The Encounter at Khaybar
When the Muslim forces took Khaybar in 628 CE, Safiyya and other women were taken captive. The Prophet freed Safiyya and offered her the choice: return to her people, or accept Islam and marry him. She chose to stay. The marriage was sealed immediately; her freedom was her mahr (dowry).
The Prophet’s decision to marry her — a woman of Jewish priestly descent from a clan that had been in conflict with the Muslims — was itself a political and theological statement: her lineage did not define her faith’s trajectory.
Defending Her Ancestry
Safiyya endured taunting from some of the Prophet’s other wives about her Jewish origin. She came to the Prophet weeping; he responded with the teaching that has become a foundational statement of Islamic identity:
“You are the daughter of a prophet (Musa), and your uncle is a prophet (Harun), and you are married to a prophet (Muhammad). What do they have over you in that regard?”
The teaching: ancestry in prophetic lineage is honor, regardless of the community’s historical conflicts.
Her Later Life
After the Prophet’s death, Safiyya lived in Medina. She was known for her generosity and for freeing her slave Rihana. She died around 670 CE and was buried in al-Baqi’.
See also: Seerah Aisha, Seerah Khadijah, Prophet Muhammad, Seerah Musa Prophet, Hijra, Seerah Umar Ibn Khattab