Bismillah.Indeed all praise is to Allah, the one who created me and you.

Zayd ibn harith was a former slave of Khadjah who the Prophet (peace be
upon him) had freed and adopted as a son at the age of eight when he still
wasnt a prophet of Islam. And thus Zayd ibn Harith was known to many by
Zayd ibn Muhammad
Zaynab bint Jahsh was the first cousin of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
She came from one of the noblest families of Quraysh.
Zayd ibn harith was Muhammeds former adopted son as the statement for
the abolishment of adoption was already applied at the time of medina.
Allah says: Nor has He made your adopted sons your sons. Such is only
your (manner of) speech by your mouths. But Allah tells you the Truth, and
He shows the right way that is correct. Call them by the names of their
fathers: that is more just with Allah. But if ye know not their fathers names,
(then they are) your brothers in faith, or your wards. [Srah al-Ahzb, 33 :
4-5]
Ibn Kathr quotes Ibn `Abbss report:
The Prophet wanted to choose a wife for Zayd ibn rithah, and he went
into Zaynab bint Jashs home and proposed to her that she married him.
She said: I do not wish to marry him.
The Prophet said: Do not say that. Marry him.
She said: Messenger of God! I will consider it.
As they were engaged in conversation God revealed this verse to His
Messenger:
Whenever God and His Messenger have decided a matter, it is not for a
believing man or a believing woman to claim freedom of choice in that
matter. (33: Verse 36)
She asked the Prophet: Messenger of God! Are you happy for me to marry
him?
He replied: Yes.
She said: Then I will not disobey Gods Messenger. I will marry him.

The Prophet wanted to achieve through this marriage the removal of class
distinctions as also implementation of the Qurnic principle: Truly, the
noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most genuinely Godfearing. (49: 13) He wanted to give this new Islamic value practical
endorsement.
Allahs will then dictated that the Prophet should undertake the annulment of
the effects of adoption himself, by marrying Zayds divorcee. He was to
confront society with this action, which no man could undertake despite the
earlier prohibition against adoption.
Therefore, Allah informed His Messenger that Zayd would be divorcing
Zaynab and that he would marry her, and all to fulfil Allahs purpose.
By this time, relations between Zayd and Zaynab were troubled, the parties
themselves aware that their marriage would not last long.
Time after time, Zayd complained to the Prophet that his life with Zaynab
was not a happy one, saying that he could not carry on with her.
Zayd was also very close to the Prophet.
Therefore, he said to Zayd: Hold on to your wife and have fear of God.
(Verse 37)
Brave as he was in clearly and unhesitatingly confronting his people in
matters of faith, the Prophet felt that the burden of Zaynabs situation was
too heavy for him to carry.
He was uneasy about confronting people with the practical destruction of
their old adoption tradition.
In so doing, he was delaying this serious challenge to social norms: And
thus you would hide in your heart that which God wanted to bring to light.
You stood in fear of people, whereas it was God alone of whom you should
have stood in fear. (Verse 37)
The Prophet knew that Allah would eventually bring it all to light, just as he
knew through Allahs inspiration that it would take place. It was, thus, not a
clear order from Allah. Had it been so, he would not have hesitated, not
delayed for a moment. He would have declared it on the spot no matter what
consequences he might have expected.
Instead, it was simply an inspiration countered by the outcome he feared
would take place. He thus waited until it was Allahs will for it to happen, for
Zayd to divorce Zaynab with neither of them paying any thought to what
would happen next.
Up to this point, marriage between a man and the divorcee of his adopted
son was still considered unlawfull.

Anas reports: When Zaynab finished her waiting period, the Prophet said o
Zayd ibn rithah: Go and propose to her on my behalf.
He went to her home and saw her making her dough.
He said: When I saw her I was in so much awe that I could not look at her,
and say that Gods Messenger wished to marry her.
Therefore, I turned my back on her and, looking away, I said: Zaynab! I have
happy news for you. Gods Messenger has sent me to propose to you.
She said: I will do nothing until I have consulted my Lord.
She then went to pray.
The Qurnic verse was revealed, and the Prophet came and entered her
home without knocking. [Related by Muslim, Amad and al-Nas.]

