Maria the Copt

Before going to this, I recommend you to read Quran Surah 66:1-5

Now let's again read the Surah 66:1. In this ayah Allah is asking why Muhammad is forbading something that is made halal for him; and why is he seeking approval from his wives to do this.

Now we will see a Sahih hadith Sunan an-Nasa'i 3959 (see the Chapter name Jealousy 😜)

Now we will see the story about the honey in Sahih al-Bukhari 6691

Now I may borrow some words by saying that there is vision for those who think.

Okay, now look at another hadith to see Muhammad is taking so long to have little honey from Zainab's house in Sahih al-Bukhari 5267

So, now you know that there are two explanation for this ayahs which looks like different incidents. And if anyone think that this incident is only about having the sweet honey, then read the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir 66:1-5

Before going to the Tafsirs, let me ask you something, is having honey a big problem to divorse all wives and bringing substitute for them? What did the wives do? Surely they might have criticised Muhammad for having this honey from Zainab's house. Read Quran Surah 66:5

Now, we will look at the Tafsirs. Read Tafsir al-Jalalayn 66:1

So this ayah was revealed to Muhammad in terms of his Coptic handmaiden Mariya. And Hafsa saw Muhammad is enjoying sexual intercourse ( or having nasty smelling gum/honey as mentioned in Sahih al-Bukhari 5267 ) with Maria the Copt in Hafsa's bed.

Maybe Hafsa was worried about her bed 😆

And Maria the Copt was gifted by an Egyptian King al-Muqawqis. History of Al-Tabari - The Last Years of the Prophet -Volume 9 page 137

It can be also found in page 147 also (History of Al-Tabari - The Last Years of the Prophet -Volume 9 page 147).

The same can be seen in Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs 66:1

Now we will look at the Tasir of Surah 66:2 by al-Jalalayn

You may noticed that Muhammad had taken oath that he will not take ~~honey~~ Maria the Copt anymore. But in this Tafsir Allah forgiven all oaths (errors) taken by Muhammad. This oath cancellation by Allah can be seen in Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs 66:2

You can also see the oath by Muhammad which prohibit him to take Maria the Copt in Tasir of Surah 66:3 by al-Jalalayn

Note that Muhammad doesn't want to reveal this sexual realation with Maria the Copt to anyone, that's why he says not to reveal this to anyone to Hafsa. But she told this to Aisha.

And we can see the hesitation of Hafsa and Aisha about taking Maria by Muhammad in Tasir of Surah 66:4 by al-Jalalayn

Now when we see the Quran Surah 66:5; we can see that Muhammad is strictly warning his wives that he will divorse them and replace them with better ones than them.

When we look into related hadiths about this ayah. You find that in Sahih al-Bukhari 402 Umar (bin Al-Khattab) is the one who said this even before Allah revealed this ayah. 😆

But in Sahih hadiths we can see that Muhammad didn't went to his wives for one month for this issue with Maria the Copt since Hafsa told this sexual realtion to Aisha. Check this long hadith on Sahih al-Bukhari 2468.