Zayd married at least six times. • Durrah (Fakhita) bint
Abi Lahab, a cousin of Muhammad. • Humayma bint Sayfi (Umm Mubashshir), the widow of Al-Baraa ibn Maarur, By contrast,
Montgomery Watt points out that Zayd was high in Muhammad's esteem. She can hardly have thought that he was not good enough. She was an ambitious woman, however, and may already have hoped to marry Muhammad, or she may have wanted to marry someone with whom Muhammad did not want his family to be so closely allied.
Divorce from Zaynab The marriage lasted less than two years. A story rejected by Muslim scholars, was later proposed by the 9th-century historians
Ibn Sa'd and
al-Tabari, in which Muhammad paid a visit to Zayd's house: the hairskin curtain that served as Zayd's front door was blown aside, accidentally revealing Zaynab dressed only in her shift. Zaynab arose to dress herself, advising Muhammad that Zayd was not at home but he was welcome to visit. However, he did not enter. He exclaimed to himself, “Praise be to Allah, who turns hearts around!” and then departed. After this, they report there having been a conflict between the couple, and Zaynab shut Zayd out of the bedroom. Zayd divorced Zaynab in December 626. mainly because of its lack of having any chain of narration and its complete absence from any authentic hadith. Some commentators have commented it being absurd that Muhammad would suddenly become aware of Zaynab's beauty one day after having known her all her life; if her beauty had been the reason for Muhammad to marry her, he would have married her himself in the first place rather than arranging her marriage to Zayd. According to the translator Fishbein: Zaynab, who was Muhammad's cousin, had been married by Muhammad's arrangement to Muhammad's freed slave Zayd b. Harithah, who lived in Muhammad's household and came to be regarded as his adoptive son - so that he was regularly addressed as Zayd, son of Muhammad. Whether the marriage between Zayd and Zaynab was a
mesalliance from the beginning is speculation, though the account maintains that Zayd was not reluctant to divorce his wife and allow her to marry Muhammad. Muhammad is portrayed as reluctant to proceed with the marriage because of scruples about whether marrying one's adopted son's former wife violated the prohibited degrees of marriage. Arab customary practice recognized kinship relations not based on blood ties: fosterage (having nursed from the same woman) was one such relationship; the question whether adoption fell into this category must have been unclear among Muslims. The marriage did not take place until after a Qur'anic revelation was received, giving permission for believers to marry the divorced wives of their adopted sons. Historiographic assessments suggest that the "lovestruck" narratives themselves were a fabrication that developed over a century after the death of Muhammad.
Change of adoption laws in Islam After these events, the traditional Arab form of adoption was no longer recognized in Islam; it was replaced by
kafala. Three verses of the Qur'an were revealed about this. Al-Tabari states that Q33:40 was revealed because "the Munafiqun [hypocrites] made this a topic of their conversation and reviled the Prophet, saying 'Muhammad prohibits [marriage] with the [former] wives of one's own sons, but he married the [former] wife of his son Zayd.'" Zayd reverted to being known by his original name of Zayd ibn Harithah and was no longer considered Muhammad's legal son after the revelation of Q33:5: Ibn Saad indicates that Q33:37 was a specific instruction to Muhammad and Zaynab to marry and that it explains why their marriage was necessary. ==Military expeditions==