Safiyah: Difference between revisions

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 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>Tabari vol. 8, 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 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. 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 after [[The Massacre of the Banu Qurayza]]) [[.<ref>{{Bukhari|3|34|437}}</ref>  The Muslims left Khaibar to return to Medina and on the way they stopped at a place called Sidd-as-Sahba; it was at this time Safiyah became clean from her menses.<ref>{{Bukhari|5|59|522}}</ref>  The "marriage banquet" consisted of haris (a kind of dish) served on a small leather sheet and a gathering of those who were conveniently nearby.<ref>{{Bukhari|4|52|143}}</ref>  Another narrator describes the banquet in this way: "...there was neither meat nor bread in that banquet, but the Prophet ordered Bilal to spread the leather mats on which dates, dried yogurt and butter were put."<ref>{{Bukhari|5|59|524}}</ref>  Muhammad stayed three nights there and consummated his marriage with Safiyah.<ref>{{Bukhari|5|59|524}}</ref>  Despite this banquet, the Muslims were still not sure whether she would be considered a wife or a right hand possession until Muhammad set off and forced her to wear a veil as she rode behind him on his camel.<ref>{{Bukhari|5|59|524}}</ref>  He considered her manumission to be an adequate [[Mahr (Marital Price)|mahr]] (dowry).<ref>{{Bukhari|5|59|512}}</ref>

From the information provided in the Hadith, we can reasonably conclude that Safiyah did not have a choice in this marriage.  She was held captive up until the marriage, and when Muhammad decided that she would be a wife rather than a slave-girl, that is when he made known that her manumission was her mahr.  Based on the Hadith, it seems that Muhammad took Safiyah based on her beauty.  Her social status would not have mattered in this particular situation because Muhammad did not intend on maintaining amiable ties with the Jews of Khaibar.  In fact, he intended on forcing them into exile but was talked out of it by the Jews who agreed to cultivate the land and give half of its earnings to the Muslims.<ref>{{Bukhari|3|39|531}}</ref>   

In later, non-sahih accounts, there are reports that Safiyah desired to become a Muslim, however there is no evidence of this in sahih accounts.  She was the Jewish chief mistress of two tribes who had rebelled against ''Allah and his Apostle'', so her religious piety would not have been a considering factor for Muhammad.  Her wealth had been confiscated as war booty, so her wealth would not have been a considering factor either.  Since Muhammad knew nothing about Safiyah until her capture and distribution as booty, and his interest seems only to have been sparked when he heard about her beauty.  

==Additional Stories==

The following stories cannot be confirmed with the Sahih Hadith but nonetheless they do concern Safiyah:

If for any reason other than lust, conquerors in pre-modern times generally married the daughters and wives of the kings whom they had conquered to give themselves legitimacy as the new rulers.  The feelings and dignity of the girls and women were the least of a conqueror's concern.  In medieval England, for example, the Norman conquerors occasionally used intermarriage to claim land.

*[[Muhammad's Marriages|Muhammad's Wives]]''