In another wording: “after two years, and still under the first marriage.” It was related by Ibn Jarīr (1).

Another narration states: “No new marriage contract was undertaken” (2).

This ḥadīth has perplexed many scholars, for the established rule among them is that when a woman embraces Islam while her husband remains an unbeliever, if this occurs before consummation the marriage is annulled immediately, whereas if it is after consummation one waits until the waiting period (ʿiddah) ends: if he embraces Islam during that period the marriage endures, but if the period ends and he has not embraced Islam, the bond is severed. Zaynab—may Allah be pleased with her—accepted Islam when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was first sent and migrated one month after Badr; Muslim women were forbidden to remain with idolaters at al-Hudaybiyah in the sixth year, and Abū al-ʿĀṣ embraced Islam shortly before the Conquest, in the eighth year.

Accordingly, whoever says, “She was returned to him after six years”—that is, from the time of her migration—is correct; and whoever says, “after two years”—meaning from the time Muslim women were forbidden to stay with polytheists—is also correct. In either case it is clear that her waiting period had elapsed within that span, whose minimum was two years from the prohibition, or close to it. How, then, could she have been returned to him on the basis of the first marriage?

Some have responded that it is possible her waiting period had not yet expired; this is a specific incident in which such a possibility exists. Others opposed this ḥadīth with the earlier report narrated by Aḥmad, al-Tirmidhī, and Ibn Mājah (3) through Ḥajjāj ibn Arṭāh, from ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ returned his daughter to Abū al-ʿĀṣ ibn al-Rabīʿ with a new dowry and a new marriage contract.

Imām Aḥmad said: “This ḥadīth is weak and shaky. Ḥajjāj did not hear it from ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb; he only heard it from Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-ʿArzamī, and al-ʿArzamī’s reports are worthless. The sound narration is the one in which the Prophet ﷺ allowed them to remain on their original marriage.”

Al-Dāraqutnī (4) likewise said, “This ḥadīth is not established; the correct report is that of Ibn ʿAbbās, namely that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ returned her on the basis of the first marriage.”

Al-Tirmidhī (5) said, “There is discussion about the chain of this ḥadīth, and the practice among the scholars is that if a woman embraces Islam before her husband and he later embraces Islam, he has the stronger claim to her so long as she is still within her waiting period.” This is the view of Mālik, al-Awzāʿī, al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad, and Isḥāq.

Others maintained that her waiting period had in fact expired and that the narration speaking of a renewed marriage is weak. In that case, the story of Zaynab indicates that if a woman accepts Islam and her husband’s Islam is delayed until after her waiting period ends, their marriage is not annulled.