Zaynab bint Jaḥsh (; ), was a first cousin and the seventh wife of Muhammad and therefore, considered by Muslims to be a Mother of the Believers. Early life Zaynab's father was Jahsh ibn Riyab, an immigrant from the Asad ibn Khuzaymah tribe who had settled in Mecca under the protection of the Umayya clan. Her mother was Umayma bint Abd al-Muttalib, a member of the Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe and a sister of Muhammad's father. Hence Zaynab and her five siblings were the first cousins of Muhammad. Zaynab was said to be quick to lose her temper but also quick to calm down. She was a skilled tanner and leather-worker. She continued with this line of work throughout her life, even after she no longer needed the money. Marriage(s) First marriage Zaynab's first marriage was likely before Islam. The name of her first husband is not known to history, but it is mentioned that he had died by the time of Hijrah in the year of 622 CE. At that time Zaynab, who had become a Muslim, was among those who accompanied her brother Abdullah on the Hijrah to Medina. Marriage to Zayd Circumstances of the marriage Around 625, Muhammad proposed Zaynab to marry his adopted son, Zayd ibn Harithah. Zayd had been born into the Kalb tribe but as a child he had been kidnapped by slave-traders. He had been sold to a nephew of Khadija bint Khuwaylid, who in her turn had given him as a wedding present to her husband Muhammad. After some years, Muhammad had manumitted Zayd and had adopted him as his son. Zaynab, supported by her brother Abdullah, at first refused the proposal on the grounds that, "I am a widow of the Quraysh." She presumably implied that her social status was too high to allow her to marry an ex-slave. It has been asserted that these social differences were precisely the reason why Muhammad wanted to arrange the marriage: "The Prophet was well aware that it is a person’s standing in the eyes of Allah that is important, rather than his or her status in the eyes of the people... their marriage would demonstrate that it was not who their ancestors were, but rather their standing in the sight of Allah, that mattered." It has also been suggested that he wanted to establish the legitimacy and right to equal treatment