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Safiyah, the Jewish Wife of Muhammad
The following is the story of Safiyah Bint Huyeiy Ibn Akhtab, the Jewish woman who was captured when Muhammad’s troops attacked Kheibar and brought her to the Prophet as part of his share of the booty. This story, is reported in the Book of Tabaqat and is published also in the trusted Islamic site. http://www.prophetmuhammed.org/ Safiyah was seventeen and very beautiful when Muslims killed her father, husband and many of her relatives. In the same day the Prophet of Allah wanted to sleep with her. Here is the exact text of the story. “Safiyah
was born in Medinah. She belonged to the Jewish tribe
of Banu 'I-Nadir. When this tribe was expelled from
Medinah in the year 4 A.H, Huyaiy was one of those who
settled in the fertile colony of Khaibar together with
Kinana ibn al-Rabi' to whom Safiyah was married a
little before the Muslims attacked Khaibar. She was
then seventeen. She had formerly been the wife of
Sallam ibn Mishkam, who divorced her. One mile from
Khaibar. Here the Prophet married Safiyah. She was
groomed and made-up for the Prophet by Umm Sulaim, the
mother of Anas ibn Malik. They spent the night there.
Abu Ayyub al-Ansari guarded the tent of the Prophet
the whole night. When, in the early dawn, the Prophet
saw Abu Ayyub strolling up and down, he asked him what
he meant by this sentry-go; he replied: "I was
afraid for you with this young lady. You had killed
her father, her husband and many of her relatives, and
till recently she was an unbeliever. I was really
afraid for you on her account". The Prophet
prayed for Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (Ibn Hisham, p. 766)
Safiyah had requested the Prophet to wait till he had
gone a stage away from Khaibar. "Why?" asked
the Prophet. "I was afraid for you on account of
the Jews who still happened to be near at Khaibar!"
The reason Safiyah rejected the
sexual advances of the 57-year-old Muhammad should be
obvious to any objective person. I believe most women
prefer to mourn than jump into bed with the killer of
their father, husband and many relatives on the same
day of their death. But the fact that the prophet of
Allah could not contain his sexual urges for one day
to let this young girl grieve, says a lot of his
thinking and moral character. However as for the rest
of the story we are not sure whether it is true or was
fabricated by Muslim historians to wipe the impression
of rape. But this is all we have and to find the truth
we have to rely on these biased documents written by
Muslim historians.
The story goes on to say that Abu Ayyub was
concerned for the safety of the prophet because he
(Muhammad) had killed Safiyah's father, husband and
many of her relatives. This is logical. It is foolish
to sleep with a woman after killing her loved ones.
But Safiyah’s excuse for rejecting Muhammad’s
advances towards her seems unreasonable. When Muhammad
took this young girl into his tent, he had already
killed many Jews and was winning the war. If there
were any Jews left, they probably were more worried
for their own lives than Safiyah’s chastity. Also
she was already in the tent alone with Muhammad, how
the Jews would have known if they were engaged in sex
or not? I wonder what other excuse could she make to a
man who was the murderer of her father, husband and
many of her relatives to let her alone at least that
night? “The
next day a Walima (we Note that the historian is saying
that the wedding took place one day after the prophet
got private with Safiyah and made his moves to have
sex with her. This presented no problem for the
prophet as he had his Allah reveal a verse saying it
is okay to sleep with women captured in war without
marrying them even if they are married. “And all married women (are forbidden unto you) save those (captives) whom your right hands possess…” (Q. 4:24 ) The above verse shows that the
Holy prophet did not believe that slaves have any
right. You could be a happily married woman living
your own life, but if Muhammad and his devout
followers attacked your town and captured you, you
would lose all your rights, and while your husband was
being killed or enslaved you would be given to a
Muslim Mujahid who would rape you all with Allah’s
blessings. This is confirmed in another place. 1-The believers must
(eventually) win through,- Let us continue with the story of
Safiyah. “The
other wives of the Prophet showed their jealousy by
making slights upon her Jewish origin. But the Prophet
always defended her. Once Safiyah was vexed to the
extreme by the t When
she was brought along with other prisoners-of-war, the
Prophet said to her, "Safiyah, your father always
maintained enmity with me until Allah made the final
decision." She said, "But Allah does not
catch one for the sins of another." This
of course contradicts Muhammad’s own behavior who
annihilated the entire Bani
Qainuqa with the pretext that few of them had
killed a Muslim in retaliation “The
Prophet then gave her the choice of joining her people
