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Safiyyah bint Huyayy, (may Allah be pleased with her)
married the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in 7
AH, when the Prophet was sixty years old and she was seventeen years old. As
in the case of juwayriyya bint Harith, this marriage occurred after one of
the Muslims' decisive battles, in this case, the battle of Khaybar.
After the battle of Khaybar in which the Muslims defeated the Jews, two
women were brought before the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah
be upon him) by Bilal, the black mu'adhdhin of Medina whose beautifully
piercing voice constantly called the Muslims to prayer right up until the
Prophet's death- after which he could not bring himself to call the adhan
anymore, until he was present at the surrender of Jerusalem to the khalif
Umar in 17 AH. They had passed by those who had been killed in the fighting.
One of the two women was shrieking and screaming, and rubbing dust in her
hair, while the other was mute with shock.
The silent one was Safiyyah, the daughter of Huyayy ibn Akhtab, the chief of
the Banu Nadir who had all been expelled from Medina in 4 AH after plotting
to kill the Messenger of Allah by dropping a stone on his head as he sat
talking with their leaders. The noisy one was Safiyyah's cousin. Safiyyah
could trace her lineage directly back to Harun, the brother of the Prophet
Moses (peace be upon them). The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) asked someone to look after the woman who was screaming
and then took off his cloak and placed it over the shoulders of Safiyyah,
whose husband had been killed in the battle. It was a gesture of pity, but
from that moment she was to be honored and given great respect in the Muslim
community. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
turned to Bilal and said, "Bilal, has Allah plucked mercy from your heart
that you let these two women pass by those of their menfolk who have been
killed?" This was considered a severe reprimand, for the Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) rarely criticized the behavior of
those who served him. Anas ibn Malik, for example once said, "I served the
Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for eight
years. He never once scolded me for something that I had done or for
something that I had not done."
Like Umm Habiba, Safiyyah was the daughter of a great chief. The only person
who could save her from becoming a slave after having enjoyed such a high
position was the Prophet. Although her father had planned to assassinate
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) after the battle of
Uhud, and had conspired with the Banu Qurayza to exterminate all the Muslims
during the battle of al-Khandaq, it was characteristic of the Prophet
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that he did not bear any
grudges. For those who did wrong, he felt pity rather than anger, and for
those who had done no wrong, he had even greater compassion. The Prophet
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) invited Safiyyah to
embrace Islam, which she did, and having given her, her freedom, he then
married her. Some people may have wondered how it was that Safiyyah could
accept Islam and marry the Prophet when her father had been his bitter
enemy, and when bloody battles had taken place between the Jews and the
Muslims. The answer may be found in what she has related of her early life
as the daughter of the chief of the Banu Nadir.
She said, (may Allah be pleased with her): "I was my father's favorite and
also a favorite with my uncle Yasir. They could never see me with one of
their children without picking me up. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) came to Medina, my father and my uncle went
to see him. It was very early in the morning and between dawn and sunrise.
They did not return until the sun was setting. They came back worn out and
depressed, walking with slow, heavy steps. I smiled to them as I always did,
but neither of them took any notice of me because they were so miserable. I
head Abu Yasir ask my father, 'Is it him?' 'Yes, it is.' 'Can you recognize
him? Can you verify it?' 'Yes, I can recognize him too well.' 'What do you
feel towards him?' 'Enmity, enmity as long as I live.'
The significance of this conversation is evident when we recall that in the
Torah of the Jews, it was written that a Prophet would come who would lead
those who followed him to victory. Indeed before the Prophet Muhammad (peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him) came to Medina, the Jews used to
threaten the idol worshippers of Yathrib, as it was then called, that when
the next Prophet came to the believers were going to exterminate them, just
as the Jews had exterminated other tribes who refused to worship God in the
past. As in any case, of the Prophet Jesus, (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) who had been clearly described in the Torah - but rejected by many
of the Jews when he actually came - the next and last Prophet was accurately
described in the Torah, which also contained signs by which the Jews could
easily recognize him. Thus Ka'b al-Ahbar, one of the Jews of that time who
embraced Islam, relates that this Prophet is described in the Torah as
follows:
'My slave, Ahmad, the Chosen, born in Mecca, who will emigrate to Medina (or
he said Tayyiba - another name given to Yathrib); his community will be
those who praise Allah in every state.'
