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[[File:Banunadirsubmit.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Mohammed receiving the submission of the Banu Nadir]] | |||
'''Safiyah bint Huyayy''' (صفية بنت حيي, c. 610 - c. 670) (also spelled Saffiya, Safiyya, Safiya bint Huyai) was the bride of [[Kinana]] and the chief mistress of the Jewish tribes of [[Banu Qurayza|Quraizah]] and An-Nadhir. According to the [[sira|sira,]] Muhammad captured and married her after killing her husband. She is considered an أم المؤمنين or "mother of the believers". She and her husband were both captured after the victorious conclusion of Muhammad's [[conquest of Khaybar]]. The narrations agree that Muhammad chose her due to her exceeding beauty, as had been his custom in other engagements where the believers took slave women as booty, such as the conquest of the [[Banu Qurayzah]]. There was apparently some concern for his safety the night of their wedding on the part of his followers, as he had just that day murdered her husband after taking him as a prisoner of war, going so far as to torture him in order to ascertain the location of his treasure, and had earlier killed her father after the siege of the [[Banu Qurayzah]]. Modern Muslims have found the story embarrassing from the modern, liberal point of view, which supports the rights of people to not be slaves and to choose their own sexual and marriage partners. The story of Safiyah flies in the face of these norms, instead reflecting a world where powerful men like Muhammad take women as prizes in war and use them sexually to their own advantage with little regard to the women's emotional well being. Rather than admit this quite plain reading of source texts, many Muslim [[Dawah|duaah]] and apologists rather seek to use isolated narratives to recast Safiyah as a woman deeply in love with the man who had just killed her brother, husband (including torturing him in order to find his gold), and had earlier killed her father, and profoundly possessed by the conviction that he was a prophet of [[Allah (God)|Allah]]. | '''Safiyah bint Huyayy''' (صفية بنت حيي, c. 610 - c. 670) (also spelled Saffiya, Safiyya, Safiya bint Huyai) was the bride of [[Kinana]] and the chief mistress of the Jewish tribes of [[Banu Qurayza|Quraizah]] and An-Nadhir. According to the [[sira|sira,]] Muhammad captured and married her after killing her husband. She is considered an أم المؤمنين or "mother of the believers". She and her husband were both captured after the victorious conclusion of Muhammad's [[conquest of Khaybar]]. The narrations agree that Muhammad chose her due to her exceeding beauty, as had been his custom in other engagements where the believers took slave women as booty, such as the conquest of the [[Banu Qurayzah]]. There was apparently some concern for his safety the night of their wedding on the part of his followers, as he had just that day murdered her husband after taking him as a prisoner of war, going so far as to torture him in order to ascertain the location of his treasure, and had earlier killed her father after the siege of the [[Banu Qurayzah]]. Modern Muslims have found the story embarrassing from the modern, liberal point of view, which supports the rights of people to not be slaves and to choose their own sexual and marriage partners. The story of Safiyah flies in the face of these norms, instead reflecting a world where powerful men like Muhammad take women as prizes in war and use them sexually to their own advantage with little regard to the women's emotional well being. Rather than admit this quite plain reading of source texts, many Muslim [[Dawah|duaah]] and apologists rather seek to use isolated narratives to recast Safiyah as a woman deeply in love with the man who had just killed her brother, husband (including torturing him in order to find his gold), and had earlier killed her father, and profoundly possessed by the conviction that he was a prophet of [[Allah (God)|Allah]]. | ||
==Story of Her Capture and Marriage to Muhammad== | ==Story of Her Capture and Marriage to Muhammad== | ||
