The Longest Hand

The Prophet ﷺ once told his wives, "The first of you to join me will be the one with the longest hand." After he died, they would measure their hands against one another to see whose was longest. Then Zaynab died first, and they understood: he had meant the hand that gives. 'A'ishah explained that Zaynab worked with her own hands and gave in charity (Sahih Muslim 2452); the biographers add that she tanned hides and stitched, and gave away what she earned.

'A'ishah, who knew her rivalry well, also described her as unmatched in religion, in fear of Allah, in truthfulness, in keeping ties of kinship and in charity, and in how hard she worked in what brought her closer to Allah (Sahih Muslim 2442). When 'Umar sent her share of the state's stipend, it is reported that she covered it with a cloth and had it distributed among the poor and her relatives until nothing was left, then prayed that she would not live to receive another.

She died in 20 AH, during the caliphate of 'Umar, the first of the Prophet's ﷺ wives to follow him after his death. 'Umar led her funeral prayer, and she was buried in al-Baqi'.