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Zaynab bint Jahsh

Zaynab bint Jahsh

Female - Yes, date unknown    Has more than 100 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.

Personal Information    |    Notes    |    All

  • Name Zaynab bint Jahsh  
    Gender Female 
    Death Yes, date unknown 
    Siblings 2 Siblings 
    Person ID I670165  Geneagraphie | Descendants of Muhammad
    Last Modified 18 Nov 2009 

    Father Jahsh ibn Hâshim   d. Mar 624 
    Mother Umaima bint Hâshim,   b. Abt 557   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Family ID F294420  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Zayd ibn Harithah,   b. Abt 588   d. 629 (Age 41 years) 
    Family ID F294950  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 17 Nov 2009 

    Family 2 Muhammad, "The Prophet",   b. 25 Mar 570, al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 8 Jun 632, Medina, al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 62 years) 
    Family ID F294947  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 18 Nov 2009 

  • Notes 
    • After her migration to Medina, she became part of the newly founded Muslim community. There, Muhammad proposed to Zaynab's family the marriage of his freed slave and adopted son, Zayd ibn Harithah . While Zayd was an Abyssinian and a former slave, Zaynab had an aristocratic lineage, thus having a higher social status. On these grounds her brothers rejected the proposal and she disapproved of it.
      The prophet Muhammad, however, was determined to eliminate such class distinctions under pre-Islamic Arab custom. He also wanted to establish the legitimacy and right to equal treatment of the adopted.
      Montgomery Watt discusses other reasons for Zaynab's initial disapproval. He points out that Zayd, despite his social status, was held quite high in Muhammad's esteem. Thus, Watt concludes that one reason for Zaynab's disapproval was that she may have wanted to marry Muhammad himself. However, this is contentious.
      Whatever the reasons, Muhammad insisted on the marriage. When Qur'an 33:36 was revealed, Zaynab acquiesced and married Zayd in the year 626. However, Zayd divorced Zaynab and their marriage lasted just over a year.

      Since Zaynab was the wife of Muhammad's adopted son, pre-Islamic practices belonging to a lower, communalistic level of familial institutions where a child's paternity was not definitely known, considered such a marriage to be a taboo. Such a view considered a biological son to be the same as an adopted one. These ideas considered Muhammad's marriage to Zaynab as incest, as she was the wife of his adopted son, and the adopted sons were counted the same as a biological son.
      It has been suggested that Muhammad initially feared public opinion. The Qur'an , however, indicated that this marriage was valid. Thus Muhammad, confident of faith in the Quran, proceeded to reject the existing Arabic norms. When Zaynab's waiting period from her divorce was complete, Muhammad married her



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