Zaynab bint Khuzayma () ( 596 – 625), also known as Umm al-Masākīn (, "Mother of the Poor"), was the fifth wife of

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

. As a result of her early death, less is known about her than about his other wives.

Early life

Zaynab was the first of Muhammad’s wives who was not from the

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

tribe.Prophet Muhammad for All
Hadrat Zainab
/ref> Her father, Khuzayma ibn al-Harith, was from the Hilal tribe in Mecca.Abdulmalik ibn Hisham, ''Notes to Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasulallah'', #918, in Guillaume, A. (1955), ''The Life of Muhammad''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 794. Her mother is sometimes said to have been Hind bint Awf, but this tradition is weak.Ismail ibn Umar ibn Kathir. ''The Life of the Prophet Muhammad Volume 3''. Translated by Trevor Le Gassick (2000). Reading, UK: Garnet, 122. Her first husband was her cousin, Jahm ibn ‘Amr ibn al-Harith. While Zaynab was still a polytheist,Muhammad ibn Sa'd. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir Volume 8''. Translated by Bewley, A. (1995). ''The Women of Madina''. London: TaHa Publishers, 82.Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. ''Tarikh al-Rusul wa’l-Muluk''. Translated by Landau-Tasseron, E. (1998). ''Volume 39: Biographies of the Prophet’s Companions and Their Successors''. Albany : State University of New York Press, 163-164. she acquired a reputation for extreme generosity. "She was called 'Mother of the Beggars' because of her kindness to them and her pity for them." It is not known exactly when Zaynab converted to Islam, but her second husband was a prominent Muslim, Abdullah ibn Jahsh. This marriage must have ended in divorce, since Zaynab was already remarried at the time of Abdullah’s death;Muhammad ibn Sa'd. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir Volume 3''. Translated by Bewley, A. (2013). ''The Companions of Badr''. London: TaHa Publishers. and she is not listed among the people whom he took to Medina in 622.Muhammad ibn Ishaq. ''Sirat Rasulallah''. Translated by Guillaume, A. (1955). ''The Life of Muhammad''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 215. Zaynab's next husband was Tufayl ibn al-Harith, a Muslim from the Muttalib clan; but this marriage also ended in divorce.Ahmed, M. Mukkaram. "Encyclopaedia of Islam", 2005. p. 141 Afterwards Zaynab married Tufayl's brother, Ubayda, who was more than thirty years older than herself. In 622 they joined the general

emigration Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

, where they lived on a plot of land that was shared with Ubayda's two brothers. Ubayda was killed at the Battle of Badr in March 624, and Zaynab remained a widow for nearly a year.

Marriage to Muhammad

There are conflicting reports as to whether Zaynab was "beautiful" and refused many offers of marriage or whether she was shunned. However, in February 625 her cousin Qubaysa (brother of her first husband) arranged for her to marry Muhammad, who gave her a

dower Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settlement (law), settled on the bride (being given into trust instrument, trust) by agreement at the time of t ...

of either 400 '' dirhams'' or 12½ ''aowqiyas''. This was about a month after his marriage to

Hafsa bint Umar Hafsa bint Umar (; 605–665) was the fourth wife of Muhammad and a daughter of the second caliph Umar (). In Islamic writings, her name is thus often prefixed by the title "Mother of the Believers" (Arabic: أمّ المؤمنين, romanized ...

.Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. ''Tarikh al-Rusul wa’l-Muluk''. Translated by McDonald, M. V. (1987). ''Volume 7: The Foundation of the Community''. Albany: State University of New York Press, 107. It has been suggested that Muhammad proposed or agreed to the match in order to provide for a deserving widow who would otherwise have been reduced to poverty.Mus'ad, M. F. (1991). ''The Wives of the Prophet Muhammad: Their Strives and Their Lives''. Cairo: Islamic Inc. Publishing & Distribution, 99.Rizvi, S. A. (1999). ''The Life of Muhammad The Prophet''. Darul Tabligh North America, 93. It was said the marriage was meant to reassure his followers that their deaths in battle would not mean their families would starve and be neglected.Wessels, Antonie (1972). "A Modern Arabic Biography of Muhammad". Leiden: Brill, 107 An alternative suggestion is that the marriage was politically motivated, "cultivating good relations with her own tribe of ‘Amir b. Sa’sa’ah."Watt, W. M. (1956). ''Muhammad at Medina''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 287. One story about their married life tells how a poor man came to Zaynab’s house to beg for some

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

. She gave him the last of what she had and had no food for herself that night. Moved by her compassion, Muhammad told his other wives about it, saying: "If you have faith in Allah ... he will provide for your sustenance even as he does for the birds, who leave their nest hungry in the morning but return full at night".

Death

Zaynab's marriage to Muhammad lasted only a few months. She died at aged about thirty. Muhammad carried her to Jannat al-Baqi and recited the funeral prayers, then three of her brothers descended into her grave to lay the corpse. Her house at the mosque remained empty for six months until Muhammad's sixth wife,

Umm Salama Hind bint Abi Umayya (, Hind ʾibnat ʾAbī ʾUmayya, 580 or 596 – 680 or 683), better known as Umm Salamah () or Hind al-Makhzūmiyya () was the sixth wife of Muhammad. "Umm Salama" was her '' kunya'' meaning, "mother of Salama". She was ...

, was moved into it.Muhammad ibn Sa'd. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir Volume 8''. Translated by Bewley, A. (1995). London: TaHa Publishers, 65.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaynab Bint Khuzayma 626 deaths Wives of Muhammad 596 births 7th-century women Muslim female saints Burials at Jannat al-Baqī Banu Hilal