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Safiyah: Difference between revisions
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==Analysis== | ==Analysis== | ||
From the information provided in the Hadith, it can be reasonably concluded that Safiyah did not have a choice in this marriage; rather she was war booty for Muhammad, a not uncommon practice at the time. | From the information provided in the Hadith, it can be reasonably concluded that Safiyah did not have a choice in this marriage; rather she was war booty for Muhammad, a not uncommon practice at the time. There do exist passages in ibn Sa'd's "Tabaqat" or lives that indicate that Muhammad gave Safiyyah the choice between marrying him and returning to her people:{{Quote|ibn Sa'ad Life of Muhammad 8/123|فقال: لها رسول الله: اختاري، فإن اخترت الإسلام أمسكتك لنفسي وإن اخترت اليهودية فعسى أن أعتقك فتلحقي بقومك. فقالت: يا رسول الله لقد هويت الإسلام وصدقت بك قبل أن تدعوني حيث صرت إلى رحلك وما لي في اليهودية أرب وما لي فيها والد ولا أخ، وخيرتني الكفر والإسلام فالله ورسوله أحب إلي من العتق وأن أرجع إلى قومي | ||
... So, the Prophet said to her: ‘Make your choice, if you will choose Islam, I’ll select you for myself and if you chose Judaism, I’ll set you free and send you to your people.’ She said; ‘O Allah’s Messenger indeed I felt affection for Islam and testified for you even before you gave me this invitation when I came to you. I have no guardian among the Jews, neither father nor brother and I prefer Islam over disbelief. Allah and His Messenger are dear to me then freedom and to return to my people. | |||
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This is however contradicted by numerous traditions that 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. {{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3326}}|أَنَّهُ أَعْتَقَ صَفِيَّةَ وَجَعَلَ عِتْقَهَا صَدَاقَهَا . وَفِي حَدِيثِ مُعَاذٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ تَزَوَّجَ صَفِيَّةَ وَأَصْدَقَهَا عِتْقَهَا. | |||
Allah's Apostle emancipated Safiyya, and made her emancipation her wedding gifgt. And in the hadith of Muadh from his father he (Muhammad) married Safiyyah and gave her as her wedding gift her manumission. | |||
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Based on the sources, 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 Khaybar, and in hand has subjected them by imposing the [[Dhimma]] and [[Jizyah]] upon them. 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. Muhammad knew nothing about Safiyah until her capture and distribution as booty; his interest seems only to have been sparked when he heard about her beauty. | 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. Muhammad knew nothing about Safiyah until her capture and distribution as booty; his interest seems only to have been sparked when he heard about her beauty. | ||
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Meraj Mohiuddin's book 2015 Revelation: The Story of Muhammad provides only a single paragraph on the story of Safiyyah's capture and betrothal to Muhammad, summarizing it as such: | Meraj Mohiuddin's book 2015 Revelation: The Story of Muhammad provides only a single paragraph on the story of Safiyyah's capture and betrothal to Muhammad, summarizing it as such: | ||
{{Quote|2=While the people of Khaybar return to their homes, Kinanah's 17-year-old widow, Safiyyah bin Huyay, approaches the Prophet and relates a dream in which she saw a brilliant moon over the city of Medina. The moon moved to Khaybar and then fell into her lap. The Prophet interprets her dream by giving her the choice of returning to her people or embracing Islam and joining his household as his 10th wife. Safiyyah readily chooses the latter.|Meraj Mohiuddin. Revelation: The Story of Muhammad : Peace and Blessings be Upon Him. Whiteboard Press. pp. 291. ISBN 978-0-9896288-0-8. OCLC 1069569279, 2015.}}No passages are cited by ''Revelation'' to support this story but the following hadith is probably in mind here{{Quote|2=There was a green scar in an eye of Safiyya. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked her, ‘What is this scar in your eye?’ She said, “I mentioned before my husband my dream that a moon fell into my lap upon which he slapped me and said; ‘Do you long for the King of Yathrib [the Prophet].’” She said: ‘There was none more hateful to me than the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as he had my father and husband killed. The Prophet (ﷺ), however, kept on explaining, ‘Safiya! Your father instigated the Arabs against me and did such and such.’ He kept doing so till all my harsh feelings for him vanished.|al-Tabarani, Abu al-Qasim, al-Mu’jam al-Kabir, (Cairo: Maktaba Ibn Taimiya, 1994) Vol.24, 67 Hadith 177; rated as as sahih by Albani in Silsala al-Ahadith al-Sahiha, (Riyadh: Dar al-Ma‘rif, 1996) Vol.6, Hadith 2793}}''Revelation'' makes no mention of the numerious traditions mentioned above which indicate that Safiyyah was filled with sadness at the murder of her family relations by the Muslims (and their torture in her husband Kinana's case). Rather than dealing with the wide range of sources available on Safiyyah ''Revelation'' chooses to cherry pick a single tradition which casts her marriage to Muhammad as divinly pre-ordained and in | {{Quote|2=While the people of Khaybar return to their homes, Kinanah's 17-year-old widow, Safiyyah bin Huyay, approaches the Prophet and relates a dream in which she saw a brilliant moon over the city of Medina. The moon moved to Khaybar and then fell into her lap. The Prophet interprets her dream by giving her the choice of returning to her people or embracing Islam and joining his household as his 10th wife. Safiyyah readily chooses the latter.