On Tuesday 8th March the world celebrated International Women’s Day. It is celebrated to recognize women who have done exceedingly well in their respective fields as well as to encourage gender equality. But it should also be used to highlight those Women who have suffered throughout ages due to Male Dominance. Perhaps one of the ladies who suffered great injustice was Safiyya Bint Huyayy. There have been a few articles on her here and there but they like to bash Prophet more instead of empathize with Safiyya’s suffering . Unlike Aisha she never got much sympathy from Westerners possibly cause she was Jewish.
Safiyya was the Jewish Princess of the Banu Nadir tribe and one of the wives of Prophet. She was born in Medina. Her mother was from the Banu Qurayza tribe, a tribe who were mercilessly killed after Battle of Khaybar by Prophet and Al-Sahabah(Companions) on allegations of breaking treaty. In that mass killings of around 800-900 men she lost her brother, her husband and her father who were all beheaded. She had to see all her tribesman getting beheaded, she saw young kids who had just reached puberty get beheaded and she saw the women of her tribe being taken as slaves just as Sura 4 Ayat 24 ordered. Quran Sura 4 Ayat 24 gives full right to believers to take possession of women captured in war.
And if that was not enough she was brought as a captive slave in front of the Apostle by companion of the mass slaughter Dahya Alkali. But her astounding beauty drove the prophet to command Alkali to leave her and have the pretty seventeen year old for his own wife. She was married and converted. Afterwards the Prophet consummated his marriage to Safiyya for three days. She was told to cover her face with Hijab. She did everything that was asked and remained a faithful wife and yet she did not get a single penny from the looted property of her own tribe nor what belonged to her father for which she was the rightful heir. She was often teased by favorite Aisha and Zaynab for her Jewish Ancestry. And yet there is little or no mention of the injustice done to her.
Now try to imagine what the poor girl must have felt when she saw her father, brother and husband brutally killed. Imagine what she must have felt when she saw all those of her tribe including children who had reached puberty being brutally killed. Imagine what she must have felt when the women from her tribe were being taken as war booty. And then try to imagine being married to the guy who ordered all the suffering and trauma that was heaped on her. It is a pity Safiyya doesn’t get talked so much as Aisha does cause Safiyya’s story is truly heart breaking. This article isn’t meant to bash any Religion or its Founder. It is meant for only one purpose. To get justice for Safiyya-The Jewish Princess.
The Story Of the Jewish Princess needs to be known by people. The great injustice done to her needs to be acknowledged by those who hear of her. Very few Western and Liberal hearts would ever bleed for her. But perhaps Pagans who have suffered a fate similar to Jews may be able to empathize with the Jewish Princess.
References:
Khan, M. A. Islamic Jihad. USA: Felibri, 2011
The Hadith, (pp. Sahih Bukhari, Book 59, Hadith Number 512-513).
The Hadith, (pp. Sahih Bukhari, Book 59, Hadith Number 522-524).
Safiyya Bint Huyayy In Wikipedia. Retreived on March 6 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safiyya_bint_Huyayy
Author, Dom The Conservative. (2016, Jan 05). Sorry, liberals. There’s only 1 interpretation of Islam — Muhammad’s
[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln5fVgM0gLQ
Saheeh International, The Qur’an 4:24
