Safiyya bint Huyayy

Mother of the Believers
Safiyya bint Huyayy
Mother of the Believers Safiyya bint Huyayy
صفية بنت حيي‎
Born	c. 610–614 CE; Yathrib,Arabia
Died	c. 664–672 CE; Medina,Umayyad Caliphate
Resting place	Al-Baqi Cemetery,Medina
Known for	Being widowed and taken captive during theBattle of Khaybarin 628
Spouse(s)	Sallam ibn Mishkam; (m.624;div.625); Kenana ibn al-Rabi; (m.627; died 628); Muhammad; (m.628; died 632)
Parents	Huyayy ibn Akhtab(father); Barra bint Samawal(mother);
Family	Banu Nadir(by birth); Ahl al-Bayt(by marriage)

Safiyya bint Huyayy(Arabic:صفية بنت حييṢafiyya bint Ḥuyayy) was aJewish convert to Islam^[1]from theBanu Nadirtribe. After theBattle of Khaybarin 628, she was widowed and taken captive by theearly Muslimsand subsequently becameMuhammad's tenth wife.^[2]Like all other women who were married toMuhammad,Safiyya was known toMuslimsas a "Mother of the Believers".^[3]Their marriage produced no children and ended with Muhammad's death inMedinain 632.

Before marrying the Prophet, Safiyyah had been married twice. Her first husband was the RabbiSallam ibn Mishkim,and her second wasKenana ibn al-Rabi,a key opponent of the Prophet. The latter was abusive toward Safiyyah; in thehadith,she recounted an incident where he struck her after she described a dream in which she saw the moon rising over Khaybar and falling into her lap. He interpreted it as her desiring the Prophet.^[4]

Early life

Safiyyah was born inMedinatoHuyayy ibn Akhtab,the chief of the Jewish tribeBanu Nadir.Her mother,Barrah bint Samawal,was from theBanu Qurayzatribe. Her maternal grandfather wasSamaw'al ibn 'Adiya,a celebratedpre-Islamic ArabianJewish poet from theBanu Harithtribe.^{[citation needed]}According to a source, she was married off toSallam ibn Mishkam,who later divorced her.^[5]

When the Banu Nadir were expelled from Medina in 625, her family settled inKhaybar,anoasis153 kilometers from Medina.^[5]Her father and brother went from Khaybar to join theMeccanandBedouinforces besieging Muhammad in Medina during theBattle 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 andexecutedby the Muslims.^[6]

In 627 or early 628, Safiyya was married toKenana ibn al-Rabi,treasurer of the Banu Nadir; she was about 17 years old at that time.^[5]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.^[3]^[7]

Battle of Khaybar

In May 628,Muhammadand theMuslims invaded Khaybar,and severalJewishtribes (including theBanu 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 property of the Muslim state.^[8]This settlement offer, according toStillman,did not extend to the Banu Nadir tribe, who were given no mercy.^[9]

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 orderedZubayr ibn al-Awwamto torture him with hot steel applied to his chest until he was almost dead. Muhammad subsequently took him toMuhammad ibn Maslama,who beheaded him in revenge for his brother Mahmud, who had been killed in the battle.^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]

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 ofBanu Qurayzaand the Nadir. The companion believed she was fit only for Muhammad, leading Muhammad to give the order to call them.^[14]^[15]

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.^[16]^[17]Muhammad ordered that what he considered a "she-devil" be taken away.^[18]He directed that Safiyyah be placed behind him, with his cloak covering her, indicating to the Muslims that He had chosen her for himself, and told Dihya to take any other slave girl from the captives.^[15]It was reported that Dihya got seven slaves in exchange.^[19]Muhammad married Safiyya.^[20]^[21]

Marriage to Muhammad

According toMuhammad al-Bukhari,Muhammad stayed for three days between Khaybar and Medina, where heconsummatedhis marriage to Safiyya. Hiscompanionswondered if she was to be considered a slave or a wife. The former speculated that they would consider Safiyya as Muhammad's wife, and thus a "Mother of the Believers".

Muhammad advised Safiyya to convert to Islam, she accepted and agreed to became Muhammad's wife.^[22]Safiyya did not bear any children to Muhammad.^[23]The marriage faced scrutiny from the companions. Some were suspicious of her intentions due to her background. On one occasion, a servant falsely accused Safiyyah of maintaining ties with her Jewish relatives inappropriately. She defended herself, explaining that she only upheld familial bonds, which is encouraged in Islam.^[24]

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."^[25]

Consummation

Regarding the consummation of their marriage and her 'idda (waiting period), several authentic hadith addressed this topic.^[26]

Her marriage was nullified after her husband was killed and she was taken as a slave, which is different from the typical case of a divorce or death of a woman's husband. Because of this, consummation was based on istibra' (assurance of being free of pregnancy via menses) rather than 'idda.^[26]Numerous authentic hadith reports describe this:

Ahadithattributed toRuwaifi‘ ibn Thabit al-Ansarireports:^[27]

Should I tell you what I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say on the day of Hunain:… it is not lawful for a man who believes in Allah and the Last Day to have intercourse with a captive woman till she is free from a menstrual course.

Sunnistend to view this asHasanand have included it inAbu Dawud.

