WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.000 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 00:00:15.509 --> 00:00:17.510 The Mawaddah Association is pleased 00:00:17.510 --> 00:00:19.510 to present to you 00:00:19.510 --> 00:00:22.510 Portraits from the Lives of the Female Companions, 00:00:22.510 --> 00:00:26.640 by Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha, 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:28.640 may Allah have mercy upon him. 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:33.500 Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib, 00:00:33.500 --> 00:00:35.500 may Allah be pleased with her. 00:00:47.350 --> 00:00:52.240 Who was this formidable and dignified lady, 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:55.240 whom men held in such high regard? 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:58.240 Who was this courageous Companion 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:02.240 who was the first woman in Islam to kill a polytheist? 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:04.239 Who was this resolute woman 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:07.239 who raised the first knight for the Muslims 00:01:07.239 --> 00:01:10.239 to draw a sword in the cause of Allah? 00:01:10.239 --> 00:01:13.239 She is Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib, 00:01:13.239 --> 00:01:15.239 the Hashimite, the Qurayshite, 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:19.239 the paternal aunt of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. 00:01:19.239 --> 00:01:24.299 Glory surrounded Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib from every side. 00:01:24.299 --> 00:01:27.299 Her father was Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim, 00:01:27.299 --> 00:01:30.299 the grandfather of the Prophet and the leader of Quraysh, 00:01:30.299 --> 00:01:32.299 their obeyed master. 00:01:32.299 --> 00:01:34.299 Her mother was Halah bint Wahb, 00:01:34.299 --> 00:01:38.299 the sister of Aminah bint Wahb, the mother of the Prophet. 00:01:38.299 --> 00:01:41.299 Her first husband was al-Harith ibn Harb, 00:01:41.299 --> 00:01:43.299 the brother of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, 00:01:43.299 --> 00:01:45.299 the leader of the Banu Umayyah, 00:01:45.299 --> 00:01:47.299 and he passed away while married to her. 00:01:47.299 --> 00:01:51.299 Her second husband was al-Awwam ibn Khuwaylid, 00:01:51.299 --> 00:01:53.299 the brother of Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, 00:01:53.299 --> 00:01:56.299 the mistress of the women of the Arabs in the pre-Islamic era, 00:01:56.299 --> 00:01:59.299 and the first of the Mothers of the Believers in Islam. 00:01:59.299 --> 00:02:02.400 Her son was al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:05.400 the disciple of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. 00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:07.400 After such nobility, 00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:11.400 is there any honor that souls might aspire to other than the honor of faith? 00:02:11.400 --> 00:02:15.500 Her husband, al-Awwam ibn Khuwaylid, passed away, 00:02:15.500 --> 00:02:18.500 leaving her with a young child, 00:02:18.500 --> 00:02:19.500 who was al-Zubayr. 00:02:19.500 --> 00:02:22.500 She raised him to be rugged and tough, 00:02:22.500 --> 00:02:25.500 and trained him in horsemanship and warfare. 00:02:25.500 --> 00:02:29.500 She made his play consist of sharpening arrows and repairing bows. 00:02:29.500 --> 00:02:33.500 She was diligent in thrusting him into every fearful situation, 00:02:33.500 --> 00:02:35.500 and pushing him into every danger. 00:02:35.500 --> 00:02:38.500 If she saw him hold back or hesitate, 00:02:38.500 --> 00:02:40.500 she would strike him severely. 00:02:40.500 --> 00:02:44.500 So much so that one of his uncles reproached her for it, 00:02:44.500 --> 00:02:46.500 saying to her: 00:02:46.500 --> 00:02:48.500 "This is not how a child is struck." 00:02:48.500 --> 00:02:52.500 "You strike him with the blow of one who hates, not the blow of a mother." 00:02:52.500 --> 00:02:54.500 She then recited in verse: 00:02:54.500 --> 00:02:57.500 "Whoever says I hate him has lied; 00:02:57.500 --> 00:03:00.500 I only strike him so that he may become wise, 00:03:00.500 --> 00:03:03.500 defeat armies, and bring back spoils." 