We already mentioned that the Muhajirun from Abyssinia had arrived and met the Prophet PBUH the very day he PBUH conquered Khaybar. And the Prophet PBUH said, "I don't know which of the two things is making me happier today: the conquest of Khaybar or the return of Ja'far."
Marriage to Ummi Habiba RA
With this group that came from Abyssinia arrived one of the wives of the Prophet PBUH, Ummi Habiba Ramla bint Abi Sufyan (أم حبيبة رملة بنت أبي سفيان). Her husband Ubaydillah ibn Jahsh was one of the very few people who was a sahabi but then became a murtad. Perhaps he was the only one in the entire seerah to ever become a murtad. Recall he was a Christian before the coming of Islam, and in fact, he was one of the four people who became hunafa [see episode 4]. So he is pretty old in age. When the Prophet PBUH began preaching, he converted to Islam, then he emigrated to Abyssinia — but when he saw the land of Christianity, he went back to being a Christian. And he died shortly after, thus Ummi Habiba was left all alone with no one to take care of her — so the Prophet PBUH sent a proposal to her new wali, Najashi the emperor himself. (The leader becomes the wali for the one who doesn't have a wali.) Najashi took on becoming her wali, and he was overjoyed and excited that the Prophet PBUH sent a proposal to her. And he was the one who gifted the mahr on behalf of the Prophet PBUH of his own accord, and he held a large feast and walima. And he gave Ummi Habiba a lot of lavish gifts on behalf of the Prophet PBUH.
And it's obvious why the Prophet PBUH proposed to her. It is enough that she is the daughter of Abu Sufyan, the leader of the Quraysh. There is no better thing to be done right now than the Prophet PBUH marries Ramla bint Abi Sufyan.
And it's obvious why the Prophet PBUH proposed to her. It is enough that she is the daughter of Abu Sufyan, the leader of the Quraysh. There is no better thing to be done right now than the Prophet PBUH marries Ramla bint Abi Sufyan.
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The Wives of the Prophet PBUH
We discussed Zaynab last week, and we talked about Ummi Habiba briefly. Let us quickly run through the wives of the Prophet PBUH again:
1. Khadija [see episode 9]
2. Sawda [see episode 52]
3. Aisha [see episode 52]
4. Hafsa [see episode 52]
5. Zaynab bint Khuzayma [see episode 52]
6. Ummi Salama [see episode 52]
7. Juwayriyya [see episode 54]
8. Zaynab bint Jahsh [see episode 69]
9. Ummi Habiba (Ramla bint Abu Sufyan) [discussed above]
10. Safiyyah bint Huyayy ibn Akhtab [discussed below]
1. Khadija [see episode 9]
2. Sawda [see episode 52]
3. Aisha [see episode 52]
4. Hafsa [see episode 52]
5. Zaynab bint Khuzayma [see episode 52]
6. Ummi Salama [see episode 52]
7. Juwayriyya [see episode 54]
8. Zaynab bint Jahsh [see episode 69]
9. Ummi Habiba (Ramla bint Abu Sufyan) [discussed above]
10. Safiyyah bint Huyayy ibn Akhtab [discussed below]
Today, we will discuss number 10. And note two of the wives (Khadija and Zaynab bint Khuzayma) have passed away.
But before we get there, there is one incident that happened, dealing with post-Khaybar:
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Extracting Information From Sa'ya
Before we discuss the Prophet PBUH's marriage to Safiyyah, there is one incident that happened, dealing with post-Khaybar, and that is with regards to one of the Jews named Sa'ya (سعية). He was the uncle (or one report says the brother) of Huyayy ibn Akhtab the leader of the Jews of Banu Nadir. Recall the Banu Nadir were exiled, they went to Khaybar, and they instigated Ahzab and did a lot of damage to the Muslims. Huyayy was their leader, and he was executed right after the Battle of Ahzab [see episode 61]. One of the conditions of the treaty with the people of Khaybar was that the tribes would hand over all the gold, silver, weapons, and armor to the Muslims in return for letting them remain in their lands for the time being. So the Prophet PBUH asked Sa'ya, "Where is the gold of Huyayy?"—Huyayy left Madinah with a lot of gold. (Recall the Banu Nadir were allowed to leave with whatever they could carry, and in their greed, they even took their doors [see episode 53].) Sa'ya said, "It's all been finished." The Prophet PBUH said, "It's only been a recent time since he left Madinah, and the money is too much to have been spent in such a short period of time," i.e., "Clearly you are lying." But Sa'ya insisted and insisted. The books of seerah mention when Sa'ya insisted that he had no idea, the Prophet PBUH handed him over to Zubayr and said, "Extract the information from him." And within a while, Sa'ya gave up the information and said, "I think I saw him (Huyayy) go to such-and-such a valley, he might have hidden it there." And when the Muslims went to that valley, they found all the gold.
