Part of Glimpses from the Lives of the Female Companions (Sahabiyyat) (series completed)
· Lesson 2 of 8
Pictures from the lives of female companions - Episode (2) - Safiya bint Abdul Muttalib, may God be pleased with her
0:000:00
Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
0:00
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
0:15
The Mawaddah Association is pleased
0:17
to present to you
0:19
Portraits from the Lives of the Female Companions,
0:22
by Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
0:26
may Allah have mercy upon him.
0:28
Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib,
0:33
may Allah be pleased with her.
0:47
Who was this formidable and dignified lady,
0:52
whom men held in such high regard?
0:55
Who was this courageous Companion
0:58
who was the first woman in Islam to kill a polytheist?
1:02
Who was this resolute woman
1:04
who raised the first knight for the Muslims
1:07
to draw a sword in the cause of Allah?
1:10
She is Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib,
1:13
the Hashimite, the Qurayshite,
1:15
the paternal aunt of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
1:19
Glory surrounded Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib from every side.
1:24
Her father was Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim,
1:27
the grandfather of the Prophet and the leader of Quraysh,
1:30
their obeyed master.
1:32
Her mother was Halah bint Wahb,
1:34
the sister of Aminah bint Wahb, the mother of the Prophet.
1:38
Her first husband was al-Harith ibn Harb,
1:41
the brother of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb,
1:43
the leader of the Banu Umayyah,
1:45
and he passed away while married to her.
1:47
Her second husband was al-Awwam ibn Khuwaylid,
1:51
the brother of Khadijah bint Khuwaylid,
1:53
the mistress of the women of the Arabs in the pre-Islamic era,
1:56
and the first of the Mothers of the Believers in Islam.
1:59
Her son was al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam,
2:02
the disciple of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
2:05
After such nobility,
2:07
is there any honor that souls might aspire to other than the honor of faith?
2:11
Her husband, al-Awwam ibn Khuwaylid, passed away,
2:15
leaving her with a young child,
2:18
who was al-Zubayr.
2:19
She raised him to be rugged and tough,
2:22
and trained him in horsemanship and warfare.
2:25
She made his play consist of sharpening arrows and repairing bows.
2:29
She was diligent in thrusting him into every fearful situation,
2:33
and pushing him into every danger.
2:35
If she saw him hold back or hesitate,
2:38
she would strike him severely.
2:40
So much so that one of his uncles reproached her for it,
2:44
saying to her:
2:46
"This is not how a child is struck."
2:48
"You strike him with the blow of one who hates, not the blow of a mother."
2:52
She then recited in verse:
2:54
"Whoever says I hate him has lied;
2:57
I only strike him so that he may become wise,
3:00
defeat armies, and bring back spoils."
3:03
When Allah sent His Prophet with the religion of guidance and truth,
3:07
and sent him as a warner and a bringer of glad tidings to the people,
3:10
and commanded him to begin with his closest kin,
3:13
he gathered the Banu Abd al-Muttalib,
3:15
their women, their men, their elders, and their young.
3:19
He addressed them, saying:
3:22
"O Fatimah bint Muhammad,
3:24
O Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib,
3:27
O Banu Abd al-Muttalib,
3:29
I possess no power to help you against Allah in anything."
3:32
Then he called them to believe in Allah,
3:35
and urged them to affirm his message.
3:38
Some of them turned toward the divine light,
3:42
while others turned away from its radiance.
3:44
Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib was
3:47
among the first rank of the believing, affirming ones.
3:52
At that point, Safiyyah gathered glory from all its corners:
3:56
the nobility of lineage and the might of Islam.
3:59
Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib joined the procession of light,
4:03
she and her young son, al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam.
4:06
She endured what the early Muslims endured
4:09
of the might, oppression, and tyranny of Quraysh.
4:12
When Allah gave permission to His Prophet and the believers with him
4:16
to migrate to Medina,
4:18
the Hashimite lady left Mecca behind,
4:21
with all the memories it held for her,
4:24
and all its various glories and achievements.
4:27
She set her face toward Medina,
4:30
migrating with her religion to Allah and His Messenger.
4:33
Even though the great lady
4:36
was at that time approaching 60 years of her long and eventful life,
4:41
she had positions in the fields of jihad
4:45
that history continues to mention with a tongue moist with admiration and fresh with praise.
4:51
Two scenes are sufficient for us from these positions:
4:55
the first was the day of Uhud, and the second was the day of the Trench.
4:59
As for what she did at Uhud,
5:02
it is that she went out with the Muslim army
5:05
among a group of women, striving in the cause of Allah.
5:09
She began carrying water and quenching the thirst of the thirsty,
5:12
sharpening arrows, and repairing bows.
5:16
She had, along with that, another purpose:
5:19
to watch the battle with all her emotions.
5:23
And no wonder,
5:25
for on its field was her nephew, Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah,
5:29
her brother, Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib, the Lion of Allah,
5:33
and her son, al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, the disciple of the Prophet of Allah.
5:38
And in the battle, before all that and above all that,
5:42
was the fate of the Islam she had embraced willingly,
5:46
and for which she had migrated, seeking reward,
5:49
and through which she had seen the path to Paradise.
5:52
When she saw the Muslims retreating from the Messenger of Allah,
5:56
except for a few of them,
5:58
and found that the polytheists were about to reach the Prophet and finish him off,
6:02
she threw her water skin to the ground,
6:05
and sprang up like a lioness whose cubs had been attacked.
