This article is in response to Ali Sina's article "Mariyah the Sex Slave of the holy Prophet" which can be accessed here.
Ali Sina said:
The following is Muhammad's scandalous love affair with Mariyah the Copt who was one of the prophet's wives' maids.
Muhammad slept with her without any ceremony, which caused uproar among his wives and finally was settled by Divine
intervention. This story is recorded in an authenticated Hadith and is reported by Omar.
Our Response:
Ali Sina begins his article by saying that Mariyah the Copt was just a servant of the Prophet. It is true that a lot of Muslims
believe this. However, there are others that believe she was the Prophet's (peace be upon him) own Wife.
Taken from
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119
503543986
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) contracted some of his marriages for sociopolitical reasons. His principal
concern was the future of Islam. He was interested in strengthening the Muslims by all bonds. That is why he married the
young daughter of Abu Bakr, his First Successor, and the daughter of `Umar, his Second Successor. It was by his marriage to
Juwayriyyah that he gained the support for Islam of the whole clan of Bani Al-Mustaliq and their allied tribes. It was through
marriage to Safiyyah that he neutralized a great section of the hostile Jews of Arabia. By accepting Mariyah, the Copt from
Egypt, as his wife, he formed a political alliance with a king of great magnitude. It was also a gesture of friendship with
a neighboring king that Muhammad married Zaynab who was presented to him by the Negus of Abyssinia in whose territory
the early Muslims found safe refuge.
Taken from http://www.islamic-paths.org/Home/English/Muhammad/Book/Wives/Chapter_12.htm#maria
Ibn Kathir is quoted to have said:
Maria al-Qibtiyya (may Allah be pleased with her) is said to have married the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him) and certainly everyone gave her the same title of respect as the Prophet's wives, 'Umm al Muminin' 'Mother of the
Believers'.
The muqawqis, or King of the Copts, gave the Prophet (S) two wives as a gift. The Prophet (S) married one, who became the
mother of the Prophet's son Ibrahim, and he gave the other one to Hassan as a wife. (Haythami said in Majma al-zawaid,
"Tabarani in al-Aswat and al-Bazzar related it, and the narrators in al-Bazzar's chain are all scholar's of sound
hadith as stated by Hisham Kabbani in Encyclopedia of Islamic Doctrine: Remembrance of Allah and Praising the
Prophet, p. 76 Vol. II)
For more evidence that Mariya was indeed the Prophet's wife, visit this site
http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_201_250/honor_of_the_noble_prophet.htm
Ali Sina said:
This Hadith is describing the reason for the revelation of verse 66: 4 of Quran. The verse says:
"If ye two turn in repentance to Him, your hearts are indeed so inclined; But if ye back up each other against him, truly Allah is
his Protector, and Gabriel, and (every) righteous one among those who believe,- and furthermore, the angels - will back (him)
up."
Omar explains that these two women were Hafsa and Ayesha who became disrespectful of the prophet causing him grief until
he thought of divorcing all of his wives. Here is the full story.
Bukhari Volume 3, Book 43, Number 648:
Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas:
I had been eager to ask 'Umar about the two ladies from among the wives of the Prophet regarding whom Allah said (in the
Qur'an saying): If you two (wives of the Prophet namely Aisha and Hafsa) turn in repentance to Allah your hearts are indeed
so inclined (to oppose what the Prophet likes) (66.4), till performed the Hajj along with 'Umar (and on our way back from Hajj)
he went aside (to answer the call of nature) and I also went aside along with him carrying a tumbler of water. When he had
answered the call of nature and returned. I poured water on his hands from the tumbler and he performed ablution. I said, "O
Chief of the believers! ' Who were the two ladies from among the wives of the Prophet to whom Allah said:
'If you two return in repentance (66.4)? He said, "I am astonished at your question, O Ibn 'Abbas. They were Aisha and Hafsa."
Then 'Umar went on relating the narration and said. "I and an Ansari neighbor of mine from Bani Umaiya bin Zaid who used to
live in 'Awali Al-Medina, used to visit the Prophet in turns. He used to go one day, and I another day. When I went I would bring
him the news of what had happened that day regarding the instructions and orders and when he went, he used to do the
same for me. We, the people of Quraish, used to have authority over women, but when we came to live with the Ansar, we
noticed that the Ansari women had the upper hand over their men, so our women started acquiring the habits of the Ansari
women. Once I shouted at my wife and she paid me back in my coin and I disliked that she should answer me back. She said,
'Why do you take it ill that I retort upon you? By Allah, the wives of the Prophet retort upon him, and some of them may not
speak with him for the whole day till night.' What she said scared me and I said to her, 'Whoever amongst them does so, will be
a great loser.' Then I dressed myself and went to Hafsa and asked her, 'Does any of you keep Allah's Apostle angry all the
day long till night?' She replied in the affirmative. I said, 'She is a ruined losing person (and will never have success)! Doesn't
she fear that Allah may get angry for the anger of Allah's Apostle and thus she will be ruined? Don't ask Allah's Apostle too
many things, and don't retort upon him in any case, and don't desert him. Demand from me whatever you like, and don't be
tempted to imitate your neighbor (i.e. 'Aisha) in her behavior towards the Prophet), for she (i.e. Aisha) is more beautiful than
you, and more beloved to Allah's Apostle.
In those days it was rumored that Ghassan, (a tribe living in Sham) was getting prepared their horses to invade us. My
companion went (to the Prophet on the day of his turn, went and returned to us at night and knocked at my door violently,
asking whether I was sleeping. I was scared (by the hard knocking) and came out to him. He said that a great thing had
happened. I asked him: What is it? Have Ghassan come? He replied that it was worse and more serious than that, and added
that Allah's Apostle had divorced all his wives. I said, Hafsa is a ruined loser! I expected that would happen some day.' So I
dressed myself and offered the Fajr prayer with the Prophet. Then the Prophet entered an upper room and stayed there
alone. I went to Hafsa and found her weeping. I asked her, 'Why are you weeping? Didn't I warn you? Have Allah's Apostle
divorced you all?' She replied, 'I don't know. He is there in the upper room.' I then went out and came to the pulpit and found a
group of people around it and some of them were weeping. Then I sat with them for some time, but could not endure the
situation. So I went to the upper room where the Prophet was and requested to a black slave of his: "Will you get the
permission of (Allah's Apostle) for Umar (to enter)? The slave went in, talked to the Prophet about it and came out saying, 'I
mentioned you to him but he did not reply.' So, I went and sat with the people who were sitting by the pulpit, but I could not
bear the situation, so I went to the slave again and said: "Will you get he permission for Umar? He went in and brought the
same reply as before. When I was leaving, behold, the slave called me saying, "Allah's Apostle has granted you permission."
