In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Mawaddah Association is pleased
to present to you
Portraits from the Lives of the Female Companions,
by Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
may Allah have mercy upon him.
Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib,
may Allah be pleased with her.
Who was this formidable and dignified lady,
whom men held in such high regard?
Who was this courageous Companion
who was the first woman in Islam to kill a polytheist?
Who was this resolute woman
who raised the first knight for the Muslims
to draw a sword in the cause of Allah?
She is Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib,
the Hashimite, the Qurayshite,
the paternal aunt of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
Glory surrounded Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib from every side.
Her father was Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim,
the grandfather of the Prophet and the leader of Quraysh,
their obeyed master.
Her mother was Halah bint Wahb,
the sister of Aminah bint Wahb, the mother of the Prophet.
Her first husband was al-Harith ibn Harb,
the brother of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb,
the leader of the Banu Umayyah,
and he passed away while married to her.
Her second husband was al-Awwam ibn Khuwaylid,
the brother of Khadijah bint Khuwaylid,
the mistress of the women of the Arabs in the pre-Islamic era,
and the first of the Mothers of the Believers in Islam.
Her son was al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam,
the disciple of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
After such nobility,
is there any honor that souls might aspire to other than the honor of faith?
Her husband, al-Awwam ibn Khuwaylid, passed away,
leaving her with a young child,
who was al-Zubayr.
She raised him to be rugged and tough,
and trained him in horsemanship and warfare.
She made his play consist of sharpening arrows and repairing bows.
She was diligent in thrusting him into every fearful situation,
and pushing him into every danger.
If she saw him hold back or hesitate,
she would strike him severely.
So much so that one of his uncles reproached her for it,
saying to her:
"This is not how a child is struck."
"You strike him with the blow of one who hates, not the blow of a mother."
She then recited in verse:
"Whoever says I hate him has lied;
I only strike him so that he may become wise,
defeat armies, and bring back spoils."
When Allah sent His Prophet with the religion of guidance and truth,
and sent him as a warner and a bringer of glad tidings to the people,
and commanded him to begin with his closest kin,
he gathered the Banu Abd al-Muttalib,
their women, their men, their elders, and their young.
He addressed them, saying:
"O Fatimah bint Muhammad,
O Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib,
O Banu Abd al-Muttalib,
I possess no power to help you against Allah in anything."
Then he called them to believe in Allah,
and urged them to affirm his message.
Some of them turned toward the divine light,
while others turned away from its radiance.
Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib was
among the first rank of the believing, affirming ones.
At that point, Safiyyah gathered glory from all its corners:
the nobility of lineage and the might of Islam.
Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib joined the procession of light,
she and her young son, al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam.
She endured what the early Muslims endured
of the might, oppression, and tyranny of Quraysh.
When Allah gave permission to His Prophet and the believers with him
to migrate to Medina,
the Hashimite lady left Mecca behind,
with all the memories it held for her,
and all its various glories and achievements.
She set her face toward Medina,
migrating with her religion to Allah and His Messenger.
Even though the great lady
was at that time approaching 60 years of her long and eventful life,
she had positions in the fields of jihad
that history continues to mention with a tongue moist with admiration and fresh with praise.
Two scenes are sufficient for us from these positions:
the first was the day of Uhud, and the second was the day of the Trench.
As for what she did at Uhud,
it is that she went out with the Muslim army
among a group of women, striving in the cause of Allah.
She began carrying water and quenching the thirst of the thirsty,
sharpening arrows, and repairing bows.
She had, along with that, another purpose:
to watch the battle with all her emotions.
And no wonder,
for on its field was her nephew, Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah,
her brother, Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib, the Lion of Allah,
and her son, al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, the disciple of the Prophet of Allah.
And in the battle, before all that and above all that,
was the fate of the Islam she had embraced willingly,
and for which she had migrated, seeking reward,
and through which she had seen the path to Paradise.
When she saw the Muslims retreating from the Messenger of Allah,
except for a few of them,
and found that the polytheists were about to reach the Prophet and finish him off,
she threw her water skin to the ground,
and sprang up like a lioness whose cubs had been attacked.
