Quote · After her migration to Madinah
I am the widow of a Qureshi and you want me to marry Zayd?
The Prophet ﷺ had sent a proposal that she marry Zayd ibn Harithah RA on his behalf.
Zaynab bint Jahsh, whose birth name was Barrah, belonged to the clan of Banu Khuzayma of the Quraysh. Her mother, Umayma bint Abdul Muttalib, was an aunt of Muhammad ﷺ, so Zaynab was his first cousin. She had been married and widowed in Makkah. She then emigrated to Madinah with her brother, Abdullah ibn Jahsh RA, and was free to marry again.
The Prophet ﷺ sent her a proposal on behalf of his adopted son, Zayd ibn Harithah RA. At that time Zayd was still called Zayd ibn Muhammad, because verse 33:5, which returned him to his father's name, had not yet been revealed.
Zaynab and her brother objected that Zayd was not of their standing. The Prophet ﷺ insisted. According to the early books of seerah, Allah then revealed verse 33:36 of the Qur'an. It says that when Allah and His Messenger ﷺ have decided a matter, a believer has no choice left in it. Zaynab and her brother both said they were content with Zayd, and the marriage went ahead.
The marriage did not work out. Zayd and Zaynab later divorced, and the Prophet ﷺ married her himself, as Allah declared directly in verse 33:37 of the Qur'an. See the Marriage of the Prophet ﷺ and Zaynab bint Jahsh.
Other events recorded around the same time. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
I am the widow of a Qureshi and you want me to marry Zayd?
The Prophet ﷺ had sent a proposal that she marry Zayd ibn Harithah RA on his behalf.
We are content with Zayd.
Said together with Zaynab bint Jahsh RA, after Qur'an 33:36 was revealed rebuking their earlier reluctance to accept Zayd ibn Harithah RA as her equal.
Now married to Zaynab bint Jahsh, my patron's cousin.
وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا أَن يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ ۗ وَمَن يَعْصِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا مُّبِينًا
“It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should [thereafter] have any choice about their affair. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly strayed into clear error.”
Revealed instructing believers to accept Allah and His Messenger's decision once made, per one interpretation, regarding Zaynab and her brother's initial reluctance over Zayd.