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Maria the Copt (Mariyah Al-Qibtiyyah): Difference between revisions
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Maria the Copt (Mariyah Al-Qibtiyyah) (view source)
Revision as of 01:03, 22 November 2021
, 22 November 2021→Scandal with Muhammad's Wives and Quranic Revelation
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==Scandal with Muhammad's Wives and Quranic Revelation== | ==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: | |||
The entire scandal of Muhammad sleeping with Aisha is explained in the tafsir of al-Jalalayn on surah 66 (at-tahrim) verse 1-3: | The entire scandal of Muhammad sleeping with Aisha is explained in the tafsir of al-Jalalayn on surah 66 (at-tahrim) verse 1-3: | ||
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O Prophet! Why do you prohibit what God has made lawful for you, in terms of your Coptic handmaiden Māriya — when he lay with her in the house of Hafsa, who had been away, but who upon returning [and finding out] became upset by the fact that this had taken place in her own house and on her own bed — by saying, ‘She is unlawful for me!’, seeking, by making her unlawful [for you], to please your wives? And God is Forgiving, Merciful, having forgiven you this prohibition. | "O Prophet! Why do you prohibit what God has made lawful for you, in terms of your Coptic handmaiden Māriya"— when he lay with her in the house of Hafsa, who had been away, but who upon returning [and finding out] became upset by the fact that this had taken place in her own house and on her own bed — by saying, ‘She is unlawful for me!’, seeking, by making her unlawful [for you], to please your wives? And God is Forgiving, Merciful, having forgiven you this prohibition. | ||
Allah has already ordained for you [Muslims] the dissolution of your oaths. And Allah is your protector, and He is the Knowing, the Wise. | "Allah has already ordained for you [Muslims] the dissolution of your oaths. And Allah is your protector, and He is the Knowing, the Wise." | ||
Verily God has prescribed, He has made lawful, for you [when necessary] the absolution of your oaths, to absolve them by expiation, as mentioned in the sūrat al-Mā’ida [Q. 5:89] and the forbidding of [sexual relations with] a handmaiden counts as an oath, so did the Prophet (s) expiate? Muqātil [b. Sulaymān] said, ‘He set free a slave [in expiation] for his prohibition of Māriya’; whereas al-Hasan [al-Basrī] said, ‘He never expiated, because the Prophet (s) has been forgiven [all errors]’. And God is your Protector, your Helper, and He is the Knower, the Wise. | Verily God has prescribed, He has made lawful, for you [when necessary] the absolution of your oaths, to absolve them by expiation, as mentioned in the sūrat al-Mā’ida [Q. 5:89] and the forbidding of [sexual relations with] a handmaiden counts as an oath, so did the Prophet (s) expiate? Muqātil [b. Sulaymān] said, ‘He set free a slave [in expiation] for his prohibition of Māriya’; whereas al-Hasan [al-Basrī] said, ‘He never expiated, because the Prophet (s) has been forgiven [all errors]’. And God is your Protector, your Helper, and He is the Knower, 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, | "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.'" | ||
And, mention, when the Prophet confided to one of his wives, namely, Hafsa, a certain matter, which was his prohibition of Māriya, telling her: ‘Do not reveal it!’; but when she divulged it, to ‘Ā’isha, reckoning there to be no blame in [doing] such a thing, and God apprised him, He informed him, of it, of what had been divulged, he announced part of it, to Hafsa, and passed over part, out of graciousness on his part. So when he told her about it, she said, ‘Who told you this?’ He said, ‘I was told by the Knower, the Aware’, namely, God. And, mention, when the Prophet confided to one of his wives, namely, Hafsa, a certain matter, which was his prohibition of Māriya, telling her: ‘Do not reveal it!’; but when she divulged it, to ‘Ā’isha, reckoning there to be no blame in [doing] such a thing, and God apprised him, He informed him, of it, of what had been divulged, he announced part of it, to Hafsa, and passed over part, out of graciousness on his part. So when he told her about it, she said, ‘Who told you this?’ He said, ‘I was told by the Knower, the Aware’, namely, God.}} | And, mention, when the Prophet confided to one of his wives, namely, Hafsa, a certain matter, which was his prohibition of Māriya, telling her: ‘Do not reveal it!’; but when she divulged it, to ‘Ā’isha, reckoning there to be no blame in [doing] such a thing, and God apprised him, He informed him, of it, of what had been divulged, he announced part of it, to Hafsa, and passed over part, out of graciousness on his part. So when he told her about it, she said, ‘Who told you this?’ He said, ‘I was told by the Knower, the Aware’, namely, God. And, mention, when the Prophet confided to one of his wives, namely, Hafsa, a certain matter, which was his prohibition of Māriya, telling her: ‘Do not reveal it!’; but when she divulged it, to ‘Ā’isha, reckoning there to be no blame in [doing] such a thing, and God apprised him, He informed him, of it, of what had been divulged, he announced part of it, to Hafsa, and passed over part, out of graciousness on his part. So when he told her about it, she said, ‘Who told you this?’ He said, ‘I was told by the Knower, the Aware’, namely, God.}} | ||
As the above tafsir lays out, according to the story preserved over many hadith and tafsir traditions Muhammad was caught in flagrante delicto having sexual relations with Maria in the house of Hafsa. | As the above tafsir lays out, according to the story preserved over many hadith and tafsir traditions Muhammad was caught in flagrante delicto having sexual relations with Maria in the house of Hafsa. Muhammad told Hafsah he would not do this again and begged her not to tell Aishah, but she disobeyed his wish and told her anyway. God sent down Qur'an 66:1 in order to chastise Muhammad for forbidding himself Mariyah. Not satisfied with having allowed Muhammad to have sex with their servant in Hafsah's house, Allah further chastised his wives and threatend them with hell fire for disobeying them. | ||
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on Qur'an 66:4-5|﴿إنْ تَتُوبا﴾ أيْ حَفْصَة وعائِشَة ﴿إلى اللَّه فَقَدْ صَغَتْ قُلُوبكُما﴾ مالَتْ إلى تَحْرِيم مارِيَة أيْ سَرَّكُما ذَلِكَ مَعَ كَراهَة النَّبِيّ ﷺ لَهُ وذَلِكَ ذَنْب وجَواب الشَّرْط مَحْذُوف أيْ تَقَبُّلًا وأَطْلَقَ قُلُوب عَلى قَلْبَيْنِ ولَمْ يُعَبِّر بِهِ لِاسْتِثْقالِ الجَمْع بَيْن تَثْنِيَتَيْنِ فِيما هُوَ كالكَلِمَةِ الواحِدَة ﴿وإنْ تَظاهَرا﴾ بِإدْغامِ التّاء الثّانِيَة فِي الأَصْل فِي الظّاء وفِي قِراءَة بِدُونِها تَتَعاوَنا ﴿عَلَيْهِ﴾ أيْ النَّبِيّ فِيما يَكْرَههُ ﴿فَإنَّ اللَّه هُوَ﴾ فَصْل ﴿مَوْلاهُ﴾ ناصِره ﴿وجِبْرِيل وصالِح المُؤْمِنِينَ﴾ أبُو بَكْر وعُمَر رَضِيَ اللَّه عَنْهُما مَعْطُوف عَلى مَحَلّ اسْم إنْ فَيَكُونُونَ ناصِرِيهِ ﴿والمَلائِكَة بَعْد ذَلِكَ﴾ بَعْد نَصْر اللَّه والمَذْكُورِينَ ﴿ظَهِير﴾ ظُهَراء أعْوان لَهُ فِي نَصْره عَلَيْكُما | |||
﴿عَسَىٰ رَبُّهُۥۤ إِن طَلَّقَكُنَّ أَن یُبۡدِلَهُۥۤ أَزۡوَ ٰجًا خَیۡرࣰا مِّنكُنَّ مُسۡلِمَـٰتࣲ مُّؤۡمِنَـٰتࣲ قَـٰنِتَـٰتࣲ تَـٰۤىِٕبَـٰتٍ عَـٰبِدَ ٰتࣲ سَـٰۤىِٕحَـٰتࣲ ثَیِّبَـٰتࣲ وَأَبۡكَارࣰا﴾ [التحريم ٥] | |||
﴿عَسى رَبّه إنْ طَلَّقَكُنَّ﴾ أيْ طَلَّقَ النَّبِيّ أزْواجه ﴿أنْ يُبَدِّلهُ﴾ بِالتَّشْدِيدِ والتَّخْفِيف ﴿أزْواجًا خَيْرًا مِنكُنَّ﴾ خَبَر عَسى والجُمْلَة جَواب الشَّرْط ولَمْ يَقَع التَّبْدِيل لِعَدَمِ وُقُوع الشَّرْط ﴿مُسْلِمات﴾ مُقِرّات بِالإسْلامِ ﴿مُؤْمِنات﴾ مُخْلِصات ﴿قانِتات﴾ مُطِيعات ﴿تائِبات عابِدات سائِحات﴾ صائِمات أوْ مُهاجِرات | |||
"If you two [wives] repent to Allah, [it is best], for your hearts have deviated. But if you cooperate against him - then indeed Allah is his protector, and Gabriel and the righteous of the believers and the angels, moreover, are [his] assistants." | |||