When the Muslims invaded and conquered Khaybar, the fighting men were killed and Safiyah was taken captive (along with the rest of the women and children) and allotted as booty to Dihya Al-Kalbi, a Muslim.<ref>{{Bukhari|2|14|68}}</ref> Kinana, her husband, was tortured and executed by the Muslims in order to discover the hiding places of treasure,<ref>Ishaq. I (Author), Guillaume. A (Translator). (2002). [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Muhammad-I-Ishaq/dp/0196360331/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252901691&sr=8-1#reader ''The Life of Muhammad'']. (p. 515). Oxford University Press</ref><ref>The History of Al-Tabari, State University of New York Press, vol. 8 translated by Michael Fishbein, p.123</ref><ref>Muir, Sir William. (1878). [http://books.google.com/books?id=5QMMAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false ''The Life of Mahomet, New Edition'']. (pp. 390-391) London:Smith, Elder and Co.</ref> and one source relates that he and Safiyah had been married for only one day.<ref>Muir, Sir William. (1878). [http://books.google.com/books?id=5QMMAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false ''The Life of Mahomet, New Edition'']. (pp. 392) London:Smith, Elder and Co.</ref> She was so [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Beauty and Makeup|beautiful]], that the Muslims began praising her in the presence of [[Muhammad]],<ref>{{Muslim|8|3329}}</ref> and so the prophet commanded that Dihya be brought before him along with Safiyah.{{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3328}}|Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: Khaibar is ruined. Verily when we get down in the valley of a people, evil is the morning of the warned ones (al-Qur'an, xxxvii. 177). Allah, the Majestic and the Glorious, defeated them (the inhabitants of Khaibar), and there fell to the lot of Dihya a beautiful girl, and Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) got her in exchange of seven heads, and then entrusted her to Umm Sulaim so that she might embellish her and prepare her (for marriage) with him. }} | When the Muslims invaded and conquered [[Khaybar]], the fighting men were killed and Safiyah was taken captive (along with the rest of the women and children) and allotted as booty to Dihya Al-Kalbi, a Muslim.<ref>{{Bukhari|2|14|68}}</ref> Kinana, her husband, was tortured and executed by the Muslims in order to discover the hiding places of treasure,<ref>Ishaq. I (Author), Guillaume. A (Translator). (2002). [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Muhammad-I-Ishaq/dp/0196360331/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252901691&sr=8-1#reader ''The Life of Muhammad'']. (p. 515). Oxford University Press</ref><ref>The History of Al-Tabari, State University of New York Press, vol. 8 translated by Michael Fishbein, p.123</ref><ref>Muir, Sir William. (1878). [http://books.google.com/books?id=5QMMAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false ''The Life of Mahomet, New Edition'']. (pp. 390-391) London:Smith, Elder and Co.</ref> and one source relates that he and Safiyah had been married for only one day.<ref>Muir, Sir William. (1878). [http://books.google.com/books?id=5QMMAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false ''The Life of Mahomet, New Edition'']. (pp. 392) London:Smith, Elder and Co.</ref> She was so [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Beauty and Makeup|beautiful]], that the Muslims began praising her in the presence of [[Muhammad]],<ref>{{Muslim|8|3329}}</ref> and so the prophet commanded that Dihya be brought before him along with Safiyah.{{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3328}}|Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: Khaibar is ruined. Verily when we get down in the valley of a people, evil is the morning of the warned ones (al-Qur'an, xxxvii. 177). Allah, the Majestic and the Glorious, defeated them (the inhabitants of Khaibar), and there fell to the lot of Dihya a beautiful girl, and Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) got her in exchange of seven heads, and then entrusted her to Umm Sulaim so that she might embellish her and prepare her (for marriage) with him. }} | ||
