The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—had al-Qāsim, his eldest child and the one by whom he took his kunya; then Zaynab; then ʿAbd Allāh, who was called “al-Ṭayyib” and also “al-Ṭāhir.” He was born after the advent of prophethood and died while still young. (1) After him came Umm Kulthūm, then Fāṭimah, then Ruqayyah. (2) This, then, is their order, one after another. Al-Qāsim died in Mecca—the first of his children to pass away—followed by ʿAbd Allāh. Thereafter Māriyah bint Shamʿūn bore him Ibrāhīm; she was the Coptic woman sent by al-Muqawqis, the ruler of Alexandria, who also sent her sister Sirīn (3) and a eunuch named Mābur. The Prophet granted Sirīn to Ḥassān ibn Thābit, and she bore him a son, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. The descendants of Ḥassān ibn Thābit have since died out.

Abū Bakr al-Barqī (4) said: It is claimed that al-Ṭāhir is the same as al-Ṭayyib—that is, ʿAbd Allāh. Others say that al-Ṭayyib and al-Muṭayyab were born in one pregnancy, and al-Ṭāhir and al-Muṭahhar in another.

Al-Mufaḍḍal (5) ibn Ghassān (6) reported: [My father told us] from Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal—ʿAbd al-Raz­zāq narrated to us, from Ibn Jurayj, from Mujāhid—who said, “The Prophet’s son al-Qāsim lived for seven nights and then died.” Al-Mufaḍḍal commented: “This is incorrect; the correct view is that he lived for seventeen months.”

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nuʿaym (7) likewise related that Mujāhid said, “Al-Qāsim died when he was seven days old.” Al-Zuhrī (7) said, “He was two years old.” Qatādah (7) said, “He lived until he could walk.”

Hishām ibn ʿUrwah (9) said: “The people of Iraq inserted the names al-Ṭayyib and al-Ṭāhir, whereas our elders maintained that the sons were ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā, ʿAbd Manāf, and al-Qāsim; (11) and among the daughters: Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthūm, and Fāṭimah.” Ibn ʿAsākir transmitted this report, but it is objectionable; what he rejects is the well-known account. The mention of Zaynab is missing, and she cannot be omitted, and Allah knows best.

As for Zaynab, ʿAbd al-Raz­zāq (11) narrated from Ibn Jurayj that several people told him: “Zaynab was the eldest of the daughters of the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—while Fāṭimah was the youngest of them and the most beloved to him.”

Zaynab married Abū al-ʿĀṣ ibn al-Rabīʿ, and she bore him ʿAlī and Umāmah—the girl whom the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—used to carry in prayer.