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Marriage to Safiyyah bint Huyayy RA
The next incident that happened post-Khaybar was the marriage of the Prophet PBUH with Safiyyah bint Huyayy ibn Akhtab (صفية بنت حيي بن أخطب). She tells us her own story in many ahadith. She tells us, "When the Prophet PBUH first came to Madinah, I was a young girl. I was favored by my father and my uncle Abu Yasir — they would play with me and talk with me. One day, they came back and they were very depressed"—this was the day that the Prophet PBUH arrived in Madinah and they went to see him. And she says she went up to them running, but they completely ignored her, and their shoulders were dragging, and they were completely depressed. Her uncle asked her father, "Is he the one?" Her father Huyayy said, "By the Lord of Moses, he is the one," i.e., they saw all of the signs in the Prophet PBUH that he is indeed the prophet prophesied in their scripture. Her uncle then said, "What will we do?" Huyayy said, "We will oppose him as long as he lives"—that is, he simply could not accept anyone as a prophet who wasn't a Jew [see episode 53].
And when the Banu Nadir were exiled, Safiyyah was also exiled, and she married someone in Khaybar. In the Battle of Khaybar, the Banu Nadir were at the forefront of the attack, so more of them died than those at Khaybar originally. Therefore, her husband was killed as well in these 20 days. So she is left a widow. On top of this, when Khaybar ended, the Banu Nadir were taken as captives and ghanima. And therefore, Safiyyah was distributed, and she fell in the lot of Dihyah al-Kalbi RA. But a number of sahaba said to the Prophet PBUH he should take her and not leave her for Dihyah. So the Prophet PBUH paid the right price, and then took Safiyyah. When he took her, people did not know, "Is he taking her as a slave/concubine or as a wife?" So they wanted to see how the Prophet PBUH would treat her. And when it was time to leave Khaybar, the Prophet PBUH lowered his camel, knelt down on one foot, bent his knee and made his thigh a stepping ladder for Safiyyah. So the thigh is a stepping stone for Safiyyah to get onto the camel. And notice here Safiyyah's intelligence: Out of respect, she did not want to put her shoe or foot onto the Prophet PBUH, so she put her knee on his thigh and then jumped onto the camel. He PBUH then took his cloak and covered her with it. When the sahaba saw this, they realized she was a wife, because this type of hijab was only for the wives of the Prophet PBUH.
Now, Safiyyah doesn't realize what this hijab signifies — and the first stop that happened, the Prophet PBUH wanted to spend the night with her, but she refused. So the Prophet PBUH left her be. Then they kept on going until they were one night away from Madinah — and she agreed. So the Prophet PBUH told Ummi Sulaym the mother of Anas ibn Malik to get her ready. And in Ibn Sa'd's Tabaqat, Ummi Sulaym narrates, "I took two pieces of cloth and put them between trees. And the women had whatever they could get to get her (Safiyyah) ready. And we were agitated that we didn't have much to beautify her: perfume, jewelry, etc. But when we finished, we smelled a perfume more fragrant than any other perfume we had smelled."
Safiyyah herself narrates some events, that when the Prophet PBUH entered, he said to her, "Your father Huyayy was the most open of the Jews in their animosity against me until Allah SWT caused his death." Indeed, it's a harsh thing to say, but the wisdom is to see her reaction: to see her Iman or kufr, to see her loyalty or disloyalty. Here the Prophet PBUH is thinking, "Shall I take her as a wife?" — and he cannot do so if she has hatred and vengeance. But subhan'Allah, she replied, "O Messenger of Allah, doesn't Allah say in the Quran, 'No soul burdened with sin will bear the burden of another' [see Quran, 35:18]?" When the Prophet PBUH saw this reaction, he said to her, "You have a choice. If you accept Islam, I shall keep you for me; if you remain in your faith, then perhaps I will free you and you can return to your people."
The choice seems to be bitter, that she will remain a slave if she becomes a Muslim, i.e., that's what the wording suggests, "If you remain in your faith, then perhaps I will *free* you." Again, it's clearly a test. The sahaba understand she is already a wife, but she has no idea — she thinks she is a slave. Yet she replied, "Ya Rasulullah, I was already inclined towards Islam even before you offered it to me. And I have already believed in you, and I have no desire to remain in my faith. Also, I have no family. My father and brother are no more." (Notice in her wisdom she doesn't mention 'husband' because it's awkward.) "And you have asked me to choose between kufr and Islam. Allah and His Messenger are more beloved to me than going back to my people."
