Was Mariya a Wife of The Messenger of Allah? 


Question: 
Why isn’t Mariya (may Allah be pleased with her) known as the 12th wife of the Prophet? If the Prophet had a son with Mariya, is she known as the Holy Prophet’s 12th wife?

Answer: 
Assalamu alaykum

Thank you for your question. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) did not marry Mariya Qibtiyya and she can therefore not be listed among his wives. She was a slave-girl gifted to the Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) [al-Hawi li al-Mawardi].

The narrations that speak of her, however, speaks of the love and concern that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) showed her. As you mentioned, she gave him a child, and accordingly she had the status of an Umm al-walad. This meant that she became a free woman after the demise of Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace).

Of interest here perhaps would be that both the mothers of the believers, Safiyyah and Juawayriya, were both slaves that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) set free and then married.

And Allah knows best.

Abdurragmaan Khan

[Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani]