, why do you forbid what Allah has made lawful for you…”).
(1) See Asad al-Ghaba, vol. 7, pp. 69 and 71.
وَعَنِ الأَعْرَجِ، قَالَ: أَطْعَمَ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ زَيْنَبَ بِنْتَ جَحْشٍ بِخَيْبَرَ مائَةَ وَسَقٍ.
وَيُرْوَى عَنْ: عَمْرَةَ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، قَالَتْ:
يَرْحَمُ اللهُ زَيْنَبَ، لَقَدْ نَالَتْ فِي الدُّنْيَا الشَّرَفَ الَّذِي لاَ يَبْلُغُهُ شَرَفٌ، إِنَّ اللهَ زَوَّجَهَا، وَنَطَقَ بِهِ القُرْآنُ، وَإِنَّ رَسُوْلَ اللهِ قَالَ لَنَا: (أَسْرَعُكُنَّ بِي لُحُوْقاً: أَطْوَلُكُنَّ بَاعاً) .
فَبَشَّرَهَا بِسُرْعَةِ لُحُوْقِهَا بِهِ، وَهِيَ زَوْجَتُهُ فِي الجَنَّةِ.
قُلْتُ: وَأُخْتُهَا هِيَ حَمْنَةُ بِنْتُ جَحْشٍ، الَّتِي نَالَتْ مِنْ عَائِشَةَ فِي قِصَّةِ الإِفْكِ، فَطَفِقَتْ تُحَامِي عَنْ أُخْتِهَا زَيْنَبَ (١) ، وَأَمَّا زَيْنَبُ، فَعَصَمَهَا اللهُ بِوَرَعِهَا.
وَكَانَتْ حَمْنَةُ زَوْجَةُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بنِ عَوْفٍ، وَلَهَا هِجْرَةٌ.
= والمغافير: صمغ شبيه بالناطف ينضحه العرفط، فيوضع في ثوب، ثم ينضح بالماء فيشرب، وله ريح منكرة.
وثمت سبب آخر في نزول الآية، فقد أخرج سعيد بن منصور بإسناد صحيح فيما قاله الحافظ إلى مسروق قال: حلف رسول الله ﷺ لحفصة لا يقرب أمته، وقال: هي علي حرام، فنزلت الكفارة ليمينه، وأمر أن لا يحرم ما أحل الله له، وأخرج الضياء المقدسي في " المختارة " من مسند الهيثم بن كليب، ثم من طريق جرير بن حازم، عن أيوب عن نافع، عن ابن عمر قال: قال رسول الله ﷺ لحفصة: " لا تخبري أحدا إن أم إبراهيم علي حرام " قال: فلم يقربها حتى أخبرت عائشة، فأنزل الله (قد فرض الله لكم تحلة أيمانكم) وأخرج الطبراني في عشرة النساء، وابن مردويه من طريق أبي بكر بن عبد الرحمن، عن أبي سلمة، عن أبي هريرة قال: دخل رسول الله ﷺ بمارية ببيت حفصة، فجاءت، فوجدتها معه، فقالت: يا رسول الله في بيتي تفعل هذا معي دون نسائك فذكر نحوه.
وللطبراني من طريق الضحاك، عن ابن عباس قال: دخلت حفصة بيتها، فوجدته يطأ مارية، فعاتبته فذكر نحوه، قال الحافظ: وهذه طرق يقوي بعضها بعضا، فيحتمل أن تكون الآية نزلت في السببين معا.
وقد روى النسائي من طريق حماد، عن ثابت، عن أنس هذه القصة مختصرة أن النبي ﷺ كانت له أمة يطؤها، فلم تزل به حفصة وعائشة حتى حرمها، فأنزل الله تعالى (يا أيها النبي لم تحرم ما أحل الله لك) الآية.
(١) انظر " أسد الغابة " ٧ / ٦٩، ٧١.