Why does a lot of information about the Prophet Muhammad’s family life exist in the Quran?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Acting upon your question, we can say that the inclusion of those issues in the Quran aims to test and distinguish between those with strong belief and those with weak belief.

“Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, “We believe”, and that they will not be tested? We did test those before them, and Allah will certainly know those who are true from those who are false.” (al-Ankabut, 29/2-3)

That fact is underlined in the verses above. Therefore, we have to be careful so as not to be caught by the traps of Satan. We cannot dismiss everything that we do not understand by calling it a superstition. It is not possible for us to know everything.

Religion has two basic elements. The first one is belief. Belief necessitates believing, trusting in Allah and His Messenger, and searching for the information necessary to know them closely. The second element is Islam. As for Islam, it necessitates submission to Allah and His Messenger.

A person who believes in the Quran has to believe in Allah and His Messenger too. Belief in them means believing that they will not resort to deceit, lies and immoral things.

“Is it that there is a disease in their hearts? or do they doubt, or are they in fear, that Allah and His Messenger will deal unjustly with them? Nay, it is they themselves who do wrong!” (an-Nur, 24/50)

It is pointed out in the verse above that Allah and His Messenger are free from all kinds of mistakes.

Besides, the marriage of the Prophet (pbuh) is not mentioned very much in the Quran except for a few places, contrary to the exaggeration regarding the issue. In some verses, the Prophet’s holy family is shown as a living example of chastity. Their positions different from others are indicated. It is pointed out in the chapter of al-Ahzab that the polygamy of the Prophet (pbuh) took place by Allah’s wise permission and implied command - not by his own will, It is decreed in the verse coming immediately after it that he will not marry again; thus, it is - indirectly - emphasized that all her marriages took place according to divine orders.

His marriage to Zaynab, which is the issue that is talked about most, is a miracle in itself in our opinion. It is known that Arabs attached great importance to nobility and that they did not value slaves at all. It is really a miracle that the Prophet (pbuh) married his paternal aunt’s daughter Zaynab off to Zayd, who was his freed slave, though she did not want to marry him but accepted to marry because she could not reject the Prophet’s request, that the Prophet married her after Zayd divorced her, and that he did it in a region where “the adopted child was considered as one’s own child”. As it is indicated in the Quran, the Prophet always rejected Zayd’s request for divorce and advised him to be patient as he never wanted to take part in such a scene. Besides, his concern regarding the issue is also indicated in the Quran.

Just consider all of them together; is it possible for a chaste and decent person like Muhammad (pbuh), who is the most intelligent, honorable, respectable and wisest person and who had a lot of friends and enemies, to take part in a scene that would sadden his friends and make his enemies happy? However, we see that he took part in that scene. It means those things took place outside of his will and as a result of divine commands. It proves – for those who can think - that he is a true prophet.

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