The Noble Wives of the Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa – Hazrat Saffiyah bint Huyayy^ra

Hazrat Safiyyah^ra relates that:

“There was nobody I hated more than the Holy Prophet^sa prior to our marriage. However, from our very first meeting, he treated me with such love and compassion and insisted on repeatedly apologising to me. ‘O Safiyyah, your father was he who had incited the whole of Arabia against me and he did this and that. Eventually, he compelled us to come to Khaibar to take retaliatory measures against his conspiracies and to defend ourselves.’”

Hazrat Safiyyah^ra narrates that the Holy Prophet’s^sa propensity for rendering earnest apologies in this regard led her heart to be completely freed of her earlier prejudices against the Prophet^sa. She recalls that: “As I stood up after having my first meeting with the Prophet^sa, there was nobody more beloved to me than him. He was the most beloved and most dearly loved.”¹

Hazrat Safiyyah^ra relates that upon the occasion of Hajjatul Wada [the farewell Hajj, or Pilgrimage, during the lifetime of the Prophet^sa], the Prophet^sa desired to return to Madinah quickly. Hazrat ‘A’ishah^ra relates that she feared that due to Safiyyah’s^ra ayyaamul-makhsoosah [menstrual periods] perhaps they would have to stop for a few days so that she too could complete the last Tawaaf [to perform a circuit of the Ka’bah], upon which the Holy Prophet^sa enquired if they would have to stop because of Safiyyah^ra. This was the compassion of the Prophet^sa that if, after Hajj [the pilgrimage to Makkah], owing to the demands of her being a woman, Safiyyah^ra needed to complete her Tawaaf, then they would all have to wait for her.

He was then informed that she had performed the Tawaaf-e-Ifaazah.² The Prophet^sa replied, “Good! That means we can set off.”³

In an account of this journey, Hazrat Safiyyah^ra narrates that upon their return from Hajj, “My camel was very fast. The Holy Prophet^sa asked the camel rider to pull the reins of the camel slightly slower since women were part of the caravan.” Suddenly her camel became stuck and stopped. Due to this, she became afraid and started to cry. The Prophet^sa attempted to console her, but however much he tried, she cried even more:

“O Messenger of Allah! My camel ought to have been the fastest! It has stopped and sat down.”

After all his attempts to pacify her had failed, the Prophet^sa stood up and said: “You have stopped the entire caravan!” Hazrat Safiyyah^ra relates that:

“At the next resting place, I regretted that I had been so impatient and unable to act with forbearance. In my heart, the thought arose that if the Prophet^sa became angry with me, it may be that Allah would also be angry with me. Then I thought of a plan to appease the Prophet^sa. I told ‘A’ishah: “Today I will give my turn to you to be with the Holy Prophet^sa upon the condition that you make the Prophet^sa pleased with me.””

Hazrat Safiyyah^ra feared that since she had not followed the Prophet’s^sa instruction to stop crying immediately, he might be angry with her. Hazrat ‘A’ishah^ra accepted her condition. She put on a beautiful shawl and perfume and entered the tent of the Prophet^sa in her best clothes. As soon as she lifted her veil, the Holy Prophet^sa said, “’A’ishah! It is not your turn today. It is Safiyyah’s turn.” Hazrat ‘A’ishah^ra, with great presence of mind, answered with this part of the verse of the Holy Qur’an:

‘That is Allah’s grace; He bestows it on whom He pleases.’”⁴

She then narrated the whole incident and told him how Hazrat Safiyyah^ra had given up her turn with the condition that Hazrat ‘A’ishah^ra made sure that the Prophet^sa was pleased with Hazrat Safiyyah^ra. The Prophet^sa replied, “I am not angry with her, I am happy with Safiyyah^ra.”⁵

During this journey, the Prophet^sa demonstrated another act of kindness for Hazrat Safiyyah^ra. Her camel stopped moving and the Prophet^sa became concerned about her ride for the remainder of the journey. Hazrat Zainab bint Jahsh^ra had two camels. The Prophet^sa urged her to give her other camel to Safiyyah^ra since Safiyyah’s^ra camel was not moving. Although Hazrat Zainab bint Jahsh^ra did not render the sacrifice and eventually the Holy Prophet^sa became angry with her for a while. However, for Hazrat Safiyyah’s^ra sake the Prophet^sa did not hesitate to seek help from another wife, if it was necessary.⁶

In one incident, during the month of Ramadan, the Prophet^sa was sitting I’tikaaf.⁷ The noble wives would come to visit the Prophet^sa in Masjid Al-Nabawi [the Prophet’s^sa Mosque], and having met him returned to their homes. Hazrat Safiyyah bint Huyayy^ra, whose house was located some distance away from the Mosque (the rooms of some of the other wives were connected to the Mosque) stayed there a little longer one evening. The Prophet^sa did not deem it appropriate to send her alone at night. Therefore, he decided to accompany her. When they reached the door of the Mosque the Prophet^sa saw two Ansaari⁸ brothers walking pass. They extended the Islamic greeting of saying Salam (peace) to him and upon observing that a veiled woman was walking with him, they started to walk in haste. The Prophet^sa saw them and said, “Wait a minute! My wife Safiyyah bint Huyayy is with me.” The Ansaari brothers stopped in their tracks and felt very anxious and ashamed and inquired, “O Messenger^sa of Allah, Allah is Holy! How could you even imagine that we would think of anything but that?” The Holy Prophet^sa said, “Inside man Satan circulates around with the speed of blood; I feared lest some negative thoughts come in your hearts.”⁹

