Majed Jarrar

ِAlaikum assalam, As I've said before, there is a religious purpose and great wisdom behind each and every one of the marriages of the prophet - peace and blessings upon him.
1. Yes, wars do have different rulings in most matters. A slave woman captured in battle has the iddah of one menstrual cycle, while a slave woman who was divorced at peace has the iddah of two menstrual cycles. The prophet took Safiyya, and asked Umm Saleem to take care of her until she finished her menstruation, then beautify her. When she finished he freed her and married her.
2. It is important to note first that the prophet, was sent as a mercy to all humankind, and a role model to all Muslims. God Almighty sent him to complete the ethics of humanity.
His marriage to Safiyya, the daughter of the leader of the Jewish tribes of Khaiber, was to grant security to the Jews of Khaibar - who became the in-laws of the prophet. Enmity between the Jews of Khaibar and the surrounding Arab tribes pre-dated Islam. Muslims (and Arabs) had never married Jewish women, nor a woman from a tribe at war with Muslims, nor the daughter of a prominent religious figure of another religion. Those were all taboos. The prophet married her to set the precedence, break those social taboos, grant security to her people and remove enmity from the hearts of the believers. May the peace and blessings from Allah be bestowed upon him, his family and companions.

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Thanks alone to Allah for concealing my shortcomings, but I am less than what you think.
My first independent pursuit of Islamic studies began in Jordan over a few summers in the mid 2000s, where I received the ijaza in Quran, six in uloom hadeeth, studied parts of sahih al bukhari, and learnt some hanafi fiqh and usool, at the hands of different Palestinian, Syrian and Jordanian scholars in Jordan, including some of sheikh alAlbani's oldest students. Then I traveled to Egypt for nearly six years, where I did my undergrad. I studied the Quran, aqeedah, Shafi'i and Hanbali fiqh extensively, as well as parts of Bukhari and Muslim, at the hands of some of Egypt's most prominent scholars. Started to build my own library. I joined American Open University for Islamic Studies but didn't finish a degree. Then I returned to Canada in 2012, and continued to study online through whatsapp, telegram, skype, hangout, etc. I studied mostly fiqh and usool, but I also studied some hadeeth, and received ijazas for over forty books of hadeeth with connected sanad to the prophet - peace be upon him, including Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmithi, Abu Dawood, Nasaa'i, Ibn Maja, Muwatta' Imam Malik, and of course, Musnad Imam Ahmed, may Allah have mercy upon them all. I also joined Islamic Online University and currently at the last semester to finish a graduate diploma in Islamic studies.
Having said the above, I can't stress enough that acquiring ijazas should never be a goal. It was never a goal for me. I have never asked for an ijaza from someone in my life. My goal was to learn the good they had. I had peers who acquired hundreds of ijazas and tazkiyas within the same time frame, and are still mixed up about so many things in religion. The manners and wisdom I have sought, sitting by the feet of scholars, surpasses all the chains, ijazas, degrees and books I have studied.
Set your ultimate goal to be earning the pleasure of Allah. Don't be attached to smaller achievements in life. Dedicating yourself to seeking Islamic knowledge is only one path, taken by very few people. Ask Allah to guide you to His pleasure. Take whichever path Allah puts you which pleases Him, and excel in that path = that, will be your profound success.

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