Some of the wives of the Prophet asked him, "Who amongst us will be the first to follow you (i.e. die after you)?" He said, "Whoever has the longest hand." So they started measuring their hands with a stick and Sauda's hand turned out to be the longest. (When Zainab bint Jahsh died first of all in the caliphate of `Umar), we came to know that the long hand was a symbol of practicing charity, so she was the first to follow the Prophet and she used to love to practice charity. (Sauda died later in the caliphate of Muawiya).

That one day Allah's Apostle entered upon her in a state of fear and said, "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah! Woe to the Arabs from the Great evil that has approached (them). Today a hole has been opened in the dam of Gog and Magog like this." The Prophet made a circle with his index finger and thumb. Zainab bint Jahsh added: I said, "O Alllah's Apostle! Shall we be destroyed though there will be righteous people among us?" The Prophet said, "Yes, if the (number) of evil (persons) increased."

That the Prophet once came to her in a state of fear and said, "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah. Woe unto the Arabs from a danger that has come near. An opening has been made in the wall of Gog and Magog like this," making a circle with his thumb and index finger. Zainab bint Jahsh said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall we be destroyed even though there are pious persons among us?" He said, "Yes, when the evil person will increase."

The Prophet used to stay (for a period) in the house of Zainab bint Jahsh (one of the wives of the Prophet ) and he used to drink honey in her house. Hafsa and I decided that when the Prophet entered upon either of us, she would say, "I smell in you the bad smell of Maghafir (a bad smelling raisin). Have you eaten Maghafir?" When he entered upon one of us, she said that to him. He replied (to her), "No, but I have drunk honey in the house of Zainab bint Jahsh, and I will never drink it again." Then the following verse was revealed: 'O Prophet ! Why do you ban (for you) that which Allah has made lawful for you?. ..(up to) If you two (wives of the Prophet turn in repentance to Allah.' (66.1-4) The two were `Aisha and Hafsa And also the Statement of Allah: 'And (Remember) when the Prophet disclosed a matter in confidence to one of his wives!' (66.3) i.e., his saying, "But I have drunk honey." Hisham said: It also meant his saying, "I will not drink anymore, and I have taken an oath, so do not inform anybody of that."

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Zainab bint Jahsh with a slight variation in the chain of transmitters.

I went to Um Habiba, the wife of Prophet, who said, "I heard the Prophets saying, 'It is not legal for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for any dead person for more than three days except for her husband, (for whom she should mourn) for four months and ten days'." Later I went to Zainab bint Jahsh when her brother died; she asked for some scent, and after using it she said, "I am not in need of scent but I heard Allah's Apostle saying, 'It is not legal for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for more than three days for any dead person except her husband, (for whom she should mourn) for four months and ten days.' "

The Verse: 'But you did hide in your mind that which Allah was about to make manifest.' (33.37) was revealed concerning Zainab bint Jahsh and Zaid bin Haritha.

The Verse of Al-Hijab (veiling of women) was revealed in connection with Zainab bint Jahsh. (On the day of her marriage with him) the Prophet gave a wedding banquet with bread and meat; and she used to boast before other wives of the Prophet and used to say, "Allah married me (to the Prophet in the Heavens."

Zaynab said, "I went to the house of Zaynab bint Jahsh, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when her brother had died. She called for perfume and put some on and said, 'By Allah! I have no need of perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'It is not halal for a woman who trusts in Allah and the Last Day to abstain from adornment in mourning for someone who has died for more than three nights, except for four months and ten days for a husband.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father from Zaynab bint Abu Salama that she saw Zaynab bint Jahsh, the wife of Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf, and she used to bleed as if menstruating. She would do ghusl and pray.

I heard `Aisha saying, "The Prophet used to stay for a long while with Zanab bint Jahsh and drink honey at her house. So Hafsa and I decided that if the Prophet came to anyone of us, she should say him, "I detect the smell of Maghafir (a nasty smelling gum) in you. Have you eaten Maghafir?' " So the Prophet visited one of them and she said to him similarly. The Prophet said, "Never mind, I have taken some honey at the house of Zainab bint Jahsh, but I shall never drink of it anymore." So there was revealed: 'O Prophet ! Why do you ban (for you) that which Allah has made lawful for you . . . If you two (wives of Prophet) turn in repentance to Allah,' (66.1-4) addressing Aisha and Hafsa. 'When the Prophet disclosed a matter in confidence to some of his wives.' (66.3) namely his saying: But I have taken some honey."

That the Prophet came to her in a state of fear saying, "None has the right to be worshiped but Allah! Woe to the Arabs because of evil that has come near. Today a hole has been made in the wall of Gog and Magog as large as this." pointing with two of his fingers making a circle. Zainab said, "I said, 'O Allah's Apostle! Shall we be destroyed though amongst us there are pious people? ' He said, 'Yes, if evil increases."

