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Then, when Allah—Mighty and Exalted—revealed the verse of the veil, in His words:
“O Prophet, tell your wives, your daughters, and the believing women to draw their cloaks over themselves,”1
He thereby screened the women from the sight of men. This took place when the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—married Zaynab bint Jahsh2; he lowered the curtain and forbade Anas to look. Later, when he chose Ṣafiyyah bint Ḥuyayy in the year of Khaybar, the people said, “If he veils her,3 she is one of the Mothers of the Believers; otherwise she is among those whom his right hand possesses.”
(1) Al-Ahzab, 33:59.
(2) I note that this statement is inconsistent with what precedes it. The verse revealed when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, married Zaynab bint Jahsh was not the one mentioned above; rather, it was the following: “O believers, do not enter the homes of the Prophet unless you are given permission to share a meal, without waiting for it to be prepared. But when you are invited, then enter; and when you have eaten, then disperse, without lingering for conversation. Indeed, this would offend the Prophet, yet he is too shy to ask you to leave, whereas Allah is not shy of the truth. And when you ask his wives for something, ask them from behind a screen …” (Al-Ahzab, 33:53).
This is the verse that was revealed when he, peace and blessings be upon him, married Zaynab, as is explicitly stated in the authentic hadiths recorded by al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others. See *Tafsir Ibn Kathir*, *al-Durr al-Manthur*, and my book *The Veil of the Muslim Woman*, p. 48, published by al-Maktab al-Islami. Perhaps this passage was inadvertently omitted by the author or the copyist, which is the more likely explanation.
(3) That is, her face, as stated in some versions. The hadith indicates that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, also veiled the faces of his free wives. This is preferable, as explained in …
ثم لما أنزل الله عز وجل آية الحجاب بقوله:
{يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ لِأَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلابِيبِهِنَّ}
١ حجب النساء عن الرجال.
وكان ذلك لما تزوج النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم زينب بنت جحش٢ فأرخى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم الستر ومنع أنساً أن ينظر.
ولما اصطفى صفية بنت حيي بعد ذلك عام خيبر قالوا:
إن حجبها٣ فهي من أمهات المؤمنين. وإلا فهي ملكت يمينه،
١ الأحزاب: ٥٩
٢ قلت: هذا الكلام غير منسجم مع الذي قبله فإن الآية التي نزلت لما توزج النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم بزينب بنت جحش ليست هي الآية المتقدمة وإنما هي قوله تعالى: {يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَدْخُلُوا بُيُوتَ النَّبِيِّ إِلَّا أَنْ يُؤْذَنَ لَكُمْ إِلَى طَعَامٍ غَيْرَ نَاظِرِينَ إِنَاهُ وَلَكِنْ إِذَا دُعِيتُمْ فَادْخُلُوا فَإِذَا طَعِمْتُمْ فَانْتَشِرُوا وَلا مُسْتَأْنِسِينَ لِحَدِيثٍ إِنَّ ذَلِكُمْ كَانَ يُؤْذِي النَّبِيَّ فَيَسْتَحْيِي مِنْكُمْ وَاللَّهُ لا يَسْتَحْيِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ وَإِذَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُنَّ مَتَاعاً فَاسْأَلوهُنَّ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ ... } [الآية ٥٤ – الأحزاب] .
فهذه الآية هي التي نزلت حين تزوج صلى الله عليه وسلم بزينب كما صرحت بذلك الأحاديث الصحيحة عند البخاري ومسلم وغيرهما انظر "تفسير ابن كثير" و "الدر المنثور" وغيرهما وكتابي "حجاب المرأة المسلمة" "ص ٤٨" طبع المكتب الإسلامي فلعلها سقطت من قلم المؤلف أو الناسخ وهو الأقرب.
٣ أي وجهها كما في بعض الطرق. ففي الحديث أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يحجب نساءه الحرائر في وجوههن أيضا وهذا هو الأفضل كما فصل ذلك في =