By Allah, I Will Be His Enemy for as Long as I Live

Ṣafiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her), the wife of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), says: "None of the children of my father or my uncle were more popular with them both than I was." She is referring to her popularity with her father and her uncle, Abū Yāsir. She said: "None of the children of my father or my uncle were more popular with them both than I was. Whatever child of theirs wanted their attention, it was always me they put first. When the Messenger of Allah came to Qubāʾ, the village of the Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf, my father and my uncle Abū Yāsir went to him early in the morning and only returned at sunset, so tired out they could scarcely walk, staggering from exhaustion." Here is an event that occurred on the first day of the arrival of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to Madīnah — he was still on the outskirts of Madīnah, at Qubāʾ.

Ṣafiyyah says: "They came back that day tired and worn out." She said: "I raced over to greet them, as was my custom, but I swear, neither so much as looked at me. I heard my uncle Abū Yāsir ask my father, 'Is that he then?'" So she is saying, first of all, that they neglected her — they were preoccupied with something else. Neither of them picked her up, and then she started hearing their conversation. Abū Yāsir is asking Ḥuyayy, "Is that he then?" — he is talking about Muhammad (peace be upon him). He is asking: is he the prophet, is he the one mentioned in their books, is he the one prophesied by their rabbis — "is that he then?" Ḥuyayy said: "Yes, I swear by Allah." Abū Yāsir said: "You recognise him from his character and description, then?" Ḥuyayy said: "I certainly do, in the name of Allah." Abū Yāsir goes on: "So how will you relate to him? If he's a prophet, what does that mean? How will you respond to him?" Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab said: "By Allah, I will be his enemy for as long as I live."

So first he recognises that he is the prophet of Allah, and he knows for sure that he is the prophet of Allah; rather than saying he is going to follow him, he says he will be his enemy for the rest of his life. The reason is clear: it is because of envy — he is jealous that the Prophet ended up being an Arab rather than a Jew — and this envy caused him to disbelieve in the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Here is dealt with the worst type of kufr: disbelieving in the truth when one knows that it is the truth. Some people disbelieve because they do not think that this is the truth; they think that the Prophet is a liar, they think that this is a fake religion, they think that it was made up. But then there are some people who know, certainly know, that it is the truth, and nevertheless they still reject it — and this was the case with Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab.