Rayhana bint Zayd explained

Honorific Prefix:Mother of the Believers
Rayhana bint Zayd
Native Name Lang:ar
Birth Date:Unknown
Death Date: (9 AH)
Death Place:Medina, Arabia
Resting Place:Al-Baqi Cemetery, Medina
Known For:Being widowed and taken captive during the Siege of Banu Qurayza in 627
Spouse:Al-Hakim (died 627)
Muhammad (627–631)
Family:Banu Nadir (by birth)
Banu Qurayza (by marriage)
Ahl al-Bayt (marriage)

Rayhana bint Zayd (Arabic: ريحانة بنت زيد|translit=Rayḥāna bint Zayd; died) was a Jew from the Banu Nadir. Through marriage, she was also a part of the Banu Qurayza, another local Jewish tribe.[1] [2] During the siege of Banu Qurayza in 627, she was widowed and taken captive by the early Muslims and subsequently became a wife of Muhammad.[3] [4] [5] Their relationship produced no children and ended with Rayhana's death in Medina in 631.

Biography

The 9th-century Arab historian Ibn Sa'd wrote that Rayhana went on to be manumitted and subsequently married to Muhammad upon her conversion to Islam from Judaism.[6] [7]

The 11th-century Persian religious scholar Abu Ishaq al-Tha'labi agreed that she became one of Muhammad's wives and cited evidence that he had paid mahr for her. The 15th-century Egyptian religious scholar Ibn Hajar makes reference to Muhammad giving Rayhanah a home upon their marriage.[8] Antonie Wessels of Cambridge University suggested that Muhammad married Rayhana for political reasons, particularly in light of her direct affiliation with two of the region's Jewish tribes—the Banu Nadir and the Banu Qurayza—while British-American author Lesley Hazleton felt it was evidence of Muhammad creating alliances.[9] [10] Conversely, Indian religious scholar Barakat Ahmad felt such rationale to support the notion of Rayhana and Muhammad's marriage was "meaningless" after both Jewish tribes were wiped out, in accordance with Talmudic law, following their betrayal of the early Muslims.[11]

Similar to the status of the Egyptian woman Maria al-Qibtiyya—who, along with her sister Sirin bint Shamun, was gifted to Muhammad by the Egyptian governor Al-Muqawqis in 628—there is no universal consensus among Muslim scholars as to whether Rayhanah was officially one of Muhammad's wives.[12] [13] [14] [15] Hafiz ibn Minda and Indian religious scholar Shibli Nomani, for example, believed that she returned to the Banu Nadir upon her manumission.[16]

Rayhanah died in Medina in 631, eleven days after hajj and one year before Muhammad's death. She was buried at the city's al-Baqi Cemetery, like other members of Muhammad's Ahl al-Bayt.[17]

Notes and References

  1. Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, S. (2005). The Sealed Nectar. Darussalam: Darussalam Editing, p. 201.
  2. Abdul-Rahman, M. S. (2009). Tafsir Ibn Kathir Juz’ 21 (Part 21): Al-Ankabut 46 To Al-Azhab 30. Londra: MSA Publication Limited, p. 213.
  3. Rodinson, Muhammad: Prophet of Islam, p. 213.
  4. (online).
  5. Book: Ali, Kecia . Marriage and Slavery in Early Islam . 2010-10-15 . Harvard University Press . 978-0-674-05917-7 . 221 . en.
  6. [Alfred Guillaume|Guillaume, Alfred]
  7. Book: Ibn Sa'd. Tabaqat . vol VIII, pg. 92–3. true.
  8. Ibn Hajar. Isabaha. Vol. IV, pg. 309.
  9. Ostle. R. C.. 1974. Antonie Wessels: A modern Arabic biography of Muḥammad: a critical study of Muḥhammad Ḥusayn Haykal's Hayāt MuḤammad. xii, 272 pp. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1972. Guilders 50.. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 37. 3. 689–690. 10.1017/s0041977x00127673. 161497336 . 0041-977X.
  10. Book: Hazleton, Lesley. The first Muslim : the story of Muhammad. 2013. 978-1-101-60200-3. New York. 858946813.
  11. Book: Ahmad, Barakat. Muhammad and the Jews : a re-examination. 1979. Vikas. Indian Institute of Islamic Studies. 0-7069-0804-X. New Delhi. 6330142.
  12. Book: Bennett. Clinton. In Search of Muhammad. 1998. A&C Black. 9780304704019. 251. reprint.
  13. Book: Fred James Hill. Nicholas Awde. A History of the Islamic World. 2003. Hippocrene Books. 9780781810159. 24. illustrated. registration.
  14. Book: Jerome A. Winer. Winer. Jerome A.. Anderson. James W.. The Annual of Psychoanalysis, V. 31: Psychoanalysis and History. 2013. Routledge. 9781134911820. 216.
  15. Book: David S. Powers. Muhammad Is Not the Father of Any of Your Men: The Making of the Last Prophet. 2011. University of Pennsylvania Press. 9780812205572. 8.
  16. Nomani, Shibli (1979). The Life of the Prophet. Vol. II, pg. 125–6
  17. Book: al-Halabi, Nur al-Din. Sirat-i-Halbiyyah . Idarah Qasmiyyah Deoband . vol 2, part 12, pg. 90 . Uttar Pradesh. true. Translated by Muhammad Aslam Qasmi.