And 'Amr ibn al-'As said that it also says in the Torah:
'O Prophet, We have sent you as a witness, a bringer of good news and a
warner and a refuge for the illiterate. You are My slave and My messenger. I
have called you the one on whom people rely, one who is neither coarse nor
vulgar, and who neither shouts in the markets nor repays evil with evil, but
rather pardons and forgives. Allah will not take him back to Himself until
the crooked community has been straightened out by him and they say, "There
is no god but Allah." Through him, blind eyes, deaf ears and covered hearts
will be opened.'
It was thanks to these descriptions in the Torah, that the most learned
rabbi of the Jews, 'Abdullah ibn Salam, had embraced Islam on seeing
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and it was because of
these descriptions that Huyayy ibn Akhtab was also able to recognize him.
However Huyayy, like most of the other Jews, was deeply disappointed that
the last Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was a descendant
of Isma'il and not of Ishaq, (the two sons of the Prophet Ibrahim, peace be
upon them), since the Jews of that time claimed exclusive descent from
Ishaq, through the twelve sons of his son Ya'qub (who was also known as
Israel), from whom the twelve tribes of Israel had originated. Not only did
Huyayy resent the fact that the last Prophet had appeared amongst the Arabs,
but also he did not want to lose his position of power and leadership over
his people.
It was for these reasons that Huyayy secretly decided to oppose and fight
the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) while in
public he and the other leaders of the Jews made peace treaties with the
Muslims and the Jews broke as soon as it seemed a favorable time to do so.
Although Safiyyah was Huyayy's daughter, she had a pure heart and had always
wanted to worship her Creator and Lord, the One who had sent Moses, to whom
she was related, and Jesus, and finally Muhammad, may Allah be pleased with
all of them. Thus as soon as the opportunity arose, not only to follow the
last Prophet, but also to be married to him, she took it. Although Safiyyah
had in Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) a most kind and
considerate husband, she was not always favorably accepted by some of his
other wives, especially when she had first joined the Prophet's household.
It is related by Anas that on one occasion, the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) found Safiyyah weeping. When he asked her what the
matter was, she replied that she heard that Hafsahh had disparagingly
described her as 'the daughter of a Jew'.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) responded by saying,
"You are certainly the daughter of a Prophet (Harun), and certainly your
uncle was a Prophet (Moses), and you are certainly the wife of a Prophet
(Muhammad), so what is there in that to be scornful towards you?" Then he
said to Hafsah, "O Hafsah, fear Allah!"
Once the Prophet was accompanied on a journey by Safiyyah and Zainab bint
Jahsh when Safiyyah' s camel went lame. Zainab had an extra camel and the
Prophet asked her if she would give it to Safiyyah. Zainab retorted, "Should
I give to that Jewess!" The Prophet turned away from her in anger and would
not have anything to do with her for two or three months to show his
disapproval of what she had said. Some three years later, when Muhammad
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was in his final illness,
Safiyyah felt for him deeply and sincerely. "O Messenger of Allah," she
said, "I wish it was I who was suffering instead of you." Some of the wives
winked at each other which made the Prophet cross and he exclaimed, "By
Allah, she spoke the truth!"
She still underwent difficulties after the death of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him). Once a slavegirl she owned went to the Amir
al Muminin Umar and said, "Amir al Muminin! Safiyyah loves the Sabbath and
maintains ties with the Jews!" Umar asked Safiyyah about that and she said,
"I have not loved the Sabbath since Allah replaced it with Friday for me,
and I only maintain ties with those Jews to whom I am related by kinship."
She asked her slavegirl what had possessed her to carry lies to Umar and the
girl replied, "Shaytan!" Safiyyah said, "Go, you are free."
Safiyyah was with the Prophet for nearly four years, She was only twenty-one
when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) died, and lived
as a widow for the next thirty-nine years, dying in 50 AH, at the age of
sixty (may Allah be pleased with her).
Source > > http://www.a2youth.com |