The Love for the Divine

Hazrat Safiyyah’s^ra freed slave Kinanah narrates that Hazrat Safiyyah^ra said: “Once the Holy Prophet^sa came to me. I had four thousand date stones with me. I used to do tasbeeh¹⁰ on them. The Prophet^sa enquired, ‘What purpose are they for?’ I replied, ‘I enumerate them one by one and offer Allah’s praise and glorify Him.’ The Prophet^sa asked, ‘Shall I not tell you a better way than this?’ Then he went on to explain that instead of counting them one by one and offering Allah’s praise through them, you should read:

Allah is as Holy as His creation is plentiful.¹¹

Such were the exquisite methods for the remembrance of God that the Holy Prophet^sa taught his wives. In turn, his noble wives, who had the good fortune of being blessed with the Prophet’s^sa moral training and companionship, would strive in their individual capacities to elevate their spiritual planes with respect to the remembrance and worship of God.

The Love for the Prophet^sa

The degree of affection that Hazrat Safiyyah^ra had for the Holy Prophet^sa can be ascertained from the Holy Prophet’s^sa last period of illness. The noble wives of the Holy Prophet^sa sat enquiring about the Prophet’s^sa health. During this time, Hazrat Safiyyah^ra uncontrollably exclaimed, “O Prophet^sa of Allah, I pray that I get your illness and Allah cures you.” Upon hearing this, some wives winked ironically. The Holy Prophet^sa knew that Hazrat Safiyyah^ra had a clean heart and stated, “By God! She speaks the truth,” i.e., she made this wish for me with a sincere heart.¹²

This incident is a great testimony to Hazrat Safiyyah’s^ra high morals and truthfulness. Here was a young woman brought up in a Jewish household with a father, who, on account of his religious enmity, decided to oppose the Holy Prophet^sa in order to maintain his leadership and state, despite having learnt the truth of the Holy Prophet^sa from Jewish prophecies. He remained ever-ready to oppose the Prophet^sa for the rest of his life. In the Battle of the Ditch, he and his people were exiled from Madinah for supporting the opposing Quraish [a Makkan tribe] disbelievers, declaring war against the Prophet^sa and breaking their peace treaties. Subsequently, he settled in Khaibar, and established strong stations against Islam. Eventually, in the midst of the battle fields of Khaibar, when he and his people’s fate was decided, not only Hazrat Safiyyah’s^ra father but also her husband along with many others were killed, and she said that for her it was indeed the Prophet^sa who was the most hated figure. However, after entering the house of the Prophet^sa, her impression of the Holy Prophet^sa completely transformed to the extent that she was willing to sacrifice her own life for him. She was so much in love with him that with the sincerity of her heart, and by the virtue of her own account, there was nobody more beloved in her eyes than the Holy Prophet^sa. The Prophet^sa himself vouched for her by testifying that she indeed had sacrificed herself for him with a sincere heart.

Such impressions and sentiments from the daughter of one of the most sworn enemies of the Holy Prophet^sa, who had observed the character of the Holy Prophet^sa in close quarters after taking up her station as one of his noble wives, demonstrates the excellence and purity of the Prophet’s^sa morals and the truthfulness of his claim. The Holy Prophet^sa aptly changed her name from Zainab to Safiyyah, i.e., one who had cleansed her heart for the Holy Prophet^sa and Islam and became pure for him.

The Orientalists’ Astonishment at Safiyyah’s^ra Transformation

With respect to the transformation of Hazrat Safiyyah^ra, orientalist David Margoliouth writes:

“Some Moslems paid her the compliment of thinking she meant to play Judith’s part, but they did her more than justice. Just as the Jewish tribes had each played for its own hand, careless of the fate of the others, so to this woman a share in the harem of the conqueror made up for the loss of father, husband, brethren, and religion. So Beckwourth found that a few hours were sufficient to reconcile the American squaws to captivity. Dragged from the blood baths in which their husbands, fathers, and brothers perished, they in a little time became cheerful and even merry.

