It is narrated from Imam al-Zuhri that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took Sayyidah Rayhanah (may Allah be pleased with her) of Banu Qurayzah as a concubine (surriyyah), then freed her, and she went back to her family.

Abu Ubaydah Ma'mar bin al-Muthanna stated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had four concubines (sarari): Mariyah al-Qibtiyyah; Rayhanah bint Zayd bin Sham'un, who belonged to Banu al-Nadir (according to some she was from Banu Qurayzah; she used to live in the date-palm orchard, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would sometimes take his midday rest there; she was taken captive in Shawwal of the year 4 AH); the third was Jamilah, who came as a captive, but the Pure Wives felt jealous of her and feared that she might prevail over them; and the fourth was a very fine slave girl whom Sayyidah Zaynab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her) gave to him (peace and blessings be upon him) as a gift. It happened like this: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had kept away from Sayyidah Zaynab during the months of Dhu al-Hijjah, Muharram and Safar over the matter of Sayyidah Safiyyah bint Huyayy (may Allah be pleased with her). Then, when the month of Rabi' al-Awwal came, in which he (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away, he (peace and blessings be upon him) became pleased with Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her) and went to her, whereupon Sayyidah Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her), in her joy, said: I do not know how I can thank you! So she gave that slave girl to him (peace and blessings be upon him).

It is narrated from Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri that he said: The eldest of the daughters of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was Sayyidah Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her), who was born of Sayyidah Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her).

It is narrated from Ubaydullah bin Muhammad bin Sulayman al-Hashimi that he said: Sayyidah Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her), the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), was born in the thirtieth year after the birth of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and she passed away in the year 8 AH.

It is narrated from Abdullah bin Abi Bakr bin Muhammad bin Amr bin Hazm that he was told about Sayyidah Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: While I was preparing to go to my father, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Hind bint Utbah bin Rabi'ah met me and said: "O daughter of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)! Has it not reached me that you intend to go to your father?" I said: "I have no such intention." She said: "O cousin! Do not do so. If you need any provisions for the journey that would be of use to you and by which you could reach your father, I have them (and will give them to you)." Sayyidah Zaynab says: "By Allah! I think she said this sincerely, only to help; but I was afraid of her, so I denied having any such intention." Then, when I had prepared my belongings, my brother-in-law Kinanah bin al-Rabi' (my husband's brother) came. He brought a camel for me, which I mounted; he took up his bow and quiver and set off with me, seated in a howdah, in broad daylight. This became the talk among the men of Quraysh, so they set out in pursuit and caught up with her at Dhu Tuwa. The first to reach there were Habbar bin al-Aswad and Nafi' bin Abd Qays al-Fihri. Habbar frightened the lady in the howdah with his spear. She was pregnant, and because of this fright she miscarried. Her brother-in-law got down from the camel, spread out his quiver and said: "Whoever comes near me, I will shoot him with an arrow." So the people drew back. Then Abu Sufyan came with the notables of Quraysh and said: "O man! Hold back your arrows from us so that we may speak to you." So he held back. Abu Sufyan came close and said: "You have not taken the right course. You are taking this woman out openly in front of everyone, while you know of our recent calamity and shock (the Battle of Badr), and you also know what harm has come to us because of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Now if you take his daughter away publicly like this from our midst, people will think that it is because of our humiliation and weakness. We have no need to keep her from her father, but take this woman back for now; when the clamour dies down and people have finished saying that we brought her back, then quietly take her out and deliver her to her father." So he did so. A few nights later, when the talk had died down, he set out with her by night and handed her over to Sayyiduna Zayd bin Harithah (may Allah be pleased with him) and his companion, who brought her to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). This is a hadith in which there is irsal (a break in the chain) between Abdullah bin Abi Bakr and Sayyidah Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her); were it not for that, I would have judged it sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim. However, a shortened version of it has been narrated with a sahih chain on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim).

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Madinah, his daughter Sayyidah Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her) set out from Makkah with Kinanah, or Ibn Kinanah. The Quraysh pursued her, and Habbar bin al-Aswad caught up with her. He kept jabbing her camel with his spear until he threw her to the ground, because of which she miscarried and bled heavily. Then she was carried (in her injured state), and Banu Hashim and Banu Umayyah quarrelled over her. Banu Umayyah said: "We have more right to her," since she was married to their cousin Abu al-As. So she stayed with Hind bint Utbah bin Rabi'ah, and Hind would say to her (mockingly): "All this has happened because of your father." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sayyiduna Zayd bin Harithah (may Allah be pleased with him): "Will you not go and bring Zaynab?" He said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take this ring of mine," and gave it to him. Zayd set off and left his camel (outside the town). He kept acting with great care until he met a shepherd. Zayd asked: "Whose goats do you graze?" He said: "Abu al-As's." He asked: "And whose goats are these?" He said: "Zaynab bint Muhammad's." Zayd walked with him some distance and then said to him: "Would you let me give you something to deliver to her, without mentioning it to anyone?" He said: "Yes." So Zayd gave him the ring. The shepherd entered the house with the goats and handed her the ring. She recognised it at once and asked: "Who gave you this?" He said: "A man." She asked: "Where did you leave him?" He told her the place. The lady remained silent until, when night came, she went to Zayd at the place he had described. When she came to him, Zayd said: "Mount (the camel)." She said: "No; rather, you ride in front of me (so that modesty is preserved)." So Zayd mounted and she rode behind him until she reached Madinah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: "She is the best of my daughters; she was made to suffer because of me." When this reached Ali bin al-Husayn (Imam Zayn al-Abidin), he came to Urwah and said: "What is this that has reached me about you, which you narrate and by which the due of Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) seems to be lessened?" Urwah said: "By Allah! I would not love to have all that lies between the East and the West if in return I were to say anything about Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) that detracts from her rank. However, if it has displeased you, I will never narrate this again in your presence." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim, but they did not record it.

Imam Abu Bakr explained at the end of this narration that the true meaning of the words of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), "Afdal banati" (the best of my daughters), is that she is "one of the best of my daughters", because it is clear from sahih and established narrations that Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) is the leader of all the women of this Ummah, and also the leader of all the women of Paradise except Maryam bint Imran. Imam al-Hakim says: Imam Abu Bakr has done full justice in explaining this word, and we will add nothing to it, for he is the foremost Imam. However, beneath this word lies another aspect: Sayyidah Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her) was older than Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her), so it is possible that by "afdal" the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) meant the eldest and first of his children.

It is narrated from Abdullah bin Abi Bakr bin Hazm that he said: Sayyidah Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her), the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), passed away in the year 8 AH.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: The eldest of the children of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was al-Qasim, and after him Zaynab. Sayyidah Zaynab was married to Abu al-As bin al-Rabi', and Ali and Umamah were born to her from him. Abu al-As composed these verses in praise of Sayyidah Zaynab: "When I saw Zaynab mounted on a saddle at the place of Iram, she came to my mind; I prayed that Allah keep watered the one who dwells in the Sanctuary. She is the daughter of al-Amin (peace and blessings be upon him); may Allah give her the finest reward, and every husband praises his wife for those virtues he knows of."

It is narrated from Mus'ab bin Abdullah al-Zubayri that he said: Sayyidah Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her) was the eldest daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and the cause of her death was this: when she set out from Makkah to emigrate to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Habbar bin al-Aswad and another man caught up with her. One of them pushed her, so she fell onto a rock. She was pregnant, so she miscarried and began to bleed. She remained continually in this pain until she died of this very ailment.