So, I entered upon the Prophet and saw him lying on a mat without wedding on it, and the mat had left its mark on the body of
the Prophet, and he was leaning on a leather pillow stuffed with palm fires. I greeted him and while still standing, I said: "Have
you divorced your wives?' He raised his eyes to me and replied in the negative. And then while still standing, I said chatting:
"Will you heed what I say, 'O Allah's Apostle! We, the people of Quraish used to have the upper hand over our women (wives),
and when we came to the people whose women had the upper hand over them..."
'Umar told the whole story (about his wife). "On that the Prophet smiled." 'Umar further said, "I then said, 'I went to Hafsa and
said to her: Do not be tempted to imitate your companion ('Aisha) for she is more beautiful than you and more beloved to the
Prophet.' The Prophet smiled again. When I saw him smiling, I sat down and cast a glance at the room, and by Allah, I couldn't
see anything of importance but three hides. I said (to Allah's Apostle) "Invoke Allah to make your followers prosperous for the
Persians and the Byzantines have been made prosperous and given worldly luxuries, though they do not worship Allah?' The
Prophet was leaning then (and on hearing my speech he sat straight) and said, 'O Ibn Al-Khatttab! Do you have any doubt
(that the Hereafter is better than this world)? These people have been given rewards of their good deeds in this world only.' I
asked the Prophet . 'Please ask Allah's forgiveness for me. The Prophet did not go to his wives because of the secret which
Hafsa had disclosed to 'Aisha, and he said that he would not go to his wives for one month as he was angry with them when
Allah admonished him (for his oath that he would not approach Mariyah). When twenty-nine days had passed, the Prophet
went to Aisha first of all. She said to him, 'You took an oath that you would not come to us for one month, and today only
twenty-nine days have passed, as I have been counting them day by day.' The Prophet said, 'The month is also of twenty-nine
days.' That month consisted of twenty-nine days. 'Aisha said, 'When the Divine revelation of Choice was revealed, the Prophet
started with me, saying to me, 'I am telling you something, but you needn't hurry to give the reply till you can consult your
parents." 'Aisha knew that her parents would not advise her to part with the Prophet . The Prophet said that Allah had said:--
'O Prophet! Say To your wives; If you desire The life of this world And its glitter, ... then come! I will make a provision for you
and set you free In a handsome manner. But if you seek Allah And His Apostle, and The Home of the Hereafter, then Verily,
Allah has prepared For the good-doers amongst you A great reward.' (33.28) 'Aisha said, 'Am I to consult my parents about
this? I indeed prefer Allah, His Apostle, and the Home of the Hereafter.' After that the Prophet gave the choice to his other
wives and they also gave the same reply as 'Aisha did."
Our Response:
Now, the Prophet's (peace be upon him) wives at then were astonished with the worldly pressures. What they wanted was the
spoils of war, so that they could lead a luxurious life like the Kings, hence Umar Ibn Al-Khattab says this:
"I said (to Allah's Apostle) "Invoke Allah to make your followers prosperous for the Persians and the Byzantines have been
made prosperous and given worldly luxuries, though they do not worship Allah?' The Prophet was leaning then (and on
hearing my speech he sat straight) and said, 'O Ibn Al-Khatttab! Do you have any doubt (that the Hereafter is better
than this world)? These people have been given rewards of their good deeds in this world only.' I asked the
Prophet".
So Allah SWT revealed the Ayat:
Surah 33:28-29
(O Prophet! Say unto thy wives: "If ye desire the world's life and its adornment, come! I will content you and will release you
with a fair release. But if ye desire Allah and His Messenger and the abode of the Hereafter, then lo! Allah hath prepared for
the good among you an immense reward") (Al-Ahzab 33:28-29).
The Hadith Sina posted is true, and The Prophet (peace be upon him) wives did wish for the worldly gains, The Prophet
(peace be upon him) gave them the choice as stated in the Ayat above, but they always chose the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him). Yusuf Ali even confirms this by saying :
"We now come to the subject of the position of the Consorts of Purity, the wives of the holy Prophet. Their position was not like
that of ordinary women or ordinary wives. They had special duties and responsibilities. The only youthful marriage of the Holy
Prophet was his first marriage- that with Hadhrat Khadija, the best of women and the best of wives. He married her fifteen
years before he received his call to Apostleship; their married life was twenty-five years and their mutual devotion was of the
noblest, judged by spiritual as well as social standards. During her life he had no other wife which was unusual for a man of his
standing among his people. When she died his age was 50 and but for two considerations, he would probably never have
married again, as he was most abstemious in his physical life. The two considerations which governed his marriage later were
: (1) compassion and clemency, as when he wanted to provide for suffering widows, who could not be provided for in any other
way in that stage of society; some of them like Sauda had issue by their former marriage, requiring protection; (2) help in his
duties of leadership with women who had to be instructed and kept together in the large Muslim family, where women and men
had similar social rights. Hadhrat 'Aisha, daughter of Hadhrat Abu Bakr, was clever and learned, and in Hadith she is an
important authority on the life of the Prophet. Hadhrat Zainab, daughter of Khuzaima was specially devoted to the poor : she
was called the "Mother of the Poor: . The other Zainab, daugher of Jahsh also worked for the poor, for whom she provided
from the proceeds of her manual work, as she was skilful in leather in leather work. But all the consorts in their high positions
had to work and assist as Mother of the Ummat. Theirs were not idle lives, like those of Odalisques, either for their own
pleasure or the pleasure of their husband. They are told here that they had no place in the sacred household if they merely
wished for ease or worldly glitter. If such was the case, they would be divorced and amply provided for."
Further more, Yusuf Ali states:
"They were all well-doers. But being in their exalted position they had extra responsibility, and they had to be specially careful
to discharge it. In the same way their reward would be "great", for higher services bring higher spiritual satisfaction, though
they were asked to deny themselves of the ordinary indulgences of this life". (Source: The Holy Qur'an , text, translation
and commentary by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, footnotes # 3706, and 3707)
Maududi states the same...
"The discourse contained in vv. 28-35 consists of two parts. In the first part, Allah has given a notice to the wives of the Holy
Prophet, who were being impatient of the straitened circumstances, to the effect:" Choose between the world and its
adornments, and Allah, His Prophet and the Hereafter. If you seek the former, you should say so openly: you will not be kept
back in hardship even for a day, but will be sent off gracefully. And if you seek the latter, you should cooperate with Allah and
His messenger and bear patiently." In the second part, initial steps were taken towards the social reforms whose need was
being felt by the minds moulded in the Islamic pattern themselves. In this regard, reform was started from the house of the
Holy Prophet himself and his wives were commanded to avoid behaving and conducting themselves in the ways of the pre
Islamic days of ignorance, ,to remain in their houses with dignity, and to exercise great caution in their conversation with the
other men. This was the beginning of the Commandments of Purdah." (Syed Maududi, Commentary on Surah Al Ahzab,
Source)
Let us continue with the response...