00:03:03.500 --> 00:03:07.979 When Allah sent His Prophet with the religion of guidance and truth, 00:03:07.979 --> 00:03:10.979 and sent him as a warner and a bringer of glad tidings to the people, 00:03:10.979 --> 00:03:13.979 and commanded him to begin with his closest kin, 00:03:13.979 --> 00:03:15.979 he gathered the Banu Abd al-Muttalib, 00:03:15.979 --> 00:03:19.979 their women, their men, their elders, and their young. 00:03:19.979 --> 00:03:21.979 He addressed them, saying: 00:03:22.979 --> 00:03:24.979 "O Fatimah bint Muhammad, 00:03:24.979 --> 00:03:27.979 O Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib, 00:03:27.979 --> 00:03:29.979 O Banu Abd al-Muttalib, 00:03:29.979 --> 00:03:32.979 I possess no power to help you against Allah in anything." 00:03:32.979 --> 00:03:35.979 Then he called them to believe in Allah, 00:03:35.979 --> 00:03:38.979 and urged them to affirm his message. 00:03:38.979 --> 00:03:42.979 Some of them turned toward the divine light, 00:03:42.979 --> 00:03:44.979 while others turned away from its radiance. 00:03:44.979 --> 00:03:47.979 Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib was 00:03:47.979 --> 00:03:50.979 among the first rank of the believing, affirming ones. 00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:56.039 At that point, Safiyyah gathered glory from all its corners: 00:03:56.039 --> 00:03:59.039 the nobility of lineage and the might of Islam. 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:03.139 Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib joined the procession of light, 00:04:03.139 --> 00:04:06.139 she and her young son, al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam. 00:04:06.139 --> 00:04:09.139 She endured what the early Muslims endured 00:04:09.139 --> 00:04:12.139 of the might, oppression, and tyranny of Quraysh. 00:04:12.139 --> 00:04:16.139 When Allah gave permission to His Prophet and the believers with him 00:04:16.139 --> 00:04:18.139 to migrate to Medina, 00:04:18.139 --> 00:04:21.139 the Hashimite lady left Mecca behind, 00:04:21.139 --> 00:04:24.139 with all the memories it held for her, 00:04:24.139 --> 00:04:27.139 and all its various glories and achievements. 00:04:27.139 --> 00:04:30.139 She set her face toward Medina, 00:04:30.139 --> 00:04:33.139 migrating with her religion to Allah and His Messenger. 00:04:33.139 --> 00:04:36.259 Even though the great lady 00:04:36.259 --> 00:04:41.259 was at that time approaching 60 years of her long and eventful life, 00:04:41.259 --> 00:04:45.259 she had positions in the fields of jihad 00:04:45.259 --> 00:04:51.259 that history continues to mention with a tongue moist with admiration and fresh with praise. 00:04:51.259 --> 00:04:55.300 Two scenes are sufficient for us from these positions: 00:04:55.300 --> 00:04:59.300 the first was the day of Uhud, and the second was the day of the Trench. 00:04:59.300 --> 00:05:02.329 As for what she did at Uhud, 00:05:02.329 --> 00:05:05.329 it is that she went out with the Muslim army 00:05:05.329 --> 00:05:09.329 among a group of women, striving in the cause of Allah. 00:05:09.329 --> 00:05:12.329 She began carrying water and quenching the thirst of the thirsty, 00:05:12.329 --> 00:05:16.329 sharpening arrows, and repairing bows. 00:05:16.329 --> 00:05:19.329 She had, along with that, another purpose: 00:05:19.329 --> 00:05:23.329 to watch the battle with all her emotions. 00:05:23.329 --> 00:05:25.329 And no wonder, 00:05:25.329 --> 00:05:29.329 for on its field was her nephew, Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, 00:05:29.329 --> 00:05:33.329 her brother, Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib, the Lion of Allah, 00:05:33.329 --> 00:05:38.329 and her son, al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, the disciple of the Prophet of Allah. 00:05:38.329 --> 00:05:42.329 And in the battle, before all that and above all that, 00:05:42.329 --> 00:05:46.329 was the fate of the Islam she had embraced willingly, 00:05:46.329 --> 00:05:49.329 and for which she had migrated, seeking reward, 00:05:49.329 --> 00:05:52.680 and through which she had seen the path to Paradise. 00:05:52.680 --> 00:05:56.680 When she saw the Muslims retreating from the Messenger of Allah, 00:05:56.680 --> 00:05:58.680 except for a few of them, 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:02.680 and found that the polytheists were about to reach the Prophet and finish him off, 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:05.680 she threw her water skin to the ground, 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:08.680 and sprang up like a lioness whose cubs had been attacked. 