Safiyya bint Abd al-Muttalib ( ar, صفية بنت عبدالمطلب, Ṣafīyya bint ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib; ; 53 BH to 18 AH) was a companion and aunt of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

Early life

Safiyya was the daughter of

Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim Shayba ibn Hāshim ( ar, شَيْبَة بْن هَاشِم; 497–578), better known as ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, ( ar, عَبْد ٱلْمُطَّلِب , lit=Servant of Al-Muttalib ibn Abd Manaf, Muttalib) was the fourth chief of the Quraysh tri ...

and

Halah bint Wuhayb Hālah bint Wuhayb ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn Zuhrah ( ar, هالة بنت وهيب بن عبد مناف بن زهرة), was one of Abd al-Muttalib's wives. Biography Halah married Abd al-Muttalib the same day as her cousin Aminah bint Wahb ibn Abd M ...

ibn Abd Manaf ibn Zuhrah,Muhammad ibn Saad. ''Tabaqat'' vol. 8. Translated by Bewley, A. (1995). ''The Women of Madina''. London: Ta-Ha Publishers. hence the full sister of Hamza and an aunt of

and

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...

. She was also the maternal aunt of Uthman's mother

Arwa bint Kurayz Arwā bint Kurayz ( ar, أَرْوَى بِنْت كُرَيْز) was the mother of Uthman ibn Affan, a Sahabah, companion of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the third of the ''Rashidun Caliphate, Rashidun'' or ...

. She was about ten years old when her father died, and an elegy for him is attributed to her. ''I could not sleep for the voices of the keening women,'' ''Bewailing a man on the crown of life's road ...'' ''The generous Shayba, full of merits ...'' ''A very rain when camels had no milk ...'' ''Could men be immortal through ancient glory,'' ''(Alas immortality is unobtainable!)'' ''He would make his last night endure for ever'' ''Through his surpassing glory and long descent.''

Marriages

She was first married to

Harith ibn Harb Ḥārith ibn Ḥarb ( ar, حارث ابن حرب) was the son of the 7th century Arabian Meccan leader Harb ibn Umayya. Hence he was the brother of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, who was chief of Mecca in the period 624–630 and a major opponent of Muhamma ...

, and their son was Safi ibn Harith. They were apparently divorced by 593.Muhammad ibn Ishaq, ''Sirat Rasul Allah''. Translated by Guillaume, A. (1955). ''The Life of Muhammad''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Her second husband was

Awwam ibn Khuwaylid ʿAwwām ibn Khuwaylid () was an Arab Qurayshi soldier who died in the Fijar Wars. According to a Shia narration, his father Khuwaylid ibn Asad adopted Awwam in Egypt. He was a member of the Asad tribe from the Banu Quraysh and the brother of I ...

, a brother of

Khadija Khadija, Khadeeja or Khadijah ( ar, خديجة, Khadīja) is an Arabic feminine given name, the name of Khadija bint Khuwaylid, first wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In 1995, it was one of the three most popular Arabic feminine names in t ...

, who lived next door to them. Safiyya and Awwam had three sons: Al-Zubayr, Al-Sa'ib and Abd al-Ka'ba. Awwam died while their children were young.Muhammad ibn Saad. ''Tabaqat'' vol. 3. Translated by Bewley, A. (2013). ''The Companions of Badr''. London: Ta-Ha Publishers. Safiyya used to beat her son Al-Zubayr severely. The neighbours protested about this. "You have killed him! You have wrenched his heart. Will you destroy the boy?" Safiya replied, "I beat him so that he will be intelligent and will be bold in the battle."

Conversion to Islam

When Muhammad began preaching in public, he gave a special warning to the members of his immediate family.

"O Quraysh people! Buy yourselves! I cannot save you from Allah. O
Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib ( ar, ٱلْعَبَّاسُبْنُ عَبْدِ ٱلْمُطَّلِبِ, al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib; CE) was a paternal uncle and Sahabi (companion) of Muhammad, just three years older than his ...
! I cannot save you from Allah. O Safiya bint Abd al-Muttalib! I cannot save you from Allah. O Fatima bint Muhammad! Ask what you wish from my property, but I cannot save you from Allah."

Safiyyah became a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

and took the oath of allegiance to Muhammad. She joined the general

emigration Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

in 622.

