as though “zihar,” that is, a man saying to his wife “you are like my mother,” is forbidden.  Also,  great  personages  look  to  their  followers  in  fatherly  fashion  and address them as such, and divine messengers do the same with their communities. But this is because of their positions as leaders and messengers; it is not in respect of their human personalities making it inappropriate for them to take wives from among them.

Another class’s share of understanding the verse is this: a great ruler looks on his subjects with paternal compassion. If he is a spiritual king holding both outward and inward rule, his compassion will be a hundred times greater than that of a father, and his subjects will look on him as their father as though they were his real sons. The paternal view is not easily transformed into that of a husband, nor a girl’s view into that of a wife. Since according to this the public find it inappropriate that a prophet should  take  the  believers’  daughters  in  marriage,  the  Qur’an  repels  such  doubts, saying: By virtue of divine mercy the Prophet (UWBP) is kindly towards you and he deals with you in fatherly fashion, and in the name of messengership you are like his children. But in regard to his human personality he is not your father so that it should be inappropriate for him to take a wife from among you. Even if he calls you “son,” according to the Shari‘a you can’t be his children!”

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