Zaynab Bint Jahsh

Zaynab binte Jahsh (زینب بنت جحش) was a first cousin of

Muhammad and was born in Makkah, 17 years before the declaration of his prophethood. Initially, she was known as Barrah, but later on, her name was changed to Zaynab . ¹ She was extremely beautiful ² and was initially married to Zaid bin Harithah , the adopted son of Prophet Muhammad . When Zaid bin Harithah had divorced her, she was married to Prophet Muhammad ³ and became one of the mothers of the faithful.

Lineage

She was Zaynab bint Jahsh ibn Riab ibn Yamar ibn Subayrah ibn Murrah ibn Katheer ibn Ghunm ibn Doodan ibn Asad ibn Khuzaymah. ⁴ Her mother was Umaymah bint Abdul Muttalib ibn Hashim, ⁵ the Holy Prophet’s aunt. ⁶

Marriage with Zaid bin Harithah

Zaid was the son of Harithah bin Sharheel of Banu Kalb tribe. When he was 8 years old, he accompanied his mother to meet her relatives. When they had reached their destination, they were attacked and Zaid was abducted. Later on, he was sold as a slave in the market of Ukkaz. The buyer, who was a nephew of Khadijah bint Khuwaylid , gave Zaid to his aunt as a gift, who presented him to Prophet Muhammad after marrying him. ⁷

Prophet Muhammad freed Zaid and declared him as his son, and from that time onwards, he was known as Zaid bin Muhammad . ⁸ When Zaid reached the age of marriage, the Holy Prophet wanted the best for him, so he chose Zaynab bint Jahsh , the daughter of his aunt to wed his adopted son. However, this idea was not accepted by Zaynab ⁹ and her family because in their view, Zaid was a freed slave whereas Zaynab was a noble woman and was of a higher class.

The Holy Prophet tried to convince Zaynab and her family by telling them Zaid’s status in

and his close relation to him, but still, they did not agree. ¹⁰ Hence the following verse was revealed:

  وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ وَمَنْ يَعْصِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا مُبِينًا 36 ¹¹

  And neither a believing man nor a believing woman has (this) right that, when Allah and His Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) have given judgment (or a command) about an affair, they should exercise their own choice in (doing or not doing that) work of theirs. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) certainly loses his way into open error.

Zaynab obeyed

Almighty’s order and married Zaid , ¹² and through this way Prophet Muhammad also succeeded in destroying the barriers between the different classes of the society by creating an example from his own family. Zaid and Zaynab were extremely noble people and both loved the Holy Prophet , but there was a mutual incompatibility between them, which became fatal to their married life. She could not forget that Zaid was a freed slave and she was a noble woman. On the other hand, Zaid wanted to be the man of the house. The arguments continued until things could not work out anymore and despite Prophet Muhammad’s counselling, their relationship couldn’t be repaired.

In the meantime, some verses were revealed which made it clear that adopted children could not be considered as real sons i.e. they could not use the name of the adopted father and had no share in the family inheritance. ^{13 14} This meant that Zaid was then referred to as Zaid bin Harithah instead of Zaid bin Muhammad. ¹⁵

When things became too serious, Zaid asked Prophet Muhammad to allow him to divorce Zaynab . Prophet Muhammad allowed Zaid to divorce his wife, and as he was commanded to marry her, ¹⁶ he waited for her

¹⁷ to be over and then sent his proposal for marriage.

Marriage with Prophet Muhammad

Zaynab bint Jahsh was extremely pleased when she heard this news and accepted the proposal. Prophet Muhammad married her in 3 A.H. ¹⁸ and gave her a dower of 400 dirhams. ¹⁹ The wedding feast was arranged and Prophet Muhammad sacrificed a ram and asked Anas bin Malik to invite people to the wedding feast. The people came in groups, attended the feast, celebrated the occasion and left. ²⁰ Some of those groups however, stayed back at the Holy Prophet’s house, chatting with others even though they had finished eating. Although Prophet Muhammad didn’t like it, still he did not say anything to them. Twice, he left the house hoping that the people would take the message and leave, but they didn’t. Finally, when the people departed, the following verse was revealed:

  يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَدْخُلُوا بُيُوتَ النَّبِيِّ إِلَّا أَنْ يُؤْذَنَ لَكُمْ إِلَى طَعَامٍ غَيْرَ نَاظِرِينَ إِنَاهُ وَلَكِنْ إِذَا دُعِيتُمْ فَادْخُلُوا فَإِذَا طَعِمْتُمْ فَانْتَشِرُوا وَلَا مُسْتَأْنِسِينَ لِحَدِيثٍ إِنَّ ذَلِكُمْ كَانَ يُؤْذِي النَّبِيَّ فَيَسْتَحْيِي مِنْكُمْ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَسْتَحْيِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ وَإِذَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُنَّ مَتَاعًا فَاسْأَلُوهُنَّ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ ذَلِكُمْ أَطْهَرُ لِقُلُوبِكُمْ وَقُلُوبِهِنَّ وَمَا كَانَ لَكُمْ أَنْ تُؤْذُوا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَلَا أَنْ تَنْكِحُوا أَزْوَاجَهُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ أَبَدًا إِنَّ ذَلِكُمْ كَانَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ عَظِيمًا 53 ²¹

  O believers! Do not enter the houses of the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) unless permission is granted to you for a meal. Nor (reach so early as to) wait for the cooking of the meal. But when you are invited, then enter (at that time). Then, when you have eaten the meal, (get up from there and) disperse without delay, and do not linger on in eagerness for talk. Surely, your (sitting for long in this) manner discomforts the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him); and he feels reluctant to (ask) you (to leave), but Allah does not hesitate in (saying) the truth. And when you ask them (the pure wives) for something, ask them from behind a curtain. This (regard and nice manner) causes great purity for your hearts and for their hearts. And it is not (at all lawful) for you that you cause inconvenience to the Holy Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him), nor is this (lawful) that you marry his (pure) wives after him, till the end of time. Surely, it is the most grievous sin in the sight of Allah.

After the revelation of this verse, the hijab was imposed upon the wives of Prophet Muhammad as well as Muslim women in general to protect them and save their dignity.

After her marriage with Prophet Muhammad , the pagans and hypocrites claimed that the Holy Prophet had married his son’s divorcee (God forbid), ²² but their propaganda was futile as Allah Almighty had already revealed these two verses:

  مَا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَا أَحَدٍ مِنْ رِجَالِكُمْ وَلَكِنْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمًا 40 ²³

  Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him) is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Last of the Prophets (ending the chain of the Prophets). And Allah is the Perfect Knower of everything.

  ادْعُوهُمْ لِآبَائِهِمْ هُوَ أَقْسَطُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ فَإِنْ لَمْ تَعْلَمُوا آبَاءَهُمْ فَإِخْوَانُكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَمَوَالِيكُمْ وَلَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ فِيمَا أَخْطَأْتُمْ بِهِ وَلَكِنْ مَا تَعَمَّدَتْ قُلُوبُكُمْ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا 5 ²⁴

  Call them (the adopted sons) after their fathers’ (names). That is most just in the sight of Allah. So, if you do not know their fathers, then they are your brothers in the Din (Religion) and your friends. And there is no sin on you for what you said by mistake, but (that will be a sure sin) which your hearts intend. And Allah is Most Forgiving, Ever-Merciful.

Zaynab’s Character

Zaynab was a very generous lady ²⁵ with a very high moral character. Despite her minor issues with Aisha , she defended Aisha when she was maligned and even stood against her own sister. ²⁶ Aisha also acknowledged this and said:

  I have never seen another woman more pious and truthful than Zaynab or more righteous in the sight of Allah, truer in tongue or more considerate of her family, more generous or active in performing good works than she is. ²⁷

Zaynab was also a very skillful lady. She used to tan skins, thread beads, sell the products for a profit and divide the proceeds among the poor. ²⁸ It is reported that once, when she received the annual pension of 12000 dirhams, she immediately distributed this wealth among the destitute people. When Umar heard of this, he sent her another 1000 dirhams, but she distributed them as well and said O Allah, may this money not come to me next year for it takes me away from You. ²⁹

Regarding her, Aisha said: Zaynab was admired by Prophet Muhammad and none of the other wives could compete with me except her and none of them occupied such a high position as I did, except Zaynab . ³⁰

Departure from this World

Allah listened to her prayer and she died before she received her next pension. She was the first of “The Mothers of The Faithful” to pass away after the demise of Prophet Muhammad . ³¹ Regarding her death, Imam Muslim quoted the following saying of Prophet Muhammad :

  أسرعكن لحاقا بي أطولكن يدا، قالت: فكن يتطاولن أيتهن أطول يدا، قالت: فكانت أطولنا يدا زينب، لأنها كانت تعمل بيدها وتصدقَ. ³²

  The quickest of you to join me (after I die) will be the one with the longest hands. She (Aisha ) said: they started to measure one another, to see that who had the longest hands. She (Aisha ) said, but the one who had the longest hands was Zaynab because she used to work with her hands and give charity.

She passed away in 20 A.H. during the caliphate of Umar . He led her funeral prayer and buried her in Jannat Al-Baqee. She was 53 years old at the time of her demise. ³³

 

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