Salamah. I asked her about the name of a sister of mine who was with me. I said, “Her name is Barrah.” She replied, “Change her name, for the Prophet ﷺ married Zaynab bint Jahsh and her name was Barrah, so he changed it to Zaynab. Later he entered upon Umm Salamah after he had taken her in marriage while my own name was still Barrah. He heard her calling me Barrah and he said—” and she mentioned the rest of the report. Umm Salamah then said, “So she is Zaynab.” I asked, “And my name?” She answered, “Change it to what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ changed it—call her Zaynab.”

I say: This isnād is good. The criticism directed at Ibn Isḥāq does no harm, for he has explicitly stated, “He narrated to me.”

Al-Walīd ibn Kathīr also followed him, saying, “Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr narrated it to me” in abbreviated form, and Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb narrated it from Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr with the wording, “Do not commend yourselves….” Muslim recorded it (6/173-174).

The ḥadith also has a sound corroborating narration with the wording:

“Zaynab’s name had been Barrah (and it was said: she praises herself), so the Prophet ﷺ named her Zaynab.”

211 – “Zaynab’s name had been Barrah (and it was said: she praises herself), so the Prophet ﷺ named her Zaynab.”

Al-Bukhārī (4/157), Muslim (6/173), al-Dārimī (2/295), Ibn Mājah (3732), and Aḥmad (2/430-459) transmitted it by way of Shuʿbah, from ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Maymūnah, from Abū Rāfiʿ, from Abū Hurayrah—who mentioned it.

The exact wording is Aḥmad’s, and the additional phrase is his; Muslim records it in one of his routes, as does Ibn Mājah.

Al-Bukhārī also included it in al-Adab al-Mufrad (832): “ʿAmr ibn Marzūq narrated to us; Shuʿbah narrated to us” with the wording:

“Maymūnah’s name had been Barrah, so the Prophet ﷺ named her Maymūnah.”

I say: This wording is anomalous, because ʿAmr ibn Marzūq contradicts the majority of narrators—especially since he was prone to errors, as stated in al-Taqrīb. Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī followed him, but with uncertainty, saying