Zaynab's Ransom for Abū al-ʿĀṣ

The husband of Zaynab, the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), was Abū al-ʿĀṣ.^*** He was a mushrik. So the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), up to that point, was married to a disbeliever — this was before the ruling came down preventing Muslim women from remaining with their disbelieving husbands; this was before that ruling, and she was in Makkah. So she wanted to free her husband, Abū al-ʿĀṣ. Ibn Isḥāq gives the story of her coming back, but before that, there is the matter of the ransoming.

Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her) sent an amount of money sufficient to release her husband from captivity. She also sent, along with that money, a necklace. This necklace had been given to her as a gift by her mother, Khadījah, when she got married — this was her wedding gift from her mother. The necklace had belonged to Khadījah, and Khadījah then gave it as a gift to her daughter when she got married. So Zaynab sent this necklace, and when the necklace fell into the hands of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), it brought back memories of his wife Khadījah (may Allah have mercy on her); and it is known that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was very soft-hearted, kind, compassionate, and this touched him. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told the Anṣār who were holding her husband: if you should think fit to deliver her prisoner to her, and to return to her what is hers, then do so — and they immediately released him, and they released him without ransom, and they sent back the necklace also.

Now, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) placed a condition on the release of Abū al-ʿĀṣ, and that condition was: you never assist an enemy against us, and you send Zaynab to me. Abū al-ʿĀṣ was a man of his word: when he went back to Makkah, he allowed Zaynab to leave Makkah and go to her father. Ibn Isḥāq says: so she continued making plans; when she was ready, her husband's brother, Kinānah ibn al-Rabīʿah, brought a camel, which she mounted, and he, taking his bow and quiver, led her away, she riding in a howdah, and it being daytime. Some of the men of Quraysh discussed this and followed after her, catching up with her at Dhū Ṭuwā. The first to reach her was Habbār ibn al-Aswad. He scared her with his spear, as she was there in the howdah, and because, as they claimed, she was pregnant at the time, she suffered a miscarriage.

Her brother-in-law then knelt down, and took the arrows from his quiver, saying: by Allah, if any man comes near me, I will put an arrow into him — and the men drew away from him. Then Abū Sufyān arrived, with some other Quraysh leaders, and said: put down your arrows, so we can talk with you. He did so, and Abū Sufyān drew near him and said: you have not done well — you came forth with a woman openly, going over people's heads, even though you are aware of the injury and damage done to us by Muḥammad. When you take away his daughter openly, and regardless of anyone else, the people will think this is due to the humiliation we have undergone, and that it reflects our weakness and incapacity; I swear we do not want to keep her from her father, and we are not after revenge — but you had better return her; then you can secretly take her away to her father. So it shows that these kuffār of Quraysh respected women, unlike some of the enemies of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, today, who are willing to violate the rights of Muslim women and Muslim children. But these kuffār still had some dignity in their hearts, and Abū Sufyān said: as long as you are going to take her away secretly, we do not have a problem with that. Anyway, she reached Madīnah safely.