Saffiyah bint Huyayy
Background:
Safiyyah bint Huyayy was an honourable woman, known for her dignity and beauty.
Before she accepted Islam, she was married to Sallam ibn Mishkam, but they were later divorced.
Safiyyah then married Kinana ibn al-Rabi, who was one of the leaders of the Jews in Khaybar, but he was killed during the Battle of Khaybar.
The Battle of Khaybar:
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the Muslim army headed to Khaybar to conquer it.
This was because, the Jews were part of the confederation who wanted to fight the Muslims in the Battle of Khandaq.
Eventually, at Khaybar, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ conquered the fortresses there one by one.
At one of the fortresses, the Muslims took captives, which included Saffiyah bint Huyayy.
Marriage to the Prophet:
Saffiyah was one of the Jewish women who were held as captives after the Battle of Khaybar.
When the spoils of war were divided, Saffiyah bint Huyayy became the slave of Dihyah al-Kalbi, who gave her to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
According to the Seerah, in Episode 66 on the Islamic Starter Pack, the companions saw Safiyyah with Dihya and felt that it was not appropriate for her to be in the possession of anybody apart from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
In order to honour her, the Prophet immediately freed her and as soon as this happened, Saffiyah accepted Islam and married the Prophet ﷺ.
Life After Marrying the Prophet:
Safiyyah was known to be a woman of great character, who had very good manners and she was a woman of taqwa, piety and righteousness.
The other wives of the Prophets could not find anything to say against her, so would refer to her as the: ‘daughter of the Jew.’
This would hurt Saffiyah’s feelings and she used to cry.
One time, the Prophet ﷺ found her crying and asked: why are you crying? Saffiyah replied: they are calling me the daughter of the Jew.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ replied: next time if they say that you, say: my father is Harun, my uncle is Musa and my husband is Muhammad. (Tirmidhi)
When Saffiyah said this to the rest of the wives, they could not say anything back to her.
In another incident, Safiyyah was informed that Hafsa bint Umar had labelled her as ‘a Jewish girl’.
When Safiyyah heard this, she started to cry and the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ told her: Verily, you are a daughter of a Prophet, your uncle is a Prophet and you are married to a Prophet, so on what basis do they consider themselves superior to you? (Tirmidhi)
The Prophet Defends Saffiyah:
When the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was suffering from his fatal illness, his wives all gathered around him.
Saffiyah bint Huyayy then said: By Allah, O Messenger of Allah, I wish that what is afflicting you had afflicted me (instead).
The rest of the wives of the Prophet looked at each other and winked.
The Prophet ﷺ witnessed this and told them: Rinse your mouths.
The wives asked: Why? The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ replied: Because of your winking at one another over what she said. By Allah, she is sincere and truthful.
Saffiyah After the Death of the Prophet:
Saffiyah bint Huyayy remained dedicated to help the companions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
During the Caliph of Uthman ibn Affan, when the rebels surrounded his house and cut off his access to water and food, Safiyyah formed a connecting passage between her house and Uthman’, in order to sent water and food to him.
Death:
Safiyyah bint Huyayy passed away in the year 52 AH during the Caliph of Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan.
She was buried in the Al-Baqi graveyard, along with the rest of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.