Ahadithattributed toAnas bin Malikreports:^[28]

…the Prophet (ﷺ) selected her for himself, and set out with her, and when we reached a place called Sadd al-Sahba’, Safiya became lawful (i.e. clean from her menses) and the Messenger of Allah went to her in marriage.

Sunnistend to view this asSahihand have included it inSahih Bukhari.

Ahadithattributed toAnas bin Malikreports:^[29]^[30]

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) avoided (intimacy with) Safiyya till she was free from her menstrual course.

Arabic:أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ اسْتَبْرَأَ صَفِيَّةَ بِحَيْضَةٍ

Legacy

After Muhammad's death, she became involved in the power politics of the earlyMuslimcommunity, and acquired substantial influence by the time of her death.^[5]In 656, Safiyya sided withcaliph Uthman ibn Affan,and defended him at his last meeting withAli,Aisha,andAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr.During the period when thecaliph was besiegedat 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.^[5]

Safiyya died in 670 or 672, during the reign ofMu'awiya I,and was buried in theJannat al-Baqigraveyard.^[31]She left an estate of 100,000dirhamsin land and goods, one-third of which she bequeathed to her sister's son, who followedJudaism.Her dwelling in Medina was bought by Muawiyya for 180,000 dirhams.^[5]

Her dream was interpreted as a miracle, and her suffering and reputation for crying won her a place inSufiworks. She is mentioned in all major books ofhadithfor relating a few traditions and a number of events in her life serve as legal precedents.^[5]

References and footnotes

^Naveed, Sarmad (10 November 2023)."Safiyya bint Huyayy, the Jewish Mother of All Muslims".The Review of Religions.Retrieved27 November2024.
^Safiyya bint Huyay, Fatima az-Zahra by Ahmad Thompson
^^a ^bStowasser, Barbara.The Mothers of the Believers in the Hadith.The Muslim World, Volume 82, Issue 1-2: 1-36.
^"Safiyya bint Huyayy (ra): A Heart of Gold | The Firsts".Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research.Retrieved27 November2024.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^gVacca, V (1995). "Safiyya". InP. J. Bearman;Th. Bianquis;C. E. Bosworth;E. van Donzel;W. P. Heinrichs(eds.).Encyclopaedia of Islam.Vol. 8 (2nd ed.). Brill Academic Publishers. p. 817.ISBN 9004098348.ISSN 1573-3912.
^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
^Veccia Vaglieri, L. "Khaybar". In P.J. Bearman; Th. Bianquis;C.E. Bosworth;E. van Donzel; W.P. Heinrichs (eds.).Encyclopaedia of IslamOnline.Brill Academic Publishers.ISSN 1573-3912.
^Stillman (1979) p. 18
^Rodgers 2012,p. 200–1.
^Rodinson 2021,p. 254.
^Bukay 2017,List of Muhammad's Orders to Murder People.
^al-Ṭabarī 1997,p. 117–122, Vol. 8.
^Harvard Human Rights Journal.Vol. 11. Harvard Law School. 1998. p. 47.
^^a ^bBukhārī 1997,p. 249, Vol. 1, no. 371.
^al-Ṭabarī 1997,p. 122.
^Zeitlin 2007,p. 136.
^al-Ṭabarī 1997,p. 122, Vol. 8.
^Ibn Mājah 2007,p. 298, Vol. 3, no. 2272.
^Rodinson 1971,p. 254.
^Muslim 2007,p. 58, Vol. 4, no. 1365.
^Ibn Saad, al-Tabaqat, pp.120-123.
^Peters, F. E.,Muhammad and the Origins of Islam,State University of New York Press, 1994, pp.179,ISBN 0-7914-1876-6."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 hisCopticconcubine Maria. Ibrahim died an infant. "
^"Safiyya bint Huyayy (ra): A Heart of Gold | The Firsts".Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research.Retrieved27 November2024.
^W.M. Watt, "Companion to the Qur'an, based on the Arberry translation", p. 237.
^^a ^bCheema, Waqar Akbar (11 April 2020)."Two Issues Around Prophet Muhammad's Marriage With Safiyya bint Huyayy".ICRAA.org.Retrieved11 June2024.
^Al-Sijistani, Abu Dawud, al-Sunan, Hadith 2158; graded as hasan by al-Albani and Shu‘aib al-Arna’ut
^Al-Bukhari, al-Sahih, Hadith 2893, 4211, with al-‘Asqalani, Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari, (Beirut: Dar al-Ma‘rifa, 1379 AH) Vol.7, 480
^السنة, جامع شروح."جامع السنة وشروحها - الصفحة الرئيسية".جامع السنة وشروحها.Retrieved11 June2024.
^al-San‘ani, ‘Abdul Razzaq, al-Musannaf, Hadith 12898, 13109; al-Baihaqi, Abu Bakr, Sunan al-Kubra, (Cairo: Markaz Hijr, 2011) Hadith 15688; al-Haithami, Nur al-Din, Bughyah al-Bahith ‘an Zawa’id Musnad al-Harith, (Madina: Markaz Khidmat al-Sunnah, 1992) Hadith 502, 1005, with Ibn al-Turkamani, Abu al-Hasan, Al-Jawhar al-Naqi ‘ala Sunan al-Baihaqi, (Beirut: Dar al-Fekr, n.d.) Vol.7, 450
^Al-Shati', 1971, p. 181

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