Ali Sina said:
The above Hadith is significant as it contains two important historic points. First it reveals, by Omar's own admission, that
"Ansari women had the upper hand over their men". Even if we consider that to be an exaggeration, it is clear that women in
Medina had more rights and authority than their Quraishy counterparts. Mecca, the home of the Quraish tribe, where Omar
and Muhammad came from was a religious hob. People living in religious towns are more bigots than those living in other
cities. Religion has always played a role in subjugating women and taking away their human rights. So it is natural that women
in Mecca were more subdued than those living anywhere else in Arabia and especially Medina that was a more cosmopolitan
city having civilized nations like Jews and Christians as its inhabitants. Omar and Muhammad's wives enjoyed this
emancipating atmosphere and were starting to exercise their relative freedom. This attitude, of course, did not sit well with the
two misogynist men of Mecca, namely Omar and Muhammad and as this Hadith demonstrates, they were angry of their wives
newfound liberties and rebelliousness.
The importance of this Hadith is in the fact that it proves that women prior to Islam had much more freedom, which was
taken away from them by Muhammad and his misogynistic khalifas. It becomes clear that the deplorable status of women in
Islam is not a divine verdict but a reflection of how women were treated in Mecca 1400 years ago.
Our Response:
Ali Sina is trying to show that the hadiths indicate that women prior to Islam had more rights!!! Women were like monopoly
pieces prior to Islam, and Ali Sina calls it "freedom".
One major objective of this paper is to provide a fair evaluation of what Islam contributed (or failed to contribute) toward the
restoration of woman's dignity and rights. In order to achieve this objective, it may be useful to review briefly how women were
treated in general in previous civilizations and religions, especially those which preceded Islam (Pre-610 C.E.). Part of the
information provided here, however, describes the status of woman as late as the nineteenth century, more than twelve
centuries after Islam.
Women in Ancient Civilization
Describing the status of the Indian woman, Encyclopedia Britannica states:
In India, subjection was a cardinal principle. Day and night must women be held by their protectors in a state of dependence
says Manu. The rule of inheritance was agnatic, that is descent traced through males to the exclusion of females.
In Hindu scriptures, the description of a good wife is as follows: "a woman whose mind, speech and body are kept in
subjection, acquires high renown in this world, and, in the next, the same abode with her husband."
In Athens, women were not better off than either the Indian or the Roman women.
"Athenian women were always minors, subject to some male - to their father, to their brother, or to some of their male kin.
Her consent in marriage was not generally thought to be necessary and "she was obliged to submit to the wishes of her
parents, and receive from them her husband and her lord, even though he were stranger to her."
A Roman wife was described by an historian as: "a babe, a minor, a ward, a person incapable of doing or acting anything
according to her own individual taste, a person continually under the tutelage and guardianship of her husband."
In the Encyclopedia Britannica, we find a summary of the legal status of women in the Roman civilization:
In Roman Law a woman was even in historic times completely dependent. If married she and her property passed into the
power of her husband . . . the wife was the purchased property of her husband, and like a slave acquired only for his benefit.
A woman could not exercise any civil or public office . could not be a witness, surety, tutor, or curator; she could not adopt or
be adopted, or make will or contract. Among the Scandinavian races women were:
under perpetual tutelage, whether married or unmarried. As late as the Code of Christian V, at the end of the 17th Century, it
was enacted that if a woman married without the consent of her tutor he might have, if he wished, administration and usufruct
of her goods during her life.
According to the English Common Law:
...all real property which a wife held at the time of a marriage became a possession of her husband. He was entitled to the rent
from the land and to any profit which might be made from operating the estate during the joint life of the spouses. As time
passed, the English courts devised means to forbid a husband's transferring real property without the consent of his wife, but
he still retained the right to manage it and to receive the money which it produced. As to a wife's personal property, the
husband's power was complete. He had the right to spend it as he saw fit.
Only by the late nineteenth Century did the situation start to improve. "By a series of acts starting with the Married women's
Property Act in 1870, amended in 1882 and 1887, married women achieved the right to own property and to enter contracts
on a par with spinsters, widows, and divorcees." As late as the Nineteenth Century an authority in ancient law, Sir Henry
Maine, wrote: "No society which preserves any tincture of Christian institutions is likely to restore to married women the
personal liberty conferred on them by the Middle Roman Law."
In his essay The Subjection of Women, John Stuart Mill wrote:
We are continually told that civilization and Christianity have restored to the woman her just rights. Meanwhile the wife is the
actual bondservant of her husband; no less so, as far as the legal obligation goes, than slaves commonly so called.
Before moving on to the Qur'anic decrees concerning the status of woman, a few Biblical decrees may shed more light on the
subject, thus providing a better basis for an impartial evaluation. In the Mosaic Law, the wife was betrothed. Explaining this
concept, the Encyclopedia Biblica states: "To betroth a wife to oneself meant simply to acquire possession of her by payment
of the purchase money; the betrothed is a girl for whom the purchase money has been paid." From the legal point of view, the
consent of the girl was not necessary for the validation of her marriage. "The girl's consent is unnecessary and the need for it
is nowhere suggested in the Law."
As to the right of divorce, we read in the Encyclopedia Biblica: "The woman being man's property, his right to divorce her
follows as a matter of course." The right to divorce was held only by man. "In the Mosaic Law divorce was a privilege of the
husband only .... "
The position of the Christian Church until recent centuries seems to have been influenced by both the Mosaic Law and by the
streams of thought that were dominant in its contemporary cultures. In their book, Marriage East and West, David and Vera
Mace wrote:
Let no one suppose, either, that our Christian heritage is free of such slighting judgments. It would be hard to find anywhere a
collection of more degrading references to the female sex than the early Church Fathers provide. Lecky, the famous historian,
speaks of (these fierce incentives which form so conspicuous and so grotesque a portion of the writing of the Fathers . . .
woman was represented as the door of hell, as the mother of all human ills. She should be ashamed at the very thought that
she is a woman. She should live in continual penance on account of the curses she has brought upon the world. She should
be ashamed of her dress, for it is the memorial of her fall. She should be especially ashamed of her beauty, for it is the most
potent instrument of the devil). One of the most scathing of these attacks on woman is that of Tertullian: Do you know that you
are each an Eve? The sentence of God on this sex of yours lives in this age: the guilt must of necessity live too. You are the
devil's gateway: you are the unsealer of that forbidden tree; you are the first deserters of the divine law; you are she who
persuades him whom the devil was not valiant enough to attack. You destroyed so easily God's image, man. On account of
your desert - that is death - even the Sop of God had to die). Not only did the church affirm the inferior status of woman, it
deprived her of legal rights she had previously enjoyed. (Jamal Badawi, The Status of Women In Islam, Source)
So that ends the lie that women before Islam had more rights.