Allah's Apostle mentioned that he would practice I`tikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan. `Aisha asked his permission to perform I`tikaf and he permitted her. Hafsa asked `Aisha to take his permission for her, and she did so. When Zainab bint Jahsh saw that, she ordered a tent to be pitched for her and it was pitched for her. Allah's Apostle used to proceed to his tent after the prayer. So, he saw the tents ans asked, "What is this?" He was told that those were the tents of Aisha, Hafsa, and Zainab. Allah's Apostle said, "Is it righteousness which they intended by doing so? I am not going to perform I`tikaf." So he returned home. When the fasting month was over, he performed Itikar for ten days in the month of Shawwal.

The Prophet got up from his sleep with a flushed red face and said, "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah. Woe to the Arabs, from the Great evil that is nearly approaching them. Today a gap has been made in the wall of Gog and Magog like this." (Sufyan illustrated by this forming the number 90 or 100 with his fingers.) It was asked, "Shall we be destroyed though there are righteous people among us?" The Prophet said, "Yes, if evil increased."

Yahya related to me from Muhammad ibn alMunkadir that Rabia ibn Abdullah ibn alHadir told him that he had seen Umar ibn al-Khattab leading people in front of the bier at the funeral of Zaynab bint Jahsh.

Allah's Apostle used to drink honey in the house of Zainab, the daughter of Jahsh, and would stay there with her. So Hafsa and I agreed secretly that, if he come to either of us, she would say to him. "It seems you have eaten Maghafir (a kind of bad-smelling resin), for I smell in you the smell of Maghafir," (We did so) and he replied. "No, but I was drinking honey in the house of Zainab, the daughter of Jahsh, and I shall never take it again. I have taken an oath as to that, and you should not tell anybody about it."

Aisha said, "the Prophet used to practice I`tikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan and I used to pitch a tent for him, and after offering the morning prayer, he used to enter the tent." Hafsa asked the permission of `Aisha to pitch a tent for her and she allowed her and she pitched her tent. When Zainab bint Jahsh saw it, she pitched another tent. In the morning the Prophet noticed the tents. He said, 'What is this?" He was told of the whole situation. Then the Prophet said, "Do you think that they intended to do righteousness by doing this?" He therefore abandoned the I`tikaf in that month and practiced I`tikaf for ten days in the month of Shawwal."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said said that Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm informed him that he had taken a Nabatean who had stolen some iron rings and jailed him in order to cut off his hand. Amra bint Abd ar-Rahman sent a girl mawla to him called Umayya. Abu Bakr said that she had come to him while he was among the people and said that his aunt Amra sent word to him saying, "Son of my brother! You have taken a Nabatean for something insignificant which was mentioned to me. Do you want to cut off his hand?" He had said, "Yes." She said, ''Amra says to you not to cut off the hand except for a quarter of a dinar and upwards."

Abu Bakr added, "So I let the Nabatean go."

Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things among us about the confession of slaves is that if a slave confesses something against himself, the hadd and punishment for it is inflicted on his body. His confession is accepted from him and one does not suspect that he would inflict something on himself."

Malik said, "As for the one of them who confesses to a matter which will incur damages agains this master, his confession is not accepted against his master."

Malik said, "One does not cut off the hand of a hireling or a man who is with some people to serve them, if he robs them, because his state is not the state of a thief. His state is the state of a treacherous one. The treacherous one does not have his hand cut off."

Malik said about a person who borrows something and then denies it, "His hand is not cut off. He is like a man who owes a debt to another man and denies it. He does not have his hand cut off for what he has denied."

Malik said, "The generally agreed-on way of dealing among us, with the thief who is found in a house and has gathered up goods and has not taken them out, is that his hand is not cut off. That is like the man who places wine before him to drink it and does not do it. The hadd is not imposed on him. That is like a man who sits with a woman and desires to have haram intercourse with her and does not do it and he does not reach her. There is no hadd against that either."

Malik said, "The generally agreed-on way of doing things among us is that there is no cutting off the hand for what is taken by chance, openly and in haste, whether or not its price reaches that for which the hand is cut off."

I of all the people know best this verse of Al-Hijab. When Allah's Apostle married Zainab bint Jahsh she was with him in the house and he prepared a meal and invited the people (to it). They sat down (after finishing their meal) and started chatting. So the Prophet went out and then returned several times while they were still sitting and talking. So Allah revealed the Verse: 'O you who believe! Enter not the Prophet's houses until leave is given to you for a meal, (and then) not (so early as) to wait for its preparation .....ask them from behind a screen.' (33.53) So the screen was set up and the people went away.