|Meraj Mohiuddin. Revelation: The Story of Muhammad : Peace and Blessings be Upon Him. Whiteboard Press. pp. 291. ISBN 978-0-9896288-0-8. OCLC 1069569279, 2015.}}No passages are cited by ''Revelation'' to support this story but the following hadith is probably in mind here{{Quote|2=There was a green scar in an eye of Safiyya. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked her, ‘What is this scar in your eye?’ She said, “I mentioned before my husband my dream that a moon fell into my lap upon which he slapped me and said; ‘Do you long for the King of Yathrib [the Prophet].’” She said: ‘There was none more hateful to me than the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as he had my father and husband killed. The Prophet (ﷺ), however, kept on explaining, ‘Safiya! Your father instigated the Arabs against me and did such and such.’ He kept doing so till all my harsh feelings for him vanished.|al-Tabarani, Abu al-Qasim, al-Mu’jam al-Kabir, (Cairo: Maktaba Ibn Taimiya, 1994) Vol.24, 67 Hadith 177; rated as as sahih by Albani in Silsala al-Ahadith al-Sahiha, (Riyadh: Dar al-Ma‘rif, 1996) Vol.6, Hadith 2793}}It should be noted that the tradition seems to contradict the other traditions which show that Safiyyah was in great anguist at the death of her family at the hands of Muhammad and his believers, and also that at least one other version of the tradition exists in the same hadith collection where it is the sun, not the moon, that falls into her lap: {{Quote|2=نَزَلَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ خَيْبَرَ وَصَفِيَّةُ عَرُوسٌ فِي مَجَاسِدِهَا، فَرَأَتْ فِي الْمَنَامِ كَأَنَّ الشَّمْسَ نَزَلَتْ حَتَّى وَقَعَتْ عَلَى صَدْرِهَا، فَقَصَّتْ ذَلِكَ عَلَى زَوْجِهَا، فَقَالَ: وَاللَّهِ مَا تَمَنَّيْنَ إِلا هَذَا الْمَلِكَ الَّذِي نَزَلَ بنا، فَفَتَحَهَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَضَرَبَ عُنق زوجها صبرا، وتعرض من هناك من فتية النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ليتزوجها | ||
When Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) reached Khyber while Safiya was a bride at her place. She saw in her dream that a sun came into her lap. She mentioned it before her husband. He said; ‘By Allah you do not wish for anyone except the King who has come upon us.’ Allah’s Messenger conquered Khyber and her husband was killed. From that time (of dream) she loved that the Prophet (pbuh) may marry her.|(Tabarani Kabeer, Hadith 19667)}}''Revelation'' makes no mention of the numerious traditions mentioned above which indicate that Safiyyah was filled with sadness at the murder of her family relations by the Muslims (and their torture in her husband Kinana's case) and also leaves out the tradition that it was the sun and not the moon that fell into her lap. Rather than dealing with the wide range of sources available on Safiyyah ''Revelation'' chooses to cherry pick a single tradition which casts her marriage to Muhammad as divinly pre-ordained and in accordance with her personal wishes, which is what modern liberal audiences would expect of a man claimed to be [[Uswa Hasana]]. Again, these modern Muslims seem embarrassed to admit the truth about the multiple different narrations that exist about Safiyyah and instead of present the tradition as it exists seem to whitewash it to suit modern, liberal sensitivities around consent and slavery. | |||
==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||
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*[https://www.answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/zawadi_safiyyah2.htm Muhammad’s Marriage to Safiyyah Revisited] ''- Sam Shamoun, Answering Islam'' | *[https://www.answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/zawadi_safiyyah2.htm Muhammad’s Marriage to Safiyyah Revisited] ''- Sam Shamoun, Answering Islam'' | ||
*[https://www.icraa.org/two-issues-around-prophet-muhammads-marriage-with-safiyya/#_ftn14 Two Issues Around Prophet Muhammad’s Marriage With Safiyya] - ''Waqar Akbar, ICRAA.org'' | *[https://www.icraa.org/two-issues-around-prophet-muhammads-marriage-with-safiyya/#_ftn14 Two Issues Around Prophet Muhammad’s Marriage With Safiyya] - ''Waqar Akbar, ICRAA.org'' | ||
*[https://atheism-vs-islam.com/index.php?view=article&id=79:safiya-bint-huyai-s-father-husband-brother-killed-by-prophet-muhammad-and-next-night-he-had-sex-with-her&catid=9\= Safiya bint Huyai's father, husband & brother killed by Prophet Muhammad] ''- ''Lehrasap, Atheism vs Islam | *[https://atheism-vs-islam.com/index.php?view=article&id=79:safiya-bint-huyai-s-father-husband-brother-killed-by-prophet-muhammad-and-next-night-he-had-sex-with-her&catid=9\= Safiya bint Huyai's father, husband & brother killed by Prophet Muhammad] ''- ''Lehrasap, Atheism vs Islam | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||