The whole thing was exactly as Allah said: When Zayd had come to the end
of his union with her, We gave her to you in marriage, so that no blame
should attach to the believers for marrying the spouses of their adopted sons
when the latter have come to the end of their union with them. (Verse 37)
Gods will must be fulfilled. (Verse 37) It cannot be overturned. It just
comes about and nothing can stop it. Therefore, the Prophets marriage to
Zaynab took place after she had completed her waiting period. He then sent
Zayd, her former husband and the person he loved most, to carry his
proposal to her.
To be expected, the matter did not pass easily. Rather, it came as a big
surprise to the whole Muslim community, while the hypocrites were quick to
circulate their allegations that the Prophet had married his sons wife.
The question, however, was that of establishing a new principle. Therefore,
the Qurn emphasized this and removed its strange aspects: No blame
whatsoever attaches to the Prophet for doing what God has ordained for
him. (Verse 38)
It was Allahs who ordained that the Prophet should marry Zaynab and
abolish the Arabian tradition that prohibited marriage to a former wife of an
adopted son
By marrying Zaynab, the Prophet (peace be upon him) demonstrated in the
clearest possible way that in Islam an adopted son is not the same as a
natural son and that the guardian of an adopted son is permitted to marry a
woman who was once married to that adopted son.
This, however, was from Allahs wisdom. If the Prophet (peace be upon him)

had only said to the people that since adopted sons are not true sons,
therefore men may marry the ex-wives of their adopted sons, it would not
have had the same effect as cultural practices and taboos are quite strong.
For instance, as Muslims we all know that race and ethnicity are not
important. However, we can see the problems that almost invariably arise
when a Muslim girl wants to marry a Muslim boy from a different ethnic
background. Therefore, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was commanded to
marry her by way of example.
This marriage also served another purpose. The prophet was responsible for
arranging Zainab's marriage to Zaid. In a sense, then, he was also indirectly
responsible for the unhappiness she felt in her marriage. Her marriage to the
prophet now provided her the honour she felt she deserved, and thus Allah
exonerated the prophet.
Science of history and Science of Hadith: The Difference
Traditionally, Islamic history was a separate science from hadith. Even
though there are some areas where they cross each other but traditionally
they had different set of rules.
Scholars of hadith were very strict in their rules. While scholars of Seerah,
were more liberal, more flexible.
The reason is, when they were dealing with hadiths drawing rulings, they
wanted to make sure they were basing the rulings on hadiths that were
sound. They do not want us to worship Allah based on weak sources. So
thats why they applied very strict rules to hadith.
However, when it came to History, they were more flexible in their rules,
because they saw this as history which does not affect rulings much.As a
result they would accept narrations easily, which they wouldnt normally
accept if they were dealing with hadith.
So authenticity is based on a study of the chain of transmission by way of
which it reached us. If a chain of transmission has gaps in it or contradictions
or contains people who were known liars, then it is not acceptable.
About the story that the Prophet (peace be upon him) saw Zaynab not
fully dressed and became full of desire for her and said something
indicating his desire to marry her(Allah is the one who causes
hearts to turn!) . Therefore, when Zayd heard that, he was
determined to divorce Zaynab and sacrifice his wife for the
Prophets(P) desire and passion. Then when Zayd divorced her, the
verse was revealed you did hide in yourself that which Allah will
make manifest, you did fear the people whereas Allah had a better

right that you should fear Him According to the story, the thing
that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was concealing in his heart
was his desire to marry Zaynab.
This story is baseless. It does not have any chain of transmission worth
mentioning.
For this reason, Ibn Kathr does not mention it at all in his commentary of the
Qurn.
In his monumental work on history, al-Bidyah wa al-Nihyah, Ibn Kathr
discusses the marriage of Zaynab bint Jahsh and mentions that there were
some strange stories circulated by the early scholars, but many of them were
dubious and should be abandoned.

Tareekh at-Tabari,from which this story was taken, was a voluminous text
compiled by Imam Ibn Jarir at-Tabari (may Allah be pleased with him).
Imam at-Tabari followed the classic methodology of early Islamic historians, a
process which differed greatly from modern day historical writers.
Islamic historians would simply compile all the known narrations about a
certain event, regardless of how authentic or reliable each of those
narrations were, while the Muhaditheen authenticated them.
So Tareekh at-Tabari is simply a collection of narrations on certain events
where the authenticity of each narration depends on the Isnad (chain of
transmitters):
If the narration was transmitted by reliable narrators, then it would be
accepted as valid, but if it was transmitted by unreliable people, then the
narration was to be disregarded.
Imam at-Tabari clearly says in the introduction of his book that the narrations
found in his book are only as good as the people who narrate them.
If the compiler of the book does not view all of the narrations as authentic,
then it is indeed absurd for the orientalists to assume that each and every
single narration in Tareekh at-Tabari is accepted.
Tabari says in a disclaimer in the introduction of his book:

