Name: Death of Zaynab bint Jahsh
Start: 641
Location: Baqi' al-Gharqad

What happened

Zaynab bint Jahsh RA, known as the Mother of the Orphans and the Mother of the Poor for her generosity, was the first of the Prophet ﷺ's wives to die after him. During Umar ibn al-Khattab RA's caliphate, when he instituted stipends for the Muslims and set the wives of the Prophet ﷺ at the highest rate of 12,000 dirhams annually, Zaynab gave her entire stipend away to the needy before nightfall, and did the same with an extra 1,000 dirhams Umar later sent her in praise of her generosity. She died in the 20th year of the Hijrah before her next stipend arrived.

Significance

Umar ibn al-Khattab RA led her funeral prayer, and the major sahaba walked to Baqi' al-Gharqad for her burial, among the first of the Prophet ﷺ's wives to be buried there. Her death fulfilled the Prophet ﷺ's words that the wife with the "longest hand", the most generous in charity, would be the first to join him.

Sayings & Actions2

Zaynab bint Jahsh RA

Saying · Toward the end of her life

La hawla wa la quwwata illa biLlah. Subhan'Allah al-Azim. May Allah protect us from fitan.

When Umar ibn al-Khattab RA's messenger poured her stipend of 12,000 dirhams in front of her, the largest of any of the wives, she gave it away, an amount at a time to her servant to distribute, until nothing was left, and did not sleep until it was gone.

Umar ibn al-Khattab RATo Zaynab bint Jahsh RA

Saying

What a lady this is. I heard what you did with the money: here is another 1,000 for you.

Zaynab bint Jahsh RA

Supplication

O Allah, let me not see this money again next year, for money is a fitna.

Aisha RA

Quote · After Zaynab's death

I have never seen any woman more righteous, more fearful of Allah, more truthful in her speech, more caring for her relatives, more generous with her charity, more energetic in her efforts to come closer to Allah, than Zaynab. But she had a temper that would come quickly and then go away.

withZaynab bint Jahsh RA

What happened