00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:11.680 She snatched a spear from the hand of one of the retreating men, 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:14.680 and began to cut through the ranks with it, 00:06:14.680 --> 00:06:16.680 striking faces with its tip, 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:18.680 and roaring at the Muslims, saying: 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:22.779 "Woe to you! Have you retreated from the Messenger of Allah?" 00:06:22.779 --> 00:06:26.779 When the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, saw her approaching, 00:06:26.779 --> 00:06:30.779 he feared for her that she might see her brother Hamzah lying dead, 00:06:30.779 --> 00:06:33.779 for the polytheists had mutilated him in the most hideous way. 00:06:33.779 --> 00:06:36.779 He signaled to her son, al-Zubayr, saying: 00:06:36.779 --> 00:06:39.779 "The woman, O Zubayr!" 00:06:39.779 --> 00:06:42.779 Al-Zubayr went to her and said: 00:06:42.779 --> 00:06:45.779 "O Mother, go back, O Mother!" 00:06:45.779 --> 00:06:48.779 She said: "Get away, may you have no mother!" 00:06:48.779 --> 00:06:52.870 He said: "The Messenger of Allah commands you to return." 00:06:52.870 --> 00:06:55.870 She said: "And why?" 00:06:55.870 --> 00:06:58.870 "It has reached me that he has been mutilated, my brother." 00:06:58.870 --> 00:07:00.870 "And that is for the sake of Allah." 00:07:00.870 --> 00:07:02.870 The Messenger said to him: 00:07:02.870 --> 00:07:04.870 "Let her pass, O Zubayr." 00:07:04.870 --> 00:07:06.870 So he let her pass. 00:07:06.870 --> 00:07:09.870 When the battle laid down its burdens, 00:07:09.870 --> 00:07:12.870 Safiyyah stood over her brother Hamzah, 00:07:12.870 --> 00:07:14.870 and found that his stomach had been ripped open, 00:07:14.870 --> 00:07:16.870 his liver had been removed, 00:07:16.870 --> 00:07:19.870 his nose had been cut off, his ears had been severed, 00:07:19.870 --> 00:07:21.870 and his face had been disfigured. 00:07:21.870 --> 00:07:24.870 She sought forgiveness for him and began to say: 00:07:24.870 --> 00:07:26.870 "Indeed, that is for the sake of Allah." 00:07:26.870 --> 00:07:29.870 "I am content with the decree of Allah." 00:07:29.870 --> 00:07:31.870 "By Allah, I shall surely be patient," 00:07:31.870 --> 00:07:33.870 "and I shall surely seek reward, if Allah wills." 00:07:33.870 --> 00:07:39.129 That was the position of Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib on the day of Uhud. 00:07:39.129 --> 00:07:41.129 As for her position on the day of the Trench, 00:07:41.129 --> 00:07:43.129 it has an exciting story, 00:07:43.129 --> 00:07:46.129 its warp is cunning and intelligence, 00:07:46.129 --> 00:07:49.259 and its woof is courage and firmness. 00:07:49.259 --> 00:07:53.350 So here is its news as the books of history have preserved it. 00:07:53.350 --> 00:07:57.350 It was the custom of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, 00:07:57.350 --> 00:08:00.350 when he resolved upon one of the expeditions, 00:08:00.350 --> 00:08:03.350 to place the women and children in the fortresses, 00:08:03.350 --> 00:08:05.350 for fear that someone might betray Medina 00:08:05.350 --> 00:08:08.350 in the absence of its protectors. 00:08:08.350 --> 00:08:10.350 When the day of the Trench came, 00:08:10.350 --> 00:08:12.350 he placed his wives, his aunt, 00:08:12.350 --> 00:08:15.350 and a group of Muslim women 00:08:15.350 --> 00:08:17.350 in a fortress belonging to Hassan ibn Thabit, 00:08:17.350 --> 00:08:19.350 which he had inherited from his forefathers. 00:08:19.350 --> 00:08:21.350 It was one of the most secure fortresses of Medina, 00:08:21.350 --> 00:08:24.350 in terms of fortification and inaccessibility. 00:08:24.350 --> 00:08:26.379 While the Muslims were 00:08:26.379 --> 00:08:28.379 stationed on the edges of the Trench, 00:08:28.379 --> 00:08:31.379 facing Quraysh and its allies, 00:08:31.379 --> 00:08:34.379 and were occupied away from the women and children 00:08:34.379 --> 00:08:36.379 by engaging the enemy, 00:08:36.379 --> 00:08:38.379 Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib saw 00:08:38.379 --> 00:08:41.379 a shadow moving in the darkness of dawn. 00:08:41.379 --> 00:08:43.379 She strained her hearing for it, 00:08:43.379 --> 00:08:45.379 and fixed her gaze upon it. 00:08:45.379 --> 00:08:48.379 It was a Jew who had approached the fortress, 00:08:48.379 --> 00:08:52.379 and began to circle it, sensing its news, 00:08:52.379 --> 00:08:54.509 spying on those within it. 00:08:54.509 --> 00:08:57.509 She realized that he was a scout for his people, 00:08:57.509 --> 00:08:59.509 who had come to know if there were men in the fortress 00:08:59.509 --> 00:09:01.509 defending those inside, 00:09:01.509 --> 00:09:03.509 or if it contained within its walls 00:09:03.509 --> 00:09:06.509 nothing but women and children. 