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 [[File:Maria Al Qibtiyya.png|220px|right|thumb|Islamic seal of Mariyah as a "mother of the believers"]]
-Mary the Copt (Arabic: مارية القبطية Mariyah Al-Qibtiyah‎), also known as Maria Qubtiyya, was one of the concubines/sex slaves of the prophet Muhammad. Although she is considered an "umm al-mu'minin" أم ألمؤمنين she was never actually the wife of the prophet according to the accepted historical sources by orthodox Sunni Islam.<ref>{{Cite web| title = Maria, the Copt: Prophet Muhammad's Wife or Concubine? {{!}} ICRAA.org| author = | work = ICRAA.org| date = | access-date = 18 November 2021| url = https://www.icraa.org/maria-copt-muhammad-wife-concubine/| quote = }}</ref><ref name="seek_WasM">{{Cite web| title = Was Mariya al-Qibtiyya Ever a Wife of the Prophet Muhammad? - SeekersHub Answers| author = | work = SeekersHub Answers| date = | access-date = 3 March 2016| url = https://seekersguidance.org/answers/general-counsel/was-mariya-al-qibtiyya-ever-a-wife-of-the-prophet-muhammad/| quote = }}</ref> According to the [[sira]] she was sent to Muhammad as a gift from the Christian Patriarch of Egypt. According to the [[hadith]] and the [[sirah]] her beauty and Muhammad's lust for her 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 [[Asbab al-Nuzul (Revelational Circumstances of the Quran)|cause]] of the "revelation" of several Qur'an verses according to the tradition. Although she converted to Islam and bore the prophet a son who later died, she remained a slave of the prophet until he died, according to most of the traditional scholars. The traditional sources compare her concubinage to that of Hajar to Ibrahim, and the son that Mariyah bore was named Ibrahim. According to classical Islamic sources, had her son Ibrahim lived, he too would have been a prophet.
+Mary the Copt (Arabic: مارية القبطية Mariyah Al-Qibtiyah‎), also known as Maria Qubtiyya, was one of the concubines/sex slaves of the prophet Muhammad. Although she is considered an ''umm al-mu'minin'' أم ألمؤمنين (Mother of the Believers) she was never actually the wife of the prophet according to the accepted historical sources by orthodox Sunni Islam.<ref>{{Cite web| title = Maria, the Copt: Prophet Muhammad's Wife or Concubine? {{!}} ICRAA.org| author = | work = ICRAA.org| date = | access-date = 18 November 2021| url = https://www.icraa.org/maria-copt-muhammad-wife-concubine/| quote = }}</ref><ref name="seek_WasM">{{Cite web| title = Was Mariya al-Qibtiyya Ever a Wife of the Prophet Muhammad? - SeekersHub Answers| author = | work = SeekersHub Answers| date = | access-date = 3 March 2016| url = https://seekersguidance.org/answers/general-counsel/was-mariya-al-qibtiyya-ever-a-wife-of-the-prophet-muhammad/| quote = }}</ref> The Muslim academic scholar Jonathan Brown has examined in detail the evidences cited by modern writers who believe Muhammad married Mariyah, but found in each case that the source was "both extremely rare and unreliable, or it is ambiguous".<ref>Jonathan A. C. Brown, ''Slavery & Islam'', Chapter 7: Concubines and consent, London: Oneworld Publications, 2019.<BR />
+Brown writes:
+{{Quote-text||The problem with this explanation is that it lacks any support whatsoever. It is a denial of history, not an interpretation of it. Aside from modern Muslim authors, there is simply no evidence that Mariya was not a slave woman of the Prophet who bore him a son."}}
+In Appendix 4: Was Māriya the Wife or Concubine of the Prophet?, Brown goes through the evidence cited by those who claim Muhammad married Mariyah, but finds in each case that these are ambiguous, or both extremely rare and unreliable, for example where a purported evidence relies on an anomalous manuscript that differs from other copies of the same work.</ref> According to the [[sira]] she was sent to Muhammad as a gift from the Christian Patriarch of Egypt. According to the [[hadith]] and the [[sirah]] her beauty and Muhammad's lust for her 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 [[Asbab al-Nuzul (Revelational Circumstances of the Quran)|cause]] of the "revelation" of several Qur'an verses according to the tradition. Although she converted to Islam and bore the prophet a son who later died, as an ''umm-walad'' she remained a slave of the prophet until he died, according to most of the traditional scholars. The traditional sources compare her concubinage to that of Hajar to Ibrahim, and the son that Mariyah bore was named Ibrahim. According to classical Islamic sources, had her son Ibrahim lived, he too would have been a prophet.
