8.5. HER MARRIAGE TO THE PROPHET (PEACE BE UPON HIM)
Safiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) embraced Islam on the Day of Khaybar. There were gathered the prisoners of war. The great Companion, Dihyah al-Kalbi, came and said to the Prophet (peace be upon him), “Messenger of Allah, would you bestow upon me a girl from the female captives.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Go and get (any) one of them. ” He chose Safiyyah bint Huyayy. There came a person to Allah’s Prophet (peace be upon him) saying to him, “O Messenger of Allah, you have bestowed Safiyyah bint Huyayy, the Lady of Quraydhah and an-Nadir upon Dihyah but she is worthy of you only.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Call him along with her. ” When Allah’s Prophet saw her, he said, “Take any other woman from among the captives. As a result, Dihayah went and chose the sister of Kinanah ibn Abu al-Haqiq, the ex-husband of Safiyyah.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) then gave Safiyyah the freedom to choose whether to be set free and return to her people or to embrace Islam and be married to him. With great pleasure Safiyyah said, “I choose Allah and His Messenger.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) set her free and that was her dowry. Safiyyah then said, “O Messenger of Allah, I had loved Islam long before you invited me to embrace it. I have no desire in the Jewish religion. You gave me the freedom to choose between polytheism and Islam. I choose Allah and His Messenger who are more precious to me than getting my freedom and returning back to my people.”
Thus willingly and with great conviction and content Safiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) chose to embrace Islam. Though she loved Islam since she was twelve years old, Safiyyah did not dare to declare her feelings in such a corrupted atmosphere, which was full of hatred and enmity towards Islam and towards the Messenger of Allah. She deeply resented her father’s and uncle’s attitude when they both acknowledged Muhammad as the expected Prophet but insisted on waging a war against him. Since that time, Safiyyah started to love Islam and to love the Prophet (peace be upon him). Eventually, on the Day of Khaybar she had the chance to declare aloud her choice of Allah and His Messenger and to join the Islamic society.
This situation marked the pure instinct, the great wisdom and the sound perception that were inherent in Safiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her).
We may say that through the experiments of the educators and Duah (the advocators of Islam) it has been proved that a woman, owing to her sensitivity and her deep perception of things, is more interested in and more influenced by religion than a man and that is why the reformers and Du’ah must pay major attention to her.
Safiyyah and the Consummation of Marriage
Six miles away from Khaybar, the Prophet (peace be upon him) wanted to consummate marriage with Safiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) but she refused. The Prophet (peace be upon him) felt offended by her attitude and went on with his way to Madinah. He then stopped at as-Sahba’ to take a rest and there um Sulaym prepared the bride Safiyyah for the Prophet (peace be upon him) and took her to him. Safiyyah was of great beauty, the prettiest among women, as Umm Sanan al-‘Aslamiyyah said.
When the Prophet (peace be upon him) consummated marriage with Safiyyah he asked her about the reason for her refusal at first. She told him that since they were near the Jews, she only feared that they might harm him (peace be upon him). This noble motive removed any feeling of offence from the Prophet’s heart and increased the Prophet’s love and appreciation for her.
Here is Umm al-Mu ‘minin, Safiyyah, relates those moments when she hated the Prophet (peace be upon him) for killing her father and her ex-husband. He (peace be upon him) apologized to her saying, “Your father charged the Arabs against me and committed heinous act, he apologized to the extent that made Safiyyah get rid of her bitterness against him (peace be upon him).
(SOURCE: Wives of Prophet Muhammad, Their Strives and Their Lives by Muhammad Fathi Mus’ ad)
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