Before marrying the Prophet, Safiyyah had been married twice. Her first husband was the Rabbi Sallam ibn Mishkim, and her second was Kenana ibn al-Rabi, a key opponent of the Prophet. The latter was abusive toward Safiyyah; in the hadith, 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]
When the Banu Nadir were expelled from Medina in 625, her family settled in Khaybar, an oasis 153 kilometers from Medina.[5] 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.[6]
In 627 or early 628, Safiyya was married to Kenana 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]
In May 628, Muhammad and the Muslimsinvaded 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.[8] This settlement offer, according to Stillman, 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 ordered Zubayr ibn al-Awwam to torture him with hot steel applied to his chest until he was almost dead. Muhammad subsequently took him to Muhammad 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 of Banu Qurayza and 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 to Muhammad al-Bukhari, Muhammad stayed for three days between Khaybar and Medina, where he consummated his marriage to Safiyya. His companions wondered 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:
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.
… 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.
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 early Muslim community, and acquired substantial influence by the time of her death.[5] In 656, Safiyya sided with caliphUthman 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.[5]
Safiyya died in 670 or 672, during the reign of Mu'awiya I, and was buried in the Jannat al-Baqi graveyard.[31] 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 Muawiyya for 180,000 dirhams.[5]
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.[5]
^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
^Peters, F. E., Muhammad and the Origins of Islam, State University of New York Press, 1994, pp.179, ISBN0-7914-1876-6. "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 Coptic concubine Maria. Ibrahim died an infant."
Bukhārī, Muḥammad ibn Ismāʻīl (1997). Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhārī: The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih Al-Bukhari : Arabic-English (in Arabic). Vol. 1. Darussalam Pub. & Distr. ISBN9960-717-32-1.