Upon seeing her, Muhammad said, "Take any slave girl other than her from the captives"<ref>{{Bukhari|1|8|367}}</ref> and he selected her for himself (as was his custom, he had done similarly with Rayhana after [[The Massacre of the Banu Qurayza]]):<ref>Ibn Sa'd, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, vol.2 p.58</ref> {{Quote|2={{right|لما فتح رسول الله ص الْقَمُوصَ، حِصْنَ ابْنِ أَبِي الْحُقَيْقِ، أُتِيَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ بِصَفِيَّةَ بِنْتِ حُيَيِّ بْنِ أَخْطَبَ، وَبِأُخْرَى مَعَهَا، فَمَرَّ بِهِمَا بِلالٌ- وَهُوَ الَّذِي جَاءَ بِهِمَا- عَلَى قَتْلَى مِنْ قَتْلَى يَهُودَ، فَلَمَّا رَأَتْهُمُ الَّتِي مَعَ صَفِيَّةَ صَاحَتْ وَصَكَّتْ وَجْهَهَا، وَحَثَتِ التُّرَابَ عَلَى رَأْسِهَا، فَلَمَّا رَآهَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ قَالَ: أَغْرِبُوا عَنِّي هَذِهِ الشَّيْطَانَةَ، وَأَمَرَ بِصَفِيَّةَ فَحِيزَتْ خَلْفَهُ، وَأُلْقِيَ عَلَيْهَا رِدَاؤُهُ، فَعَرَفَ المسلمون ان رسول الله ص قد اصطفاها لنفسه، فقال رسول الله ص لِبِلالٍ- فِيمَا بَلَغَنِي- حِينَ رَأَى مِنْ تِلْكَ الْيَهُودِيَّةِ مَا رَأَى أَنُزِعَتْ مِنْكَ الرَّحْمَةُ يَا بِلالُ، حَيْثُ تَمُرُّ بِامْرَأَتَيْنِ عَلَى قَتْلَى رِجَالِهِمَا | Upon seeing her, Muhammad said, "Take any slave girl other than her from the captives"<ref>{{Bukhari|1|8|367}}</ref> and he selected her for himself (as was his custom, he had done similarly with Rayhana after [[The Massacre of the Banu Qurayza]]):<ref>Ibn Sa'd, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, vol.2 p.58</ref> {{Quote|2={{right|لما فتح رسول الله ص الْقَمُوصَ، حِصْنَ ابْنِ أَبِي الْحُقَيْقِ، أُتِيَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ بِصَفِيَّةَ بِنْتِ حُيَيِّ بْنِ أَخْطَبَ، وَبِأُخْرَى مَعَهَا، فَمَرَّ بِهِمَا بِلالٌ- وَهُوَ الَّذِي جَاءَ بِهِمَا- عَلَى قَتْلَى مِنْ قَتْلَى يَهُودَ، فَلَمَّا رَأَتْهُمُ الَّتِي مَعَ صَفِيَّةَ صَاحَتْ وَصَكَّتْ وَجْهَهَا، وَحَثَتِ التُّرَابَ عَلَى رَأْسِهَا، فَلَمَّا رَآهَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ قَالَ: أَغْرِبُوا عَنِّي هَذِهِ الشَّيْطَانَةَ، وَأَمَرَ بِصَفِيَّةَ فَحِيزَتْ خَلْفَهُ، وَأُلْقِيَ عَلَيْهَا رِدَاؤُهُ، فَعَرَفَ المسلمون ان رسول الله ص قد اصطفاها لنفسه، فقال رسول الله ص لِبِلالٍ- فِيمَا بَلَغَنِي- حِينَ رَأَى مِنْ تِلْكَ الْيَهُودِيَّةِ مَا رَأَى أَنُزِعَتْ مِنْكَ الرَّحْمَةُ يَا بِلالُ، حَيْثُ تَمُرُّ بِامْرَأَتَيْنِ عَلَى قَتْلَى رِجَالِهِمَا | ||
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Ibn ‘Umar [al-Waqidi] – Kathir b. Zayd – al-Walid b. Rabah – Abu Hurayrah: While the Prophet was lying with Safiyah Abu Ayyub stayed the night at his door. When he saw the Prophet in the morning he said "God is the Greatest." He had a sword with him; he said to the Prophet, "O Messenger of God, this young woman had just been married, and you killed her father, her brother and her husband, so I did not trust her (not to harm) you." The Prophet laughed and said "Good".}} | Ibn ‘Umar [al-Waqidi] – Kathir b. Zayd – al-Walid b. Rabah – Abu Hurayrah: While the Prophet was lying with Safiyah Abu Ayyub stayed the night at his door. When he saw the Prophet in the morning he said "God is the Greatest." He had a sword with him; he said to the Prophet, "O Messenger of God, this young woman had just been married, and you killed her father, her brother and her husband, so I did not trust her (not to harm) you." The Prophet laughed and said "Good".}} | ||
Despite this banquet, and the nights he spent with her, the Muslims were still not sure whether she would be considered a wife or a right hand possession (i.e. a sex slave/concubine) until Muhammad set off and allowed her to wear a veil as she rode behind him on his camel (as slave women are not allowed to wear the [[hijab]] according to traditional [[Shari'ah (Islamic Law)|shari'ah (Islamic law)]]).<ref>{{Bukhari|5|59|524}}</ref> | Despite this banquet, and the nights he spent with her, the Muslims were still not sure whether she would be considered a wife or a right hand possession (i.e. a sex slave/concubine) until Muhammad set off and allowed her to wear a veil as she rode behind him on his camel (as slave women are not allowed to wear the [[hijab]] according to traditional [[Shari'ah (Islamic Law)|shari'ah (Islamic law)]]).<ref>{{Bukhari|5|59|524}}</ref> | ||
==Analysis== | ==Analysis== | ||