Safiyya bint Huyayy (Arabic: صفية بنت حييṢafiyya bint Ḥuyayy) was a Jewess from the Banu Nadir. After the Battle of Khaybar in 628, she was widowed and taken captive by the early Muslims and subsequently became Muhammad's tenth wife.[1] She is, like all other women who were married to Muhammad, known to Muslims as a Mother of the Believers.[2] Their marriage produced no children and ended with Muhammad's death in Medina in 632.
When the Banu Nadir were expelled from Medina in 625, her family settled in Khaybar, an oasis 153 kilometers from Medina.[3] Her father and brother went from Khaybar to join the Meccan and Bedouin forces besieging Muhammad in Medina during the Battle of the Trench. When the Meccans withdrew Muhammad besieged the Banu Qurayza. After the defeat of the Banu Qurayza in 627 Safiyya's father, a long-time opponent of Muhammad, was captured and executed by the Muslims.[4]
In 627 or early in 628, Safiyya was married to Kenana ibn al-Rabi, treasurer of the Banu Nadir; she was about 17 years old at that time.[3] Muslim sources claimed that Safiyya is said to have informed Kenana of a dream she had in which the moon had fallen from the heavens into her lap. Kenana interpreted it as a desire to marry Muhammad and struck her in the face, leaving a mark which was still visible when she first had contact with Muhammad.[2][5]
In May 628, Muhammad and the Muslimsinvaded Khaybar, and several Jewish tribes (including the Banu Nadir) were defeated and surrendered. Some of the Jewish tribes were allowed to remain in the city on the condition that they give half of their annual produce to the Muslims. The land itself became the property of the Muslim state.[6] This settlement, according to Stillman, did not extend to the Banu Nadir tribe, who were given no mercy.[7]
Safiyya's then-husband, Kenana ibn al-Rabi, who was the custodian of the Banu Nadir's treasure, was summoned by Muhammad to reveal its location. Despite Kenana's professed ignorance, a Jew disclosed his habitual presence around a particular ruin. Consequently, Muhammad ordered excavations in that area, uncovering a portion of the treasure. When questioned about the remaining wealth, Kenana refused to divulge. Muhammad then ordered Zubayr ibn al-Awwam to torture him with hot steel applied to his chest until he was almost dead. Muhammad subsequently took him to Muhammad ibn Maslama, who beheaded him in revenge for his brother Mahmud, who had been killed in the battle.[8][9][10][11]
Dihya al-Kalbi, one of Muhammad's companions, requested a slave from the captives, and Muhammad granted him the choice. Dihya thus went and took Safiyya. Witnessing this, another companion informed Muhammad, highlighting Safiyya's beauty and her status as the chief mistress of Banu Qurayza and the Nadir. The companion believed she was fit only for Muhammad, leading Muhammad to give the order to call them.[12][13][14]
When Safiyya was delivered, she came along with another woman. Confronted with the sight of the headless corpses of the beheaded Banu Nadir men, the woman cried out wildly, smacked herself in the face, and poured sand on her head.[15][16] Muhammad ordered that what he considered a "she-devil" be taken away.[17] Muhammad then took Safiyya for himself and told Dihya to take any other slave girl from the captives.[13][14] It was reported that Dihya got seven slaves in exchange.[18] Muhammad married Safiyya and took her to his bed later that night. She was 17 years old at the time and renowned for her exceptional beauty.[19][20]
Marriage to Muhammad
According to Muhammad al-Bukhari, Muhammad stayed for three days between Khaybar and Medina, where he consummated his marriage to Safiyya. His companions wondered if she was to be considered a slave (Arabic: ma malakat aymanukum) or a wife. The former speculated that they would consider Safiyya as Muhammad's wife, and thus "Mother of the Believers".
Muhammad advised Safiyya to convert to Islam, she accepted and agreed to became Muhammad's wife.[21] Safiyya did not bear any children to Muhammad.[22]
Regarding Safiyya's Jewish descent, Muhammad once said to his wife that if other women insulted her for her "Jewish heritage" and were jealous because of her beauty, she was to respond: "My father (ancestor) Harun (Aaron) was a prophet, my uncle (his brother) Musa (Moses) was a prophet, and my husband (Muhammad) is a prophet."[23]
Legacy
After Muhammad's death, she became involved in the power politics of the early Muslim community, and acquired substantial influence by the time of her death.[3] In 656, Safiyya sided with caliphUthman ibn Affan, and defended him at his last meeting with Ali, Aisha, and Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. During the period when the caliph was besieged at his residence, Safiyya made an unsuccessful attempt to reach him, and supplied him with food and water via a plank placed between her dwelling and his.[3]
Safiyya died in 670 or 672, during the reign of Mu'awiya I, and was buried in the Jannat al-Baqi graveyard.[24] She left an estate of 100,000 dirhams in land and goods, one-third of which she bequeathed to her sister's son, who followed Judaism. Her dwelling in Medina was bought by Muawiyya for 180,000 dirhams.[3]
Her dream was interpreted as a miracle, and her suffering and reputation for crying won her a place in Sufi works. She is mentioned in all major books of hadith for relating a few traditions and a number of events in her life serve as legal precedents.[3]
↑ Guillaume, A. The Life of Muhammad: Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah.