So she passes the test. And just think over here how amazing her Iman is. Wallahi, never in the history of humanity has a conqueror come, conquered a group, and a woman's father, brother, uncle, and husband have all been killed by the conqueror, and yet she still willingly chooses to stay with him 'as a slave' rather than a free lady with her own people. What does this show? (i) Safiyyah had a pure heart, and (ii) Islam is a true religion.
The choice seems to be bitter, that she will remain a slave if she becomes a Muslim, i.e., that's what the wording suggests, "If you remain in your faith, then perhaps I will *free* you." Again, it's clearly a test. The sahaba understand she is already a wife, but she has no idea — she thinks she is a slave. Yet she replied, "Ya Rasulullah, I was already inclined towards Islam even before you offered it to me. And I have already believed in you, and I have no desire to remain in my faith. Also, I have no family. My father and brother are no more." (Notice in her wisdom she doesn't mention 'husband' because it's awkward.) "And you have asked me to choose between kufr and Islam. Allah and His Messenger are more beloved to me than going back to my people."
So she passes the test. And just think over here how amazing her Iman is. Wallahi, never in the history of humanity has a conqueror come, conquered a group, and a woman's father, brother, uncle, and husband have all been killed by the conqueror, and yet she still willingly chooses to stay with him 'as a slave' rather than a free lady with her own people. What does this show? (i) Safiyyah had a pure heart, and (ii) Islam is a true religion.
So she converted to Islam, and the Prophet PBUH freed her then and there and married her.
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The Dream of Safiyyah RA
When the Prophet PBUH saw her for the first time, he saw a big bruise on her face, so he asked, "What is this?" She said, "My husband Kinana (كنانة) gave this to me. I saw a dream (last week) that the moon had risen up from Yathrib, gone high up, and then fell into my lap. And when I told my husband about this, he smacked me right across the face and said, 'Do you expect the king of the Arabs will marry you?'" (Note he correctly interpreted the dream and said the Prophet PBUH would marry her.) And then she said, "As soon as he had hit me, I started my menses right then on that day, and he never approached me until he died."
So Safiyyah clearly had a premonition from Allah SWT — and this also made it easier for her to accept Islam.
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Freeing Her As Her Mahr
It's narrated that the Prophet PBUH asked Safiyyah why she refused the first night to spend with him. She said, "When we were close by (i.e., close to Khaybar), I was scared of the Jews perhaps retaliating" — and this increased the love the Prophet PBUH had for her. And the Prophet PBUH freed her and made her mahr her freedom.
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Cautiousness of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari
It's narrated that Abu Ayyub al-Ansari waited outside the Prophet's PBUH tent all night with his sword out of fear that Safiyyah would do something bad to him PBUH. When the Prophet PBUH found out about this the next morning, he PBUH laughed and made du'a for Abu Ayyub.
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The Walima
Then the Prophet PBUH said, "Whoever has food, let him bring it." This will be the walima. So they brought whatever they had: dates, a little bit of solidified butter, barley, etc. They all mixed it up and made a simple, rudimentary type of food. And that was the walima of the Prophet PBUH with Safiyyah.
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Falling From the Camel
Another small incident occurred and that is the incident of falling from the camel.
It was the custom of the people of Madinah that when they saw the walls of Madinah on the way back from somewhere, they would speed up — so on the way back from Khaybar, when the Muslims saw the walls of Madinah, they began beating their camels extra. The Prophet PBUH joined them in this, but somehow, his camel fell over and tripped. So both he and Safiyyah were flung from the camel. (Now, this is very dangerous. How many deaths have occurred by people falling from their camels — and even in the seerah, we find this.) Both the Prophet PBUH and Safiyyah were hurled, and when the sahaba saw this, all of them completely turned away (to give her privacy). All of them — none of them are daring to look and say anything. And it's said Abu Talha (أبو طلحة), the stepfather of Anas ibn Malik, was the only one who cried out, "Are you alright, ya Rasulullah?!" The Prophet PBUH replied, "I am okay; I am not hurt." And he stood up immediately, took off his cloth, and covered up Safiyyah. This incident is so significant simply because if Allah had willed, the camel would not have tripped. But it is the will of Allah to show us the humanity of the Prophet PBUH. Yes, he is Rasulullah, but he eats, drinks, his camel trips like everyone else's, and so there is nothing divine about him PBUH.
