Safiyya bint Huyayy

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The Wives of Muhammad

Khadijah bint Khuwaylid

Sawda bint Zama*

Aisha*

Hafsa bint Umar

Zaynab bint Khuzayma

Umm Salama Hind bint Abi Umayya

Zaynab bint Jahsh

Juwayriya bint al-Harith

Ramlah bint Abi-Sufyan

Safiyya bint Huyayy

Maymuna bint al-Harith

Maria al-Qibtiyya**

*succession disputed **disputed

Safiyya bint Huyayy (Arabic: صفية بنت حيي, c. 610 - c. 670) was a Jewish woman captured from the Banu Nadir tribe at age 17 [1], who became Muhammad's eleventh wife and hence titled Mother of the Believers in the Qur'an. After Muhammad's death, she became involved in the power politics of the early Muslim community and acquired substantial wealth by the time of her death.[2]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Safiyya was born in Medina to Huyayy ibn Akhtab the chief of Banu Nadir an important Jewish tribe. Her mother, Barra bint Samawal was from the Banu Qurayza tribe. When Banu Nadir was expelled from Medina in 625, her family settled in Khaybar, an oasis near Medina.[2] Her father and brother went from Khaybar to join the Meccan and Bedouin forces besieging Muhammad in Medina during the Battle of the Trench. Both fought alongside the Banu Qurayza and were killed, together with all the men of the Banu Qurayza, by Muhammad's followers.[3] In 627 or early in 628, Safiyya married Kinana ibn al-Rabi, treasurer of the Banu Nadir; she was about 17 years old at that time.[2]

[edit] Attack on Banu Nadir

See also: Battle of Khaybar

In May 629 Muhammad and his followers attacked Khaybar and triumphed over the Banu Nadir in the Battle of Khaybar. Although the Banu Nadir and other Jewish medina expellees put up fierce resistance, the lack of central command and their unpreparedness for an extended siege sealed the outcome of the battle in favor of the Muslims. When all but two fortresses were captured, the Jews managed to negotiate their surrender. The terms required them to hand over one-half of the annual produce to the Muslims, while the land itself became the collective property of the Muslim state.[4]

The agreement, however, did not cover the Banu Nadir tribe when Muhammad and his followers demanded an alleged secret treasure they believed the Banu Nadir guarded. Safiya's husband Kinana ibn al-Rabi the treasurer was tortured and killed when he refused to do so [5]. A massacare ensued and all the all the males of Banu Nadir where slain, the town was pillaged and women were taken as slaves. [6] In the aftermath the women where divided amongst Mohammad and his followers in accords to the .[4] Safiyya was captured, together with two of her cousins and was raped at first by Dihya ibn Khalifa but Muhammad, struck by her beauty, threw his mantle over her as a sign that he had chosen her for himself. In exchange, Muhammad gave Dihya Safiyya's two cousins[7] or, according to other sources, seven head of cattle[2] and according to a differing source, seven female slaves. [8]

Muhammad suggested that Safiyya convert to Islam, which she did, and thus she become Muhammad's wife rather than remain a slave girl. Despite her conversion, Muhammad's other wives ostracized her for her Jewish origin. Doubts about Safiyya's commitment to Islam and the suspicion that she would avenge her slain kin are recurring themes in the numerous Muslim biographies of her. [9] In these stories, Muhammad or Umar admonish the doubters and reaffirm the quality of her Islam.[2]

[edit] Marriage to Muhammad

According to Muhammad al-Bukhari, Muhammad's followers wondered if she was to remain a captive (Arabic: ma malakat aymanukum) or a wife to Muhammad, and speculated that if he ordered her to veil herself, she would be one of the "Mothers of the Believers" (one of his wives), but if he did not, then she would become his concubine. Muhammad threw his own mantle on her[10], and took her for wife. [11].

Some think that Muhammad married Safiyya as part of a deal to conclude a peace treaty.[12] Muslim scholar Maulana Muhammad Ali holds that Muhammad married the widowed Safiyya, who had supposedly already fallen into his hands as a captive, as a gesture of goodwill.[13] Saffiya did not bore any children to Muhammad. [14]

[edit] Political involvement and estate

In 656, Safiyya sided with caliph Uthman. She defended him during his last meeting with Ali, Aisha, and al-Zubayr, and when Uthman was besieged in his house Safiyya made an unsuccessful attempt to reach him, and brought him food and water by means of a plank placed between her dwelling and his.[2]

Safiyya died in 670 or 672, leaving 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, who was a caliph at that time, for 180,000 dirhams.[2]

[edit] See also

[edit] References and footnotes

  1. ^ Safiyya bint Huyay,Fatima az-Zahra by Ahmad Thompson
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Vacca, V. "Safiyya". Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. Ed. P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 1573-3912.
  3. ^ Stillman, Norman (1979). The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America. ISBN 0-82-760198-0., p.17
  4. ^ a b Veccia Vaglieri, L.. "Khaybar". Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. Ed. P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 1573-3912.
  5. ^ Ibn Hisham (1955). English translation in Stillman (1979), pp. 145–146
  6. ^ Hekmat, Anwar, Women and the Koran The Status of Women in Islam, (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1997) pp.48, ISBN 1-573-92162-9
  7. ^ Ibn Hisham. Al-Sira al-Nabawiyya (The Life of The Prophet), translated in Stillman, Norman (1979). The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America. ISBN 0-82-760198-0., pp.145–146
  8. ^ Abu Dawud vol.2 no.2988 p.848; Abu Dawud vol.2 no.2985-2989 and footnote 2406 p.846-849
  9. ^ Abu Dawud vol.3 no.4588 p.1293
  10. ^ Al-Bukhari, Al-Sahih, vol. 7.1, as cited Hekmat, Anwar (1997). Women and the Koran The Status of Women in Islam. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 209. ISBN 1-573-92162-9.:

    "Anas narrated [as follows]: The prophet stayed for three days between Khaybar and Medina, and there he consummated his marriage to Saffiya. The Muslims wondered, "Is she considered as his wife or slave?" Then they said, "If he orders her to veil herself, she will be one of the mothers of the believers [meaning Muhammad's wives], but if he does not order her to veil herself, she will be a slave-girl." Muhammad threw his own mantle on her in front of everyone, and took her to his own harem."</blockqoute>

  11. ^ Ibn Saad, al-Tabaqat, pp. 120-123
  12. ^ Karen Armstrong, Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet, p. 233, 1993, HarperSanFrancisco, ISBN 0-06-250886-5
  13. ^ Maulana Muhammad Ali, Muhammad the Prophet, p. 67, 2004, Kessinger Publishing, ISBN 1-4179-5666-6
  14. ^ Peters, F. E., Muhammad and the Origins of Islam, State University of New York Press , 1994, pp.179, ISBN 0-791-41876-6. "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 Mary. Ibrahim too died an infant. "

[edit] Futher reading

  • Awde, Nicholas Women in Islam: An Anthology from the Qur'an and Hadits, Routledge (UK) 2000, ISBN 0-700-71012-4
  • Hekmat, Anwar, Women and the Koran The Status of Women in Islam, Prometheus Books, 1997, ISBN 1-573-92162-9


[edit] External links

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