She snatched a spear from the hand of one of the retreating men,
and began to cut through the ranks with it,
striking faces with its tip,
and roaring at the Muslims, saying:
"Woe to you! Have you retreated from the Messenger of Allah?"
When the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, saw her approaching,
he feared for her that she might see her brother Hamzah lying dead,
for the polytheists had mutilated him in the most hideous way.
He signaled to her son, al-Zubayr, saying:
"The woman, O Zubayr!"
Al-Zubayr went to her and said:
"O Mother, go back, O Mother!"
She said: "Get away, may you have no mother!"
He said: "The Messenger of Allah commands you to return."
She said: "And why?"
"It has reached me that he has been mutilated, my brother."
"And that is for the sake of Allah."
The Messenger said to him:
"Let her pass, O Zubayr."
So he let her pass.
When the battle laid down its burdens,
Safiyyah stood over her brother Hamzah,
and found that his stomach had been ripped open,
his liver had been removed,
his nose had been cut off, his ears had been severed,
and his face had been disfigured.
She sought forgiveness for him and began to say:
"Indeed, that is for the sake of Allah."
"I am content with the decree of Allah."
"By Allah, I shall surely be patient,"
"and I shall surely seek reward, if Allah wills."
That was the position of Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib on the day of Uhud.
As for her position on the day of the Trench,
it has an exciting story,
its warp is cunning and intelligence,
and its woof is courage and firmness.
So here is its news as the books of history have preserved it.
It was the custom of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
when he resolved upon one of the expeditions,
to place the women and children in the fortresses,
for fear that someone might betray Medina
in the absence of its protectors.
When the day of the Trench came,
he placed his wives, his aunt,
and a group of Muslim women
in a fortress belonging to Hassan ibn Thabit,
which he had inherited from his forefathers.
It was one of the most secure fortresses of Medina,
in terms of fortification and inaccessibility.
While the Muslims were
stationed on the edges of the Trench,
facing Quraysh and its allies,
and were occupied away from the women and children
by engaging the enemy,
Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib saw
a shadow moving in the darkness of dawn.
She strained her hearing for it,
and fixed her gaze upon it.
It was a Jew who had approached the fortress,
and began to circle it, sensing its news,
spying on those within it.
She realized that he was a scout for his people,
who had come to know if there were men in the fortress
defending those inside,
or if it contained within its walls
nothing but women and children.
She said to herself:
"The Jews of Banu Qurayzah
have broken the covenant that was between them
and the Messenger of Allah."
"They have supported Quraysh and its allies
against the Muslims."
"And there is no one between us and them
of the Muslims to defend us."
"The Messenger of Allah and those with him
are stationed facing the enemy."
"If this enemy of Allah is able to convey
the reality of our situation to his people,"
"the Jews will take the women captive,"
"and enslave the children."
"And that would be a catastrophe for the Muslims."
At that, she hastened to her headscarf,
wrapped it around her head,
and went to her clothes,
tightening them around her waist.
She took a pillar onto her shoulder,
and went down to the door of the fortress.
She opened it with patience and skill,
and began to watch through it
The enemy of Allah, in wakefulness and caution,
until she was certain he had become
within her reach,
she charged at him with a decisive, firm strike.
And she struck him on the head with the pillar,
throwing him to the ground.
Then she reinforced the first blow
with a second and a third,
until she finished him off
and extinguished the breath within his sides.
Then she hastened to him
and severed his head with a knife she had with her.
And she threw the head from the top of the fort,
and it began to roll down its slopes
until it settled among the hands of the Jews
who were lying in wait at its base.
When the Jews saw the head of their companion,
some of them said to others:
"We know that Muhammad
would not leave women
and children without protection."
Then they turned back.
May Allah be pleased with Safiyyah bint 'Abd al-Muttalib.
She was indeed a prime example for the Muslim woman.
She raised her only son,
and perfected his upbringing.
And she was afflicted by the loss of her brother,
and she bore it with excellent patience.
And trials tested her,
and in them she was found to be a decisive, wise, and valiant woman.
Then history wrote on its most brilliant pages
that Safiyyah bint 'Abd al-Muttalib
was the first woman to kill a polytheist in Islam.
Safiyyah was the first woman to kill a polytheist in defense of the religion of Allah.