Safiyya bint Huyayy

Early life

Safiyya bint Huyayy was born in Yathrib, Arabia to Huyayy ibn Akhtab, the chieftain of the Arabian Jewish tribe Banu Nadir. Her mother Barra bint Samaw'al belonged to the Banu Qurayza clan. Safiyya's year of birth is uncertain with various sources recording it as around and .

According to a source, she was married off to Sallam ibn Mishkam, who later divorced her. When the Banu Nadir were expelled from Medina in 625, her family settled in Khaybar, an oasis 153 kilometers from Medina. 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.

In 627 or early 628, Safiyya was married to Kinana ibn al-Rabi, treasurer of the Banu Nadir; she was about 17 years old at that time. Muslim sources claimed that Safiyya is said to have informed Kinana of a dream she had in which the moon had fallen from the heavens into her lap. Kinana 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.

Battle of Khaybar

Main article: Battle of Khaybar

In May 628, Muhammad and the Muslims invaded 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 property of the Muslim state. This settlement offer, according to Stillman, did not extend to the Banu Nadir tribe, who were given no mercy. As a result of the battle, Safiyya's then-husband, Kinana ibn al-Rabi, was killed.

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.

When Safiyya was delivered, she came along with another woman. The latter was distressed by the sight of the slain Jews, which prompted her to cry out and induce self-injury on her face. In response, Muhammad ordered her to be taken away. He directed that Safiyya 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. It was reported that Dihya got seven slaves in exchange. Muhammad married Safiyya.

Marriage to Muhammad

According to Martin Lings, Muhammad had given Safiyyah the choice of returning to the defeated Banu Nadir or becoming Muslim and marrying him, and Safiyyah opted for the latter choice. W. Montgomery Watt and Nomani believe that Muhammad married Safiyya as part of reconciliation with the Jewish tribe and as a gesture of goodwill. John L. Esposito states that the marriage may have been political or to cement alliances. Haykal opines that Muhammad's manumission of and marriage to Safiyaa was partly in order to alleviate her tragedy and partly to preserve their dignity, and compares these actions to previous conquerors who married the daughters and wives of the kings whom they had defeated. According to some, by marrying Safiyyah, Muhammad aimed at ending the enmity and hostility between Jews and Islam. Muhammad advised Safiyya to convert to Islam, she accepted and agreed to became Muhammad's wife. Safiyya did not bear any children to Muhammad.

Consummation

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

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. Numerous authentic hadith reports describe this:

Legacy

Safiyya is honored by Muslims as one of the "Mothers of the Believers". 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. In 656, Safiyya sided with caliph Uthman 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.

Safiyya died in 670 or 672, during the reign of Mu'awiya I, and was buried in the Jannat al-Baqi graveyard. 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 Mu'awiya for 180,000 dirhams.

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.

Notes

References

Bibliography

References

1. Guillaume, A. The Life of Muhammad: Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah.
2. Stowasser, Barbara. ''The Mothers of the Believers in the Hadith''. The Muslim World, Volume 82, Issue 1-2: 1-36.
3. "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
4. Veccia Vaglieri, L.. "Khaybar". Brill Academic Publishers.
5. Stillman (1979) p. 18
6. (1998). "Harvard Human Rights Journal". Harvard Law School.
7. al-Ṭabarī, Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd. "Tarikh al-Tabari". State University of New York Press.
8. Martin Lings, Muhammad - His Life Based On The Earliest Sources (George Allen & Unwin, 1983), p. 269
9. Nomani (1970), p. 424.
10. Watt (1964), p. 195
11. John L. Esposito, Islam - The Straight Path, pp. 19–20
12. Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili, Musnad, vol. 13, p. 168, Cited in Muhammad Fathi Mus'ad, The Wives of the Prophet Muhammad - Their Strives and Their Lives, p.172)
13. Muhammad Husayn Haykal, The Life of Muhammad (North American Trust Publications, 1976), p. 373
14. Ibn Saad, al-Tabaqat, pp.120-123.
15. Safiyya bint Huyay, Fatima az-Zahra by Ahmad Thompson
16. 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 his [[Copt]]ic concubine Maria. Ibrahim died an infant."
17. (11 April 2020). "Two Issues Around Prophet Muhammad's Marriage With Safiyya bint Huyayy".
18. Al-Sijistani, Abu Dawud, al-Sunan, Hadith 2158; graded as hasan by al-Albani and Shu‘aib al-Arna’ut
19. 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
20. "جامع السنة وشروحها - الصفحة الرئيسية".
21. 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
22. Naveed, Sarmad. (2023-11-10). "Safiyya bint Huyayy, the Jewish Mother of All Muslims".
23. Vacca, V. (1995). "Safiyya". Brill Academic Publishers.
24. Al-Shati', 1971, p. 181