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Safiyya bint Abd al-Muttalib
Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib (Arabic: صفية بنت عبدالمطلب, romanized: Ṣafīyya bint ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib; c. 567/569–640; 53 BH to 18 AH)[1] was a companion and aunt of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Early lifeSafiyya was the daughter of Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim and Halah bint Wuhayb ibn Abd Manaf ibn Zuhrah,[2][3]: 29 hence the full sister of Hamza and an aunt of Muhammad and Ali.[4] She was also the maternal aunt of Uthman's mother Arwa bint Kurayz. 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, MarriagesShe was first married to Harith ibn Harb,[6] and their son was Safi ibn Harith.[3]: 29 They were apparently divorced by 593.[5]: 206 Her second husband was Awwam ibn Khuwaylid, a brother of Khadija, who lived next door to them.[7] Safiyya and Awwam had three sons: Al-Zubayr, Al-Sa'ib and Abd al-Ka'ba.[3]: 29 Awwam died while their children were young.[8]: 76 Safiyya used to beat her son 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."[8]: 76 Conversion to IslamWhen Muhammad began preaching in public, he gave a special warning to the members of his immediate family.[9]
Safiyyah became a Muslim and took the oath of allegiance to Muhammad.[11] She joined the general emigration to Medina in 622.[3]: 29 Emigration to MedinaBattle of UhudWhen the Muslims fled from Uhud 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.[3]: 29 An elegy for Hamza is attributed to her: God the true, the Lord of the Throne, Battle of the TrenchDuring 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. 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."[5]: 458 She told Hassan to go down and kill him. When Hassan hesitated, she went down "stealthily", opened the door "little by little"[3]: 29 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.[5]: 458 (Note that Ibn Saad attributes this episode to the Battle of Uhud.[3]: 29 ) Battle of KhaybarSafiyya was among the women who went to Khaybar 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.[5]: 513 In the distribution, Muhammad assigned Safiyya an income of 40 wasqs of grain and dates from Khaybar.[5]: 522 [3]: 29 The CaliphateSeveral elegies for Muhammad are attributed to Safiyyah, the following among them. O my eyes! shed tears flowing, DeathSafiyya died during the caliphate of Umar (634–644) and was buried in Al-Baqi' "in the courtyard of the house of al-Mughira ibn Shuba at the wudu place."[3]: 30 Marriage of her children
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