Companions · Umm al-Mu'minin · Married by revelation
زينب بنت جحش
Zaynab bint Jahsh
“Allah married me from above seven heavens.” The longest hand in charity among the wives.
The account
Cousin of the Prophet ﷺ, first married to Zayd in a match arranged to demolish class pride, then divorced, Zaynab became the center of the verse that ended adoption's marriage fictions: "We married her to you" (33:37). Her wedding contract was dictated by revelation, and she knew what she held: to the other wives she would say, your families gave you in marriage; Allah married me from above seven heavens.
Aisha, her rival in rank, gave her the testimony that settles her portrait: "I have never seen a woman better in religion than Zaynab, more fearing of Allah, more truthful in speech, more attentive to kinship, greater in sadaqah." She worked leather with her own hands and gave the earnings away. When the wives asked which of them would follow him ﷺ first, he answered: the one with the longest hand. They measured wrists against the wall until the meaning arrived with her death: the longest hand was the most giving one. Zaynab followed him first, in Umar's caliphate, leaving nothing behind: she had already sent it ahead.
The facts
- ContractDictated by 33:37
- Her boastMarried from above the heavens
- Aisha's wordNone better in religion
- The longest handFirst to follow him
The narrations
The quickest of you to join me is the one with the longest hand. It was Zaynab, for she worked with her hand and gave sadaqah.
Muslim 2452 · cf. Bukhari 1420
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