Zaynab bint Khuzayma () ( 596 – 625), also known as Umm al-Masākīn (, "Mother of the Poor"), was the fifth wife of Muhammad. As a result of her early death, less is known about her than about his other wives.
Early life
Zaynab was the first of Muhammad’s wives who was not from the Quraysh tribe. Her father, Khuzayma ibn al-Harith, was from the Hilal tribe. Her mother is sometimes said to have been Hind bint Awf, but this tradition is weak.
Her first husband was her cousin, Jahm ibn ‘Amr ibn al-Harith. she acquired a reputation for extreme generosity. "She was called 'Mother of the Beggars' because of her kindness to them and her pity for them." and she is not listed among the people whom he took to Medina in 622.
Zaynab's next husband was Tufayl ibn al-Harith, a Muslim from the Muttalib clan;
Afterwards Zaynab married Tufayl's brother, Ubayda, However, in February 625 her cousin Qubaysa (brother of her first husband) arranged for her to marry Muhammad, who gave her a dower of either 400 dirhams
It has been suggested that Muhammad proposed or agreed to the match in order to provide for a deserving widow who would otherwise have been reduced to poverty. It was said the marriage was meant to reassure his followers that their deaths in battle would not mean their families would starve and be neglected. An alternative suggestion is that the marriage was politically motivated, "cultivating good relations with her own tribe of ‘Amir b. Sa’sa’ah."
One story about their married life tells how a poor man came to Zaynab’s house to beg for some flour. She gave him the last of what she had and had no food for herself that night. Moved by her compassion, Muhammad told his other wives about it, saying: "If you have faith in Allah ... he will provide for your sustenance even as he does for the birds, who leave their nest hungry in the morning but return full at night".