Mother of the believers Safiyya Bint Huhayy

Mother of the believers Safiyya Bint Huhayy
Her Family : 

She was Safiyya the daughter of Huyay son of Akhtab son of Sa’yah. She belonged to al-Lawi son of Israel son of Ishaq son of Ibrahim, peace be upon them. She was also a descent of the Prophet Harun, the brother of Moses, peace be upon them.

Safiyya, 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.

Meeting the Prophet: 

In the battle of Khaybar, Safiyya, may Allah be pleased with her, and her cousin were captured. They were led by Bilal, may Allah be pleased with him, to meet the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. As they walked they crossed the battle field where there were bodies of dead jews. Safiyya, may Allah be pleased with her, was patient and strong and she did not cry unlike her cousin who slapped her cheeks and screamed.

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 Safiyya, 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, who 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."

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.

Embracing Islam : 

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, invited Safiyya, may Allah be pleased with her, to embrace Islam. She answered the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, be narrating a story She said that one day she dreamt that a full moon fell in her lap. When she told her father about the dream her slapped her violently and told her angrily : “Do you want to marry the king of the Arabs?”

She also narrated another significant story to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, 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 heard Yasir ask my father, “Is it him?”

He replied : “Yes, it is.”

Yasir asked : “Can you recognize him? Can you verify it?” 

He answered : “Yes, I can recognize him too well.”

Yasir asked : “What do you feel towards him?”

He replied : “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 case of the Prophet Jesus, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, who had been clearly described in the Torah, but was rejected and fought by many of the Jews when he actually came. They always thought the last prophet would be a Jew. Because Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was an Arab not a Jew, they were jealous and decided to fight him although they knew very well that he was the Messenger of Allah.

Safiya, may Allah be pleased with her, was surprised that her father, the chief of the Jews of Khaybar, and uncle would decide to fight a man who they admit to be the Messenger of Allah, but this incident changed her tremendously. She knew for sure that Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was the messenger of Allah.

When the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, invited her to embrace Islam she remembered those two stories and accepted the willingly.

The Marriage : 

The prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, proposed to Safiya, may Allah be pleased with her, and she accepted. She said, “O Messenger of Allah when I was an atheist I wished that. Then how would I be after I had embraced Islam?”

She was seventeen when she married the prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

Anas Narrated that “The prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, stayed for three days at a place between khaybar and Medina, and there he consummated his marriage with Safiya bint Huyay. I invited the Muslims to a banquet, which included neither meat nor bread. The prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, ordered for leather dining sheets to be spread and then the dates, dreiet yoghourt and butter were provided over it, and that was the banquet (walima) of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. The Muslims asked whether Safiyya would be considered as his wife or as his slave girl. Then they said if the prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, screens her from the people, the she is the Prophet’s wife but if he doesn’t screen her, then she was a slave girl.” So when the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, proceeded he made a place for her (on the camel) behind him and screened her from the people.”

(Reported by Bukhari)

In the Prophet’s house: 

When the women in Medina knew that she was coming they looked forward to seeing her. The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, noticed Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, hiding herself among the women to see her. Although she was veiled, The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, identified her, held her dress and asked her, “what did you see, O Shuqaira (blond woman)?” she out of jealousy answered, “She is just a Jewish woman.” The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, replied, “Do not say that; she embraced Islam”

Safiya, may Allah be pleased with her was known by her beauty, so the Prophet’s wives, may Allah be pleased with them were jealous.

One day she knew that Hafsa, may Allah be pleased with her, said that she was the daughter of a Jew. She was sad and wept. The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, asked her why she wept. When she told him what happened the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, “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 Hafsa, "O Hafsa, fear Allah!"

Once the Prophet was accompanied on a journey by Safiyya and Zaynab bint Jahsh when Safiyya' s camel went lame. Zaynab had an extra camel and the Prophet asked her if she would give it to Safiyya. Zaynab 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 not 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, Safiyya 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! Safiyya loves Saturday and maintains ties with the Jews!" Umar asked Safiyya about that and she said, "I have not loved the Saturday 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 made her say that to Umar and the girl replied, "The Devil!" Safiyya said, "Go, you are free."

Her struggle : 

When Othman Ibn Affan was under siege She wore her veil and went to Othman trying to defend him. She met a man called Alashtar who was one of the men against othman, may Allah be pleased with him, he pushed her horse away not knowing who was riding on it. So she tried to help Othman, may Allah be pleased with him, in another way so she made a wooden passage between her house and that of Othman, may Allah be pleased with him, through which she transferred water and food to Othman’s family

She was a knowledgeable woman who taught lots of Muslim women. She narrated Hadiths. Some Muslim men narrated on her authority like Zayn Alabedeen Aly son of AlHussein grand son of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, her two freed servants Kenana and Yazeed, as well as Muslim Ibn Safwan

Her Death : 

Safiyya, may Allah be pleased with her, 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. She lived as a widow for the next thirty-nine years, dying in Medina in 50 AH – 670 AC, at the age of sixty during the caliphate of Mu’awyah, may Allah be pleased with her.

She was buried in Baqee’ beside the other Mothers of the Believers may Allah be pleased with them all

Source : http://www.alsiraj.net/English/albayt/html/page08.html