↑ "It is related that she bore the mark of a bruise upon her eye; when the Prophet (Peace be upon him) asked her tenderly the cause, she told him that, being yet Kenāna's bride, she saw in a dream as if the moon had fallen from the heavens into her lap; and that when she told it to Kenāna, he struck her violently, saying: 'What is this thy dream but that thou covetest the new king of the Ḥijāz, the Prophet, for thy husband!' The mark of the blow was the same which Moḥammad saw." cf. Muir (1912) pp. 378-379
↑ Peters, F. E., Muhammad and the Origins of Islam, State University of New York Press, 1994, pp.179, ISBN0-7914-1876-6. "At Medina he also married Umar's daughter Hafsa, Hind, Zaynab daughter of Jahsh, 16 Umm Salama, Juwayriyya, Ramla or Umm Habiba, Safiyya, and Maymuna. None of them bore him children, however, though he had a son, Ibrahim, by his Coptic concubine Maria. Ibrahim died an infant."
↑ W.M. Watt, "Companion to the Qur'an, based on the Arberry translation", p. 237.
Bukhārī, Muḥammad ibn Ismāʻīl (1997). Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhārī: The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih Al-Bukhari: Arabic-English (in Arabic). Vol.1. Darussalam Pub. & Distr. ISBN9960-717-32-1.
Muhammad was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. He is believed to be the Seal of the Prophets within Islam, with the Quran as well as his teachings and practices forming the basis for Islamic religious belief.
A total of eleven women are confirmed as having been married to Muhammad, the founder of Islam. As a sign of respect, Muslims refer to each of these wives with the title Umm al-Muʼminin, which is derived from 33:6 of the Quran.
The Battle of the Trench, also known as the Battle of Khandaq and the Battle of the Confederates, was part of the conflict between the Muslims and the Quraysh, where this time the Quraysh took the offensive and advanced on the Muslims, who defended themselves in Medina by digging a trench around their settlement at the suggestion of Salman the Persian. The battle, which took place in 627 and lasted around two weeks, was lightly fought, with the Muslims reported to have suffered five to six casualties and the Quraysh three.
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The Banu Qurayza were a Jewish tribe which lived in northern Arabia, at the oasis of Yathrib. They were one of the three major Jewish tribes of the city, along with the Banu Qaynuqa and Banu Nadir. Jewish tribes reportedly arrived in Hijaz in the wake of the Jewish–Roman wars and introduced agriculture, putting them in a culturally, economically and politically dominant position. However, in the 5th century, the Banu Aws and the Banu Khazraj, two Arab tribes that had arrived from Yemen, gained dominance. When these two tribes became embroiled in conflict with each other, the Jewish tribes, now clients or allies of the Arabs, fought on different sides, the Qurayza siding with the Aws.
The Battle of Khaybar was an armed confrontation between the early Muslims and the Jewish community of Khaybar in 628 CE.
The Banu Nadir were a Jewish Arab tribe that lived in northern Arabia at the oasis of Medina until the 7th century. They were expelled by Muhammad after his defeat at Uhud against the Quraysh, who took action against marauding attacks on their trade caravans and to revenge themselves for Badr.
Ka'b ibn Asad was the chief of the Qurayza, a Jewish tribe that lived in Medina until 627. A tribesman, Al-Zabir ibn Bata, claimed that his face "was like a Chinese mirror, in which the girls of the tribe could see themselves", presumably meaning that Kaab had a youthful and innocent appearance.
Huyayy ibn Akhtab was a chief of the Banu Nadir, a Jewish tribe of Medina in pre-Islamic Arabia.
The Islamic prophet Muhammad came to the city of Medina following the migration of his followers in what is known as the Hijrah in 622. He had been invited to Medina by city leaders to adjudicate disputes between clans from which the city suffered. He left Medina to return to and conquer Mecca in December 629.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn 'Ubayy ibn Salūl, died 631, was a chieftain of the Khazraj tribe of Medina. Upon the arrival of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Ibn Ubayy seemingly became a Muslim, but Muslim tradition says that he remained treacherous to Islam until his death. Because of repeated conflicts with Muhammad, Islamic tradition has labelled him a Munafiq (hypocrite) and "leader of the Munafiqun".
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