Also notice how Ali Sina contradicts himself. He said...
"...Religion has always played a role in subjugating women and taking away their human rights...",
then in the next sentence he says
"...women in Mecca were more subdued than those living anywhere else in Arabia and especially Medina that was a more
cosmopolitan city having civilized nations like Jews and Christians as its inhabitants...".
Everyone knows that Judaism and Christianity are not nations, they are religions. So which, if any, is the true statement? Are
Judaism and Christianity not really religions, despite what their followers may believe? Or are they religions which, according
to Sina, are all responsible for the subjugation of women? If one of these statements is true, the other must be false.
Ali Sina said:
The fact that there is so much emphasis in Quran and in Ahadith about the importance of women being obedient to their
husbands is indeed an indication of Muhammad's own desire to control his young and rebellious wives. (See Q. 4: 34)
Our Response:
I see no problem in the Ayat, if husbands maintain their wives, is there a problem Ali Sina? If wives don't protect the husbands
interests while he is absent, is there a problem Ali Sina? Is it OKAY for a wife to be disobedient to their husband, the person
who is taking care of the family? Is it NOT okay for the husband to respond to her behavior?
For a more in depth look into this verse you can visit
http://www.answering-christianity.com/karim/noble_quran_4_34.htm
Ali Sina said:
The other important point of the above Hadith is that it reveals yet another sexual scandal of the prophet.
One-day Muhammad goes to his wife's house Hafsa the daughter of Omar and finds her maid Mariyah attractive. He sends
Hafsa to Omar's house, telling her that he wanted to see her. When Hafsa leaves, Muhammad takes Mariyah to bed and has
intercourse with her. Meanwhile Hafsa, who finds out that her father was not expecting her, returns home much sooner than
expected, and to her chagrin finds her illustrious husband in bed with her maid.
She becomes hysteric and forgetting the station of the prophet she shouts and causes a scandal. The prophet pleads with her
to calm down and promises not to sleep with Mariah anymore and begs her also not to divulge this secret to anyone else.
However, Hafsa would not control herself and relays everything to Ayisha who also turns against the prophet and jointly with
his other wives cause him much anguish. So the prophet decides to punish all of them and not sleep with any one of his wives
for one month. Depriving one's wives sexually is the second grade of punishment recomendedn in Quran. The first level is
admonishing, the second level is depriving them of sex and the third level of punishment is beating them. Q. 4: 34.
Our Response:
As I already mentioned, there is dispute whether Mariya was the wife of the Prophet.
Even if for sake of argument, that Hafsah did walk in on the Prophet and Mariya, the Prophet would obviously get upset at
Hafsa for breaking her promise. Look at this hadith...
Saheeh Bukhari
Volume 003, Book 043, Hadith Number 639.
-----------------------------------------
Narated By 'Abdullah bin 'Amr : The Prophet said, "Whoever has (the following) four characters will be a hypocrite, and
whoever has one of the following four characteristics will have one characteristic of hypocrisy until he gives it up. These are:
(1) Whenever he talks, he tells a lie; (2) whenever he makes a promise, he breaks it; (3) whenever he makes a covenant
he proves treacherous; (4) and whenever he quarrels, he behaves impudently in an evil insulting manner." (See Hadith No. 33
Vol. 1)
So obviously the Prophet would get mad at Hafsa, because she committed a sin by breaking her promise.
Ali Sina said:
Of course when a man decides to punish a wife with sexual deprivation he can satisfy himself with his other wives. But
Muhammad's anger had made him make the oath not to sleep with any of them for one month. That of course would have
been too much of hardship for the beloved messenger of God (peace be upon his immaculate soul), therefore God in his
mercy came to the aid of his prophet and revealed the Surah Tahrim (Banning). In this Surah Allah rebukes Muhammad for
being hard on himself and for depriving himself from what he really likes and has been made lawful for him, in order to please
his wives.
This is the text of the Surah Tahrim: Q. 66: 1-5.
1. O Prophet! Why do you ban (for yourself) that which Allâh has made lawful to you, seeking to please your wives? And Allâh
is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
2. Allâh has already ordained for you (O men), the dissolution of your oaths. And Allâh is your Maula (Lord, or Master, or
Protector, etc.) and He is the All-Knower, the All-Wise.
3. And (remember) when the Prophet (SAW) disclosed a matter in confidence to one of his wives (Hafsah), so when she told it
(to another i.e. 'Aishah), and Allâh made it known to him, he informed part thereof and left a part. Then when he told her
(Hafsah) thereof, she said: "Who told you this?" He said: "The All-Knower, the All-Aware (Allâh) has told me".
4. If you two (wives of the Prophet SAW, namely 'Aishah and Hafsah turn in repentance to Allâh, (it will be better for you), your
hearts are indeed so inclined (to oppose what the Prophet SAW likes), but if you help one another against him (Muhammad
SAW), then verily, Allâh is his Maula (Lord, or Master, or Protector, etc.), and Jibrael (Gabriel), and the righteous among the
believers, and furthermore, the angels are his helpers.
5. It may be if he divorced you (all) that his Lord will give him instead of you, wives better than you, Muslims (who submit to
Allâh), believers, obedient to Allâh, turning to Allâh in repentance, worshipping Allâh sincerely, fasting or emigrants (for Allâh's
sake), previously married and virgins. "
Comment:
Although Muhammad gave his word to Hafsa, not to have sex with her maid he could not resist the temptation. Especially now
that he had taken another oath not to sleep with all of his wives. It was a difficult situation and no one but Allah could help him.
Well, nothing is impossible when you are the prophet of Allah. Leave everything in the hands of the Almighty and let him take
care of it. And that is exactly what happened. Allah himself intervened and gave him the green light to follow his heart's desire.
In the Surah Tahrim God licensed his beloved prophet to have his flings and not pay attention to his wives. What can a
prophet ask more? Allah was so concerned about Muhammad's carnal pleasures that he even allowed ALL MEN to break their
oaths as a bounty. Alhamdulillah! AllahuAkbar! Subhanillah. Isn't Allah great?
Our Response:
Ali Sina simply does not make sense. By his own admission, the Prophet abstained from sex for nearly a month. That shows
that the Prophet was not a sexual predator as most anti Islamics like Ali Sina portray him to be.
Secondly, the interpretation of the verse will be provided soon within the article so read on....
Ali Sina said:
The above story must have been also embarrassing for Muhammad's followers even when they gobbled mindlessly everything
he told them. So they made other hadithes to explain those verses of Quran that were already explained by Omar.
