In the name of Allāh,
the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Peace and Blessings of Allāh on Mohammad.
DEDICATED TO
Allāh–the Glorious and the High,
Lord of the worlds
AND TO
Mohammad–who brought the world
to our feet and eternity to our arms.
*
MOHAMMAD & SAFIYYAH
In her book A God who hates Wafa Sultan dabbles in the Prophet’s marriage to Safiyyah, a Jewess of noble birth, taken as a captive of war at Khaybar. Wafa Sultan wrote: “She (Safiyyah) was taken prisoner in the course of the raid by one of Muhammad’s men named Sahm. Muhammad took Safia from him, gave him seven other female prisoners as compensation, and married Safia the same day he killed her husband, brother, and father. Once again, a woman is given no opportunity to make a decision regarding her marriage or, ultimately, her fate. Safia finds herself in Muhammad’s arms from one day to the next and does not have the right to accept or refuse what he decides to do with her.” (And how do you know this?) (p. 127)
Let Wafa Sultan give her examples of Mohammad ordering “raid” on any tribe and taking their women.
Safiyyah was the “daughter of Huyayy ibn Akhtab of Banu al Nadir” and was honored as “the lady of Banu Qurayzah and Banu al Nadir,”1 Mohammad did not “raid” the Banu Nadir tribe. Mohammad did not kill her “husband, brother, and father.” Her father and brother were killed in war against Mohammad, and her husband was executed as per his own agreement with Mohammad.
Jews of Khaybar had proven themselves untrustworthy. While Muslims had the peace treaty of Hudaybiyah with others in the South, “But what about the north, where both Heraclius (of Rome) and Chosroes (of Persia) might attack Madinah in cooperation with the Jews of Khaybar who were anxious for an opportunity to take revenge upon Muhammad?” as M.H. Haykal explained, “It would be relatively easy for either emperor to remind the Jews of the fate of their co-religionists, the Banu Qurayzah, Banu al Nadir, and Banu Qaynuqa, who had previously been expelled from their dwellings after blockade, fighting, and war, and to incite them to new ventures against Muhammad. For their enmity and bitterness surpassed that of Quraysh….it was not possible to reconcile them with a peace treaty like that of Hudaybiyah since the covenant of Madinah had been violated by them much to their own detriment. Were help to come to them from the side of Byzantium, their natural inclination to rise again against Muhammad could not be contained. Hence it was thought necessary to put a final end to their influence in the Arabian Peninsula, and to do so quickly without giving them the time to forge any new alliances with Ghatafan or any of the other tribe hostile to Muhammad.”2
The Jews fought strongly against the Muslims. After their defeat and surrender Jews of Khaybar –unlike the Banu Qaynuqa and Banu al Nadir who were forced to evacuate their lands altogether– “Muhammad accepted their plea and permitted them to stay on their land whose title now passed to him by right of conquest. The terms of their surrender provided that they would be given half their crops in compensation for their labor.”3
Safiyyah’s husband, Kinanah ibn al Rabi, was executed as per his own agreement with Mohammad. M. H. Haykal relates: “Kinanah al Rabi was known by the Muslims to have been the guardian of the wealth of Banu al Nadir. When the Prophet had asked Kinanah about his treasure, the latter solemnly declared that he did not know where it was hidden. Muhammad threatened him that in case the treasure was found hidden in his place he would be put to death. Kinanah agreed.” Later, Kinanah was seen in an “uninhabited house in the outskirts” where part of the treasure was discovered. He was executed as per his own words. 4
SAFIYYAH was a “JEWAMA” (Jewish War Mate) legal for her captor to have intimate relations with her; as decreed by the Torah: “And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it; And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself”–Deuteronomy 20:12-14).
Being of noble birth and to be reduced as wife of an ordinary man would have been a most humiliating experience for Safiyyah. “The Prophet granted her her freedom and then married her.”5
By taking Safiyyah over to himself the Prophet, and King of Arabia, not only elevated her status by making her his wife but also rendered to her the supreme and invaluable service of robing her a Muslim. There could hardly be any doubt that Safiyyah was joyed to be “in Muhammad’s arms;” and welcomed it whole-heartedly. After all, the Hebraic law had sentenced her to a living hell: condemned her to a life of “sorrow,” and subjection to her husband; and sold her daughter into bondage–(Gen. 3:16; Ex. 21:7).
Whereas Mohammad liberated her and gave her rights that left her nothing to strive for all the way to Jannah; and immortalized her as a “mother” of the Believers –honored now by some one-and-a-half billion Muslims. And counting, as Islam, in the face of all the vociferous clamoring against it, spirits on. Inexorably. Invincibly. Impregnably. To its destination as Divinely decreed:
“They desire to put out the light of Allāh
with their mouths, but Allāh will perfect His light,
though the disbelievers May be averse”
(Qur’an 61:8).
“He (Allāh) it is Who has sent His Messenger
(Mohammad) with the guidance and the
religion of Truth that He may make it
prevail over all religions.
And Allāh is enough for a witness”
(Qur’an 48:28; 9:33; 61:9).
Talk about Safiyyah being the envy of women!
That Safiyyah “does not have the right to accept or refuse what he (Mohammad) decides to do with her.” This is hooey! Marriage and divorce and women’s rights have been dealt with on other pages. (See Islam-liberated women).
Safiyyah, without doubt, found comfort and joy in Mohammad. “Safiyyah remained loyal to Mohammad throughout his life. In his last illness, when the Prophet was surrounded by his wives, Safiyyah came forward and said: “O Prophet of God, I surely wish that that from which you suffer might be in me rather than in you.” Muhammad’s wives winked at one another and the Prophet observing their reaction, said: “Go on and wink at one another! By God, I know that Safiyyah is truthful and loyal!”
Safiyyah, who survived Muhammad, lived until the time of the caliphate of Mu’awiyah. She was buried at al Baqi”6 in Madinah.
*
Regarding the Prophet’s marriage to ‘Aisha, Zainab, and Safiyyah Wafa Sultan questions: “Where are the Koranic verses or Prophetic traditions that can alleviate the ugliness of these attitudes?” And “How can we view” Mohammad’s marriage to ‘Aisha “other than as rape?” she states. (p. 127).
As shown on this site, there are/were no “ugliness” in the Prophet’s marriages to ‘Aisha; Zainab; Juwairiyyah and Safiyyah. Or Rayhana. ‘Thus there is/was no “ugliness” to alleviate; therefore no “Koranic verses or Prophetic traditions” on them are needed.
Verses extolling the lofty status Islam has bestowed on women see Islam-liberated women
That Mohammad’s marriage to ‘Aisha can only be viewed as “rape.” Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary defines rape as: “to seize and take away by force; an act or instance of robbing or despoiling or carrying away a person by force; the unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman by a man without her consent and chiefly by force or deception; unlawful carnal knowledge other than of a woman by a man; an outrageous violation.” Thus, a female of any age can be victim of “rape.”
Can Wafa Sultan prove that Mohammad was guilty of any of these definitions? And that ‘Aisha did not welcome Mohammad’s company and that she considered his companionship “an outrageous violation?” (See also Mohammad-rapist, pedophile, looter, cripple).
If Wafa Sultan cannot prove these –and for certain she cannot– then Wafa Sultan is guilty of libeling Mohammad! If Wafa Sultan was living in Seventh-Century Arabia she may have had her wretched tongue cut off for slander.
*
NOTES
1. Muhammad Husayn Haykal, The Life of Muhammad, p. 373.
2. Ibid; pp. 366-367.
3. Ibid; pp. 370-371.
4. Ibid; p. 373.
5. Ibid; p. 373.
6. Ibid; p. 374.