If the two of you, namely, Hafsa and ‘Ā’isha, repent to God … for your hearts were certainly inclined, towards the prohibition of Māriya, that is to say, your keeping this secret despite [knowing] the Prophet’s (s) dislike of it, which is itself a sin (the response to the conditional [‘if the two of you repent to God’] has been omitted, to be understood as, ‘it will be accepted of both of you’; the use of [the plural] qulūb, ‘hearts’, instead of [the dual] qalbayn, ‘both [your] hearts’, is on account of the cumbersomeness of putting two duals together in what is effectively the same word); and if you support one another (tazzāharā: the original second tā’ [of tatazāharā] has been assimilated with the zā’; a variant reading has it without [this assimilation, tazāharā]) against him, that is, the Prophet, in what he is averse to, then [know that] God, He (huwa, [a pronoun] for separation) is indeed his Protector, His supporter, and Gabriel, and the righteous among the believers, Abū Bakr and ‘Umar, may God be pleased with both of them (wa-Jibrīlu wa-sālihu’l-mu’minīna is a supplement to the [syntactical] locus of the subject of inna [sc. ‘God’]), who will [also] be his supporters, and the angels furthermore, further to the support of God and those mentioned, are his supporters, assistants of his, in supporting him [to prevail] over both of you. | |||
"Perhaps his Lord, if he divorced you [all], would substitute for him wives better than you - submitting [to Allah], believing, devoutly obedient, repentant, worshipping, and traveling - [ones] previously married and virgins." | |||
It may be that, if he divorces you, that is, [if] the Prophet divorces his wives, his Lord will give him in [your] stead (read yubaddilahu or yubdilahu) wives better than you (azwājan khayran minkunna is the predicate of ‘asā, ‘it may be’, the sentence being the response to the conditional) — the replacement [of his wives by God] never took place because the condition [of his divorcing them] never arose — women submissive [to God], affirming Islam, believing, faithful, obedient, penitent, devout, given to fasting — or given to emigrating [in God’s way] — previously married and virgins.}} | |||
Ibn Kathir also recounts how Qur'an 66:1-6 were revealed to Muhammad by Allah because, in response to Hafsa and Aisha's complaints about Muhammad sleeping with Mariyah, Muhammad cut himself off sexually from Mariyah: | |||
{{Quote|Tafsir of ibn Kathir on Qur'an 66:1-3| أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ كَانَتْ لَهُ أَمَةٌ يَطَؤُهَا، فَلَمْ تَزَلْ بِهِ عَائِشَةُ وَحَفْصَةُ حَتَّى حَرَّمها، فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ، عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ لِمَ تُحَرِّمُ مَا أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ لَكَ﴾ ؟ إِلَى آخِرِ الْآيَةِ(١) . | {{Quote|Tafsir of ibn Kathir on Qur'an 66:1-3| أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ كَانَتْ لَهُ أَمَةٌ يَطَؤُهَا، فَلَمْ تَزَلْ بِهِ عَائِشَةُ وَحَفْصَةُ حَتَّى حَرَّمها، فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ، عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ لِمَ تُحَرِّمُ مَا أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ لَكَ﴾ ؟ إِلَى آخِرِ الْآيَةِ(١) . | ||
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﴾ ؟ | 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﴾ ؟ | ||
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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, the above narrative would appear to be the oldest, and the others were later fabrications meant to protect the reputation of the prophet. | 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, the above narrative would appear to be the oldest, and the others were later fabrications meant to protect the reputation of the prophet. | ||