Microsoft Word Marriage Guide doc

Source: 
www.al-islamforall@org
 
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Zaynab bint Huyayy, to whom the Prophet (P.B.U.H) gave the name Safiyyah, was 
another Jewess, the seventeen year old daughter of an enemy of the Muslims. Huyayy, the 
chief of the Banu Nadir tribe traced his ancestry from the prophet Harun (Aaron). Her 
husband Kinana had earned notoriety for burying alive the brother of Muhammad ibn 
Maslama, who subsequently killed him in reprisal. She was chosen as a maid from the war-
booty by Dihya al-Kalbi, but as a chief's daughter she also requested a more honourable 
fate. The Blessed Prophet released her, and married her himself. 
She is said to have been beautiful, and A'ishah was again beset by a degree of 
jealousy. At first A'ishah and the other wives made life difficult for her, agitating her with 
jibes. But the Blessed Prophet always took her side. When A'ishah once said that she did not 
know what all the fuss was about since 'one Jewess is much like another,' the Prophet 
rebuked her by saying: 'Do not speak thus, for she has entered Islam and made good her 
Islam.' When they taunted her about her father, the Prophet (P.B.U.H) taught her to reply: 
`My father is Harun and my uncle is Musa.' Once, Zaynab refused to lend 'that Jewess' a 
camel, and the Prophet (P.B.U.H) defended the 'Jewess' by separating himself from Zaynab 
for several months. Safiyya became a close friend of the Prophet's daughter Fatima, and in 
due course she and A'ishah did become friends. In fact, A'ishah, Hafsah and Safiyya formed a 
kind of 'trio.' She never gave up all of her links with her Jewish relatives, however; and when 
she died she willed a third of her estate to her sister's son. Although this was criticised, 
A'ishah insisted that the bequest be upheld. 
The Prophet's final wife was the elderly widow Barrah, the sister of the his uncle al-
Abbas's wife, who wished to mitigate her sufferings, and see her well placed. The Prophet 
changed her name to Maymunah. Her nephew was the famous warrior Khalid ibn al-Walid, 
who became a convert after the marriage. 
When the Blessed Prophet was sixty years of age, Allah sent a revelation limiting the 
number of a man's wives to four (4:3); but as his existing wives had by now been declared 
Mothers of the Believers, he did not put them aside. 
The Blessed Prophet was a human man, and his wives were human women. While 
their life together was focussed on prayer, fasting, and spiritual advancement, their house 
was not a silent monastery. They knew many of the hurts and griefs of married life as well 
as its joys. On two occasions there were major crises in his household: when A'ishah was 
accused of adultery, and when he took Maryah, the Copt into his household. 
The 'event of the necklace,' which caused the Blessed Prophet so much grief, took 
place when A'ishah, who had been accompanying the Prophet on a journey, got left behind 
by the caravan and was brought back by a young tribesman. This created consternation: 
those who disliked her influence with the Prophet (P.B.U.H) instantly accused her of 
adultery, and did not believe her when she explained that she had been searching for her 
favourite necklace when the caravan moved on. 
Outraged and heartbroken, A'ishah left the Prophet's house and went to her parents, 
where she wept for two days. Her mother, Umm Ruman, tried to comfort her by pointing 
out that all beautiful women had to expect this kind of trouble. Her father, Abu Bakr, 
advised her to go back to the Prophet and be penitent. When the Prophet (P.B.U.H) saw 
her, he asked her to confess any sin, saying that even if she was guilty, God would forgive 
her. 
With great dignity, she looked steadily at him and said she would never admit to 
something she had not done. Her duty was to show patience, and ask God for help. By the 
time she had finished speaking, the Revelation came and the Blessed Prophet was 
communing with God. Abu Bakr covered him with a mantle, while her mother waited 
fearfully for the result. When God confirmed her innocence, all three adults were overjoyed 
and relieved. 
Although she was still only fourteen years old, she had become a proud and dignified 
Muslim woman, who represented the kind of wife who owed her allegiance to Allah alone. 
The Blessed Prophet did not resent this nor complain of it-for such was the teaching of 
Islam, and A'ishah understood it well. 
The Muslim Marriage Guide: Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood

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