Sahih Muslim Book 009, Number 3496:
'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) narrated that Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) used to spend time with Zainab
daughter of Jahsh and drank honey at her house. She ('A'isha further) said: I and Hafsa agreed that one whom Allah's Apostle
(may peace be upon him) would visit first should say: I notice that you have an odour of the Maghafir (gum of mimosa). He (the
Holy Prophet) visited one of them and she said to him like this, whereupon he said: I have taken honey in the house of Zainab
bint Jabsh and I will never do it again. It was at this (that the following verse was revealed): 'Why do you hold to be forbidden
what Allah has made lawful for you... (up to). If you both ('A'isha and Hafsa) turn to Allah" up to:" And when the Holy Prophet
confided an information to one of his wives" (lxvi. 3). This refers to his saying: But I have taken honey.
Also Sahih Muslim Book 009, Number 3497:
Our Response:
These are authentic hadith that Ali Sina cannot deny. When there is a narration that supports his views, he accepts them and
if there is a narration that goes against his views, he accepts them. This is illogical.
Yusuf Ali in his commentary said...
66. 1:
C5529. The Prophet's household was not like other households. The Consorts of Purity were expected to hold a higher
standard in behaviour and reticence than ordinary women, as they had higher work to perform. See n. 3706 to xxxiii. 28. But
they were human beings after all, and were subject to the weaknesses of their sex, and they sometimes failed. The
commentators usually cite the following incident in connection with the revelation of these verses. It is narrated from 'Aisha, the
wife of the holy Prophet (peace be on him) by Bukhari, Muslim, Nasai. Abu Dawud and others that the holy Prophet usually
visited all his wives daily after 'Asr Prayer. Once it so happened that he stayed longer than usual at the quarters of Zainab bint
Jahsh, for she had received from somewhere some honey which the holy Prophet liked very much. "At this", says 'Aisha, "I felt
jealous, and Hafsa, Sawda, Safiya, and I agreed among ourselves that when he visits us each of us would tell him that a
peculiar odour came from his mouth as a result of what he had eaten, for we knew that he was particularly sensitive to
offensive smells". So when his wives hinted at it, he vowed that he would never again use honey. Thereupon these verses
were revealed reminding him that he should not declare to himself unlawful that which Allah had made lawful to him. The
important point to bear in mind is that he was at once rectified by revelation, which reinforces the fact that the prophets are
always under divine protection, and even the slightest lapse on their part is never left uncorrected.
C5530. The tender words of admonition addressed to the Consorts in xxxiii. 28-34 explain the situation far better than any
comments can express. If the holy Prophet had been a mere husband in the ordinary sense of the term, he could not have
held the balance even between his private feelings and his public duties. But he was not an ordinary husband, and he
abandoned his renunciation on his realisation of the higher duties with which he was charged, and which required conciliation
with firmness.
Source: Yusuf Ali's Commentary from QuranTrans
What does it mean when it says "O Prophet! Why do you ban (for yourself) that which Allâh has made lawful to you, seeking to
please your wives? And Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. "?
Here is what Ibn Kathir says...
Al-Bukhari recorded that `Ubayd bin `Umayr said that he heard `A'ishah claiming that Allah's Messenger used to stay for a
period in the house of Zaynab bint Jahsh and drink honey in her house. (She said) "Hafsah and I decided that when the
Prophet entered upon either of us, we would say, `I smell Maghafir on you. Have you eaten Maghafir' When he entered upon
one of us, she said that to him. He replied (to her),
No, but I drank honey in the house of Zaynab bint Jahsh, and I will never drink it again.)'' Then the following was
revealed
(O Prophet! Why do you fobid that which Allah has allowed to you) up to
(If you both turn in repentance to Allah, your hearts are indeed so inclined;) in reference to `A'ishah and Hafsah.
(Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Source)
What does it mean that the Prophet disclosed something in secret? Here's what Ibn Kathir states:
And (remember) when the Prophet disclosed a matter in confidence to one of his wives,) which refers to this saying
(But I have drunk honey.) Ibrahim bin Musa said that Hisham said that it also meant his saying,
(I will not drink it anymore, I have taken an oath to that. Therefore, do not inform anybody about it.) (Tafsir Ibn Kathir,
Source)
Ali Sina said:
First of all honey does not smell bad.
Our Response:
Sina is correct in the sense in that honey does not smell bad. But the hadith he quoted does not say that. It says that
mughafir, which the hadith tells us is the gum of the Mimosa tree, smells bad.
For the evidence see what Ibn Kathir says...
Al-Bukhari also recorded this Hadith in the Book of Divorce; then he said, "Al-Maghafir is a type of sap, and in Ar-Rimth (a type
of citrus) its taste is sweet...'' Al-Jawhari said, "The `Urfut is a tree of the shrub variety, which secretes Maghfur.'' Muslim
collected this Hadith from `A'ishah in the Book of Divorce in his Sahih, and his wording is the same as Al-Bukhari in the Book
of Vows. In the Book of Divorce, Al-Bukhari recorded that `A'ishah said, "Allah's Messenger liked sweets and honey. After
performing the `Asr prayer, he used to visit his wives, going close to them. So he went to Hafsah, daughter of `Umar, and
stayed with her more than his usual stay. I (`A'ishah) became jealous and asked about that. It was said to me, `A woman of her
family sent her a small vessel of honey as a gift, and she gave a drink to Allah's Messenger made from it.' I said, `By Allah, we
will contrive a plot against him.' I said to Sawdah bint Zam`ah, `When the Messenger visits you and draws close to you, say to
him, `Have you eaten Maghafir' And when he says to you, `No', then ask him, `What is this odor' He will say to you, `Hafsah
has given me a drink of honey.' Then you should say to him, `The honeybees might have eaten from Urfut, and I will also say
the same to him. Safiyyah, you should also say this.' Sawdah later said, `It was under compulsion that I had decided to state
that which you told me; soon, by Allah, he was standing at my door.' So when Allah's Messenger came near her, she said, `O
Messenger of Allah! Did you eat Maghafir' He said, `No.' She again said, `Then what is this odor' He said,
(Hafsah gave me honey to drink.) She said, `The honeybees might have eaten from `Urfut.')'' `A'ishah continued, "When he
came to me I said the same to him. He then visited Safiyyah and she also said similar to him. When he again visited Hafsah,
she said, `O Messenger of Allah, should I not give you that (drink)' He said,
(I do not need it.) Sawdah said, `By Allah! We have prevented him from drinking honey.' I said to her, `Keep quiet!''' Muslim
also recorded this Hadith, but this wording is from Al-Bukhari. In the narration of Muslim, `A'ishah said, "The Messenger of
Allah used to hate to have a bad odor coming from him'' This is why they suggested to him that he ate Maghafir, because it
causes a bad odor. When he said,
(No, I had some honey.) They said that the bees ate from a tree that is called Al-`Urfut, which has Maghafir gum,
suggesting that this is the reason behind the bad odor they claimed was coming from him. The latter narration,
collected through `Urwah from `A'ishah, mentions that it was Hafsah who gave the Prophet the honey. In another narration
collected from `Ubayd bin `Umayr, from `A'ishah, it was Zaynab bint Jahsh who gave the honey to the Prophet , while `A'ishah
and Hafsah were the plotters. Allah knows best. Some might say that they were two separate incidents. However, it is not likely
that the Ayat were revealed about both incidents, if indeed they were two separate incidents. Allah knows best. A Hadith that
Imam Ahmad collected in the Musnad mentions that `A'ishah and Hafsah were the plotters. Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn
`Abbas said, "I was eager to ask `Umar about the two ladies among the wives of the Prophet , about whom Allah said,
Ali Sina said:
But above all it is inconceivable that a trivial incident like drinking honey could cause such an upheaval in the household of the
prophet to the extend that he decides to divorce all of his wives or to punish them for one month by not sleeping with them.