after freedom or accepting Islam and coming into a
matrimonial relationship with him” We
have to remember that Muhammad killed most of her
people and banished the rest of them. So giving the
choice to join her people is not much of a choice. “She
was very intelligent and gentle and said, "O
Allah's Messenger, I had hoped for Islam, and I
confirmed you before your invitation. Now when I have
the honour to be in your presence, I am given a choice
between kufr and Islam I swear by Allah, that Allah
and His Messenger is dearer to me than my own freedom
and my joining with my people." (Tabaqat). Was this confession, if true,
sincere? Was she safe to speak out her mind? She was
enslaved by a man who had exterminated her family and
could do with her the same. See the reference made to
her "freedom". This shows clearly that she
was not free. In fact she must have been very
intelligent to fabricate those lies to save her own
life. “When
Safiyah was married, she was very young, and according
to one report she was hardly seventeen years old and
was extremely beautiful. Once A'isha said a few
sentences about her short stature, at which the
Prophet said, "You have said a thing that if it
were left in the sea, it would mix with it (and make
its water dirty). " (Abu Dawud). She not only
deeply loved the Prophet but also greatly respected
him as Allah's Messenger, for she heard the
conversations of her father and uncle after they went
to Medinah. When the Prophet migrated to Medinah, they
came to see him and find out whether he was the true
Messenger of Allah spoken of in the Scriptures. When
they got back and talked together that night, Safiyah
was in her bed listening to them. One of them said,
"What do you think about him?" He replied,
"He is the same Prophet foretold by our
Scriptures." Then the other said, "What is
to be done?" The reply came that they must oppose
him with all their might.” Is this story, narrated by Abu
Dawud, credible? How can two Jews recognize Muhammad
as the prophet foretold by their scriptures and decide
to oppose him with all their might? It defies all
logic. It takes a "deficient in
intelligence" to believe in this nonsense. It is
not clear whether Safiyah lied to conform and make her
self accepted among her enemies or it is another
fabrication of a zealot believer. Why would someone
decide to oppose with all his might the one who he has
found out to be the promised one of his own
scriptures? But this is not all! Where in the Bible it
says anything about Muhammad? How come Safiyah’s
father and uncle could decipher their scriptures and
find about Muhammad while for 1400 years all Muslim
scholars have been unable to do it? “So
Safiyah was convinced of the truth of the Prophet. She
spared no pain to look after him, care for him and
provide every comfort that she could think of. This is
evident since she came into his presence after the
fall of Khaibar." See how the writer contradicts
himself in one page? Just a few lines above we read
that she was captured and was taken to Muhammad as a
prisoner. She didn’t come on her own. She was taken
to the prophet because she was young and the prettiest
of other women captured. “The Prophet had a slight grievance against her for she had refused when the Prophet wanted to have privacy with her at the previous stage (of the journey). At the next halt, the Prophet had privacy with her and spent all night with her. When she was asked by Umm Sulaim, "What did you see in Allah's Messenger?" She said he was very pleased with her and did not sleep at all but was talking to her all night. He had asked her, 'Why did you refuse at the first stage when I desired privacy with you?' She had said, 'I was afraid for you because of the nearness of the Jews. "'This thing further increased my merit in his eyes." (Tabaqat). Bukhari also has recorded some Hadithes telling the invasion of Kheibar and how Muhammad met Safiyah. Narrated
'Abdul 'Aziz: Thabit asked Anas, "O Abu Hamza! What did the Prophet pay her (as Mahr)?" He said, "Her self was her Mahr for he manumitted her and then married her." Anas added, "While on the way, Um Sulaim dressed her for marriage (ceremony) and at night she sent her as a bride to the Prophet . (Sahih Bukhari 1.367) Mahr or dowry is a money that a bride receives from her husband when he marries her. Muhammad did not pay Safiyah her Mahr because he had to pay it to himself for manumitting her. Of course the irony is that he did not buy her but enslaved her by raiding her town. This story is significant because it gives us an insight into the moral and ethical values of the Prophet of God (Peace be upon his immaculate soul). Our modern sensibility makes us cringe with stories like this, yet amazingly Muhammad taught that he is going to receive two rewards by marrying Safiyah. One for manumitting someone whom no one but himself had enslaved and the other for marrying the prettiest girl who was 40 years younger.
Also in another part Narrated
Anas:
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