I shall likewise mention those (narrators) who came after them, giving
additional information about them. I do this so that it can be clarified whose
transmission (of traditions) is praised and whose information is transmitted,
whose transmission is to be rejected and whose transmission is to be
disregardedThe reader should know that with respect to all I have
mentioned and made it a condition to set down in this book of mine, I rely
upon traditions and reports which have been transmitted and which I
attribute to their transmitters. I rely only very rarely upon (my own)
rationality and internal thought processes. For no knowledge of the history of
men of the past and of recent men and events is attainable by those who
were not able to observe them and did not live in their time, except through
information and transmission produced by informants and transmitters. This
knowledge cannot be brought out by reason or produced by internal thought
processes. This book of mine may contain some information mentioned by
me on the authority of certain men of the past, which the reader may
disapprove of and the listener may find detestable, because he can find
nothing sound and no real meaning in it. In such cases, he should know that
it is not my fault that such information comes to him, but the fault of
someone who transmitted it to me. I have merely reported it as it was
reported to me.
(Tareekh at-Tabari, Vol.1, Introduction)
Thus Imam at-Tabaris book was simply an attempt to place narrations into a
chronological order so that they would read out like a historical narrative;
therefore, Tabarilike Ibn Ishaqdid a wonderful job of creating one of the first
books which placed narrations in a chronological order.
However, Imam at-Tabari only placed them in the right order, but he did not
authenticate them, nor did he claim that.
It should be known that the only two books of Hadith which are considered
completely authentic are the Sahihayn (Bukhari and Muslim).
After these two books, there are four other books which are considered
reliable, but which contain some authentic and some unauthentic Hadiths.
( Sunan at-Tirmidhi,Sunan Abu Dawood, Ahmed,An Nasai)
As for Tareekh at-Tabari, it is considered less reliable than any of these six
books of Hadith!

Tareekh at-Tabari is not even a book of Hadith but a book of history, and as is
well-known, the scholars of Hadith would criticize the historians for their lack
of scruples when it came to using weak narrations.
Criticism by narration:
By critically analyzing the reports involved via its chain of narration, the
narration can be proven baseless:
First narration:
Muhammad Ibn Umar said: Abdullah ibn Amr Al-Aslami said:
Muhammad Ibn Yahya Ibn Habban said: the Prophet(P) came to Zayd Ibn
Haritha?s house asking for him - when Zayd was called Muhammads son.
When the Prophet(P) wanted him he asked: where is Zayd? Then he went
seeking him at his house. But he didnt find him at home, accordingly,
Zaynab came out to receive him, wearing her nightgown. The Prophet(P)
turned his face, and she said: He isnt here O Prophet of Allah, but I beg of
you to come in. but the Prophet(P) refused to. She came out in her
nightgown for she hurried when she was told that the Prophet(P) was at the
door. She fell into the Prophets heart, then he left murmuring
incomprehensible words, except for: Grace be to Him Who directs the heart.
When Zayd came home, Zaynab told him that the Prophet(P) had been at
their house. Zayd asked her: Did you not tell him to come in?! Zaynab said: I
have but he refused. Zayd asked: did he not say anything? Zaynab said: he
left murmuring something I couldn?t understand, but I heard him say Grace
be to Him Who directs the heart?. Afterwards, Zayd went to the Prophet(P)
and said: O Prophet of Allah, I have been told that you have been to my
house, and that you have refused to come in. if it had been that you like
Zaynab, I shall leave her for your sake. But the Prophet(P) said: Hold on to
you wife. But Zayd couldnt live on with Zaynab from that day. He would
come to the Prophet(P) and ask him again, but the Prophet(P) would say:
Hold on to your wife. And Zayd asked him again, and the Prophet(P) would
still say: Hold on to your wife. But Zayd divorced Zaynab and her period was
over. Meanwhile, the Prophet(P) was talking to ?Aisha when all of the sudden
he was addressed by the Holy Spirit. He was relieved, and said smiling: who
shall go to Zaynab and tell her that Allah has make her my wife? Then he
recited the verse Behold! Thou didst say to one who had received the
grades of Allah and thy favour to the end of it.

The first flaw :

This narration is mursal (i.e., two reporters are missing), because Muhammad
ibn Yahya ibn Haban was not a Successor(the generation after the
Companions of the prophet Saw), he narrated from the Companions and the
Successors such as Umar Ibn Salim and Al-Araj, etc. He died 121 A.H. when
he was 74 years old, so he did not witness the incident, nor had he
mentioned who hadhe taken the narration from.
The second flaw
Abdullah ibn Amr Al-Aslami is agreed upon his weakness (in narration).
Moreover, Al-Bukhari said about him: his narration is to be ignored. And
Abu Hatim said: abandoned.
The third flaw
Muhammd ibn Umar is Al-Waqidi, a storyteller who has many narrations, are
dropped from consideration. Furthermore, some scholars accused him of
lying and fabricating hadith.

