rayhana

Among the wives of the Holy Prophet (PBUH),

 two were of Jewish backgrounds
- one of which was Rayhana bint Zayd (RA). Through her marriage to the
 Prophet (PBUH), she too was blessed with the title of “Ummul Mo'mineen”-
 mother of the believers.

She originally belonged to the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir and she was previously married to Al-Hakim, who belonged to the tribe of Banu Qurayza. In 627, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) defeated the army of Banu Qurayza after a siege that lasted for twenty-five days. All the men belonging to the Banu Qurayza tribe were executed on the charge of treason and the women and children were enslaved by the Muslims.

Rayhana bint Zayd (RA) was amongst the enslaved and had become a widow at the time. According to Islamic sources, she was a beautiful young woman. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) took her under his custody and offered her the chance to embrace Islam. Moreover, he also told her if she was to accept Islam, he would marry her. According to some sources, initially, she is known to have refused the offer out of love for her deceased husband and her faith. However, eventually, she changed her mind and converted to Islam. Upon this news, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) freed her and married her.(by islamicfinder)

Ibn Sa'd wrote that Rayhana went on to be manumitted and subsequently married to Muhammad upon her conversion to Islam.^[6][7] Al-Tha'labi agreed that she became one of Muhammad's wives and cited evidence that he paid a mahr for her. Ibn Hajar makes reference to Muhammad giving Rayhana a home upon their marriage.^[8] Antonie Wessels suggested that Muhammad married Rayhana for political reasons due to her dual affiliation with both the Banu Nadir and Banu Qurayza tribes, while Lesley Hazleton felt it was evidence of Muhammad creating alliances.^[9][10] Conversely, Barakat Ahmad felt such rationale to support the notion of Rayhana and Muhammad's marriage was "meaningless" due to the annihilation of both tribes by Muhammad's forces.^[1

Rayhana bint Zayd

 `Umar Ibn al-Hakam narrated: "The Messenger of God freed Rayhana Bint Zaid Ibn`Amr Ibn Khunaqa. She had been married to a loving and honouring husband. She said, 'I shall never have a husband after him.' She was beautiful. When Banu Quraiza were taken captive, the booty was shown to the Messenger of God, and she was among the captives that were shown him so he commanded her to be set aside. He used to have a choice from each booty. She herself narrated, 'When I was set aside, he chose me and sent me to the house of Umm al-Mundsir Bint Qais for some days till he had the captives killed and the spoils distributed. Then the Messenger of God entered upon me, and when I was too shy to meet him, he called me and sat me between his hands. He said, "If you choose God and His Messenger, the Messenger of God will choose you for himself." I said, "I choose God and His Messenger." So when I surrendered, he freed me, married me, and gave me twelve ounces [of gold] as a bridal gift as he would do with his wives. He consummated the marriage with me in the house of Umm al-Mundsir, and he used to distribute for me as he did all his wives, and commanded me to be veiled.' The Messenger of God was fond of her and he granted her all she asked for. She was told, 'Had you asked the Messenger of God for Banu Quraiza, he would have freed them.' She answered, 'He reclined with me after he had already distributed the booty.' He reclined with her frequently and she remained with him till she died. He buried her in al-Baqi`. He married her in Muharram, six years after the Migration."

 Muhammad Ibn Ka`b narrated: "Rayhana was among those God gave him as captives. She was a beautiful woman. When her husband was killed, she was taken captive and became the choice of the Messenger of God in the battle with Banu Quraiza. When the Messenger of God gave the freedom to choose either Islam or her religion, she chose Islam. Then the Messenger of God freed her, married her and had her veiled. She was strongly jealous over him once, which made him divorce her one time while she was still at her place. She could not bear that and wept profusely, then the Messenger of God entered on her when she was in that state and remarried her. She remained with him till she died.

