The latter was abusive toward Safiyyah; in the hadith, she recounted an incident where he struck her after she described a dream in which she saw the moon rising over Khaybar and falling into her lap.

[4] Safiyyah was born in Medina to Huyayy ibn Akhtab, the chief of the Jewish tribe Banu Nadir.

Her maternal grandfather was Samaw'al ibn 'Adiya, a celebrated pre-Islamic Arabian Jewish poet from the Banu Harith tribe.

[5] Her father and brother went from Khaybar to join the Meccan and Bedouin forces besieging Muhammad in Medina during the Battle of the Trench.

After the defeat of the Banu Qurayza in 627, Safiyya's father, a long-time opponent of Muhammad, was captured and executed by the Muslims.

[6] In 627 or early 628, Safiyya was married to Kenana ibn al-Rabi, treasurer of the Banu Nadir; she was about 17 years old at that time.

Some of the Jewish tribes were allowed to remain in the city on the condition that they give half of their annual produce to the Muslims.

Witnessing this, another companion informed Muhammad, highlighting Safiyya's beauty and her status as the chief mistress of Banu Qurayza and the Nadir.

[12][13] He directed that Safiyyah be placed behind him, with his cloak covering her, indicating to the Muslims that He had chosen her for himself, and told Dihya to take any other slave girl from the captives.

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.

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.