Rayhana bint Zayd
Rayhāna bint Zayd (Arabic: ريحانة بنت زيد) was a Jewish woman from the Banu Nadir tribe, who is revered by Muslims as one of the Ummahaatu'l-Mu'mineen, or Mothers of the Faithful - the Wives of Muhammad.
Rayhāna bint Zayd | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | |
Title | Mother of Believers |
Spouse(s) | Muhammad |
Family | Banu Nadir |
Biography
Rayhana was originally a member of the Banu Nadir tribe who married a man from the Banu Qurayza. After the Banu Qurayza were defeated by the armies of Muhammad in the Siege of the Banu Qurayza neighborhood
According to Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad took her as a slave and proposed to her for marriage. She refused telling Muhammad to leave her in his power as it will be easier for both of them. Muhammad then left her and put her aside. She showed repugnance towards Islam and clung to Judaism. However, after some time she decided to convert to Islam. When Muhammad heard the voice of sandals of Tha'laba bin Sa'ya, he prophesied that Tha'laba was coming to inform him of Rayhana's conversion.[1]
Ibn Sa'd writes and quotes Waqidi that she was manumitted but later married by Muhammad.[2] According to Al-Halabi, Muhammad married and appointed dower for her. Ibn Hajar quotes a description of the house that Muhammad gave Rayhana after their marriage from Muhammad Ibn al-Hassam's History of Medina.[3]
Like Maria al-Qibtiyya, there is some debate as to whether she officially became his wife.[4][5][6][7]
In another version, Hafiz Ibn Minda writes that Muhammad set Rayhana free, and she went back to live with her own people. This version is also supported as the most likely by 19th-century Muslim scholar, Shibli Nomani.[8]
However, the most accepted position among the Muslims is that the Prophet manumitted her and married her.[9]
Rayhana died young in 631, 11 years after Muhammad's hajj, and was buried in Jannat al-Baqi cemetery.[10]
See also
- List of non-Arab Sahaba
- Sunni view of the Sahaba
References
- Guillaume, Alfred. The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah, p. 466. Oxford University Press, 1955. ISBN 0-19-636033-1
- Ibn Sa'd. Tabaqat. vol VIII, pg. 92–3.
- Ibn Hajar. Isabaha. Vol. IV, pg. 309.
- Bennett, Clinton, ed. (1998). In Search of Muhammad (reprint ed.). A&C Black. p. 251. ISBN 9780304704019.
- Fred James Hill; Nicholas Awde (2003). A History of the Islamic World (illustrated ed.). Hippocrene Books. p. 24. ISBN 9780781810159.
- Jerome A. Winer (2013). Winer, Jerome A.; Anderson, James W. (eds.). The Annual of Psychoanalysis, V. 31: Psychoanalysis and History. Routledge. p. 216. ISBN 9781134911820.
- David S. Powers (2011). Muhammad Is Not the Father of Any of Your Men: The Making of the Last Prophet. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 8. ISBN 9780812205572.
- Nomani, Shibli (1979). The Life of the Prophet. Vol. II, pg. 125–6
- Mothers of the Faithful, by eShaykh
- al-Halabi, Nur al-Din. Sirat-i-Halbiyyah. Uttar Pradesh: Idarah Qasmiyyah Deoband. vol 2, part 12, pg. 90. Translated by Muhammad Aslam Qasmi.