Ibn Awn said: I asked about the meaning of intisar (revenge) in the Qur'anic verse: "But indeed if any do help and defend themselves (intasara) after a wrong (done) to them, against them there is no cause of blame." Then Ali ibn Zayd ibn Jad'an told me on the authority of Umm Muhammad, the wife of his father.

Ibn Awn said: It was believed that she used to go to the Mother of the Faithful (i.e. Aisha). She said: The Mother of the Faithful said: The Messenger of Allah (saws) came upon me while Zaynab, daughter of Jahsh, was with us. He began to do something with his hand. I signalled to him until I made him understand about her. So he stopped. Zaynab came on and began to abuse Aisha. She tried to prevent her but she did not stop.

So he (the Prophet) said to Aisha: Abuse her.

So she abused her and dominated her. Zaynab then went to Ali and said: Aisha abused you and did (such and such). Then Fatimah came (to the Prophet) and he said to her: She is the favourite of your father, by the Lord of the Ka'bah!

She then returned and said to them: I said to him such and such, and he said to me such and such. Then Ali came to the Prophet (saws) and spoke to him about that.

When Um Habiba bint Abi Sufyan was informed of her father's death, she asked for perfume and rubbed it over her arms and said, "I am not in need of perfume, but I have heard the Prophet saying, "It is not lawful for a lady who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for more than three days except for her husband for whom the (mourning) period is four months and ten days."

Um Habiba said to Allah's Apostle "We have heard that you want to marry Durra bint Abu-Salama." Allah's Apostle said, "Can she be married along with Um Salama (her mother)? Even if I have not married Um Salama, she would not be lawful for me to marry, for her father is my foster brother."

Zainab bint Abu Salama told me these three narrations: Zainab said: I went to Um Habiba, the wife of the Prophet when her father, Abu- Sufyan bin Herb had died. Um ,Habiba asked for a perfume which contained yellow scent (Khaluq) or some other scent, and she first perfumed one of the girls with it and then rubbed her cheeks with it and said, "By Allah, I am not in need of perfume, but I have heard Allah's Apostle saying, 'It is not lawful for a lady who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for a dead person for more than three days unless he is her husband for whom she should mourn for four months and ten days.'"

Zainab said: I visited Umm Habibah when her father AbuSufyan, died. She asked for some yellow perfume containing saffron (khaluq) or something else. Then she applied it to a girl and touched her cheeks.

She said: I have no need of perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to observe mourning for one who has died, more than three nights, except for four months and ten days in the case of a husband.

Zaynab said: I also visited Zaynab, daughter of Jahsh, when her brother died. She asked for some perfume and used it upon herself.

She then said: I have no need of perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say when he was on the pulpit: It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to observe mourning for one who has died, more than three nights, except for four months and ten days in the case of a husband.

Zaynab said: I heard my mother, Umm Salamah, say: A woman came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) and said: Messenger of Allah, the husband of my daughter has died, and she is suffering from sore eyes; may we put antimony in her eyes?

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: No. He said this twice or thrice. Each time he said: No. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: The waiting period is now four months and ten days. In pre-Islamic days one of you used to throw away a piece of dung at the end of a year.

Humayd said: I asked Zaynab: What do you mean by throwing away a piece of dung at the end of a year.

Zaynab replied: When the husband of a woman died, she entered a small cell and put on shabby clothes, not touching perfume or any other thing until a year passed. Then an animal such as donkey or sheep or bird was provided for her. She rubbed herself with it. The animal with which she rubbed herself rarely survived. She then came out and was given a piece of dung which she threw away. She then used perfume or something else which she desired.

Abu Dawud said: The Arabic word "hafsh" means a small cell.

When Allah's Apostle married Zainab bint Jahsh, he invited the people to a meal. They took the meal and remained sitting and talking. Then the Prophet (showed them) as if he is ready to get up, yet they did not get up. When he noticed that (there was no response to his movement), he got up, and the others too, got up except three persons who kept on sitting. The Prophet came back in order to enter his house, but he went away again. Then they left, whereupon I set out and went to the Prophet to tell him that they had departed, so he came and entered his house. I wanted to enter along with him, but he put a screen between me and him. Then Allah revealed: 'O you who believe! Do not enter the houses of the Prophet...' (33.53)

who was born during the lifetime of the Prophet that his mother, Zainab bint Humaid had taken him to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Take his Pledge of allegiance (for Islam)." The Prophet said, "He (`Abdullah bin Hisham) is a little child," and passed his hand over his head and invoked Allah for him. `Abdullah bin Hisham used to slaughter one sheep as a sacrifice on behalf of all of his family.

