him, played a very important role in conveying Prophetic traditions Ahadith to the Muslims. ‘Aishah,  for  instance, related a large number of the Prophet’s deeds and statements.
His marriage to his paternal cousin Zainab bint Jahsh was a peculiar case which aimed at eradicating a  deeply rooted pre-Islamic tradition — i.e. the adoption of children. In Al-Jahiliyah the Arabs used to  consider an adopted person exactly like a real son or daughter as far as rights and sanctities are  concerned. That Jahiliyah tradition had been so deeply rooted in their hearts that it was not easy to  remove or uproot it. This tradition in fact affronts the basic principles of Islam; especially those  concerned with marriage, divorce and inheritance and some other cases, and brought about lots of  corruptions and indecencies. Naturally Islam stands against such deeds, and attempts to remove them  from the Islamic society.
For the eradication of this tradition, Allâh, the Exalted, bid His Messenger (Peace be upon him) to  marry  his cousin Zainab bint Jahsh, who was an ex-wife to Zaid. She was at variance with Zaid to an extent  that he intended to divorce her — that was at the time when the Confederates (Al-Ahzab) were  making  an evil alliance against the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) and against the Muslims. The
Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) feared that the hypocrites, the idolaters, and the Jews would  make a propaganda out of it and try to influence some Muslims of weak hearts. That was why he  urged
Zaid not to divorce her, in order not to get involved into that trial.
Undoubtedly this hesitation and partiality were alien to the character of the Prophet (Peace be upon  him). They did not apply to the power of determination and will with which he had been sent. Allâh,  the
Exalted, blamed him for that by saying:
“And (remember) when you said to him Zaid bin Haritha (May Allah be pleased with him) — the  freed slave of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) on whom Allâh has bestowed grace (by guiding  him to Islam) and you O Muhammad (Peace be upon him) have done favour (by manumitting  him), ‘Keep your wife to yourself, and fear Allâh.’ But you did hide in yourself (i.e. what Allâh has  already made known to you that He will give her to you in marriage) that which Allâh will make  manifest, you did fear the people i.e. Muhammad (Peace be upon him) married the divorced  wife of his manumitted slave whereas Allâh had a better right that you should fear  him.” 33:37
Finally Zaid divorced Zainab and the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) married her at the time  he laid siege to Bani Quraiza. That was after she had finished her Iddat (i.e. period during which a  widow or a divorcee may not remarry). Allâh Himself had already ordained it, and so gave him no  other  alternative. Allâh had even started the marriage Himself by saying:
“So when Zaid had accomplished his desire from her (i.e. divorced her), We gave her to you in  marriage, so that (in future) there may be no difficulty to the believers in respect of (the  marriage of) the wives of their adopted sons when the latter have no desire to keep them (i.e.  they have divorced them).” 33:37
And that was in order to break down the tradition of child adoption in practice after He had done it in  words:
“Call them (adopted sons) by (the names of) their fathers, that is more just near Allâh.” 33:5
“Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is not the father of any man among you, but he is the
Messenger of Allâh, and the last (end) of the Prophets.” 33:40
Lots of deeply-rooted traditions cannot be uprooted or demolished or even adjusted by mere words.
They must be matched and associated with the action of the advocate of the Message himself.
This could be perceived through the deeds practised by the Muslims at Al-Hudaibiyah ‘Umrah (Lesser
Pilgrimage) during which ‘Urwah bin Mas‘ud Al-Thaqafi saw certain Muslims tend to pick up any  expectoration that fell down from the Prophet     ﻠﻋ ﷲ ﻰﻠﺻ. He also saw them race to the water of his  ablution and they almost quarrelled for it. There were others who competed to pledge allegiance to  death and some others pledged not to flee from (the battlefield). Among those people, were eminent
Companions like ‘Umar and Abu Bak, who although dedicated all their lives to the Prophet (Peace be  upon him) and to the cause of Islam, but refused to carry out the Messenger’s ordres with respect to  slaughtering sacrificial animals after the ratification of Al-Hudaibiyah Peace Treaty, the thing that  perturbed and caused the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to feel anxious. However, when Umm
Salamah