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Message: <blockquote data-quote="sirajstc" data-source="post: 8277059" data-attributes="member: 91140">There has been some criticism going around as to the nature of marriage of Safiyyah(R), the Jewish wife of <a href="http://www.bismikaallahuma.org/islam/muhammad/" target="_blank">Muhammad</a>(P). A rabid missionary hostile to the Prophet Muhammad(P) had in fact the audacity to say that: Muhammad forced himself on a captured woman on the same day that  he killed her father, husband and many of her relatives. He was a  rapist.  This statement made by this ignorant missionary is due not only to  the gutter environment that he was brought up and subjected to, but also  because of his inability to understand the circumstances surrounding  this event. Insha’allah, our purpose here is to explain the  circumstances and the nature of the marriage of Safiyyah to the  Prophet(P). The Marriage of the Prophet(P) to Safiyyah(R) Safiyyah was the daughter of Huyayy ibn Akhtab, the undisputed leader  of the Banu al-Nadir as well as a Jewish rabbi. Hence, she was of noble  regal and rabbinical heritage. She became a captive of the Muslims when  they seized al-Qamus, the fortress of Khaybar. When a Companion of the  Prophet(P) heard of Safiyyah’s captivity, he approached the Prophet(P)  with a suggestion that since she was a lady of Banu al-Nadir, only the  Prophet(P) was fit enough to marry her. The Prophet(P) agreed to this  suggestion and hence granted her freedom and married her. This significant act of marrying Safiyyah(R) was indeed a great  honour for her, for this not only preserved her dignity, it also  prevented her from becoming a slave. Haykal notes that: The Prophet granted her freedom and then married her, following the  examples of great conquerors who married the daughters and wives of the  kings whom they had conquered, partly in order to alleviate their  tragedy and partly to preserve their dignity.<a href="http://www.bismikaallahuma.org/archives/2005/umm-ul-mukminin-safiyyah-the-jewish-wife-of-muhammad/#footnote_0_29" target="_blank">1</a> The marriage to Safiyyah(R) has a political significance as well, as  it helps to reduce hostilities and cement alliances. John L. Esposito  notes that As was customary for Arab chiefs, many were political marriages to  cement alliances. Others were marriages to the widows of his companions  who had fallen in combat and were in need of protection.<a href="http://www.bismikaallahuma.org/archives/2005/umm-ul-mukminin-safiyyah-the-jewish-wife-of-muhammad/#footnote_1_29" target="_blank">2</a> Indeed, when Bilal ibn Rabah(R), a Companion of the Prophet, brought  Safiyyah along with another Jewess before him(P) by passing through the  Jews that were slain in the battle, Muhammad(P) personally chided Bilal  and said “Have you no compassion, Bilal, when you brought two women past  their dead husbands?”<a href="http://www.bismikaallahuma.org/archives/2005/umm-ul-mukminin-safiyyah-the-jewish-wife-of-muhammad/#footnote_2_29" target="_blank">3</a> As for the accusation that Safiyyah was coerced into marriage or  taken advantage of, as alleged by a known Islamophobic, this claim has  no basis at all. It is known that Safiyyah(R) remained loyal to the  Prophet until he passed away.<a href="http://www.bismikaallahuma.org/archives/2005/umm-ul-mukminin-safiyyah-the-jewish-wife-of-muhammad/#footnote_3_29" target="_blank">4</a> We have in fact the Prophet(P) making the following offer to her, as recorded by Martin Lings:He [the Prophet Muhammad - Ed.] then  told Safiyyah that he was prepared to set her free, and he offered her  the choice between remaining a Jewess and returning to her people or  entering Islam and becoming his wife. “I choose God and His Messenger,”  she said; and they were married at the first halt on the homeward march.<a href="http://www.bismikaallahuma.org/archives/2005/umm-ul-mukminin-safiyyah-the-jewish-wife-of-muhammad/#footnote_4_29" target="_blank">5</a> The other wives of the Prophet(P) used to show their jealousy of her  by making slights upon her Jewish origin. But the Prophet(P) always  defended her. Once Safiyyah was vexed to the extreme by the taunts of  all the Arab wives of the Prophet(P). She took the complaint to the  Prophet(P), who felt great compassion for her. He consoled and  encouraged her. He equipped her with logic by saying: “Safiyyah, take  courage and be bold. They are in no way superior to you. Tell them: I am  a daughter of the Prophet Harun, a niece of the Prophet Musa, and a  wife of the Prophet Muhammad”. This is thus an excellent example of the  Prophet Muhammad(P) trying to wipe out pre-Islamic anti-Semitism amongst  the Arabs. Conclusion With the evidences laid bare before us, we do not see the  justification of accusing the Prophet(P) of being a “rapist”, as those  anti-Islamic critics allege. That the Prophet(P) himself married  Safiyyah(R) so as to avoid the certainty of her being a slave of the  Muslims and helped her to defend herself from the taunts of her co-wives  is enough proof that the Prophet(P) was a man of exemplary conduct and  remained honourable even to relatives of his most bitter foes.  And only God knows best.                        <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Muhammad Husayn Haykal, The Life of Muhammad (North American Trust Publications, 1976), p. 373 [<a href="http://www.bismikaallahuma.org/archives/2005/umm-ul-mukminin-safiyyah-the-jewish-wife-of-muhammad/#identifier_0_29" target="_blank">back</a>]</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">John L. Esposito, <a href="http://www.bismikaallahuma.org/islam/" target="_blank">Islam</a>: The Straight Path, pp. 19-20 [<a href="http://www.bismikaallahuma.org/archives/2005/umm-ul-mukminin-safiyyah-the-jewish-wife-of-muhammad/#identifier_1_29" target="_blank">back</a>]</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A. Guillaume (trans.), The Life of Muhammad: A translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah (Oxford University Press, 1978), p. 515 [<a href="http://www.bismikaallahuma.org/archives/2005/umm-ul-mukminin-safiyyah-the-jewish-wife-of-muhammad/#identifier_2_29" target="_blank">back</a>]</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">An account of how Safiyyah’s loyalty was affirmed by the Prophet(P) himself is recorded in Muhammad Husayn Haykal, op. cit., p. 374, of which an online document can be found. [<a href="http://www.bismikaallahuma.org/archives/2005/umm-ul-mukminin-safiyyah-the-jewish-wife-of-muhammad/#identifier_3_29" target="_blank">back</a>]</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based On The Earliest Sources (George Allen & Unwin, 1983), p. 269 [<a href="http://www.bismikaallahuma.org/archives/2005/umm-ul-mukminin-safiyyah-the-jewish-wife-of-muhammad/#identifier_4_29" target="_blank">back</a>]</li> </ol></blockquote>

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