Our Response:
It wasn't the drinking of honey that caused the Prophet (peace be upon him) to become displeased with his wives, but the
jealousy displayed by them because they felt he was giving too much attention to Zainab, and their secret plotting against him
in order to make him spend less time with her.
Conclusion:
We come to the closing of the article, but we tend to ask ourselves, WAS IT ALL JUST BECAUSE OF HONEY?? No, it wasn't, it
was more. As you can read, Allah Almighty made it clear in the Holy Quran in Sura At-Tahrim :
If you two (wives of the Prophet SAW, namely 'Aishah and Hafsah turn in repentance to Allâh, (it will be better for you), your
hearts are indeed so inclined (to oppose what the Prophet SAW likes), but if you help one another against him (Muhammad
SAW), then verily, Allâh is his Maula (Lord, or Master, or Protector, etc.), and Jibrael (Gabriel), and the righteous among the
believers, and furthermore, the angels are his helpers.
That the Wives of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) conspired against him in this case. They were inclined to oppose
what the Prophet (peace be upon him) liked, in this case, honey, and lied to him. Again, the main reason why the Prophet got
mad was because Hafsah broke her promise and as I showed in the hadith earlier, breaking one's promise is a major sin in
Islam.
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Ali Sina said:
The following is Muhammad's scandalous love affair with Mariyah the Copt who was one of the prophet's wives' maids.
Muhammad slept with her without any ceremony, which caused uproar among his wives and finally was settled by Divine
intervention. This story is recorded in an authenticated Hadith and is reported by Omar.
Our Response:
Ali Sina begins his article by saying that Mariyah the Copt was just a servant of the Prophet. It is true that a lot of Muslims
believe this. However, there are others that believe she was the Prophet's (peace be upon him) own Wife.
Taken from
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119
503543986
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) contracted some of his marriages for sociopolitical reasons. His principal
concern was the future of Islam. He was interested in strengthening the Muslims by all bonds. That is why he married the
young daughter of Abu Bakr, his First Successor, and the daughter of `Umar, his Second Successor. It was by his marriage to
Juwayriyyah that he gained the support for Islam of the whole clan of Bani Al-Mustaliq and their allied tribes. It was through
marriage to Safiyyah that he neutralized a great section of the hostile Jews of Arabia. By accepting Mariyah, the Copt from
Egypt, as his wife, he formed a political alliance with a king of great magnitude. It was also a gesture of friendship with
a neighboring king that Muhammad married Zaynab who was presented to him by the Negus of Abyssinia in whose territory
the early Muslims found safe refuge.
Taken from http://www.islamic-paths.org/Home/English/Muhammad/Book/Wives/Chapter_12.htm#maria
Ibn Kathir is quoted to have said:
Maria al-Qibtiyya (may Allah be pleased with her) is said to have married the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him) and certainly everyone gave her the same title of respect as the Prophet's wives, 'Umm al Muminin' 'Mother of the
Believers'.
The muqawqis, or King of the Copts, gave the Prophet (S) two wives as a gift. The Prophet (S) married one, who became the
mother of the Prophet's son Ibrahim, and he gave the other one to Hassan as a wife. (Haythami said in Majma al-zawaid,
"Tabarani in al-Aswat and al-Bazzar related it, and the narrators in al-Bazzar's chain are all scholar's of sound
hadith as stated by Hisham Kabbani in Encyclopedia of Islamic Doctrine: Remembrance of Allah and Praising the
Prophet, p. 76 Vol. II)
For more evidence that Mariya was indeed the Prophet's wife, visit this site
http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_201_250/honor_of_the_noble_prophet.htm
Ali Sina said:
This Hadith is describing the reason for the revelation of verse 66: 4 of Quran. The verse says:
"If ye two turn in repentance to Him, your hearts are indeed so inclined; But if ye back up each other against him, truly Allah is
his Protector, and Gabriel, and (every) righteous one among those who believe,- and furthermore, the angels - will back (him)
up."
Omar explains that these two women were Hafsa and Ayesha who became disrespectful of the prophet causing him grief until
he thought of divorcing all of his wives. Here is the full story.
Bukhari Volume 3, Book 43, Number 648:
Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas:
I had been eager to ask 'Umar about the two ladies from among the wives of the Prophet regarding whom Allah said (in the
Qur'an saying): If you two (wives of the Prophet namely Aisha and Hafsa) turn in repentance to Allah your hearts are indeed
so inclined (to oppose what the Prophet likes) (66.4), till performed the Hajj along with 'Umar (and on our way back from Hajj)
he went aside (to answer the call of nature) and I also went aside along with him carrying a tumbler of water. When he had
answered the call of nature and returned. I poured water on his hands from the tumbler and he performed ablution. I said, "O
Chief of the believers! ' Who were the two ladies from among the wives of the Prophet to whom Allah said:
'If you two return in repentance (66.4)? He said, "I am astonished at your question, O Ibn 'Abbas. They were Aisha and Hafsa."
Then 'Umar went on relating the narration and said. "I and an Ansari neighbor of mine from Bani Umaiya bin Zaid who used to
live in 'Awali Al-Medina, used to visit the Prophet in turns. He used to go one day, and I another day. When I went I would bring
him the news of what had happened that day regarding the instructions and orders and when he went, he used to do the
same for me. We, the people of Quraish, used to have authority over women, but when we came to live with the Ansar, we
noticed that the Ansari women had the upper hand over their men, so our women started acquiring the habits of the Ansari
women. Once I shouted at my wife and she paid me back in my coin and I disliked that she should answer me back. She said,
'Why do you take it ill that I retort upon you? By Allah, the wives of the Prophet retort upon him, and some of them may not
speak with him for the whole day till night.' What she said scared me and I said to her, 'Whoever amongst them does so, will be
a great loser.' Then I dressed myself and went to Hafsa and asked her, 'Does any of you keep Allah's Apostle angry all the
day long till night?' She replied in the affirmative. I said, 'She is a ruined losing person (and will never have success)! Doesn't
she fear that Allah may get angry for the anger of Allah's Apostle and thus she will be ruined? Don't ask Allah's Apostle too
many things, and don't retort upon him in any case, and don't desert him. Demand from me whatever you like, and don't be
tempted to imitate your neighbor (i.e. 'Aisha) in her behavior towards the Prophet), for she (i.e. Aisha) is more beautiful than
you, and more beloved to Allah's Apostle.
