The Seventh Letter (7.Mektup Englisch)

[EMRE]

The Seventh Letter

 

 

 

 

 

In His Name, be he Glorified!

 

And there, is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise..

 

 

 

May peace be upon you and God’s mercy and blessings for ever and ever.

 

My Dear Brothers!

 

I gather you told Þamlý Hafýz to ask me two things:

 

THE FIRST

 

“Like the dissemblers in early times, the people of misguidance of modern times also make the Prophet’s (Upon whom be blessings and peace) marriage with Zaynab a pretext for criticism, considering it to have been to satisfy the lusts of the soul.”

 

T h e A n s w e r : God forbid, a hundred thousand times! The hand of such vile doubts cannot reach up to that elevated one! Yes, he was such that from the age of f fifteen to forty when the blood is fiery and exuberant and the passions of the soul enf1amed, sufficed and was content with a single older woman like Khadija the Great (May God be pleased with her) with complete chastity and purity - as is agreed by friend and foe alike. His then having numerous wives after the age of forty, that is, when bodily heat subsides and the passions are quitened, is evidence proving decisively and self-evidently to those who are even a little fair-minded that such marriages were not to satisfy the carnal appetites, but were based on other important instances of wisdom.

 

One of those instances of wisdom is this: Like the Prophet’s words, his actions, states, conduct, and deeds are the sources of religion and the Shari’a, and the authority for its injunctions. Just as the Companions transmitted the outward, public things, the transmitters and narrators Of the private matters of religion and injunctions of the Shari’a which were manifested from his private conduct in the personal sphere, were his wives, and they carried out that duty in fact. Perhaps half of the private matters and injunctions of religion come from them. That is to say, numerous wives of differing temperament were required to perform this necessary duty.

 

Now let us consider his marriage with Zaynab. In connection with the verse,

 

Muhammed is not the father of any of your men, but [he is] the Prophet of God and the Seal of the Prophets,

 

which is one of the examples given in the Third Ray of the First Light in the Twenty-Fifth Word, it is written that with its many aspects, a single verse states meanings appropriate to the understandings of all classes of men.

 

One class’s share of understanding of the above verse is this: according to a sound narration based on his own admission, Zayd, the Most Noble Prophet’s (Upon whom be blessings and peace) servant whom he addressed as “my son,” divorced his proud wife because he did not find himself equal to her. That is to say, with his perceptiveness, Zayd realized that Zaynab had been created with an elevated character different to his and that it was in her nature to be a prophet’s wife. And since he found himself to be by nature unequal to her as a spouse and this caused incompatibility, he divorced her. At God's command, the Most Noble Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace) took her. That is, as indicated by the verse,

 

We joined her in marriage to you

 

showing that it was a heavenly contract, this marriage was out of the ordinary, above external relations, and purely on the orders of Divine Determining. Thus, the Most Noble Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace) submitted to the decree of Divine Determining and was compelled to do so; it was not at the behest of carnal desire.

 

The verse,

 

In order that [in future] there may be no difficulty to the believers

 

in [the matter of] marriage with the wives of their adopted sons,

 

comprises an important injunction of the Shari’a, a general instance of wisdom, and a comprehensive, general benefit pertaining to this decree of Divine Determining, and indicates that adults calling the young “my son” is not forbidden, as is the matter of zihar, that is, a man saying to his wife “you are like my mother,” so that ordinances should change due to it? Also, rulers looking to their subjects and prophets looking to their communities and addressing them in fatherly fashion, is due to the function of prophethood; it is not in respect of their human personalities so that it should be inappropriate for them to take wives from them?

 

Another class’s share of the understanding of this verse is this: a great ruler looks on his subjects with paternal compassion. If he is a spiritual king holding both outward and inward rule, since his compassion is a hundred times greater than that of a father, his subjects look on him as his father, as though they were his real sons. A father’s view is not easily transformed into that of a husband, and a girl’s view into that of a wife. So, since according to this it is inappropriate in the public view for a prophet to take in marriage the believers’ daughters, with the purpose of repelling such a doubt, the Qur'an says: “On account of Divine mercy the Prophet has compassion for you, he deals with you in fatherly fashion, and in the name of prophethood you are like his children. But in regard to his human personality he is not your father so that it should be inappropriate for him to take a wife from among you!? And if he calls you “Son,” in respect of the rulings of the Shari’a, you cannot be his children!..."

 

The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!

 

Said Nursi