Maria the Copt (Mariyah Al-Qibtiyyah)
Mariya Al-Qibtiya was one of the concubines/sex slaves of the prophet Muhammad. According to the sira she was sent to Muhammad as a gift from the Christians of Egypt. According to the hadith and the sirah her beauty incited the jealousy of Muhammad's wives, in particular Hafsa and Aisha. The jealousy they had of her and Muhammad's response was actually the cause of the "revelation" of some Qur'an verses according to the tradition. Although she bore the prophet a son who later died, the prophet never married her. The traditional sources compare her concubinage to that of Hajar to Ibrahim, based upon the fact that, according to the tradition, the closest person to Muhammad was the prophet Ibrahim. According to classical Islamic sources, had her son Ibrahim lived, he too would have been a prophet.
Life Before Muhammad
Not much is known of Mariyah's life before she was gifted to the prophet as a sex slave. According to the traditional sources, she was the son of a certain Scham'un from the town of Hafn in the region of Ansina. According to the traditional sources, she was gifted to Muhammad with her sister; but since the shari'ah prohibits a man having sexual relations with a woman and her sister, Muhammad was forced to choose between the two, and choose Mariya for her exceeding beauty.
Gifting to Muhammad and Conversion to Islam
According to the traditional sources, after the treaty of Hudaybiya, the prophet Muhammad sent letters to the heads of various Middle Eastern powers inviting them to convert to Islam. One of these letters went to a certain Al-Muqauqis, who is not immediately identifiable with any historical person but is identified by later sources as the Patriarch Cyril of Egypt. He did not, apparently, accept the call to Islam but in response sent Mariyah and his sister as sex slaves to Muhammad. That a Christian patriarch in Egypt would send Christian girls as sex slaves to this strange, obscure, and previously unknown heretic in Arabia was a question that apparently never arose on any side. On the way to Medina, she converted to Islam. When she and her sister arrived in Medina, since Muhammad could not have concurrent sexual relations with both sisters as per Islamic law, Muhammad chose Mariyah for her exceeding beauty. The prophet did not wed her, but rather kept her as his jarriyah or sirriyah, that is his sex slave. The prophet was very stricken with her gave her a house in the upper portion of Medina, which purportedly still exists to this day.
Scandal with Muhammads Wives
According to several hadith, Muhammad was caught in flagrante delicto having sexual relations with Maria on the allotted day of Hafsa. She was highly aggrieved by this and told Aisha who also rebuked the prophet for his beastly sexual appetite and cruelty to Hafsa.
It was narrated from Anas, that the Messenger of Allah had a female slave with whom he had intercourse, but 'Aishah and Hafsah would not leave him alone until he said that she was forbidden for him. Then Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, revealed:
"O Prophet! Why do you forbid (for yourself) that which Allah has allowed to you.' until the end of the Verse.The slave in this case is usually said to be Mariyah. In response, according to the tradition, Allah sent down surat-at-tahreem, the surah of making things off limits:
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّبِىُّ لِمَ تُحَرِّمُ مَآ أَحَلَّ ٱللَّهُ لَكَ ۖ تَبْتَغِى مَرْضَاتَ أَزْوَٰجِكَ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ قَدْ فَرَضَ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ تَحِلَّةَ أَيْمَٰنِكُمْ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ مَوْلَىٰكُمْ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَلِيمُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ وَإِذْ أَسَرَّ ٱلنَّبِىُّ إِلَىٰ بَعْضِ أَزْوَٰجِهِۦ حَدِيثًا فَلَمَّا نَبَّأَتْ بِهِۦ وَأَظْهَرَهُ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ عَرَّفَ بَعْضَهُۥ وَأَعْرَضَ عَنۢ بَعْضٍ ۖ فَلَمَّا نَبَّأَهَا بِهِۦ قَالَتْ مَنْ أَنۢبَأَكَ هَٰذَا ۖ قَالَ نَبَّأَنِىَ ٱلْعَلِيمُ ٱلْخَبِيرُ
O Prophet, why do you prohibit [yourself from] what Allah has made lawful for you, seeking the approval of your wives? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. Allah has already ordained for you [Muslims] the dissolution of your oaths. And Allah is your protector, and He is the Knowing, the Wise. And [remember] when the Prophet confided to one of his wives a statement; and when she informed [another] of it and Allah showed it to him, he made known part of it and ignored a part. And when he informed her about it, she said, "Who told you this?" He said, "I was informed by the Knowing, the Acquainted."According to ibn Kathir, this verse was revealed to Muhammad by Allah because, in response to Hafsa and Aisha's complaints about Muhammad sleeping with Mariya, Muhammad cut himself off sexually from all of his wives:
وَقَالَ ابْنُ جَرِيرٍ...: أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ أَصَابَ أُمَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ فِي بَيْتِ بَعْضِ نِسَائِهِ، فَقَالَتْ: أَيْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، فِي بَيْتِي وَعَلَى فِرَاشِي؟! فَجَعَلَهَا عَلَيْهِ حَرَامًا فَقَالَتْ: أيْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، كَيْفَ يَحْرُم عَلَيْكَ الْحَلَالُ؟ فَحَلَفَ لَهَا بِاللَّهِ لَا يُصِيبُهَا. فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ لِمَ تُحَرِّمُ مَا أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ لَكَ﴾ ؟
The messenger of Allah, peace and prayer of Allah be upon him, was having sexual relations with a female slave which he had, but Aisha and Hafsa would not cease to bother him about it until he forbid himself to continue it, until Allah praised and glorious brought down a verse saying "O prophet, why do you forbid to yourself what Allah has allowed" until the end of the verse. Ibn Jarir said...The messenger of Allah, peace and prayer of Allah be upon him had sex with Um Ibrahim (Mariyah Al-Qibtiya) in the house of some of his women. Then she (Hafsah?) said "Hey messenger of Allah! In my house and upon my bed?!" Then the prophet made it forbidden (for him to have sex with her). Then she said "Hey messenger of Allah, how will you forbid what is allowed to you?" Then he swore not to have sex with her. Then Allah revealed "Oh prophet why do you forbid what Allah has made allowable to you?"As the Encyclopedia of Islam states, other narratives exist around these verses, but considering how bad they look for Muhammad it is unlikely that they were the most primordial narrative; rather, this narrative would appear to be the oldest, and the others were later fabrications meant to save the reputation of the prophet.