In those days it was rumored that Ghassan, (a tribe living in Sham) was getting prepared their horses to invade us. My
companion went (to the Prophet on the day of his turn, went and returned to us at night and knocked at my door violently,
asking whether I was sleeping. I was scared (by the hard knocking) and came out to him. He said that a great thing had
happened. I asked him: What is it? Have Ghassan come? He replied that it was worse and more serious than that, and added
that Allah's Apostle had divorced all his wives. I said, Hafsa is a ruined loser! I expected that would happen some day.' So I
dressed myself and offered the Fajr prayer with the Prophet. Then the Prophet entered an upper room and stayed there
alone. I went to Hafsa and found her weeping. I asked her, 'Why are you weeping? Didn't I warn you? Have Allah's Apostle
divorced you all?' She replied, 'I don't know. He is there in the upper room.' I then went out and came to the pulpit and found a
group of people around it and some of them were weeping. Then I sat with them for some time, but could not endure the
situation. So I went to the upper room where the Prophet was and requested to a black slave of his: "Will you get the
permission of (Allah's Apostle) for Umar (to enter)? The slave went in, talked to the Prophet about it and came out saying, 'I
mentioned you to him but he did not reply.' So, I went and sat with the people who were sitting by the pulpit, but I could not
bear the situation, so I went to the slave again and said: "Will you get he permission for Umar? He went in and brought the
same reply as before. When I was leaving, behold, the slave called me saying, "Allah's Apostle has granted you permission."
So, I entered upon the Prophet and saw him lying on a mat without wedding on it, and the mat had left its mark on the body of
the Prophet, and he was leaning on a leather pillow stuffed with palm fires. I greeted him and while still standing, I said: "Have
you divorced your wives?' He raised his eyes to me and replied in the negative. And then while still standing, I said chatting:
"Will you heed what I say, 'O Allah's Apostle! We, the people of Quraish used to have the upper hand over our women (wives),
and when we came to the people whose women had the upper hand over them..."
'Umar told the whole story (about his wife). "On that the Prophet smiled." 'Umar further said, "I then said, 'I went to Hafsa and
said to her: Do not be tempted to imitate your companion ('Aisha) for she is more beautiful than you and more beloved to the
Prophet.' The Prophet smiled again. When I saw him smiling, I sat down and cast a glance at the room, and by Allah, I couldn't
see anything of importance but three hides. I said (to Allah's Apostle) "Invoke Allah to make your followers prosperous for the
Persians and the Byzantines have been made prosperous and given worldly luxuries, though they do not worship Allah?' The
Prophet was leaning then (and on hearing my speech he sat straight) and said, 'O Ibn Al-Khatttab! Do you have any doubt
(that the Hereafter is better than this world)? These people have been given rewards of their good deeds in this world only.' I
asked the Prophet . 'Please ask Allah's forgiveness for me. The Prophet did not go to his wives because of the secret which
Hafsa had disclosed to 'Aisha, and he said that he would not go to his wives for one month as he was angry with them when
Allah admonished him (for his oath that he would not approach Mariyah). When twenty-nine days had passed, the Prophet
went to Aisha first of all. She said to him, 'You took an oath that you would not come to us for one month, and today only
twenty-nine days have passed, as I have been counting them day by day.' The Prophet said, 'The month is also of twenty-nine
days.' That month consisted of twenty-nine days. 'Aisha said, 'When the Divine revelation of Choice was revealed, the Prophet
started with me, saying to me, 'I am telling you something, but you needn't hurry to give the reply till you can consult your
parents." 'Aisha knew that her parents would not advise her to part with the Prophet . The Prophet said that Allah had said:--
'O Prophet! Say To your wives; If you desire The life of this world And its glitter, ... then come! I will make a provision for you
and set you free In a handsome manner. But if you seek Allah And His Apostle, and The Home of the Hereafter, then Verily,
Allah has prepared For the good-doers amongst you A great reward.' (33.28) 'Aisha said, 'Am I to consult my parents about
this? I indeed prefer Allah, His Apostle, and the Home of the Hereafter.' After that the Prophet gave the choice to his other
wives and they also gave the same reply as 'Aisha did."
Our Response:
Now, the Prophet's (peace be upon him) wives at then were astonished with the worldly pressures. What they wanted was the
spoils of war, so that they could lead a luxurious life like the Kings, hence Umar Ibn Al-Khattab says this:
"I said (to Allah's Apostle) "Invoke Allah to make your followers prosperous for the Persians and the Byzantines have been
made prosperous and given worldly luxuries, though they do not worship Allah?' The Prophet was leaning then (and on
hearing my speech he sat straight) and said, 'O Ibn Al-Khatttab! Do you have any doubt (that the Hereafter is better
than this world)? These people have been given rewards of their good deeds in this world only.' I asked the
Prophet".
So Allah SWT revealed the Ayat:
Surah 33:28-29
(O Prophet! Say unto thy wives: "If ye desire the world's life and its adornment, come! I will content you and will release you
with a fair release. But if ye desire Allah and His Messenger and the abode of the Hereafter, then lo! Allah hath prepared for
the good among you an immense reward") (Al-Ahzab 33:28-29).
The Hadith Sina posted is true, and The Prophet (peace be upon him) wives did wish for the worldly gains, The Prophet
(peace be upon him) gave them the choice as stated in the Ayat above, but they always chose the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him). Yusuf Ali even confirms this by saying :
"We now come to the subject of the position of the Consorts of Purity, the wives of the holy Prophet. Their position was not like
that of ordinary women or ordinary wives. They had special duties and responsibilities. The only youthful marriage of the Holy
Prophet was his first marriage- that with Hadhrat Khadija, the best of women and the best of wives. He married her fifteen
years before he received his call to Apostleship; their married life was twenty-five years and their mutual devotion was of the
noblest, judged by spiritual as well as social standards. During her life he had no other wife which was unusual for a man of his
standing among his people. When she died his age was 50 and but for two considerations, he would probably never have
married again, as he was most abstemious in his physical life. The two considerations which governed his marriage later were
: (1) compassion and clemency, as when he wanted to provide for suffering widows, who could not be provided for in any other
way in that stage of society; some of them like Sauda had issue by their former marriage, requiring protection; (2) help in his
duties of leadership with women who had to be instructed and kept together in the large Muslim family, where women and men
had similar social rights. Hadhrat 'Aisha, daughter of Hadhrat Abu Bakr, was clever and learned, and in Hadith she is an
important authority on the life of the Prophet. Hadhrat Zainab, daughter of Khuzaima was specially devoted to the poor : she
was called the "Mother of the Poor: . The other Zainab, daugher of Jahsh also worked for the poor, for whom she provided
from the proceeds of her manual work, as she was skilful in leather in leather work. But all the consorts in their high positions
had to work and assist as Mother of the Ummat. Theirs were not idle lives, like those of Odalisques, either for their own
pleasure or the pleasure of their husband. They are told here that they had no place in the sacred household if they merely
wished for ease or worldly glitter. If such was the case, they would be divorced and amply provided for."
