Zaynab bint Jahsh

Zaynab bint Jahsh was the daughter of Umaymah bint Abd al-Muttalib, making her the Prophet's first cousin. She was of noble Qurayshi lineage. The Prophet initially arranged her marriage to his adopted son Zayd ibn Harithah, but the marriage proved difficult, and Zayd repeatedly expressed his wish to divorce her. The Prophet told him to keep his wife, but eventually the marriage ended in divorce. Allah then commanded the Prophet to marry her, as stated in Surah al-Ahzab (33:37): 'So when Zayd had no longer any need of her, We married her to you.' This marriage served to abolish the pre-Islamic custom that treated adopted sons identically to biological sons in matters of marriage prohibition. The verse made clear that there is no blame on believers regarding the former wives of their adopted sons. Zaynab would often express pride that her marriage was uniquely ordained from above the seven heavens. She was exceptionally generous and skilled with her hands, working in leather-craft and tanning, and giving all her earnings in charity. The Prophet said about her after his death: 'The quickest of my wives to join me will be the longest of them in arm' — and this was understood to refer to Zaynab because of her extensive charity (long arm being a metaphor for generosity). She was the first of the Prophet's wives to die after him, passing away in 20 AH (641 CE) during the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab. Umar led her funeral prayer, and she was buried in al-Baqi.