When the people of Mecca sent about ransoming their prisoners Zaynab sent some property to ransom Abul'As, sending among it a necklace of hers which Khadijah had had, and (which she) had given to her when she married Abul'As. When the Messenger of Allah (saws) saw it, he felt great tenderness about it and said: If you consider that you should free her prisoner for her and return to her what belongs to her, (it will be well). They said: Yes. The Messenger of Allah (saws) made an agreement with him that he should let Zaynab come to him, and the Messenger of Allah (saws) sent Zayd ibn Harithah and a man of the Ansar (the Helpers) and said: Wait in the valley of Yajij till Zaynab passes you, then you should accompany her and bring her back.

When Allah's Apostle married Zainab bint Jahsh, he invited the people who took their meals and then remained sitting and talking. The Prophet pretended to be ready to get up, but the people did not get up. When he noticed that, he got up, and when he had got up, some of those people got up along with him and there remained three (who kept on sitting). Then the Prophet came back and found those people still sitting. Later on those people got up and went away. So I went to the Prophet and informed him that they had left. The Prophet came, and entered (his house). I wanted to enter(along with him) but he dropped a curtain between me and him. Allah then revealed: 'O you who believe! Do not enter the Prophet's Houses until leave is given... (to His statement)... Verily! That shall be an enormity, in Allah's sight.' (33.53)

The wives of Allah's Apostle were in two groups. One group consisted of `Aisha, Hafsa, Safiyya and Sauda; and the other group consisted of Um Salama and the other wives of Allah's Apostle. The Muslims knew that Allah's Apostle loved `Aisha, so if any of them had a gift and wished to give to Allah's Apostle, he would delay it, till Allah's Apostle had come to `Aisha's home and then he would send his gift to Allah's Apostle in her home. The group of Um Salama discussed the matter together and decided that Um Salama should request Allah's Apostle to tell the people to send their gifts to him in whatever wife's house he was. Um Salama told Allah's Apostle of what they had said, but he did not reply. Then they (those wives) asked Um Salama about it. She said, "He did not say anything to me." They asked her to talk to him again. She talked to him again when she met him on her day, but he gave no reply. When they asked her, she replied that he had given no reply. They said to her, "Talk to him till he gives you a reply." When it was her turn, she talked to him again. He then said to her, "Do not hurt me regarding Aisha, as the Divine Inspirations do not come to me on any of the beds except that of Aisha." On that Um Salama said, "I repent to Allah for hurting you." Then the group of Um Salama called Fatima, the daughter of Allah's Apostle and sent her to Allah's Apostle to say to him, "Your wives request to treat them and the daughter of Abu Bakr on equal terms." Then Fatima conveyed the message to him. The Prophet said, "O my daughter! Don't you love whom I love?" She replied in the affirmative and returned and told them of the situation. They requested her to go to him again but she refused. They then sent Zainab bint Jahsh who went to him and used harsh words saying, "Your wives request you to treat them and the daughter of Ibn Abu Quhafa on equal terms." On that she raised her voice and abused `Aisha to her face so much so that Allah's Apostle looked at `Aisha to see whether she would retort. `Aisha started replying to Zainab till she silenced her. The Prophet then looked at `Aisha and said, "She is really the daughter of Abu Bakr."

The marriage of Zainab bint Jahash was mentioned in the presence of Anas and he said, "I did not see the Prophet giving a better banquet on marrying any of his wives than the one he gave on marrying Zainab. He then gave a banquet with one sheep."

Ibn Az-Zubayr reported on the authority of Umm Habibah that she was the wife of Ibn Jahsh, but he died, He was among those who migrated to Abyssinia. Negus then married her to the Messenger of Allah (saws).

Um Sulaim said, "O Allah's Apostle! Verily Allah is not shy of (telling you) the truth. Is it essential for a woman to take a bath after she had a wet dream (nocturnal sexual discharge)?" He said, "Yes, if she notices discharge. On that Um Salama laughed and said, "Does a woman get a (nocturnal sexual) discharge?" He said, "How then does (her) son resemble her (his mother)?"

When the news of the death of Abu Sufyan reached from Sham, Um Habiba on the third day, asked for a yellow perfume and scented her cheeks and forearms and said, "No doubt, I would not have been in need of this, had I not heard the Prophet saying: "It is not legal for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for more than three days for any dead person except her husband, for whom she should mourn for four months and ten days."

This hadith was narrated by Zainab from her mother and from Zainab, the wife of Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him), or from some other lady from among the wives of the Prophet (may peace be upon him).

The Messenger of Allah (saws) entered the mosque (and saw that) a rope tied between two pillars. He asked: What is this rope (for) ? The people told him: This is (for) Hamnah b. Jahsh who prays (here). When she is tired, she reclines on it. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: She should pray as much as she has strength. When she is tired, she should sit down.

This version of Ziyad has: He said: What is this ? The people told him: This is for Zainab who prays. When she becomes lazy, or is tired, she holds it. He said: Undo it. One of you should pray in good spirits. When he is lazy or tired, he should sit down.