Juwayriyah, may Allah be pleased with her, chose Allah The Almighty and His Messenger, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and preferred Islam to polytheism and thus came to be honored as one of the Mothers of the Believers.
It was reported that her father, Al-Haarith ibn Abu Dhiraar, the chief and leader of the Banu Al-Mustaliq, went to the Prophet,sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and said, "A woman like my daughter is not to be taken captive. I am [deserving of] nobler [treatment] than this." The Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "How about we let her choose?” [Ibn Sa‘d]Juwayriyah’s father went to her and said, "This man (the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) has given you a choice, so do not disgrace us." She said, "I have chosen Allah and His Messenger.” He said, "You have disgraced us indeed."
The following day, her father went to the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, with her ransom. In Al-‘Aqeeq, a valley near Madeenah, her father looked at the camels he was taking to ransom his daughter and desired to keep two of them for himself, so he hid them in one of the defiles of Al-‘Aqeeq.
He went to the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and said, "O Muhammad! You have captured my daughter and this is her ransom." The Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, replied: "Where are the two camels that you hid in Al-‘Aqeeq in such-and-such defile?" Al-Haartih said, "I testify that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. By Allah, no one informed you about this matter except Allah The Almighty."
Along with him, two of his sons and many of his people embraced Islam, and he sent someone to bring the two camels and gave both of them to the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.
Juwayriyah, may Allah be pleased with her, was the reason for her people's conversion to Islam whereby she will be the recipient of the reward of Allah The Almighty for guiding them. Juwayriyah, may Allah be pleased with her, recounted, “My father justified his defeat facing the army of the Messenger of Allah, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, by saying, 'He combated us with an irresistible army.' When I embraced Islam, married the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and returned to Madeenah, I looked at the number of the Muslims and found that they were not as many as I had heard. I realized that it was the terror that Allah The Almighty had thrown into the hearts of the disbelievers.”
Juwayriyah, may Allah be pleased with her, was known for being a devout worshipper and humble to Allah The Almighty. One day, the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, left her to perform Fajr (dawn) prayer when she was in her customary place for prayer. He returned in the forenoon while she was still in her place. He said: "Are you still as I left you before?" She replied in the affirmative. The Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "I have said four words that would outweigh all that you have recited since the morning, they are: "SubhaanAllahi wa bihamdihi, ‘adada khalqihi, wa rida nafsihi, wa zinata ‘arshihi, wa midada kalimatih. (Glory be to Allah and praise be to Him, as many times as the number of His creatures, as much as would please him, as heavy as His throne is, and as much as the ink that may be used to record His words)." [Muslim]
She used to recite these words very often.
Before she married the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, Juwayriyah, may Allah be pleased with her, was married to her polytheist cousin, called Musaafi‘ ibn Safwaan, who was killed in the Battle of Banu Al-Mustaliq in the sixth year afterHijrah. The Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, set out to fight the Jews of Banu Al-Mustaliq when he heard the news of their preparing to fight the Muslims under the command of their leader, Al-Haarith ibn Abu Dhiraar.
The Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, fought them, and Allah The Almighty granted His Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, victory over the disbelievers. The women of Banu Al-Mustaliq were taken captives, including Juwayriyah whose name at that time was Barrah and the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, changed her name to Juwayriyah after he married her.
‘Aa'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said,
When the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, captured the women of Banu Al-Mustaliq, Juwayriyah, may Allah be pleased with her, fell in the share of Thaabit ibn Qays, who offered to ransom her for nine ounces of gold, fully believing that she was able to pay the ransom, since she was the daughter of the chief of Banu Al-Mustaliq and from the rich people of the Jews. She concluded a manumission contract with him, but he refused to release her before she had brought the ransom. Being a captive with no money to pay for her ransom, Juwayriyah, may Allah be pleased with her, went to the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, who was in my house that day, to seek his help in paying the sum.
When the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, gave her permission to enter, she said, "I am Barrah bint Al-Haarith, the daughter of the chief of his people, and you know what has become of me. Would you help me to pay for my manumission?" The Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "Would you care for what is better than this?" She asked what it was. He said: "I will pay the amount for your manumission and I will marry you." She said, "I agree, O Messenger of Allah." The Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "Agreed.”
When this news spread, the people said, "It is not proper to hold the in-laws of the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, as slaves," and as a result, they freed all the women of Banu Al-Mustaliq whom they had captured. The marriage of the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, to Juwayriyah, may Allah be pleased with her, caused about one hundred women to be set free, and I do not know a woman who was a greater blessing to her people than she was. [Ibn Is-haaq]
Juwayriyah, may Allah be pleased with her, was twenty years old when the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, married her, and she lived till the era of Mu‘aawiyah ibn Abi Sufyaan, may Allah be pleased with him.
Juwayriyah, may Allah be pleased with her, died in 56 A.H. at the age of seventy and Marwaan ibn Al-Hakam the governor of Al-Madeenah, offered her funeral prayer. Some scholars said that she died in 50 A.H. at the age of sixty-five. She narrated a number of the Hadeeths (narrations) of the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.