ShyHijabi
Junior Member
Safiyah Bint Huyeiy Ibn Akhtab was one of the wives of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH). She was the daughter of Huyeiy Ibn Akhtab, the chief of the Banu Nadir tribe, who were all expelled from Madinah in 4 AH after plotting to kill the Messenger of Allah (PBUH). She was known for her extreme beauty. She did not only love Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) deeply, but also greatly respected him as Allah's Messenger. She was intelligent, learned and gentle. In fact, gentleness and patience were her dominant qualities. She had many good moral qualities.
She was married to Kinana ibn al-Rabi'a just before the Muslims attacked Khaibar. She was then seventeen. She had formerly been the wife of Sallam ibn Mishkam, who divorced her.
She married Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) 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 was Khaybar.
After the battle of Khaybar in which the Muslims defeated the Jews, two women were brought before Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) by Bilal. They had passed by those who had been killed in the battle. One of the two women was shrieking and screaming, and rubbing dust in her hair, while the other was mute with shock.
The who was mute with shock was Safiyah, the other one was her cousin. Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) asked someone to look after the woman who was screaming and then took off his cloak and placed it over the shoulders of Safiyah, 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.
After doing this Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) turned to Bilal and said:
"Bilal, has Allah plucked mercy from your heart that you let these two women pass by those of their men folk who have been killed?"
This was considered a severe reprimand, for the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), who rarely criticized the behaviour of those who served him.
Like Um Habiba, Safiyah 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 Prophet Mohamed (PBUH).
Even thought her father had previously planned to assassinate Mohamed 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 Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) 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.
Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) then invited Safiyah to embrace Islam, which she did, and after having given her her freedom, he married her.
Safiyah had requested the Prophet to wait till he had gone a stage away from Khaibar.
"Why?" asked the Prophet.
"I was afraid for you on account of the Jews who still happened to be near at Khaibar!"
Many people wondered how could Safiyah embrace Islam and marry Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) 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:
"I was my father and my uncle Yasir�s favorite. They could never see me with one of their children without picking me up. When the Messenger of Allah came to Madinah, 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 heared 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 Mohammed (PBUH) came to Madinah, the Jews used to threaten the idol worshippers of Yathrib, as it was then called, that when the next Prophet comes to the believers, they will exterminate them, just as the Jews had exterminated other tribes who refused to worship God in the past.
Just as the Prophet Jesus, who had been clearly described in the Torah been 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 Makkah, who will emigrate to Madinah (or he said Tayyiba - another name given to Yathrib); his community will be those who praise Allah in every state.'
And Amr ibn al-Aas 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 he has straightened out the crooked community and they say, �There is no god but Allah.� Through him, blind eyes, deaf ears and covered hearts will be opened.�
It was according to these descriptions in the Torah, that the most learned rabbi of the Jews, Abdullah ibn Salam, had embraced Islam on seeing Mohammed and it was because of these descriptions that Huyeiy ibn Akhtal was also able to recognize him.
Although Safiyah was Huyeiy'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 Mohamed, may Allah be pleased with all of them.
Thus as soon as she got the opportunity, she did not only follow the last Prophet, but also married him.
Although Safiyah had in Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) 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, Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) found Safiyah 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 consoled her. He encouraged her. He equipped her with logic by saying to her: "You are certainly the daughter of a Prophet Harun, and certainly your uncle was a Prophet Musa, and you are certainly the wife of a Prophet Mohammed, so what is there in that to be scornful towards you?"
Then he said to Hafsah, "O Hafsah, fear Allah!"
Safiyah and Zainab bint Jahsh once accompanied the Prophet on a journey, when Safiyah's camel went lame. Zainab had an extra camel and the Prophet asked her if she would give it to Safiyah. 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 months to show his disapproval of what she had said.
Three years later, when Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) was in his final illness, Safiyah felt deep and sincere sadness for him. She said: "O Messenger of Allah, I wish it was I who was suffering instead of you."
Some of the wives winked at each other, which made the Prophet angry, and he exclaimed: "By Allah, she spoke the truth!"
Safiyah also faced some difficulties after the death of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH).
On one occasion a slave girl she owned went to the Amir al Muminin Omar and said: "Amir al Muminin! Safiyah loves the Sabbath and maintains ties with the Jews!" Omar asked Safiyah 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 slave girl what had possessed her to carry lies to Omar and the girl replied, "Shaytan!" Safiyah said, "Go, you are free."
Safiyah lived with Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) for about four years, She was only twenty-one when he 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) and was buried in al Baqi cemetery. She left property worth one hundred thousand dirhams leaving one-third for her nephew, and the rest was given in charity.
Source: http://islamonline.com/news/newsfull.php?newid=1154
She was married to Kinana ibn al-Rabi'a just before the Muslims attacked Khaibar. She was then seventeen. She had formerly been the wife of Sallam ibn Mishkam, who divorced her.
She married Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) 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 was Khaybar.
After the battle of Khaybar in which the Muslims defeated the Jews, two women were brought before Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) by Bilal. They had passed by those who had been killed in the battle. One of the two women was shrieking and screaming, and rubbing dust in her hair, while the other was mute with shock.
The who was mute with shock was Safiyah, the other one was her cousin. Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) asked someone to look after the woman who was screaming and then took off his cloak and placed it over the shoulders of Safiyah, 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.
After doing this Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) turned to Bilal and said:
"Bilal, has Allah plucked mercy from your heart that you let these two women pass by those of their men folk who have been killed?"
This was considered a severe reprimand, for the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), who rarely criticized the behaviour of those who served him.
Like Um Habiba, Safiyah 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 Prophet Mohamed (PBUH).
Even thought her father had previously planned to assassinate Mohamed 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 Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) 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.
Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) then invited Safiyah to embrace Islam, which she did, and after having given her her freedom, he married her.
Safiyah had requested the Prophet to wait till he had gone a stage away from Khaibar.
"Why?" asked the Prophet.
"I was afraid for you on account of the Jews who still happened to be near at Khaibar!"
Many people wondered how could Safiyah embrace Islam and marry Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) 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:
"I was my father and my uncle Yasir�s favorite. They could never see me with one of their children without picking me up. When the Messenger of Allah came to Madinah, 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 heared 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 Mohammed (PBUH) came to Madinah, the Jews used to threaten the idol worshippers of Yathrib, as it was then called, that when the next Prophet comes to the believers, they will exterminate them, just as the Jews had exterminated other tribes who refused to worship God in the past.
Just as the Prophet Jesus, who had been clearly described in the Torah been 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 Makkah, who will emigrate to Madinah (or he said Tayyiba - another name given to Yathrib); his community will be those who praise Allah in every state.'
And Amr ibn al-Aas 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 he has straightened out the crooked community and they say, �There is no god but Allah.� Through him, blind eyes, deaf ears and covered hearts will be opened.�
It was according to these descriptions in the Torah, that the most learned rabbi of the Jews, Abdullah ibn Salam, had embraced Islam on seeing Mohammed and it was because of these descriptions that Huyeiy ibn Akhtal was also able to recognize him.
Although Safiyah was Huyeiy'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 Mohamed, may Allah be pleased with all of them.
Thus as soon as she got the opportunity, she did not only follow the last Prophet, but also married him.
Although Safiyah had in Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) 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, Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) found Safiyah 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 consoled her. He encouraged her. He equipped her with logic by saying to her: "You are certainly the daughter of a Prophet Harun, and certainly your uncle was a Prophet Musa, and you are certainly the wife of a Prophet Mohammed, so what is there in that to be scornful towards you?"
Then he said to Hafsah, "O Hafsah, fear Allah!"
Safiyah and Zainab bint Jahsh once accompanied the Prophet on a journey, when Safiyah's camel went lame. Zainab had an extra camel and the Prophet asked her if she would give it to Safiyah. 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 months to show his disapproval of what she had said.
Three years later, when Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) was in his final illness, Safiyah felt deep and sincere sadness for him. She said: "O Messenger of Allah, I wish it was I who was suffering instead of you."
Some of the wives winked at each other, which made the Prophet angry, and he exclaimed: "By Allah, she spoke the truth!"
Safiyah also faced some difficulties after the death of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH).
On one occasion a slave girl she owned went to the Amir al Muminin Omar and said: "Amir al Muminin! Safiyah loves the Sabbath and maintains ties with the Jews!" Omar asked Safiyah 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 slave girl what had possessed her to carry lies to Omar and the girl replied, "Shaytan!" Safiyah said, "Go, you are free."
Safiyah lived with Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) for about four years, She was only twenty-one when he 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) and was buried in al Baqi cemetery. She left property worth one hundred thousand dirhams leaving one-third for her nephew, and the rest was given in charity.
Source: http://islamonline.com/news/newsfull.php?newid=1154
I even try using this as a ways to show Muslims of why it's Haraam to be racist against Jews, because one of our mothers, Umm al Mumineen, was Jewish. And seeing that you're Jewish, sister Sarah, I think that's VERY cool! 