from the Seerah of Muhammad

wives of those adopted sons would be lawful for the father if they came to be divorced, and that the
adopted son would not inherit from the family’s share of the father’s wealth.
When this rule was revealed, Muhammad (saaw) was the first to implement it, and go against the
social taboo of marrying one’s adopted son’s wife, by marrying Zainab after she came to be
divorced from his adopted son Zaid. This action by the Prophet (saaw) not only illustrates the
leadership qualities that he (saaw) had, but also his resolve to undermine the Jahili customs which
may have continued to exist in the minds of some Muslims. In another incident, the Prophet (saaw)
said, regarding the cutting of the hand of the thief, that even if his own daughter, Fatimah, were to
steal, he would cut her hand. This shows that the family bond would not be exempt from the justice
of Islam. This redefined the way in which family relations were structured. Prior to Islam, family
loyalty was supreme. The Shariah reordered family loyalty. Allah (swt) says,
“0 you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even though it be against
yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor, Allah is a better Protector for both
(than you)...” (An Nisaa 4:135)
Thus Allah (swt) made the family ties to be based on the belief in Allah (swt) first, thus negating the
absolute loyalty of the individual to his family or tribe and replacing it with the loyalty to Allah
(swt).
Islam confined brotherhood and close friendship exclusively to the Believers when Allah (swt) said:
“The believers are but a single brotherhood (Al Hujurat 49: 10).
Also, Islam forbade close friendship between Believers and Unbelievers from among the
Mushrikeen, Jews or Christians, even if they were the fathers, brothers or sons of the Believers, and
that any Believer who did so had committed a grave sin, when the Qur’an mentions,
“0 you who believe, take not for protectors your fathers and brothers if they love infidelity above
faith; if any of you do so, they do wrong (Al Tawbah 9: 23).”
Islam placed all of the Muslim’s worldly interests and relationships beneath his love for Allah (swt)
and His Messenger (saaw). It has warned the Believers against preferring their social interests and
relationships to their obligations as Muslims, when Allah (swt) mentions explicitly,
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