Maria al-Qibtiyya (alternatively, "
Maria Qupthiya"), or
Maria the Copt, (died 637) was an
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
ian
Coptic Christianstyle="float: right; clear: right; background-color: transparent"|- {http://www.copticindex.com}||-The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria style="float: right; clear: right; background-color: transparent"|- {http://www.copticindex.com}||-The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria style="float:...
slave who was sent as a gift from
MuqawqisAl-Muqawqis is mentioned in Islamic history as a ruler of Egypt, who corresponded with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is often identified with Cyrus, Patriarch of Alexandria, who administered Egypt on behalf of the Byzantine Empire. However, this identification is challenged as being based on...
, a
ByzantineThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
official, to the
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
ic prophet
MuhammadMuhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh , is the founder of the religion of Islam [ إِسْلامْ ] and is regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets as taught by the...
in 628. According to some Islamic accounts, she was
MuhammadMuhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh , is the founder of the religion of Islam [ إِسْلامْ ] and is regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets as taught by the...
's wife, and therefore a "Mother of the Believers" (Arabic:
Ummahat-al-Mu'mineenMu'min is an Arabic Islamic term frequently referenced in the Qur'an, meaning "believer", and denoting a Muslim that has complete submission to the will of Allah, and has faith firmly established in his heart.In the Qur'an it is stated:...
), other sources like Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya talk about her being only a concubine. She was the mother of Muhammad's son
IbrahimIbrahim ibn Muhammad was the male child of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and Maria al-Qibtiyya. He was born in the last month of the year 8 AH. The child was named after Abraham, the common ancestor of both Muslims and Jews...
, who died in infancy. Her sister,
SirinSirin was an Egyptian Coptic Christian who became one of Muhammad's slaves. She and her sister Maria al-Qibtiyya were sent to Muhammad as gifts from the Byzantine official Muqawqis in 628. Muhammad married Maria and Sirin was married to his follower, the poet Hassan ibn Thabit. Hassan and Sirin had...
, was also sent to Muhammad; Muhammad gave her to his follower
Hassan ibn ThabitHassan ibn Thabit was an Arabian poet and one of the Sahaba, or companions of Muhammad. He was born in Yathrib , and was member of the Banu Khazraj tribe....
. Maria never remarried after Muhammad's death in 632, and died five years later. Her birthdate is unknown. No primary source mentions her age.
Year of the deputations
In the Islamic year 6 AH (627 – 628 CE), Muhammad is said to have written letters to the great rulers of the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, proclaiming the new faith and inviting the rulers to join. What purport to be texts of some of the letters are found in
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-TabariAbu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari was one of the earliest, most prominent and famous Persian historian and exegete of the Qur'an,who wrote exclusively in Arabic , most famous for his Tarikh al-Tabari and Tafsir al-Tabari.-Name:His name means "Muhammad of Tabari, father [abu] of Jafar, son...
's
History of the Prophets and Kings, which was written some 250 years after the events it chronicled. Tabari writes that a deputation was sent to an Egyptian governor named as
al-Muqawqis. A note in the
State University of New YorkThe State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the world, with a total enrollment of 438,361 students, plus 1.1 million...
edition of Tabari states that this seems to be a version of
Cyrus of the CaucasusCyrus of Alexandria was a Melchite patriarch of the Egyptian see of Alexandria in the seventh century, one of the authors of Monothelism and last Byzantine prefect of Egypt; died about 641.-Biography:...
, who was the
ByzantineThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
Patriarch of
AlexandriaAlexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports...
. The note adds that Cyrus did not become Patriarch until 631, and that an account placing him in
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
three or four years earlier is therefore questionable.
Tabari does, however, recount the story of Maria's arrival from Egypt:
Maria in Muhammad's household
Muhammad lived in a mud-brick dwelling next to the
MedinaMedina is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province...
mosqueA mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. Muslims often refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, masjid, —...
, and each of his wives had her own mud-brick room, built in a line next to his. Maria, however, was lodged in a house on the edge of Medina. Maria is also not listed as a wife in some of the earliest sources, such as
Ibn HishamAbu Muhammad 'Abd al-Malik bin Hisham , or Ibn Hisham edited the biography of Muhammad written by Ibn Ishaq. Ibn Ishaq's work is lost and is now only known in the recensions of Ibn Hisham and al-Tabari. Ibn Hisham grew up in Basra, Iraq, but moved afterwards to Egypt, where he gained a name...
's notes on
Ibn IshaqMuḥammad ibn Isḥaq ibn Yasār was an Arab Muslim historian and hagiographer. He collected oral traditions that formed the basis of the first biography of the Islamic prophet Muhammad...
's
SiraSīrah Rasūl Allāh or Sīrat Nabawiyya is the Arabic term used for the various traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad, from which most historical information about his life and the early period of Islam is derived...
. Muslim sources are unanimous in saying that she was accorded the same honor and respect given Muhammad's wives, pointing out that she was given the same title as Muhammad's wives – "Mother of the Believers."
Historians John Gilchrist and Maxime Rodinson feel that the "story of the honey" is an expurgated version of the story of Maria.