6:08
She snatched a spear from the hand of one of the retreating men,
6:11
and began to cut through the ranks with it,
6:14
striking faces with its tip,
6:16
and roaring at the Muslims, saying:
6:18
"Woe to you! Have you retreated from the Messenger of Allah?"
6:22
When the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, saw her approaching,
6:26
he feared for her that she might see her brother Hamzah lying dead,
6:30
for the polytheists had mutilated him in the most hideous way.
6:33
He signaled to her son, al-Zubayr, saying:
6:36
"The woman, O Zubayr!"
6:39
Al-Zubayr went to her and said:
6:42
"O Mother, go back, O Mother!"
6:45
She said: "Get away, may you have no mother!"
6:48
He said: "The Messenger of Allah commands you to return."
6:52
She said: "And why?"
6:55
"It has reached me that he has been mutilated, my brother."
6:58
"And that is for the sake of Allah."
7:00
The Messenger said to him:
7:02
"Let her pass, O Zubayr."
7:04
So he let her pass.
7:06
When the battle laid down its burdens,
7:09
Safiyyah stood over her brother Hamzah,
7:12
and found that his stomach had been ripped open,
7:14
his liver had been removed,
7:16
his nose had been cut off, his ears had been severed,
7:19
and his face had been disfigured.
7:21
She sought forgiveness for him and began to say:
7:24
"Indeed, that is for the sake of Allah."
7:26
"I am content with the decree of Allah."
7:29
"By Allah, I shall surely be patient,"
7:31
"and I shall surely seek reward, if Allah wills."
7:33
That was the position of Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib on the day of Uhud.
7:39
As for her position on the day of the Trench,
7:41
it has an exciting story,
7:43
its warp is cunning and intelligence,
7:46
and its woof is courage and firmness.
7:49
So here is its news as the books of history have preserved it.
7:53
It was the custom of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
7:57
when he resolved upon one of the expeditions,
8:00
to place the women and children in the fortresses,
8:03
for fear that someone might betray Medina
8:05
in the absence of its protectors.
8:08
When the day of the Trench came,
8:10
he placed his wives, his aunt,
8:12
and a group of Muslim women
8:15
in a fortress belonging to Hassan ibn Thabit,
8:17
which he had inherited from his forefathers.
8:19
It was one of the most secure fortresses of Medina,
8:21
in terms of fortification and inaccessibility.
8:24
While the Muslims were
8:26
stationed on the edges of the Trench,
8:28
facing Quraysh and its allies,
8:31
and were occupied away from the women and children
8:34
by engaging the enemy,
8:36
Safiyyah bint Abd al-Muttalib saw
8:38
a shadow moving in the darkness of dawn.
8:41
She strained her hearing for it,
8:43
and fixed her gaze upon it.
8:45
It was a Jew who had approached the fortress,
8:48
and began to circle it, sensing its news,
8:52
spying on those within it.
8:54
She realized that he was a scout for his people,
8:57
who had come to know if there were men in the fortress
8:59
defending those inside,
9:01
or if it contained within its walls
9:03
nothing but women and children.
9:06
She said to herself:
9:08
"The Jews of Banu Qurayzah
9:09
have broken the covenant that was between them
9:11
and the Messenger of Allah."
9:13
"They have supported Quraysh and its allies
9:15
against the Muslims."
9:17
"And there is no one between us and them
9:19
of the Muslims to defend us."
9:21
"The Messenger of Allah and those with him
9:23
are stationed facing the enemy."
9:26
"If this enemy of Allah is able to convey
9:28
the reality of our situation to his people,"
9:31
"the Jews will take the women captive,"
9:33
"and enslave the children."
9:35
"And that would be a catastrophe for the Muslims."
9:38
At that, she hastened to her headscarf,
9:41
wrapped it around her head,
9:43
and went to her clothes,
9:45
tightening them around her waist.
9:47
She took a pillar onto her shoulder,
9:50
and went down to the door of the fortress.
9:52
She opened it with patience and skill,
9:55
and began to watch through it
9:57
The enemy of Allah, in wakefulness and caution,
10:00
until she was certain he had become
10:02
within her reach,
10:04
she charged at him with a decisive, firm strike.
10:08
And she struck him on the head with the pillar,
10:10
throwing him to the ground.
10:12
Then she reinforced the first blow
10:14
with a second and a third,
10:16
until she finished him off
10:18
and extinguished the breath within his sides.
10:21
Then she hastened to him
10:23
and severed his head with a knife she had with her.
10:26
And she threw the head from the top of the fort,
10:29
and it began to roll down its slopes
10:32
until it settled among the hands of the Jews
10:34
who were lying in wait at its base.
10:37
When the Jews saw the head of their companion,
10:40
some of them said to others:
10:42
"We know that Muhammad
10:44
would not leave women
10:46
and children without protection."
10:48
Then they turned back.
10:50
May Allah be pleased with Safiyyah bint 'Abd al-Muttalib.
10:54
She was indeed a prime example for the Muslim woman.
10:58
She raised her only son,
11:00
and perfected his upbringing.
11:02
And she was afflicted by the loss of her brother,
11:04
and she bore it with excellent patience.
11:06
And trials tested her,
11:08
and in them she was found to be a decisive, wise, and valiant woman.
11:13
Then history wrote on its most brilliant pages
11:17
that Safiyyah bint 'Abd al-Muttalib
11:20
was the first woman to kill a polytheist in Islam.
11:24
Safiyyah was the first woman to kill a polytheist in defense of the religion of Allah.