Zaynab bint Al-Harith (Arabic: زينب بنت الحارث; died 628) was a Jewish woman who lived in Khaybar, Arabia, in the early seventh century. Her family were of Yemenite origin.
They emigrated to the Hejaz. Her father, Al-Harith ibn Al-Harith, and his two brothers, Marhab ibn Al-Harith and Yasir, were famous warrior-poets. Zeynab appears to have been a firstborn child, as her father bore the kunya “Abu Zeynab”. However, she also had a brother, Al-Harith ibn Al-Harith.
In summer 625 members of the Nadhir tribe arrived in Khaybar, having been exiled from Medina by Muhammad. Among them was Sallam ibn Mishkam al-Nadiri, a warrior-poet whom Zeynab in due course married. Some sources suggest that Sallam and Zeynab had a son, Kharija.
Feeding Muhammad a poisoned lamb
As the Jewish leaders went to Muhammad to negotiate the terms of surrender, Muslim soldiers ran into the castles to collect weapons, treasures and captives. It was presumably from these warriors that Zainab was able to enquire about Muhammad’s favourite food. On hearing it was shoulder of lamb, she killed a lamb (some versions say a goat) from her flock, seasoned the shoulder with a deadly poison and roasted it. When the treaty negotiations were finished, Zeynab pushed her way into Muhammad’s presence and offered him the meal as a gift.
A hadith of Sunan Abu Dawud says that Muhammad had himself cupped to heal himself from the poison while she was forgiven. Other hadiths mention her execution and do not mention cupping. Another hadith of Sunan Abu Dawud has Muhammad stating that he thought the lamb was behind his illness.
Narrated Ibn Shihab:
Jabir ibn Abdullah used to say that a Jewess from the inhabitants of Khaybar poisoned a roasted sheep and presented it to the Messenger of Allah who took its foreleg and ate from it. A group of his companions also ate with him. The Messenger of Allah then said: Take your hands away (from the food). The Messenger of Allah then sent someone to the Jewess and he called her. He said to her: Have you poisoned this sheep? The Jewess replied: Who has informed you? He said: This I foreleg which I have in my hand has informed me. She said: Yes. He said: What did you intend by it? She said: I thought if you were a prophet, it would not harm you; if you were not a prophet, we should rid ourselves of him (i.e. the Prophet). The Messenger of Allah then forgave her, and did not punish her. But some of his companions who ate it, died. The Messenger of Allah had himself cupped on his shoulder on account of that which he had eaten from the sheep. AbuHind cupped him with the horn and knife. He was a client of Banu Bayadah from the Ansar.
Sunan Abu Dawud 39:4495
The Muslims asked if they should kill Zeynab, but Muhammad replied, “No.” Zeynab must have been taken prisoner, however, because she was still in the power of the Muslims a day or two later, when Bishr ibn al-Bara died. Zeynab was then handed over to Bishr’s relatives, who exacted their right of blood-vengeance and killed her.
Hadiths attributed to Aisha and Anas ibn Malik mention that Muhammad believed the poisoning was the cause of excruciating pain.
Umm Bishr [the mother of the Muslim man who also died eating poison], came to the prophet during his illness and said, "O apostle of Allah! I never saw fever like it in any one." The prophet said to her, "Our trial is double and so our reward [in heaven], is double. What do the people say about it [his illness]?" She said, "They say it is pleurisy." Thereupon the apostle said, "Allah will not like to make His apostle suffer from it (pleurisy) because it indicates the possession of Satan, but (my disease is the result of) the morsel that I had taken along your son."
Some hadiths mention the effects of the poisoning:
Narrated 'Aisha: The Prophet in his ailment in which he died, used to say, "O 'Aisha! I still feel the pain caused by the food I ate at Khaibar, and at this time, I feel as if my aorta is being cut from that poison."
Sahih Bukhari 5:59:713
Other traditions ascribe the blame generally on Jews of Khaybar for trying to poison Muhammad.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaynab_bint_Al-Harith
