She is also the wife of Rasulullah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam A battle took place between the Muslims and the Jews at a place called Khaybar. She was brought as a prisoner after this battle. She fell in the booty of one of the Sahabah. Rasulullah s allallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam paid for her freedom and married her thereafter. She is from the progeny of Harun ‘alayhis salam. She possessed many forbearing and intelligent qualities. Her forbearance can be gauged from an incident: her slave-girl concocted two lies and informed ‘Umar radiyallahu ‘anhu of them. One of these lies was that she (Safiyyah) still has a special attachment for Saturday. This day is a very sacred day of the week for the Jews. In other words, despite her accepting Islam, traces of her previous religion were still found in her. If this has to be looked at from another angle, she is not a complete Muslim. The second lie was that she gives and takes a lot from the Jews. When ‘Umar radiyallahu ‘anhu went and asked her about this, she replied: “The first thing that she said is absolutely false. Ever since I accepted Islam and Allah has blessed me with Friday, my heart has become totally detached from Saturday. The second thing which she said is true. The reason for this is that they (the Jews) are my relatives and it is not against the Shari‘ah for one to maintain good relations with one’s relatives.” She then asked the slave -girl: “Who asked you to concoct lies?” She replied: “Satan.” Upon this, she replied: “You can go now, I have freed you.” Her first husband’s name was Kananah bin Abil Haqiq.
Lesson: O women! This is what is known as forbearance. You should also overlook and forgive your domestics and your maids if they make any mistake. Taking revenge or compensation from them on trivial matters is a sign of lack of courage. Look at how honest Safiyyah radiyallahu ‘anha was. She clearly spelt out the quality that was found in her and did not try to cover it up. It is the habit of some people that they do not like to admit anything. They try to save themselves from any accusation by disguising and concealing anything that they may have done. It is also an evil practice to concoct stories.
