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Was Mariya al-Qibtiyya Ever a Wife of the Prophet Muhammad?


Answered by Ustadh Abdullah Anik Misra

Question: Was Mariya al-Qibtiyya one of the Prophet’s wives?

Answer: In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate,

As salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

Thank you for your question.

Mariya al-Qibtiyya was not one of the wives of the beloved Prophet [may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him].  She was a bondswoman who was gifted to him by Muqauqis the Copt, ruler of Egypt at the time.  She bore him a son, Ibrahim [may Allah be pleased with them] who passed away in childhood, and was  later a free woman.

She enjoyed a special status however, in that she followed the same laws of modesty and hijab as the Mothers of the Believers [wives] did, she later observed the same etiquette and lifestyle as a widow, and was treated in a similarly generous way by the caliphs Abu Bakr and Omar [Allah be pleased with them].  [al-Solihi, Subul al-Huda wa al-Rashad; al-Tabari, al-Samt al-Thameen; Ibn Hajr, al-Isaba]

Wasalam,

Abdullah Anik Misra

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani