Rayhana bint Zayd


Rayhāna bint Zayd was a Jewish woman from the Banu Nadir tribe, who is revered by Muslims as one of the Ummahaatu'l-Mu'mineen, or Mothers of the Faithful - the Wives of Muhammad.

Biography

Rayhana was originally a member of the Banu Nadir tribe who married a man from the Banu Qurayza. After the Banu Qurayza were defeated by the armies of Muhammad in the Siege of the Banu Qurayza neighborhood, Rayhana was among those enslaved.
According to Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad took her as a slave and proposed to her for marriage. She refused telling Muhammad to leave her in his power as it will be easier for both of them. Muhammad then left her and put her aside. She showed repugnance towards Islam and clung to Judaism. However, after some time she decided to convert to Islam. When Muhammad heard the voice of sandals of Tha'laba bin Sa'ya, he prophesied that Tha'laba was coming to inform him of Rayhana's conversion.
Ibn Sa'd writes and quotes Waqidi that she was manumitted but later married by Muhammad. According to Al-Halabi, Muhammad married and appointed dower for her. Ibn Hajar quotes a description of the house that Muhammad gave Rayhana after their marriage from Muhammad Ibn al-Hassam's History of Medina.
Like Maria al-Qibtiyya, there is some debate as to whether she officially became his wife.
In another version, Hafiz Ibn Minda writes that Muhammad set Rayhana free, and she went back to live with her own people. This version is also supported as the most likely by 19th-century Muslim scholar, Shibli Nomani.
However, the most accepted position among the Muslims is that the Prophet manumitted her and married her.
Rayhana died young in 631, 11 years after Muhammad's hajj, and was buried in Jannat al-Baqi cemetery.