Sayyidah Juwairiyah
bint Harith, may Allah be pleased with her, was a very charming, sweet and very
beautiful lady. All who saw Sayyidah Juwairiyah (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anha) were
stunned by her exceptional beauty. Brought up as she had been in one of the
foremost families of the time, she was not only beautiful but graceful, elegant
and eloquent. Anyone who saw her could not help being captivated by her charm
and pleasant demeanour. Her father was Harith ibn Abi Dirar, who was the chief
of the Banu Mustaliq. When Sayyidah Ayesha (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anha) first saw
Sayyidah Juwairiyah (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anha) she exclaimed that she was as
beautiful as a fairy.
She married the beloved Prophet (Peace
and Blessings of Allah be upon Him) in Sha'baan 5 A.H., when the beloved Prophet
SallAllaho Alaihi wa Sallam was fifty-eight years old and she was twenty, not
long after his marriage to Sayyidah Zainab bint Jahash. Before then she was
married to Musaafi’ bin Safwaan who was not a Muslim and was killed in the very
battle wherein she was captured.
Before her marriage to the Prophet (SallAllaho
Alaihi wa Sallam) her name was Barrah, but beloved Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi wa
Sallam changed it to Juwairiyah. Sayyidah Zainab bint Jahash, Zainab bint Umm
Salamah and Maimoonah bint Harith Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhunna were also named
Barrah, but the beloved Prophet SallAllaho Alaihi wa Sallam changed their names
as well.
Marriage of Sayyidah Juwairiyah bint
Harith (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anha):
News reached the Prophet (SallAllaho
Alaihi wa Sallam) on Sha‘ban 2nd to the effect that the chief of Bani Al-Mustaliq,
Al-Harith bin Dirar had mobilised his men, along with some Arabs, to attack
Madinah al-Munawwarah. Buraidah bin al-Haseeb al-Aslami was immediately
despatched to verify the reports. He had some words with Abi Dirar, who
confirmed his intention of war. He later sent a reconnoiterer to explore the
positions of the Muslims but he was captured and killed. The Prophet (SallAllaho
Alaihi wa Sallam) summoned his men and ordered them to prepare for war. Before
leaving, Sayyiduna Zaid bin Harith was mandated to see to the affairs of Madinah
al-Munawwarah and dispose them. On hearing the advent of the Muslims, the
disbelievers got frightened and the Arabs who were with them defected and ran
away for their lives. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr as-Siddiq Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu was
entrusted with the banner of the Emigrants, and that of the Helpers went to Sa‘d
bin ‘Ubada. The two armies were stationed at a well called Muraisi. Arrow
shooting went on for an hour, and then the Muslims rushed and engaged with the
enemy in a battle that ended in full victory for the Muslims. Some men were
killed, women and children of the disbelievers taken as captives, and a lot of
booty fell to the lot of the Muslims. Only one Muslim was martyr by mistake by a
Helper. Amongst the captives was Sayyidah Juwairiyah, daughter of Al-Harith,
chief of the disbelievers.
It is written that after this battle
the prisoners were distributed among the soldiers, and Juwairiyah (Radi Allahu
Ta'ala Anha) fell to the lot of Thaabit bin Qais (or his cousin, according to
some reports). Her father took along a number of camels as ransom for his
daughter, hoping to buy her freedom. As he was on his way to Sayyiduna
Rasoolullah (SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam), he decided to keep back two camels
that he liked. So he hide the two camels in a valley just outside Madina
Munawwarah and continued with the rest. When he arrived in the presence of
Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam) he presented the camels and
asked that these be accepted in lieu of his daughter’s freedom. The Messenger of
Allah (SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam) asked him: “And what about the two camels
you hid in the valley?!?!” Haarith was totally flabbergasted. Immediately he
uttered the Shahaadha and entered Islam, admitting that none besides Allah could
have given information to the Messenger about these camels.
Meanwhile, Sayyidah Juwairiayh had made
an agreement with her new master Thaabit to pay for her freedom. This was the
famous Mukaatabat Contract in Islam in terms of which slaves could work and buy
their freedom for a fixed sum of money. However, Juwairyah had no intention of
working for her freedom. She had a better idea. She asked to see Rasoolullah (SallAllahu
Alaihi wa Sallam).
In fact, she demanded to see the
Prophet Muhammad, with the intention of asking him to help her with the ransom
money. At that time The Messenger of Allah was in the house of Sayyidah Ayesha (Radi
Allahu Ta'ala Anha). She was permitted to see the Prophet (Peace and Blessings
of Allah be upon Him) and was taken to him while he was with Sayyidah A'isha.
After she had finished speaking, the Prophet thought for a moment, and then
said, "Shall I tell you what would be better than this?" She said, “And what is
that Our Messenger of Allah?” He replied: “I pay your freedom money, and you
marry me.”
Moved deeply by this unexpected
elevation in her status, she exclaimed she would be more than happy to accept.
She was freed, and swearing allegiance to Islam, she married the beloved Prophet
(SallAllaho Alaihi wa Sallam). Although Juwairiyah was young and beautiful and
of noble lineage, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was
thinking of how to save her and all her tribe from an ignoble fate. By marrying
Sayyidah Juwairiyah, the Banu Mustaliq would be able to enter Islam with honor,
and with the humiliation of their recent defeat removed, so that it would no
longer be felt necessary by them to embark on a war of vengeance that would have
continued until one of the two parties had been annihilated. As soon as the
marriage was announced, all the booty that had been taken from the Banu Mustaliq
was returned, and all the captives were set free, for they were now the in laws
of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). This is when
Sayyidah A'isha said of Sayyidah Juwairiyah, "I know of no woman who was more of
a blessing to her people than Juwairiyah bint al-Harith."
Virtues of Sayyidah Juwairiyah (Radi
Allahu Ta'ala Anha):
Most of the time she would be found
engrossed in prayer. It has been related by Juwairiyah that early one morning
the Messenger (SallAllaho Alaihi wa Sallam) left her room while she was doing
the dawn prayer. He returned later that morning and she was still sitting in the
same place. "have you been sitting in the same place since I left you?" he
asked. "Yes," she replied. Whereupon the Prophet (SallAllaho Alaihi wa Sallam)
said, "I recited four phrases three times after I left you, and if these were to
be weighed against what you have been reciting since dawn, they would still
outweigh them. They are:
سبحان الله وبحمده عدد خلقه ورضا نفسه وزنة عرشه ومداد كلماته
'Glory be to Allah and Praise be to Him as much as the number of his creations, and His pleasure, and the weight of His Throne, and the ink of His words.'" [Sahih Muslim, Kitab Al-Dhikr, Hadith 6575]
Which reminds us of the following verse
of the Holy Qur'an:
قل لو كان البحر مدادا لكلمات ربي لنفد البحر قبل ان تنفد كلمات ربي ولو جئنا بمثله مددا
"Proclaim, 'If the sea became ink for the Words of my Lord, the sea would indeed be used up and the Words of my Lord would never - even if we bring another like it for help.'" [Surah al-Kahf, Verse 109]
Her
Demise:
Sayyidah Juwairiyah was married to the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for six years, and lived for
another thirty-nine years after his demise. She passed away at the age of
sixty-five in Safar in the year 50th after Hijrah during the caliphate of
Sayyiduna Mu’awiyah bin Abi Sufyan. The governor of Al-Madinah, Marwan bin Hakam
led the funeral prayer and she was buried in Jannat al-Baqi.