Ummul Mo'mineen Hazrat Zaynab Bint Khuzaymah

Zaynab Bint Khuzaymah (زینب بنت خزیمۃ) was one of “The Mothers of the Faithful”, and one of those Muslim women who were known for generosity and mercifulness. ¹ Due to her charitable acts, she was given the title of ‘Umm Al-Masakeen’ (امّ المساکین) or ‘Mother of the Needy’. ² She was distinguished from the other “Mothers of the Faithful” due to her compassion, patience, benevolence and struggle for the sake of

.

Lineage

She was Zaynab bint Khuzaymah ibn Al-Harith ibn Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Abd Manaf ibn Hilal ibn Sa’sa’ah ibn Muawiyah ibn Hawazin. ³ Her mother was Hind bint Awf ibn Al-Harith. Her half-sister, Maymunah bint Al-Harith , ⁴ also had the honor of becoming a mother of the faithful after the demise of Zaynab . Maymunah was the last woman

Muhammad married.

Life before Marriage with the Holy Prophet

Initially, she was married to Tufail bin Al-Harith bin Abdul Muttalib, who divorced her. ⁵ Then, she married Tufail’s brother Ubaydah who was martyred in the battle of Badr. ⁶

Marriage with Prophet Muhammad

After the martyrdom of her husband,

Muhammad proposed to her on humanitarian grounds, ⁷ and made an example in front of his companions, to take care of the widows whose husbands were martyred in the way of . ⁸ Hence, the Holy Prophet married Zaynab bint Khuzaymah in the month of Ramadan, ⁹ after his marriage with Hafsa bint Umar ¹⁰ and gave her a dowry of 400 Dirhams. ¹¹

Demise

After her marriage, Zaynab bint Khuzaymah spent most of her time feeding the poor and destitute people. ¹² She only spent eight months in the Holy

house and passed away in Rabi Al-Thani during the fourth year of the Hijrah, ¹³ at the age of around 30. ¹⁴ No other mother of the faithful died during the life of Holy Prophet after her. ¹⁵ Prophet Muhammad led her funeral prayer and laid her to rest in Jannat Al-Baqee. ¹⁶

 

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