Zaynab bint Jahsh RA was a Mother of the Believers and a first cousin of the Prophet ﷺ through her mother Umaymah bint Abd al-Muttalib, of the Banu Khuzaymah of Quraysh. Born Barrah, she was first married, at the Prophet ﷺ's urging, to his freed and adopted son Zayd ibn Harithah RA. After that marriage ended, Allah revealed that she should marry the Prophet ﷺ himself, a marriage that abolished the pre-Islamic rules of adoption.
She was known for her piety and her lavish charity; Aisha RA, her main rival among the wives, said her religion protected her during the slander. She gave away her entire stipend, praying not to see such wealth again, and died in 20 AH, the first of the wives to pass away after the Prophet ﷺ.
All 9 events
Order within 627 isn’t recorded · listed A–Z
Order within 630 isn’t recorded · listed A–Z
Married directly by Allah's decree in Qur'an [33:37], Dhu al-Qa'dah 5 AH.
وَإِذْ تَقُولُ لِلَّذِي أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَأَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِ أَمْسِكْ عَلَيْكَ زَوْجَكَ وَاتَّقِ اللَّهَ وَتُخْفِي فِي نَفْسِكَ مَا اللَّهُ مُبْدِيهِ وَتَخْشَى النَّاسَ وَاللَّهُ أَحَقُّ أَن تَخْشَاهُ ۖ فَلَمَّا قَضَىٰ زَيْدٌ مِّنْهَا وَطَرًا زَوَّجْنَاكَهَا لِكَيْ لَا يَكُونَ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ حَرَجٌ فِي أَزْوَاجِ أَدْعِيَائِهِمْ إِذَا قَضَوْا مِنْهُنَّ وَطَرًا ۚ وَكَانَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ مَفْعُولًا
“And [remember, O Muhammad], when you said to the one on whom Allah bestowed favor and you bestowed favor, "Keep your wife and fear Allah," while you concealed within yourself that which Allah is to disclose. And you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him. So when Zayd had no longer any need for her, We married her to you in order that there not be upon the believers any discomfort concerning the wives of their adopted sons when they no longer have need of them. And ever is the command of Allah accomplished.”
This is the specific asbab al-nuzul, as her own bio notes: revealed regarding her marriage to the Prophet ﷺ after her divorce from Zayd ibn Harithah RA, establishing that a believer may marry an ex-adopted son's wife.