Second narration:
Yunis told me: Ibn Wahab said: Ibn Zayd said: The Prophet(P) wedded
Zayd bin Haritha to his cousin Zaynab bint Jahsh. On the day the Prophet
(pbuh) went out in search of him (Zayd), the door of his house was but a
piece of fabric, therefore the wind blew it open and revealed Zaynab (with
her sleeves up). And she fell into the Prophets(P) heart, and since then she
hated the other (Zayd). Then Zayd came to the Prophet(P) and said: O
Prophet of Allah, I want to leave my wife. He said: Why? Do you have any
suspicion about her? He answered: No! by Allah I have no suspicion about
her and I have seen but goodness from her. Then the Prophet(P) said: Hold
on to your wife, and fear Allah in her. For that is what Allah said: Behold!
Thou didst say to one who had received the grades of Allah and thy favour:
Retain thou (in wedlock) thy wife, and fear Allah. But thou didst hide in thy
heart that which Allah was about to make manifest i.e., hide in thy heart
that if you leave her I will marry her.

First flaw:
It is mudil (i.e., more than two reporters are missing), for ibn Zayd (who is
Abdur-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn Aslam), is neither a Companion nor a Successor,
and accordingly two or more narrators are absent.
Second flaw:
Abdur-Rahaman Ibn Zayd Ibn Aslam is weak by the agreement of Hadith
scholars, and some went as far as to say that his narrations are to be
abandoned. Al-Bukhari and Abu Hatim said:
Ali Ibn Al-Madini considered him very weak.
It is reported that Ash-Shafi said: Abdur-Rahman Ibn Zayd Ibn Aslam was
asked, Did your father told you on authority of your grandfather that Allahs
Messenger (pbuh) said: Nuhs Ark circumambulated the (Sacred) House and
prayed behind the Maqam two Rakaas he answered, Yes. That is why
when an interrupted Hadith was narrated to Malik, he said: Go to AbdurRahman Ibn Zayd to tell you on authority of his father about Nuh. Statements
of Imams regarding his weakness are so many. He was a good man deep in
the soul, but he was so much involved into praying and worship that he could
not memorize Hadith, so he was considered weak. [5]
Some tafsir is related from him, if it is of his own opinion in understanding
the Quran, it is evaluated. If it related on authority of others, it is
unacceptable, let alone being without isnad!

Criticism by Context and logic :

Several things point to the lack of truth in this story.
First, it is unlikely that the prophet (pbuh) was suddenly struck by Zainab's
beauty. Zainab was his cousin. He had known her since childhood. Why
would she suddenly appear striking after she was already married to
another?
Second, the prophet had arranged for her to get married to Zaid. If there was
to be an attraction why did the prophet (pbuh) not encourage her to marry
none but himself?

Third, the fact of the matter was that Zaid's marriage proved to be an
unhappy one. Zaid was a former slave and as such was held in low esteem in
the eyes of Zainab. He mentioned to the prophet that he intended to divorce
his wife. But the prophet advised him to keep his wife and avoid divorce. If
He wanted her why would he advise against the divorce??

Conclusion:
It is very very unfortunate that the unbelievers, who help us attain a broad
perception of our religion, they themselves have a narrow perception.
Their problem is that they dont believe Muhammed (saw) is the Messenger
of Allah. So the problem is deep-rooted, if everyone believed Muhammed
(saw) is the prophet of Allah, then there would be no right to question the
Creator of all the worlds. Allah owns nothing to us, we own everything to
Him.
When the Quraish used to accuse Muhammed (saw) of various things, Allah
revealed in surah Al-Anam
We know that you, [O Muhammad], are saddened by what they say. And
indeed, they do not call you untruthful, but it is the verses of Allah that the
wrongdoers reject.
They are not disbelieving Muhammed (saw), they are disbelieving the
message of Allah, they are attacking Muhammed (saw) because he is the
Messenger, they are not attacking his personality just because of his
personality, but because he (saw) is conveying the message of Allah.
A liar usually lies for some worldly gain, but the Prophet (peace be upon him)
rejected all worldly aspirations, and suffered tremendously for his message.
He rejected the riches, power and kingdom he was offered to stop preaching
his message.
Significantly, he was persecuted for his beliefs; boycotted and exiled from his
beloved city Makkah; starved of food; and stoned by children to the point
where his blood drenched his legs. His wife passed away and his beloved
companions were tortured and persecuted
Muhammad lived this hard life till he died although the Muslim treasury
was at his disposal, the greater part of the Arabian Peninsula was Muslim
before he died, and the Muslims were victorious after eighteen years of his
mission.