Another Jewess, Zainab, the wife of Sallam, son of Mishkam, who figures as a partisan of Mohammed, tried with partial success a plan which others had attempted—to fail entirely. She found out what joint was the Prophet’s favourite food, and cooked it for him, richly seasoned with poison. The Prophet’s guest, Bishr, son of Al-Bara, took some and swallowed it; and presently died in convulsions…But when three years after he died of fever, he thought it was Zainab’s poison still working within him.”¹³

If Margoliouth had studied history without prejudice and kept in view Hazrat Safiyyah’s^ra background and childhood before accepting Islam, he would not have had any other option than to concede that this transformation was not suddenly brought about within her. Had this change occurred in Hazrat Safiyyah’s^ra  life within a night, it would certainly have been a moral miraculous achievement of the Holy Prophet^sa. Hazrat Safiyyah^ra testifies that, “the Holy Prophet^sa, who I hated the most in the world, became my most beloved.” In actuality, the truth of Islam had taken root in Hazrat Safiyyah’s^ra heart in her childhood, the day she heard her father and uncle talk about the truthfulness of the founder of Islam and that although he was indeed the awaited and true Prophet^sa, they were going to oppose him.

The other historical watershed moment that transpired during the life of Hazrat Safiyyah^ra was, as related earlier, at the time of the besiegement of Khaibar when she dreamt that the moon had fallen into her lap. Upon hearing this, her husband slapped her saying ‘Do you wish to marry the king of Arabia?’ In actuality, the Holy Prophet^sa was the interpretation of what she saw in her dream. Where this dream demonstrates Hazrat Safiyyah’s^ra genuineness, her purity of heart and the Divine plan for her, there the quick fulfilment of this dream was sufficient to enable the Prophet Muhammad^sa to win her heart over. Moreover, the manifestations of the Prophet Muhammad’s^sa benevolence and high morals were such that won over Hazrat Safiyyah’s^ra heart. The true facts themselves make Margoliouth’s criticisms pale away into insignificance.  Had the Jewish disposition been to make peace with the circumstances only for personal gains, then according to the views of Margoliouth and Sir William Muir, there was also the case of Hazrat Safiyyah’s^ra Jewess namesake [by the name of Zainab] who did not desist from adding poison in the Prophet’s^sa food. Juxtaposed with this, the great transformation in Hazrat Safiyyah^sa increases ever more.  And this is testimony to the truth of this great teacher and trainer, the Holy Prophet^sa, and his excellent morals. With reference to the impact of this pure companionship, Hazrat Maulana Hakeem Nur-Ud-Din^ra, Khalifatul Masih I, states, “The wife of the Noble Prophet^sa, Mariah^ra, was initially a Christian, and Safiyyah^ra was a Jewess. In the company of the Holy Prophet^sa they became free from these beliefs.”¹⁴

Bond with Khilafat

The bond of obedience and love that Hazrat Safiyyah^ra held for the Khulafa-e-Rashideen [Rightly Guided Successors] can be illustrated through the following incident: During the period of Hazrat Uthman’s^ra Khilafat [Caliphate], who was the Third Khalifah after the Holy Prophet^sa, he was besieged. Hazrat Safiyyah^ra expressed her desire to support Hazrat Uthman^ra and set out to meet him. On the way, the chief of the rebels, Ushtar, stopped her and wanted to attack her camel and dishonour her. She said, “Take my camel back, I do not wish that in this manner provisions are made for my humiliation.” Hazrat Safiyyah^ra then made another arrangement to support Hazrat Uthman^ra. Her house was close to his and she placed a plank of wood between her house and that of Hazrat Uthman^ra and kept contact with him by allowing water, food and other amenities to reach him during the besiegement of his home.¹⁵

Allah had granted Hazrat Safiyyah^ra extraordinary forbearance. Once, during the time of Hazrat Umar^ra, the Second Khalifah after the Holy Prophet^sa, her slave complained that she gave preference to the day of the Sabbath over  Jumu‘ah, (Friday). She said: “On this day, she treats Jews with more kindness and gives charity, etc.”

Hazrat Umar^ra,who commanded an extremely just disposition, enquired from Hazrat Safiyyah^ra what the matter was really about.  Hazrat Safiyyah^ra answered, “While Allah has given me the blessed day of Jumu’ah, how would it be possible that I instead give preference to another day?” I have some Jewish kindred and according to their rights I treat them with forbearance.”  This clarification was sufficient for Hazrat Umar^ra.

Afterwards, Hazrat Safiyyah^ra asked her slave, “What made you complain?” She replied that it was merely, “the incitement of Satan.” Hazrat Safiyyah^ra responded by saying: “Go! I free you.”

Such was her compassion and insight that she forgave and treated kindly the slave who had raised a complaint against her.¹⁶

Hazrat Safiyyah^ra also narrated some Hadith [tradition of the Holy Prophet^sa] on the authority of the Holy Prophet^sa.  She relates that:

“The Prophet^sa stated that a time would come when some people will attack the shrine of the  Ka’bah [Holy House of Allah in Makkah] and they would be destroyed. I asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah! From among those who will attack there may also be those who would abhor such an act.’  The Prophet^sa replied, ‘Allah will deal with them according to their intentions.’”¹⁷

Demise      

Hazrat Safiyyah^ra passed away during the reign of Hazrat Amir Muawiyyah in the fiftieth year of the Hijrah, in the month of Ramadan. Coincidently, she had also married the Holy Prophet^sa during the month of Ramadan. She was buried along with the rest of the wives in Jannatul Baqi.^18,19

Endnotes