User:1234567/Sandbox 4: Difference between revisions

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We can take some educated guesses about Zaynab's married life. First, she was occasionally known as ''Umm al-Hakam'',<ref>[http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-1/zainab-bint-djahsh-SIM_6058/ Vacca, V. (2013). "Zainab bint Djahsh" in ''Encyclopaedia of Islam. First Edition (1913-1936)''. Brill Online, 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.]: "her ''kunya'' was Umm al-Hakam and her name had been Barra."</ref> which literally means "Mother of the Judge". There is nothing in her biography that indicates she had any kind of legal expertise or even that she was consulted for her general wisdom. It is therefore most likely that ''Umm al-Hakam'' was a literal ''kunya'' and that Zaynab gave birth to an actual child named Al-Hakam. This child is never otherwise mentioned, so he probably died in infancy. Zaynab probably had no further children; she certainly had none who survived and none at all by her subsequent husbands.<ref></ref>
We can take some educated guesses about Zaynab's married life. First, she was occasionally known as ''Umm al-Hakam'',<ref>[http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-1/zainab-bint-djahsh-SIM_6058/ Vacca, V. (2013). "Zainab bint Djahsh" in ''Encyclopaedia of Islam. First Edition (1913-1936)''. Brill Online, 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.]: "her ''kunya'' was Umm al-Hakam and her name had been Barra."</ref> which literally means "Mother of the Judge". There is nothing in her biography that indicates she had any kind of legal expertise or even that she was consulted for her general wisdom. It is therefore most likely that ''Umm al-Hakam'' was a literal ''kunya'' and that Zaynab gave birth to an actual child named Al-Hakam. This child is never otherwise mentioned, so he probably died in infancy. Zaynab probably had no further children; she certainly had none who survived and none at all by her subsequent husbands.<ref></ref>


Second, Zaynab was a skilled craftswoman. She knew how to tan leather,<ref></ref> dye cloth,<ref></ref> pierce pearls<ref></ref> and make clothes and other household items from cloth and leather.<ref></ref> There is no indication that any other member of her family had these skills, and she certainly did not grow up with the economic need to learn a trade. So it is reasonable to infer that Zaynab's first husband was from a leather-working family and that she learned her skills from them. Since she continued with this work all her life, whether there was an economic need for it or not,<ref></ref> it is safe to say that she enjoyed it. So the everyday-labour aspect of her first marriage must have been happy.
Second, Zaynab became a skilled craftswoman. She knew how to tan leather,<ref></ref> dye cloth,<ref></ref> pierce pearls<ref></ref> and make clothes and other household items from cloth and leather.<ref></ref> There is no indication that any other member of her family had these skills, and she certainly did not grow up with the economic need to learn a trade. So it is reasonable to infer that Zaynab's first husband was from one of Mecca's many leather-working families<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 150-151.</ref> and that she learned her skills from them. Since she continued with this work all her life, whether there was an economic need for it or not,<ref></ref> it is safe to say that she enjoyed it. So the everyday-labour aspect of her first marriage must have been happy.


Thirdly, however, Zaynab's first husband does not seem to have made a deep impression on her. All the previous husbands of Muhammad's other wives are carefully listed in their biographies. They include some men who were Muslim heroes, others who were considered enemies of Islam, and others again who were of no great importance. The historians were very obviously not excluding information that was somehow "embarrassing", so this cannot be the reason why the name of Zaynab's first husband is missing. It must have been because, by the time the ''ahadith'' were committed to writing, nobody remembered it. Not only did Zaynab apparently not talk about him very much, but nor did anyone else who had known him: her siblings, their numerous Hashimite cousins, their honorary Umayya kin ... all are silent of both the good and the bad. Perhaps the marriage did not last very long, or perhaps the man had a forgettable personality.
Thirdly, however, Zaynab's first husband does not seem to have made a deep impression on her. All the previous husbands of Muhammad's other wives are carefully listed in their biographies. They include some men who were Muslim heroes, others who were considered enemies of Islam, and others again who were of no great importance. The historians were very obviously not excluding information that was somehow "embarrassing", so this cannot be the reason why the name of Zaynab's first husband is missing. It must have been because, by the time the ''ahadith'' were committed to writing, nobody remembered it. Not only did Zaynab apparently not talk about him very much, but nor did anyone else who had known him: her siblings, their numerous Hashimite cousins, their honorary Umayya kin ... all are silent of both the good and the bad. Perhaps the marriage did not last very long, or perhaps the man had a forgettable personality.