Emigration to Medina

Battle of Uhud

When the Muslims fled from

Uhud Mount Uhud ( ar, جَبَل أُحُد, Jabal Uḥud) is a mountain north of Medina, Saudi Arabia. It is high and 7.5 km long. It was the site of the second battle between Muslim and unbelievers. The Battle of Uhud was fought on 19 March, 625 ...

in 625, Safiyya met them with a spear in her hand, accusing them of deserting their prophet. Her son Al-Zubayr warned her, "Mother, keep back!" She approached and looked at what her son had tried to hide from her: the mutilated corpse of her brother Hamza. An elegy for Hamza is attributed to her: ''God the true, the Lord of the Throne,'' ''called him to live in Paradise in joy ...'' ''I'll never forget thee as long as the east wind blows,'' ''in sorrow and weeping, whether at home or in travel ...'' ''Would that my limbs and bones were there for hyenas and vultures to visit ...''

Battle of the Trench

During the Battle of the Trench in 627, Safiyya was among the Muslim women who were placed for safety in Fari, the fortress of

Hassan ibn Thabit Ḥassān ibn Thābit ( ar, حسان بن ثابت) (born c. 563, Medina died 674) was an Arabian poet and one of the Sahaba, or companions of Muhammad, hence he was best known for his poems in defense of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was b ...

. Safiyyah noticed a Jew in the grounds of the fortress and "feared that he would discover our weakness and inform the Jews who were in our rear while the apostle and his companions were too occupied to help us." She told Hassan to go down and kill him. When Hassan hesitated, she went down "stealthily", opened the door "little by little" until she could creep up behind the spy, then hit him with a club and killed him. She then told Hassan to strip the corpse, but Hassan still refused to act. (Note that

Ibn Saad Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Sa‘d ibn Manī‘ al-Baṣrī al-Hāshimī or simply Ibn Sa'd ( ar, ابن سعد) and nicknamed ''Scribe of Waqidi'' (''Katib al-Waqidi''), was a scholar and Arabian biographer. Ibn Sa'd was born in 784/785 C ...

attributes this episode to the Battle of Uhud.)

Battle of Khaybar

Safiyya was among the women who went to

Khaybar KhaybarOther standardized Arabic transliterations: / . Anglicized pronunciation: , . ( ar, خَيْبَر, ) is an oasis situated some north of the city of Medina in the Medina Province of Saudi Arabia. Prior to the rise of Islam in the 7t ...

as battle-auxiliaries in 628. She witnessed the duel between her son Al-Zubayr and the Jewish warrior Yasir and saw that her son was victorious. In the distribution, Muhammad assigned Safiyya an income of 40 ' of grain and dates from Khaybar.

The Caliphate

Several elegies for Muhammad are attributed to Safiyyah, the following among them. ''O my eyes! shed tears flowing,'' ''since one quickens having a dilapidate place.'' ''O my eyes! weep and pour forth'' ''rapture, grief and deep sorrow'' ''for the one chosen by God, the Lord of servants,'' ''Lord of Heavens and Creator of mankind;'' ''for the one who pleased God with guidance, piety,'' ''leading and light after darkness;'' ''for the pure one, the Messenger, the Chosen,'' ''the Messenger whom the Lord of Benevolence chose.''Muhammad ibn Saad. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir''. Translated by Haq, S. M. (1972). ''Ibn Sa'd's Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir Volume II Parts I & II'', p. 421. Delhi: Kitab Bhavan.

Death

Safiyya died during the caliphate of

Umar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...

(634–644) and was buried in

Al-Baqi' ''Jannat al-Baqīʿ'' ( ar, ٱلْبَقِيْع, "The Baqi'") is the oldest and the first Islamic cemetery of Medina in the Hejazi region of present-day Saudi Arabia. It is located to the southeast of the Prophet's Mosque, which contains the g ...

"in the courtyard of the house of al-Mughira ibn Shuba at the ''wudu'' place."

Marriage of her children

# al-Zubayr ibn Awwam (father of Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, caliph in Mecca for 9 years during the

Second Fitna The Second Fitna was a period of general political and military disorder and civil war in the Islamic community during the early Umayyad Caliphate., meaning trial or temptation) occurs in the Qur'an in the sense of test of faith of the believer ...

), married Atikah bint Zayd, Rubab bint Anif, Umm Khalid bint Khalid, Umm Kulthum bint Uqba, Tumadir bint al-Asbagh, Asma bint Abi Bakr and Hala bint Qays. He also had many sons and daughters. #Abdul Ka'ba (Abdulrahman ibn Awam) married Jamila bint Abd-al-Uzza and had son Abdullah bin Abdurrahman.

References

External links

Yazehra.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib Women companions of the Prophet 569 births 640 deaths Banu Hashim Burials at Jannat al-Baqī