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Safiyyah in the Competition Amongst the Wives of the Prophet PBUH
A few things about Safiyyah:
The Prophet PBUH had an immense love for her, and the other wives were somewhat jealous of her and she didn't have much support amongst them. Otherwise, the wives of the Prophet PBUH were divided into two camps: Zaynab's camp and Aisha's camp. But Safiyyah was in neither camp because she didn't have any family — so the Prophet PBUH really felt this more, and perhaps that was what brought him more sympathy for her. It's said when she came to Madinah, all of the wives rushed to go see her, and Zaynab remarked to Juwayriyya, "O Bint al-Harith, I think this one will cause trouble." Subhan'Allah. She is feeling jealous. Juwayriyya tried to minimize this and said, "Don't worry, she is from a group that is rarely lucky with their husbands (i.e., they don't get along with their husbands and always have divorces)." So she is consoling Zaynab, but in fact, that didn't happen. Rather, the Prophet PBUH had a special love and care for Safiyyah. And in fact, not just her, but all of them. No doubt, they were jealous of one another, but each wife felt special with him PBUH. Each wife has their stories that indicate their special relationship with him PBUH. And wallahi, this shows us the true nature of our Prophet PBUH. This really shows us what a man he was PBUH.
Once, the Prophet PBUH visited Safiyyah and she was crying. So he said, "What is the matter?" She said, "Hafsa said that I am bint al-Yahudi (daughter of a Jew)"—and she said that as an insult. So the Prophet PBUH said, "Why didn't you defend yourself?" She said, "How?" The Prophet PBUH said, "You should have said your father was a prophet (Harun/Aaron), and your uncle was a prophet (Musa/Moses), and you are married to a prophet. What do they have over you?" Subhan'Allah.
And again, to show the love the Prophet PBUH had for Safiyyah: On Hajjat al-Wada' [10 AH], her camel fell ill and she couldn't ride the camel, and Zaynab bint Jahsh was wealthier and she had extra camels (to sacrifice for Hajj), so the Prophet PBUH said to Zaynab, "Why don't you lend her one of your camels?" But Zaynab scorned this because of jealousy. (And again, it shows this type of stuff happens to even the best of the best — even Abu Bakr and Umar got into small arguments sometimes.) Zaynab said, "What?! Me?! My camel to the Yahudia?!"—again, it was a smear. And this caused the Prophet PBUH to get so irritated with Zaynab that he boycotted her for a period of time. (For the whole Hajj she was boycotted, and when they returned to Madinah, he PBUH came to her and gifted her expensive gifts and made up with her.)
When the Prophet PBUH was on his deathbed in the house of Aisha RA, all the wives came to him — and they didn't know he was about to die. He is suffering severe pain and you can tell the agony on his face, so Safiyyah begins to cry, "Ya Rasulullah, how I wish I could take your fever on me." And she was the first wife to say this, so the other wives felt jealous and —we don't know exactly what was said, but— they said something not nice to her. So the Prophet PBUH, in his fever, he said to the other wives, "Go do madmada (مضمضة)." They said, "Why?" He said, "Because you have made fun of Safiyyah, and wallahi, she has spoken the truth." Again, look at the love Safiyyah has for the Prophet PBUH, the one whose army has basically gotten rid of her father, brother, and ex-husband. Now at the time of the death of the Prophet PBUH, she is crying for him. Where does this love come from? This is Iman. You would expect her to want to kill the Prophet PBUH, yet it's a complete 180 degree.
And she lived a long life until 52 AH in the time of Muawiyah.
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The Immigration of Abu Hurairah RA
Post-Khaybar, another important event happened, and that is the arrival of Abu Hurairah (أبو هريرة). Abu Hurairah needs no introduction; he is the number one hadith narrator hands down. No one comes close to him in terms of the number of hadith narrated. Even though he joined the Prophet PBUH in 7 AH —he only accompanied the Prophet PBUH for 3 years and a month— yet his number of ahadith outshines every single other sahabi. Post-Khaybar, this is when he arrived. He had come from Yemen. His name is Abd al-Rahman ibn Sakhr (عبد الرحمن بن صخر) from the tribe of al-Daws (الدوس). He has decided to make Hijrah to Madinah, and when he is working his way up, he hears the Prophet PBUH is in Khaybar, so he diverts and goes there. Therefore, the Abyssinian Muslims and the Dawsi Muslims (2 or 3 people) both arrived in Khaybar after it was conquered. As for the Abyssinian Muslims, the Prophet PBUH gave them a share of the booty. As for the people of the Daws, he asked permission from the sahaba and they agreed, so they too got the honor of getting a fortune from Khaybar without fighting.