Muhammad was mostly busy away from home overseeing his numerous
duties as a Prophet. So, obviously, lust was not a factor, as he wasnt even at
home most of the time. Furthermore, most of his marriages occurred at an
age when lust is not a major factor in any mans life:
1. He remained single until age 25.
2. From age 25 to 50 he was faithful to only one wife, Khadijah, who bore all
his children except one. She was 15 years older than him, with children from
two previous marriages. She was his greatest ally when he received the Call
at age 40 until she died when he was 50 years old. He remained in love with
her until he died and often talked of his life with her with great nostalgia.
3. Between ages 50 and 52 he remained unmarried and mourning his late
beloved wife. He lived alone with his daughters.
4. Between ages 53 and 60 he married all his other wives for many noble
reasons detailed below. Its unimaginable for a man to suddenly turn lustful
at this age, especially as he was constantly traveling, with bloodthirsty
enemies on his heels.
5. At age 60, Allah revealed to him verse preventing him from marrying any
more until he died, which was at age 63. The Quran says what means:
It is not lawful for you (to marry other) women after this, nor to change
them for other wives. (Al-Ahzab 33:52)
Reasons for the Prophets Marriages
Muhammad the Prophet married all the wives except Khadijah for reasons
pertaining to his duty to deliver the Message to the world. Those particular
women were carefully selected, not just haphazardly acquired for carnal
reasons, as suggested. Here are some of the reasons for which Muhammad
married:
1. To pass on Islam to the next generations as a practical legacy
Prophet Muhammad is the only prophet without any privacy, and with a
meticulously preserved tradition in speech and actions in all minute details of
his public and private life. Preserved in the sharp minds of his wives and his
Companions, those narrations comprise the daily life manual for Muslims to
follow until the end of time. The fact that Islam was spread on the shoulders
of women and preserved in their hearts is a great honor to the females of
this Ummah. The books of authentic Hadith attribute more than 3,000
narrations and Prophetic traditions to his wives alone, with young Aisha
being the 4th highest narrator of Hadith and also a great scholar of Islam.
2. To cement the relations of the budding nation
In a tribal society, it was customary to seal treaties through marrying into
tribes. Muhammads closest Companions later became the four caliphs who

led Islam at the critical stage after his death. Two of them were the fathers of
his wives `Aishah (daughter of Abu Bakr) and Hafsa (daughter of `Umar);
the other two married his daughters (`Uthman married Ruqayyah and
Zaynab in succession, and `Ali married Fatimah).
3. To teach Muslims compassion with women
He taught them to be compassionate not just to the young and beautiful
maidens, but more so to the weak and destitute widows, divorcees, orphans,
and elderly women. Islam teaches that women are to be respected,
protected, and cared for by their men folk. Theyre not to be cast out to face
a harsh life alone while able men around them just pity them and do nothing
to help, or worse, use their weakness to take them as mistresses! He
teachers that the best among men are those who are most compassionate to
their wives.
4. To offer a practical role model to Muslims until the end of time
Although many believing women often approached Muhammad offering him
themselves in marriage, he politely turned down their offers. Most of his
wives after the death of Khadijah were old, devoid of beauty, and previously
married, except `Aishah, who was the only young virgin. He married from
other nations and religions; some were the daughters of his worst enemies,
and his marriage to one woman won all her people into Islam. Regardless of
his neutral feelings towards many of them, he was a model example of equal
justice and kindness to them all, and he would never discriminate among
them
What could explain why Muhammad did not marry young beautiful women
when every woman wanted to be his privileged partner?
Why would Muhammad forbid himself from marrying more women if he
himself made the Quran if he was a lustful person?
What could justify such a life of suffering and sacrifice even after he was
fully triumphant over his adversaries?
What could explain the humbleness and nobility which he demonstrated in
his most glorious moments when he insisted that success is due only to
Gods help and not to his own genius?
Are these the characteristics of a power-hungry, lustful or a self-centered
man?

Ref:
http://islamicresponse.blogspot.com/2008/07/allegations-concerningmuhammads_27.html
http://www.answering-christianity.com/umar/zaynab_bint_jahsh.htm