Safiyah: Difference between revisions

'''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|Quraiza]] and An-Nadir. According to the [[sira]] Muhammad captured and married her after killing her husband. She and her husband were both captured after the victorious conclusion of Muhammad's [[w:Battle of Khaybar|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 on the part of his followers, as he had just that day murdered her husband and her father after taking them as prisoners of war, going so far as to torture her husband Kinana in order to ascertain the location of his treasure.  

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 until Muhammad set off and forced 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)]]).<ref>{{Bukhari|5|59|524}}</ref>