 Allegation- Rahyana was the Concubine of the Prophet Muhammad (p)

This claim is found in Ibn Ishaq page 466. However there is no reliable chain of tranmission for this claim or story. According to other and stronger/better Islamic sources, Rahyana was the wife of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) see Ibn Sa'd Volume 8 pages 92-93 and Ibn Hajar, Isabaha, Volume 4, page 309. Also according to Islamic historian Ibn Kathir, Rayhana was the wife of the Prophet Muhammad (See Ibn Kathir, Al-Sira al-Nabawiyya, Volume 4, page 415) So Rayhana was the wife of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). According to Islamic sources Rahyana died before the Prophet Muhammad (see al-Halabi, Nur al-Din. Sirat-i-Halbiyyah. Uttar Pradesh: Idarah Qasmiyyah Deoband. vol 2, part 12, pg. 90.)

according to ronen yitzak western galilee college israel [10] Amongst those who had lost their husbands i was Rayhana bint Zayd b. Umar b. Khinafa of Banu Nadir. She had been married to a man named al-Hakim from Banu Qurayza and had now become a widow. Islamic sources say that she was so young and beautiful that she impressed Muhammad, who immediately offered her the opportunity of converting to Islam and marrying him. “If you chose Allah and his Messenger,” the Prophet told her, “I shall take you for myself.” However, Rayhana had loved and respected her husband very much and said, “I will not exchange him for any other man” (Ibn Sa‘d: 8.129- 30; al-Salihi, 231-32). Furthermore, she clung to her Judaism, refusing to convert to Islam, saying that she preferred to live the life of a slave as long as she stayed a Jew. Nevertheless, Muhammad did not relent and she agreed to consider his offer (Ibn Sa‘d: 8.131; Ibn Hisham: 2.693).

11] It did not take long for Rayhana to decide that she was better off converting to Islam than living the life of a slave in Hijaz. Ibn Sa’iya informed the Prophet, when he was sitting with his friends, that Rayhana had converted to Islam. The Prophet commanded her release and married her immediately. The hasty marriage of Muhammad to Rayhana contradicts the Qur’an, which commands widows to wait for four months and ten days before remarrying in order to ensure that they were not pregnant. Some modern historians, who noticed this discrepancy, claimed that Muhammad waited the required time (Hisham and Bakhtiar: 393; Lings: 233; Anwar: 51); classic historians did not pay any attention to this issue. [12] An examination of the period indicates that it is unlikely that Muhammad waited the required time before marrying Rayhana (al-Tabari: 3.1359-64; al-‘Asqalani: 4.309: Ibn Hisham: 2.693). The siege on the city of Medina began in March–April 627 and the massacre of Banu Qurayza was carried out immediately after its completion (Ahmad: 68). The Prophet’s wedding to Rayhana was in the month of the Muharram in the sixth year of the Hijra (May-June 627) (al-Salihi: 232; Hisham and Bakhtiar: 392). This means that the time that had passed from the massacre until Muhammad’s wedding to Rayhana was at the most two months and that there is no doubt that Muhammad did not wait the required time before the wedding.

 [13] The Prophet gave Rayhana a dowry before the wedding, as he had given all the other women he had married – 12 head of cattle. He also instructed her to cover her face with a hijab (veil), just as he had instructed the rest of his wives (Ibn Sa‘d: 8: 130; al-Salihi: 232). The hijab also distinguished the wives of the Prophet from the rest of the Muslim women and bestowed them with a special position, as is attested in the Qur’an, “when you borrow (from the wives of the Prophet) any object, ask for it over the screen” (Q 33:53). However, the hijab originated only in 626, when the Prophet married Zaynab bint Jahsh. Prior to this, the Prophet’s wives did not wear a hijab. When Muhammad realized that his tactless and impolite friends sat with him alongside his wife, he preferred to draw her away from them bymeans of a hijab and then instructed the rest of his wives to wear it (Mernissi: 86-87; alBukhari: 7.49).

 14] Even though Rayhana kept declaring her love to Muhammad before his friends and saying that she would not take another man in his place, Muhammad decided to divorce her because she was very jealous. After a short time, he relented because of his love for her and agreed to bring her back to his house (Hisham and Bakhtiar: 392-93; al-Salihi: 232). The reason for this was his great love for Rayhana and his growing yearning for her during the time she had been banished. Therefore, he was ready to forgive and have her return to him (Hisham and Bakhtiar: 392). [15] Rayhana’s behavior – her banishment and her return – was not typical of the wives of the Prophet. Some of the Islamic historians and others claimed that Rayhana’s position was more that of a concubine than of the Prophet’s wife and remained such until the day of her death (Ibn Sa‘d: 8.130; Bennett: 251; Ascha: 90). They maintained this even though other historians, including the writer of the Prophet’s biography, Ibn Ishaq, claimed that Rayhana’s position was similar to that of the rest of Muhammad’s wives (Ibn Hisham: 2.693). In 631, about a year before the death of Muhammad, Rayhana died and was buried at al-Bak’i – the principal cemetery in Medina (Ibn Sa‘d: 8.131