The Prophet’s Marriage to the Mother of the Believers, Zaynab The Mother of the Believers, Zaynab bint Jahsh, was the Prophet’s cousin. Her mother was Umaymah bint Abd al-Muttalib, the Prophet’s paternal aunt, and her brother was Abdullah ibn Jahsh, the commander of the Nakhla expedition. (A sariyyah is similar to a military expedition, but one in which the Prophet himself did not participate.) Abdullah was later martyred at Uhud. The Prophet’s marriage to the Mother of the Believers, Zaynab, was one of the marriages that attracted the most attention, both during his lifetime and after his death, because it was connected to a very important Islamic legislation. When Zayd ibn Harithah was a child, he traveled with his mother to visit her tribe. Another tribe attacked them, and the child was captured during the raid and enslaved after having been born free. He was later offered for sale in one of the markets and was purchased by Hakim ibn Hizam ibn Khuwaylid, the nephew of the Mother of the Believers, Khadijah. Hakim then gave him as a gift to his aunt, Khadijah, who in turn gave him to her husband, the Prophet. The Prophet freed Zayd from slavery from the very first day. Meanwhile, Harithah ibn Sharahil, Zayd’s father, continued searching for his son until he finally learned that Zayd was in Makkah and was being cared for by the Prophet. All of this took place before the revelation and before Prophet Muhammad received his prophethood. Zayd’s father went to the Prophet accompanied by Zayd’s uncle and asked to buy Zayd’s freedom. He pleaded with the Prophet not to demand an excessive price. The Prophet said to them: “Would you accept something better than that? I will call him to you and give him the choice. If he chooses you, then he is yours. But if he chooses me, I am not someone who would abandon a person who chooses me.” They replied: “You have treated us more generously than we could have hoped and have done well.” Then came the surprise: Zayd ibn Harithah chose to remain in the Prophet’s household and refused to return to his tribe with his father. Zayd said: “Rather, I will remain with you. You are to me like a father and an uncle, and I will never choose anyone over you, O Abu al-Qasim.” His father was astonished and said: “Woe to you, Zayd! Would you choose slavery over freedom, and over your father, your uncle, and your family?” Zayd replied: “Yes. I will never choose anyone over him.” The Prophet felt compassion for Zayd’s father and wanted to reassure him. He took Zayd by the hand and went with him to the area near the Kaaba, where Quraysh had gathered. He called out: “O people of Quraysh, bear witness! From this day forward, Zayd is my son. He inherits from me, and I inherit from him.” Zayd’s father was reassured because he did not want his son to live as a slave. When the Prophet made this declaration publicly before Quraysh, it meant that Zayd was being treated as a son rather than as a slave, according to the customs of that time. When his father realized that the Prophet had freed Zayd and adopted him, and that Zayd would inherit as a son, he returned to his tribe happily and reassured. ⸻ When Zayd ibn Harithah reached marriageable age, the Prophet wanted to arrange a marriage for him. Since Zayd had become his adopted son—and adoption in the sense of attributing an adopted child to the adoptive father was common and widely accepted at the time—the Prophet decided to propose Zaynab bint Jahsh, his cousin, as a wife for Zayd. Through this marriage, the Prophet wanted to challenge the inherited social class distinctions that continued to exist after Islam. Arabs often looked down upon freed slaves, while Zaynab belonged to a noble family of Makkah and Quraysh. The marriage was therefore intended to emphasize that people were equal. The Prophet proposed the marriage to the Mother of the Believers, Zaynab, but she was surprised by the proposal and initially refused because Zayd had formerly been enslaved before being freed by the Prophet. The Prophet tried to persuade her and spoke to her about Zayd’s good character and his special position with him, but Zaynab did not initially accept the idea. Then Allah revealed: “It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should have any choice concerning their affair. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly strayed into clear error.” After the revelation of this verse, she accepted and agreed to the marriage. However, the marriage was not successful. The Mother of the Believers, Zaynab, never forgot that she was a noblewoman and the cousin of the Messenger of Allah, while Zayd had once been a slave. She treated Zayd with harshness and a sense of superiority, and as a result, they eventually divorced. ⸻ However, Allah intended to establish a new legislation and abolish an old Arab custom: the practice of legal adoption in which an adopted child was attributed to someone other than his biological father. This form of adoption meant giving an adopted child the name and lineage of the adoptive father instead of his real father. Islam prohibited this because it could lead to confusion regarding lineage and ancestry, while still encouraging the care and upbringing of children without changing their biological lineage. Allah informed His Messenger that he would marry Zaynab, the former wife of his adopted son. This marriage was to become a practical and real-life demonstration that would abolish the old custom. Then Allah revealed: “And remember when you said to the one whom Allah had blessed and whom you had favored, ‘Keep your wife and fear Allah,’ while you concealed within yourself that which Allah was to reveal, and you feared the people, although Allah has more right that you should fear Him. So when Zayd had fulfilled his desire concerning her, We married her to you so that there would be no difficulty for the believers concerning the wives of their adopted sons after they had fulfilled their desire concerning them. And the command of Allah must always be fulfilled.” Explanation of the verse “And remember when you said to the one whom Allah had blessed” This refers to Zayd, whom Allah had blessed with guidance to Islam and freedom from slavery. “Keep your wife and fear Allah” These were the words of the Prophet to Zayd whenever Zayd complained about his wife, Zaynab, because of her harsh treatment and her sense of superiority over him. “While you concealed within yourself that which Allah was to reveal” This refers to Allah informing His Messenger that he would eventually marry Zaynab. “And you feared the people, although Allah has more right that you should fear Him” The Prophet feared what the hypocrites would say, and Allah admonished him for giving such weight to their words in a matter that Allah had made permissible for him. “So when Zayd had fulfilled his desire concerning her, We married her to you” The expression refers to the completion of Zayd’s marriage to her and the end of their relationship. Zayd is also the only Companion whose name is explicitly mentioned in the Qur’an. Allah then explains the wisdom behind this marriage: “So that there would be no difficulty for the believers concerning the wives of their adopted sons after they had fulfilled their desire concerning them.” In other words, believers should not feel that marrying the former wives of their adopted sons is forbidden or shameful after the marriage has ended. ⸻ After this marriage took place, the hypocrites said what the Prophet had feared. They claimed: “Muhammad forbade the wives of sons, yet he married the wife of his own son.” The Mother of the Believers, Zaynab, used to say proudly to the other wives of the Prophet: “Your families married you to him, but Allah married me to him from above the seven heavens, through a verse of the Qur’an that will be recited until the Day of Judgment.” She was referring to the verse: “So when Zayd had fulfilled his desire concerning her, We married her to you.” The Mother of the Believers, Zaynab, was known for frequent fasting and prayer at night. She feared Allah, was truthful in speech, maintained family ties, and gave generously in charity. Her love of charity was so great that during the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab, after the Islamic conquests, Umar provided the wives of the Prophet with an annual allowance. The Mother of the Believers, Zaynab, would give all of her allowance away in charity. On one occasion, when a large amount of wealth arrived, Umar ibn al-Khattab sent her 100,000 dirhams. The money was placed before her, and she covered it with a piece of cloth. Then she began taking portions of it, placing them into small bundles, and saying to those around her: “Take this to the house of so-and-so, and this to the house of so-and-so…” She continued until she had distributed all of it. Then she said: “Praise be to Allah. I will not sleep while all this money remains in my house.” The Mother of the Believers, Zaynab, died in the year 20 AH, ten years after the death of the Prophet. She was buried in Al-Baqi Cemetery, and Umar ibn al-Khattab led her funeral prayer. All the Mothers of the Believers attended her funeral.