Aḥādīth About Zaynab b. Jaḥsh's Marriage to the Prophet ﷺ

What the Prophet ﷺ hid was that Allah will marry Zaynab to him but he had hidden that from Zayd

Sourced from Tirmidhī, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn Ḥātim, Bayhaqī' al-Dalāʾil from ʿAlī b. Zayd b. Judʿān who said > what ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn said to me what al-Ḥasan said:

Regarding His statement “and you hide within yourself what Allah is making known.” (Aḥzāb 33:37) then I said to him … then he said: No, Allāh knows his Prophet ﷺ best that Zaynab will be one of his wives before he married him off to her. Therefore, when Zayd came to him complaining about her, he said, "Fear Allāh and hold on to your wife." Then ⌜Allah⌝ said that I have informed you that I have married you to her, “and you hide within yourself what Allāh is making known.” (Aḥzāb 33:37)

The way of Allah with His Prophets

Sourced from Ibn Saʿd from Muḥammad b. Kaʿb al-Quraẓī:

Regarding His statement “There is not to be upon the Prophet any discomfort concerning that which Allah has mandated upon him; the way of Allah with those who have passed on before,” (Aḥzāb 33:38) he said meaning, ⌜Allah⌝ marries from among the women as he wills. This is a mandate and this is the way it has been from the prophets: Sulaymān b. Dāwūd had one thousand women, and Dāwūd had one hundred women.

Zayd's Marriage to Zaynab #1

Sourced from Bayhaqī in “His Sunan” from Zayd al-Asadī ⌜who⌝ said, Madhkūr, the freed slave of Zaynab b. Jaḥsh narrated

that she said: One of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ proposed to me so I sent my brother to him to consult in this ⌜matter⌝. He said: Where is she who is taught the Book of her Lord and the Sunnah of her Prophet by him? She said: Who? He said, Zayd b. Ḥārithah. She became upset and said: Are you going to marry off your paternal cousin to your freed slave?! She came to me and told me about this and I spoke more harshly than her and became more upset than her. Then Allah revealed “It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should ⌜thereafter⌝ have any choice about their affair.” (Aḥzāb 33:36) Then I sent him a message ⌜saying⌝ marry me off to whoever you want so he married me off to him. I ⌜had used a harsh⌝ tongue with him and he complained about me to the Prophet ﷺ and he said to him, "Then divorce her." He then divorced me and finalized my divorce.

I didn’t realize when my ʿIddah had finished except that the Prophet ﷺ entered, while I had my hair uncovered, ⌜entered⌝ and I said: This is a command from the sky! You've entered, O Messenger of Allah ﷺ without an engagement or a witness! He said, "Allāh is the one marrying off and Jibrīl is the witness."

Zayd's Marriage to Zaynab #2

Sourced from Ibn Ḥātim from Suddī:

Regarding His statement in the āyah “and if the one who Allah had blessed says…” (Aḥzāb 33:37) he said that it has reached us that this āyah was revealed about Zaynab b. Jaḥsh. Her mother was Umaymah b. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, the paternal aunt of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He wanted her to be married to Zayd b. Ḥārithah but she disliked ⌜to do⌝ that. Later on, she was convinced by whats the Messnger of Allah ﷺ had come with and he married her off to him.

Eventually, Allah made known to his prophet that she is from one of his wives. However, he was embarrassed to order Zayd to divorce her and there remained between Zayd and Zaynab some of what ⌜remains⌝ between people. So, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered him to hold on to his wife and to fear Allah. He was fearful that people will blame him saying that he married the wife of his son since the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had adopted Zayd.

A Summary of the Incident

Sourced from ʿAbd b. Ḥumayd and Ibn Mundhir from ʿIkrimah:

that the Prophet ﷺ purchased Zayd b. al-Ḥārithah in the time of jāhiliyyah (ignorance) from ʿUkkāẓ ⌜as a servant⌝ for his wife Khadījah, and ⌜eventually⌝ took him as a son. Then when Allah sent him as His Prophet, he stayed with him as long as Allah had willed.

Then he wanted to marry him with Zaynab b. Jaḥsh, but she disliked that. Then Allah revealed, "It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should ⌜thereafter⌝ have any choice about their affair.” (Aḥzāb 33:36) It was said to her: You either desire Allah and His Messenger or you desire clear misguidance. She said: Of course ⌜I desire⌝ Allah and His Messenger. The the Messenger of Allah ﷺ married him to her and they stayed ⌜married⌝ as long as Allah had willed.

Then, one day, the Prophet ﷺ entered the house of Zayd and saw her, and she was the daughter of his paternal aunt, as if she made a place in his heart. ʿIkrimah said, then Allah revealed "When you say to the one who Allah had blessed..." ʿIkrimah said: Allah had blessed Zayd with Islam. ⌜And regarding⌝ "... and you had blessed..." O Muḥammad by freeing him, "You should hold on to your wife and fear Allah, and you hide within you what Allah is making known while you fear the people and Allah is more deserving that He be feard." ʿIkrimah said: The people, due to the intensity of what they saw of the love of the Prophet ﷺ for Zayd, used to say that he is his son.

Then Allah wills a matter and Allah says, "When Zayd had completed his desire with her We married you to her" O Muḥammad "so that there doesn't remain any discomfort upon the believers regarding the wives of their so-called sons." And Allah revealed, "Muḥammad has not been the father of any one of your men, but ⌜he is⌝ the Messenger of Allah and the seal of the Prophets." Then when Zayd had divorced her, the Prophet ﷺ married her and at that time said ⌜the people⌝ said: If Zayd was the son of the Messenger of Allah, he would not have married with wife of his son.