Zaynab bint Khuzayma (rha)

A wife of Muhammad ﷺ known as Umm al-Masakin (“Mother of the Poor”) — one of only two wives, with Khadijah (rha), to die during the Prophet’s ﷺ lifetime.

Identity & lineage

Zaynab bint Khuzayma al-Hilaliyah, of the Banu Hilal in Najd — not a Qurayshi, and not to be confused with the Prophet’s ﷺ cousin Zaynab bint Jahsh. One report says she was married in the Jahiliyyah to al-Tufayl ibn al-Harith ibn Abd al-Muttalib, who divorced her; then Ubaydah ibn al-Harith married her — one of the three Muslims (with Hamzah and Ali) who fought the mubaraza (single combat) at Badr; the oldest of the three, his leg was cut off and he died of the wound.

Role in the Seerah

After Ubaydah’s martyrdom the Prophet ﷺ married her, probably around the 3rd year of the Hijrah. The marriage was very short — reports range from three to eight months.

Key episodes

• Umm al-Masakin. She bore this kunya — “Mother of the Poor” — even before Islam, because she cared for orphans and the poor. “She had a heart of gold — very generous, very caring,” a mark of her pure and noble character.
• First wife buried in Baqi’. She died in Rabi’ al-Awwal of the 4th year of the Hijrah and was the first of the Prophet’s ﷺ wives to be buried in Baqi’ al-Gharqad. Only she and Khadijah (rha) died in his lifetime. (Khadijah, by contrast, is buried in al-Hujun in Makkah.)

Character & lessons

Her lifelong generosity to the destitute earned her a title of honor that outlived her — proof that a legacy of mercy needs no length of years.

Death

Died Rabi’ al-Awwal, 4 AH, in the Prophet’s ﷺ lifetime; buried in Baqi’ al-Gharqad.

Note — the daughters of Hind bint Awf

The source records a striking tangent about Zaynab’s mother, Hind bint Awf, called “the most noble mother-in-law in the history of mankind.” Her five daughters all married luminaries:

1. Zaynab bint Khuzayma — a Mother of the Believers.
2. Maymunah bint al-Harith (Zaynab’s half-sister) — later also a wife of the Prophet ﷺ, a second Mother of the Believers.
3. Umm al-Fadl bint al-Harith (Lubaba al-Kubra) — wife of al-Abbas, mother of al-Fadl and Abdullah ibn Abbas.
4. Asma bint Umays — married successively to Ja’far ibn Abi Talib, Abu Bakr (mother of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr), and Ali ibn Abi Talib.
5. Salma bint Umays — married to Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib, with whom she had a daughter, Umara.

Cross-references

• Muhammad ﷺ — her husband
• Khadijah bint Khuwaylid — the only other wife to die in his lifetime
• Battle of Badr — where her husband Ubaydah was martyred
• Baqi’ al-Gharqad — she was the first wife buried there
• al-Abbas · Ja’far ibn Abi Talib · Abu Bakr · Ali ibn Abi Talib — through her sisters

Sources

• S008 — Yasir Qadhi, Seerah lecture series EP 051–060 (EP 052).
• Classical: reports on Zaynab bint Khuzayma and the daughters of Hind bint Awf in Ibn Sa’d (Tabaqat) and Ibn Ishaq/Ibn Hisham (Sirat Rasul Allah).