Zaynab bint Maz'un

She was the daughter of Maz'un ibn Habib of the Jumah clan of the Quraysh in Mecca;[1]^: 204 hence she was a sister of Uthman ibn Maz'un.[1]^: 307

She was dark-skinned, a trait that she passed on to her son Abd Allah.[1]^: 252

She married Umar before 605[2]^: 56 and bore him three children: Hafsa, Abd Allah and Abd al-Rahman. Later Umar added two more wives to his household: Umm Kulthum bint Jarwal, who bore him two sons,[1]^{: 203–204} and Qurayba bint Abi Umayya, a cousin from the powerful Makhzum clan, who was childless.[3]^: 510 Umar said that Quraysh men at that time "had the upper hand over their wives," and "did not pay attention to women".[4]

Zaynab's attitude to Islam is unknown and the date of her eventual conversion is not recorded. Her brother Uthman was one of the earliest converts;[1]^: 308[3]^: 116 and two other brothers, Abd Allah and Qudamah, were also converted "before Allah's Messenger entered the house of al-Arqam."[1]^: 313 Meanwhile, her husband Umar was hostile to Islam and he actively persecuted Muslim slaves.[3]^{: 144, 154–155} Umar became a Muslim in 616,[1]^{: 205–207}[3]^{: 155–159} but Umm Kulthum and Qurayba remained polytheists.[3]^: 510

Umar emigrated to Medina in 622. The list of family members who accompanied him does not include any women.[3]^: 218 One tradition asserts that Zaynab had died by then; however, her son Abd Allah said that he had emigrated to Medina with both his parents.[5]

Zaynab's daughter Hafsa married Muhammad in 625.[2]^: 58

Umar noted that the women of Medina "had the upper hand over their men," and that the women of Mecca who emigrated to Medina started imitating their behaviour.[6] An altercation occurred when Umar had to make a decision, and his wife advised him. Umar shouted at her to mind her own business. The wife answered back, and he expressed displeasure. The wife responded: "How strange you are! You don't want to be argued with, whereas your daughter Hafsa argues with Allah's Messenger so much that he remains angry for a full day".[4][6] However, the wife is not directly identified as Zaynab.

In 628 Umar divorced Umm Kulthum and Qurayba because of a new instruction, that a Muslim could not remain married to a polytheist.[3]^: 510[7] He did not divorce Zaynab, so, if she was still alive, she must have become a Muslim. However, Zaynab probably died before 641, as four other women are listed as Umar's wives by that date.[1]^: 204[2]^{: 186–187}[8][9]