 ==Life Before Muhammad==
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 ==Scandal with Muhammad's Wives and Quranic Revelation==
-According to multiple tafsir and hadith traditions, the first 6 ayyaat (verses) of surat-at-tahriim (surah 66) were revealed to Muhammad in regards to a sexual scandal within his household. According to the traditional reading, the verses admonish Muhammad's wives and command him to fulfill his desires as Allah has allowed to him:
+According to multiple tafsir and hadith traditions, the first 6 ayaat (verses) of surat-at-tahriim (surah 66) were revealed to Muhammad in regards to a sexual scandal within his household. According to the traditional reading, the verses admonish Muhammad's wives and command him to fulfill his desires as Allah has allowed to him:
 {{Quote|{{Quran-range|66|1|6}}|
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 ==Scandal of Maria's Accused Fornication With Her Cousin and His Execution==
-After the death of [[Khadijah bint Khuwaylid|Khadijah]], Muhammad took about 16 (+/-) wives and concubines for himself, but none of them bore him any children.  Maria, though, bore him a baby boy shortly after she was given in concubinage to Muhammad; since none of the prophet's other partners bore him any children, a rumor spread that it was actually Maria's male cousin Mabur, who had also been given as a slave to the prophet, who had impregnated Maria. When Muhammad heard those rumors, he ordered the killing of of Mabur without any court trial, which would have been required by [[Shari'ah (Islamic Law)]] in a similar case with any other person, and since this was fornication between two unmarried slaves the penalty should have been 50 lashes, not death.
+After the death of [[Khadijah bint Khuwaylid|Khadijah]], Muhammad took about 16 (+/-) wives and concubines for himself, but few of them bore him any children and none any boys.  Maria, though, bore him a baby boy shortly after she was given in concubinage to Muhammad; since none of the prophet's other partners save Khadija bore him a boy and few a child, a rumor spread that it was actually Maria's male cousin Mabur, who had also been given as a slave to the prophet, who had impregnated Maria. When Muhammad heard those rumors, he ordered the killing of of Mabur without any court trial, which would have been required by [[Shari'ah (Islamic Law)]] in a similar case with any other person, and since this was fornication between two unmarried slaves the penalty should have been 50 lashes, not death.
 {{Quote|{{Muslim|37|6676}}|Anas reported that a person (a coptic slave whose name was "Mabur" and he was the cousin of Maria al-Qibtiyya) was charged with fornication with the slavegirl of Allah's Messenger (i.e. Maria al-Qibtiyya). Thereupon Allah's Messenger said to 'Ali: Go and strike his neck. 'Ali came to him and he found him in a well making his body cool. 'Ali said to him: Come out, and as he took hold of his hand and brought him out, he found that his sexual organ had been cut. Hadrat 'Ali refrained from striking his neck. He came to Allah's Apostle and said: Allah's Messenger, he has not even the sexual organ with him}}{{Quote|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20211010105134/https://islamweb.net/ar/library/index.php?page=bookcontents&flag=1&bk_no=74&ID=6740 Al-Mustadrak 'ala al-Sahihayn (Arabic: المستدرك على الصحيحين) by Imam Hakim]|2=«عن عايشة قالت : اهديت مارية إلى رسول اللّه ومعها ابن عم لها . قالت : فوقع عليها وقعة فاستمرت حاملا . قالت : فعز لها عند ابن عمها . قالت : فقال اهل الافك والزور : «من حاجته إلى الولد ادعى ولد غيره» وكانت امّه قليلة اللبن فابتاعت له ضائنة لبون فكان يغذى بلبنها فحسن عليه لحمه . قالت عايشة : فدخل به علىّ النبى صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم ذات يوم فقال : «كيف ترين»؟ فقلت : من غذى بلحم الضأن يحسن لحمه . قال : «ولا الشبه» قالت : فحملنى ما يحمل النساء من الغيرة أن قلت : ما أرى شبها . قالت : وبلغ رسول اللّه ما يقول الناس فقال لعلى ... ». </br> Aisha said: " Maria" was presented to the prophet of Islam (as a slave woman) and her cousin (a coptic male slave) was with her. After a while  Maria became pregnant. Upon that, the people started slandering that since he [the prophet of Islam] needed child, he related the son of that slave-man to himself. Since Maria, as a mother didn’t have enough breast milk, they fed him by sheep 's milk that’s why he (the son Ibrahim) was fat. 'Aisha said: Once the prophet brought him to me and asked what I thought about him, I replied, "everyone fed by sheep 's milk will get fat." The holy prophet said doesn’t he look like me? '''Aisha said, "I jealously said "No" ." and then the prophet  heard of  the untrue accusations of people to toward Maria. Upon that the prophet sent Ali to kill her cousin  ...'''}}
