A Comparative Study of the Holy Prophet's Marriage to Zainab with Emphasis on Criticizing Certain Specious Arguments

This study seeks to criticize the exegetical view of Sunni scholars regarding two verses in connection with the Holy Prophet's marriage to Zainab bint Jahsh, an opinion which gives adequate excuse in the hand of malevolent people to reject the absolute infallibility of the Prophet (S) in personal matters. Although these two verses make no reference to the superstitions that have gotten into narrations concerning the occasions in which the verses were revealed, some people relying on the same narrations have ascribed certain false traits to the Prophet (S) such as forbidden love, the fear of being exposed, trying to hide his love, feigning something and hiding something else, the interest in family disintegration just for personal desires, etc. These narrations are not only inauthentic and poor in terms of content and significations, but they are in clear contrast with the outward meaning of the verse and rational arguments regarding absolute infallibility of the Holy Prophet (S) and with other narrations which unmistakably seem to be authentic as well as with the historical evidence.