Aisha and Saffya (the truth)

Submitted by The Scholar (United States), Nov 28, 2005 at 18:09

John,

It seems that you have not read my earlier post carefully. I said that Aisha's age could never be verified because there are conflicting reports about her age. I have presented the proofs though that she was older than 9 when they got married and I personally think they are very compelling especially taking into consideration that her father would not be able to offer her for marriage to others before the "Hijra" if she was not yet born!!. But I wonder, have you read the proofs I presented? It seems to me that you only read and present the ones you like.

Regarding Saffyia, you call Mohamed's rescue of her "rape"?? That is probably the most outrageous accusation I have read in a while. But anyway, it clear that your interpretation of history is "questionable" at best!

Let me quote what the Wikipedia encyclopedia says (a non Islamic source) " Muhammad married her to save her from becoming a slave after the defeat of her tribe in the battle of Khaybar." If you want the whole paragraph, here it is " The marriage occurred after the battle of Khaybar. She was the daughter of Huyayy ibn Akhtab, the chief of Jewish tribe Banu Nadir, who were earlier expelled from Medina for allegedly plotting to kill Muhammad. She was married to Kinana ibn al-Rabi'a before the Muslims attacked Khaybar. Her husband was killed in the battle. Before that she was the wife of Sallam ibn Mishkam, who had divorced her. Muhammad married her to save her from becoming a slave after the defeat of her tribe in the battle of Khaybar.
She was with Muhammad for nearly four years before Muhammad died. She lived as a widow for the next thirty-nine years, dying at the age of sixty."

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safiyya_bint_Huyayy"

You claim that her poor tribe was attacked without provocation, please get back to your resources and understand the real reasons behind this war! Ooohh, by the way, did you inform the readers that Saffyia's father tried to kill Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) by throwing a stone on him while he was talking to his followers? I do not think so! Anway, you only introduce the parts you like!

Let me introduce an example of how the Prophet treated her as taken from the Sira
"After the battle of Khaybar, two women were brought before the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) by Bilal, the black mu'adhdhin of Medina whose beautifully piercing voice constantly called the Muslims to prayer right up until the Prophet's death. They had passed by those who had been killed in the fighting. One of the two women was shrieking and screaming, and rubbing dust in her hair, while the other was mute with shock.
The silent one was Safiyya, the daughter of Huyayy ibn Akhtab, the chief of the Banu Nadir who had all been expelled from Medina in 4 AH after plotting to kill the Messenger of Allah by dropping a stone on his head as he sat talking with their leaders. The noisy one was Safiyya's cousin. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) asked someone to look after the woman who was screaming and then took off his cloak and placed it over the shoulders of Safiyya, whose husband had been killed in the battle. It was a gesture of pity, but from that moment she was to be honored and given great respect in the Muslim community. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) turned to Bilal and said, "Bilal, has Allah plucked mercy from your heart that you let these two women pass by those of their menfolk who have been killed?" This was considered a severe reprimand, for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) rarely criticized the behavior of those who served him. Anas ibn Malik, for example once said, "I served the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for eight years. He never once scolded me for something that I had done or for something that I had not done."

Anyway, it seems that you like to introduce certain trivial matters instead of answering the real questions! I have already asked about the God depicted in the Bible, but instead you talk about stoning women and she-donkeys!

Lisa on the other hand tells me that God in the old Testament wants to show the worst in man!! Do you really believe that?

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