 Yet Muhammad persisted in his jealousy, and the angel Jibreel had to come down and confirm him that Ibrahim was indeed his child:
 {{Quote|[http://al-hakawati.net/Books/BookDetails/7518/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%B2%D8%A1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B3--%D9%85%D8%A7-%D8%A3%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B5%D9%8A%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D9%88%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%87-%D8%B5%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%87-%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%85 Al-Badaya wa Al-Nahaya by Ibn Kathir]|عن أنس قال‏:‏ لما ولدت مارية إبراهيم كاد أن يقع في النَّبيّ صلَّى الله عليه وسلَّم منه شيء حتَّى نزل جبريل عليه السلام فقال‏:‏ ‏(‏‏(‏السلام عليك يا أبا إبراهيم‏)‏‏)‏‏. </br>Anas said, when Ibrahim was born to Maria, then Muhammad became doubtful if Ibrahim was really his son or not. Upon that angel Jibrael came to him and said: Peace be upon you, O the Father of Ibrahim (i.e. confirmed to him that Ibrahim was indeed his son).}}
-In addition to extra-juridically killing Mabur in contravention of [[Shari'ah (Islamic Law)]], the slander against Maria would be considered قذف or slander in an Islamic shari'ah court and theoretically should have been punished with lashing, as was done in the [[Incident of Ifk.|Incident of Ifk]] with A'ishah. The case thus presents interesting examples of the prophet contravening what would later be codified as Islamic law.
+In the end, since Mabur was a eunuch, he was not killed. Yet the ordering the extra-juridical killing of Mabur was in contravention of [[Shari'ah (Islamic Law)]]. In addition, the slander against Maria would be considered qadhf قذف or slander in an Islamic shari'ah court and theoretically should have been punished with lashing, as was done in the incident of Ifk with A'ishah. The case thus presents interesting examples of the prophet contravening what would later be codified as Islamic law.
 ==Son She Birthed to the Prophet==
-According to the sirah and hadith, Mariyah is an umm-walad أم ولد of the prophet, that is to say she bore him a male child. The son she bore him was named Ibrahim, after the prophet. The child died very young, within a year and a half of his birth, and the prophet is said to have shed tears over his death. According to the traditional sources he died during an eclipse, which combined with the fact that he died only 5 months before his father would put his death on the 10th of Shawwal 10 AH or the 27th of January 623 CE <ref name="Powers2011_2">{{cite book | author = David Powers | date = 15 March 2011 | title = Muhammad Is Not the Father of Any of Your Men: The Making of the Last Prophet | publisher = University of Pennsylvania Press | pages = 56| isbn = 978-0-8122-2149-7 | oclc = 1037937026 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OUxWN1VBnBEC}}</ref>. Multiple ahadith tell that he would have been a prophet had he grown to adulthood. The hadith also speak of his death being necessary due to Muhammad being خاتم النبيين"khaatam al-nabiyyin'" or the "seal of the prophets<ref name="Powers2011_3">ibid, 57</ref>." This is also in line with the famous Quranic verse surat-al-ahzab (surah 33) verse 40:
+According to the sirah and hadith, Mariyah was an ''umm-walad'' أم ولد of the prophet, a status given to a slave-woman who bore her master a child. The son she bore him was named Ibrahim, after the prophet. The child died very young, within a year and a half of his birth, and Muhammad is said to have shed tears over his death. According to the traditional sources he died during an eclipse, which combined with the fact that he died only 5 months before his father would put his death on the 10th of Shawwal 10 AH or the 27th of January 623 CE <ref name="Powers2011_2">{{cite book | author = David Powers | date = 15 March 2011 | title = Muhammad Is Not the Father of Any of Your Men: The Making of the Last Prophet | publisher = University of Pennsylvania Press | pages = 56| isbn = 978-0-8122-2149-7 | oclc = 1037937026 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OUxWN1VBnBEC}}</ref>. Multiple ahadith tell that he would have been a prophet had he grown to adulthood. The hadith also speak of his death being necessary due to Muhammad being خاتم النبيين"khaatam al-nabiyyin'" or the "seal of the prophets<ref name="Powers2011_3">ibid, 57</ref>." This is also in line with the famous Quranic verse surat-al-ahzab (surah 33) verse 40:
 {{Quote|{{Quran|33|40}}|
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 ==References==
 <references />
+[[ar:مارية_القبطية]]