And from then on, Abu Hurairah is a constant part of the seerah. The Battle of Khaybar was when he became a sahabi and joined the Muslims.
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The Story of an Unnamed Girl
Another interesting narration from the incident of Khaybar —which took place sometime in between, but we don't know exactly when; it is not related to the battle so we delayed it to the end— is that it's said a group of women from the Ansar participated in the battle as well. They volunteered to come along with the Prophet PBUH, "Ya Rasulullah, we want to come with you in order to help the wounded, treat the sick, etc." And the Prophet PBUH allowed them to come and so a number of them came. And the youngest girl amongst them was around 7 or 8, and she did not have a ride, so the Prophet PBUH on the way to Khaybar told the young girl to come and ride with him. So she sits on the luggage behind the Prophet PBUH. This young girl we don't know her name, she just narrates this story: "When the camel stopped and the Prophet PBUH told me to get off, I saw that I had blood. And this was my first cycle. And I became terrified and I stayed on the camel and didn't move"—she didn't know what to do. She is embarrassed and ashamed, and what a place and what a time for it to happen. Imagine her situation. Where, at what time, and behind whom. The Prophet PBUH said, "Come down," but she didn't. And when she didn't, he PBUH looked, and he could see the traces of blood, so he said, "Perhaps you are having your cycle?" She nodded and he said, "Okay, don't worry — go and cleanse yourself and make your matter firm (wear whatever you need to wear/make it appropriate), come with some water and salt, wash this blood, and get back where you were sitting." Subhan'Allah, the Prophet PBUH calmed her down in such a gentlemanly manner. No anger, no irritation, no nothing. And she did as she was told.
And she would tell later on, "In my participation in the Battle of Khaybar, the Prophet PBUH gifted me this necklace. And he was the one who put it around my neck"—the Prophet PBUH gifted the women some gifts for helping the sick etc., and in particular, she got a necklace. And she said, "I will never part with this as long as I live; and when I die, it will be buried with me."
This shows us that, in these types of situations, if there is no danger or fear of shahwa (شهوة - lust), then it's not a problem for a man to have a young girl on his camel.
And what we really see here is how the Prophet PBUH handled a very awkward situation.
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New Fiqhs Legislated Around the Time of the Incident of Khaybar
Khaybar saw a number of fiqh points legislated:
1. Sahih Bukhari narrates the prohibition of eating donkey meat.
2. Prohibition that when you have a concubine, you are not allowed to be with her until she goes through her cycle (i.e., until the iddah takes place).
3. For the first time, zawaj al-mut'ah (زواج المتعة) was made haram. Zawaj al-mut'ah is a marriage where a time clause is put. And it became prohibited in the Battle of Khaybar. All 4 major madhahib of the Sunni school of thought agree that it is impermissible.
4. Riba al-fadl (ربا الفضل - the interest of commodity) was also made forbidden. There are two types of interest, and both are forbidden in Islam: (i) The first is where you purchase time for money, e.g., "I'll give you $1,000 for a month if you give me back $1,100." This is called riba al-nasi'ah (ربا النسيئة). (ii) The second is riba al-fadl, and it's a little bit more complicated. In a nutshell: In Islam, specific commodities, such as wheat, grain, and dates, are not allowed to be bartered except in the same amounts. Where does this hadith come from? A person brought a big bag of the most luscious dates (remember, Khaybar is a land producing dates), and the Prophet PBUH was impressed, he said, "Are all of the dates of Khaybar like this?" The man said, "No. This date is such-and-such. We purchase 1 sa' (صاع - basically 1 kg or so) [of this dates] for 3 sa' of normal dates." The Prophet PBUH said, "Do not do this. Rather, sell the larger quantity of [normal] dates, get the money, and then use the money to purchase the better quality ones." Why this is is beyond the scope of the class. (Side note: Commodities also include money/currency. So for example, you cannot exchange dollars except in the same amount; you cannot exchange $10 for $20 as a transaction, because this comes under riba al-fadl. It must be the same amount. But if it's, for example, $ vs. €, then it's something else.)
5. The treaty of Khaybar allowed one more business transaction: al-muzara'ah (المزارعة - sharecropping). Al-muzara'ah means —as the Prophet PBUH did with the people of Khaybar— a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land.
[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, October 2021]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, October 2021]
