"Mother of the Believers". Muhammad advised Safiyya to convert to Islam, she accepted and agreed to became Muhammad's wife. Safiyya did not bear any children to Muhammad. Regarding Safiyya's Jewish descent, Muhammad once said to his wife that if other women insulted her for her "Jewish heritage" and were jealous because of her beauty, she was to respond, "My father (ancestor) Harun (Aaron) was a prophet, my uncle (his brother) Musa (Moses) was a prophet, and my husband (Muhammad) is a prophet." Legacy After Muhammad's death, she became involved in the power politics of the early Muslim community, and acquired substantial influence by the time of her death. In 656, Safiyya sided with caliph Uthman ibn Affan, and defended him at his last meeting with Ali, Aisha, and Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. During the period when the caliph was besieged at his residence, Safiyya made an unsuccessful attempt to reach him, and supplied him with food and water via a plank placed between her dwelling and his. Safiyya died in 670 or 672, during the reign of Muawiyah I, and was buried in the Jannat al-Baqi graveyard. She left an estate of 100,000 dirhams in land and goods, one-third of which she bequeathed to her sister's son, who followed Judaism. Her dwelling in Medina was bought by Muawiyya for 180,000 dirhams. Her dream was interpreted as a miracle, and her suffering and reputation for crying won her a place in Sufi works. She is mentioned in all major books of hadith for relating a few traditions and a number of events in her life serve as legal precedents. See also Saffiyah (name) Rayhana bint Zayd Judaism's views on Muhammad List of non-Arab Sahaba References and footnotes Bibliography Further reading Awde, Nicholas Women in Islam: An Anthology from the Qur'an and Hadits, Routledge (UK) 2000, John Esposito and Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, Islam, Gender, and Social Change, Oxford University Press, 1997, Leila Ahmed, Women and Gender in Islam: Historical roots of a modern debate, Yale University Press, 1992 Valentine Moghadam (ed), Gender and National Identity. Karen Armstrong, "The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam", London, HarperCollins/Routledge, 2001 601 births 661 deaths Banu Nadir Converts to Islam from Judaism Women companions of the Prophet Muslim saints Jewish Saudi Arabian history 7th-century Arabian Jews Islam and Judaism Wives of Muhammad Women in medieval warfare Women in war in the Middle East