Zaynab bint Jahsh

Zaynab was the daughter of Jahsh ibn Rabab, an immigrant from Mecca. Her mother, Umayma, was the paternal aunt of the Prophet (pbuh) and daughter of Abdul Muttalib.

First Zaynab was married to the former slave of Prophet Muhammad, Zayd ibn Haritha (who was even known as his adopted son before a verse forbidding adoption was revealed). When Prophet Muhammad asked for her hand on behalf of Zayd, her family did not consent to this marriage, because of Zayd’s status as a freed slave. However, after the revelation of the 36th verse of Surat al-Ahzab, they approved of this marriage. The marriage between Zaynab and Zayd put an end to the tradition of noble and wealthy women of higher class not marrying the poor or former slaves. The fact that this was first practiced by people close to the Prophet set a precedent.

However, the marriage of Zaynab and Zayd lasted for only one year. Due to increasing incompatibility between the couple, Zayd and Zaynab divorced, although Prophet Muhammad tried to encourage them to stay married.

To demonstrate beyond a doubt that in Islam an adopted son is not regarded in the same light as a natural son, and therefore, his wife is not regarded as the wife of a natural son, the 37th verse of Surat al-Ahzab was revealed a short while after the divorce, declaring that Zaynab had been joined in marriage to the Prophet by Allah. Actually, when Zayd divorced Zaynab, the Prophet understood that this judgment would be given, but he was worried about possible rumors and instigation by hypocrites. However, the judgment was exercised in the revelation of the above-mentioned verse.

Unfortunately, the rumors and fabricated stories of the hypocrites about the Prophet’s marriage to Zaynab are still used today by various groups for different purposes. It must be born in mind that not only do these marriages demonstrate that people are only better in accordance with their piety, not their family, in the sight of God, and that some former prohibitions and beliefs were eliminated by Islam, but these marriages also reminded people that marriage is a means of testing one’s faith.

Zaynab was known as a generous and content woman, who was fond of worship and who was pious. It was also reported that she had other virtues, such as being hard-working, and giving away what she earned to the poor and orphans.

Zaynab was the first of Prophet Muhammad’s wives who died after him. She passed away at the age of 53, in 20 A.H. The funeral prayer of Zaynab bint Jashs, reporter of 11 hadiths, was led by Umar.