00:09:06.509 --> 00:09:08.509 She said to herself: 00:09:08.509 --> 00:09:09.509 "The Jews of Banu Qurayzah 00:09:09.509 --> 00:09:11.509 have broken the covenant that was between them 00:09:11.509 --> 00:09:13.509 and the Messenger of Allah." 00:09:13.509 --> 00:09:15.509 "They have supported Quraysh and its allies 00:09:15.509 --> 00:09:17.509 against the Muslims." 00:09:17.509 --> 00:09:19.509 "And there is no one between us and them 00:09:19.509 --> 00:09:21.509 of the Muslims to defend us." 00:09:21.509 --> 00:09:23.509 "The Messenger of Allah and those with him 00:09:23.509 --> 00:09:26.509 are stationed facing the enemy." 00:09:26.509 --> 00:09:28.509 "If this enemy of Allah is able to convey 00:09:28.509 --> 00:09:31.509 the reality of our situation to his people," 00:09:31.509 --> 00:09:33.509 "the Jews will take the women captive," 00:09:33.509 --> 00:09:35.509 "and enslave the children." 00:09:35.509 --> 00:09:38.539 "And that would be a catastrophe for the Muslims." 00:09:38.539 --> 00:09:41.539 At that, she hastened to her headscarf, 00:09:41.539 --> 00:09:43.539 wrapped it around her head, 00:09:43.539 --> 00:09:45.539 and went to her clothes, 00:09:45.539 --> 00:09:47.539 tightening them around her waist. 00:09:47.539 --> 00:09:50.539 She took a pillar onto her shoulder, 00:09:50.539 --> 00:09:52.539 and went down to the door of the fortress. 00:09:52.539 --> 00:09:55.539 She opened it with patience and skill, 00:09:55.539 --> 00:09:57.539 and began to watch through it 00:09:57.539 --> 00:10:00.539 The enemy of Allah, in wakefulness and caution, 00:10:00.539 --> 00:10:02.610 until she was certain he had become 00:10:02.610 --> 00:10:04.610 within her reach, 00:10:04.610 --> 00:10:08.610 she charged at him with a decisive, firm strike. 00:10:08.610 --> 00:10:10.610 And she struck him on the head with the pillar, 00:10:10.610 --> 00:10:12.610 throwing him to the ground. 00:10:12.610 --> 00:10:14.610 Then she reinforced the first blow 00:10:14.610 --> 00:10:16.610 with a second and a third, 00:10:16.610 --> 00:10:18.610 until she finished him off 00:10:18.610 --> 00:10:21.610 and extinguished the breath within his sides. 00:10:21.610 --> 00:10:23.799 Then she hastened to him 00:10:23.799 --> 00:10:26.799 and severed his head with a knife she had with her. 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:29.799 And she threw the head from the top of the fort, 00:10:29.799 --> 00:10:32.799 and it began to roll down its slopes 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:34.799 until it settled among the hands of the Jews 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:37.799 who were lying in wait at its base. 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:40.799 When the Jews saw the head of their companion, 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:42.799 some of them said to others: 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:44.799 "We know that Muhammad 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:46.799 would not leave women 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:48.799 and children without protection." 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:50.799 Then they turned back. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:54.120 May Allah be pleased with Safiyyah bint 'Abd al-Muttalib. 00:10:54.120 --> 00:10:58.120 She was indeed a prime example for the Muslim woman. 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:00.120 She raised her only son, 00:11:00.120 --> 00:11:02.120 and perfected his upbringing. 00:11:02.120 --> 00:11:04.120 And she was afflicted by the loss of her brother, 00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:06.120 and she bore it with excellent patience. 00:11:06.120 --> 00:11:08.120 And trials tested her, 00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:13.120 and in them she was found to be a decisive, wise, and valiant woman. 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:17.279 Then history wrote on its most brilliant pages 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:20.279 that Safiyyah bint 'Abd al-Muttalib 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:24.279 was the first woman to kill a polytheist in Islam. 00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:32.799 Safiyyah was the first woman to kill a polytheist in defense of the religion of Allah.