Further more, Yusuf Ali states:
"They were all well-doers. But being in their exalted position they had extra responsibility, and they had to be specially careful
to discharge it. In the same way their reward would be "great", for higher services bring higher spiritual satisfaction, though
they were asked to deny themselves of the ordinary indulgences of this life". (Source: The Holy Qur'an , text, translation
and commentary by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, footnotes # 3706, and 3707)
Maududi states the same...
"The discourse contained in vv. 28-35 consists of two parts. In the first part, Allah has given a notice to the wives of the Holy
Prophet, who were being impatient of the straitened circumstances, to the effect:" Choose between the world and its
adornments, and Allah, His Prophet and the Hereafter. If you seek the former, you should say so openly: you will not be kept
back in hardship even for a day, but will be sent off gracefully. And if you seek the latter, you should cooperate with Allah and
His messenger and bear patiently." In the second part, initial steps were taken towards the social reforms whose need was
being felt by the minds moulded in the Islamic pattern themselves. In this regard, reform was started from the house of the
Holy Prophet himself and his wives were commanded to avoid behaving and conducting themselves in the ways of the pre
Islamic days of ignorance, ,to remain in their houses with dignity, and to exercise great caution in their conversation with the
other men. This was the beginning of the Commandments of Purdah." (Syed Maududi, Commentary on Surah Al Ahzab,
Source)
Let us continue with the response...
Ali Sina said:
The above Hadith is significant as it contains two important historic points. First it reveals, by Omar's own admission, that
"Ansari women had the upper hand over their men". Even if we consider that to be an exaggeration, it is clear that women in
Medina had more rights and authority than their Quraishy counterparts. Mecca, the home of the Quraish tribe, where Omar
and Muhammad came from was a religious hob. People living in religious towns are more bigots than those living in other
cities. Religion has always played a role in subjugating women and taking away their human rights. So it is natural that women
in Mecca were more subdued than those living anywhere else in Arabia and especially Medina that was a more cosmopolitan
city having civilized nations like Jews and Christians as its inhabitants. Omar and Muhammad's wives enjoyed this
emancipating atmosphere and were starting to exercise their relative freedom. This attitude, of course, did not sit well with the
two misogynist men of Mecca, namely Omar and Muhammad and as this Hadith demonstrates, they were angry of their wives
newfound liberties and rebelliousness.
The importance of this Hadith is in the fact that it proves that women prior to Islam had much more freedom, which was
taken away from them by Muhammad and his misogynistic khalifas. It becomes clear that the deplorable status of women in
Islam is not a divine verdict but a reflection of how women were treated in Mecca 1400 years ago.
Our Response:
Ali Sina is trying to show that the hadiths indicate that women prior to Islam had more rights!!! Women were like monopoly
pieces prior to Islam, and Ali Sina calls it "freedom".
One major objective of this paper is to provide a fair evaluation of what Islam contributed (or failed to contribute) toward the
restoration of woman's dignity and rights. In order to achieve this objective, it may be useful to review briefly how women were
treated in general in previous civilizations and religions, especially those which preceded Islam (Pre-610 C.E.). Part of the
information provided here, however, describes the status of woman as late as the nineteenth century, more than twelve
centuries after Islam.
Women in Ancient Civilization
Describing the status of the Indian woman, Encyclopedia Britannica states:
In India, subjection was a cardinal principle. Day and night must women be held by their protectors in a state of dependence
says Manu. The rule of inheritance was agnatic, that is descent traced through males to the exclusion of females.
In Hindu scriptures, the description of a good wife is as follows: "a woman whose mind, speech and body are kept in
subjection, acquires high renown in this world, and, in the next, the same abode with her husband."
In Athens, women were not better off than either the Indian or the Roman women.
"Athenian women were always minors, subject to some male - to their father, to their brother, or to some of their male kin.
Her consent in marriage was not generally thought to be necessary and "she was obliged to submit to the wishes of her
parents, and receive from them her husband and her lord, even though he were stranger to her."
A Roman wife was described by an historian as: "a babe, a minor, a ward, a person incapable of doing or acting anything
according to her own individual taste, a person continually under the tutelage and guardianship of her husband."
In the Encyclopedia Britannica, we find a summary of the legal status of women in the Roman civilization:
In Roman Law a woman was even in historic times completely dependent. If married she and her property passed into the
power of her husband . . . the wife was the purchased property of her husband, and like a slave acquired only for his benefit.
A woman could not exercise any civil or public office . could not be a witness, surety, tutor, or curator; she could not adopt or
be adopted, or make will or contract. Among the Scandinavian races women were:
under perpetual tutelage, whether married or unmarried. As late as the Code of Christian V, at the end of the 17th Century, it
was enacted that if a woman married without the consent of her tutor he might have, if he wished, administration and usufruct
of her goods during her life.
According to the English Common Law:
...all real property which a wife held at the time of a marriage became a possession of her husband. He was entitled to the rent
from the land and to any profit which might be made from operating the estate during the joint life of the spouses. As time
passed, the English courts devised means to forbid a husband's transferring real property without the consent of his wife, but
he still retained the right to manage it and to receive the money which it produced. As to a wife's personal property, the
husband's power was complete. He had the right to spend it as he saw fit.
Only by the late nineteenth Century did the situation start to improve. "By a series of acts starting with the Married women's
Property Act in 1870, amended in 1882 and 1887, married women achieved the right to own property and to enter contracts
on a par with spinsters, widows, and divorcees." As late as the Nineteenth Century an authority in ancient law, Sir Henry
Maine, wrote: "No society which preserves any tincture of Christian institutions is likely to restore to married women the
personal liberty conferred on them by the Middle Roman Law."
In his essay The Subjection of Women, John Stuart Mill wrote:
We are continually told that civilization and Christianity have restored to the woman her just rights. Meanwhile the wife is the
actual bondservant of her husband; no less so, as far as the legal obligation goes, than slaves commonly so called.
Before moving on to the Qur'anic decrees concerning the status of woman, a few Biblical decrees may shed more light on the
subject, thus providing a better basis for an impartial evaluation. In the Mosaic Law, the wife was betrothed. Explaining this
concept, the Encyclopedia Biblica states: "To betroth a wife to oneself meant simply to acquire possession of her by payment
of the purchase money; the betrothed is a girl for whom the purchase money has been paid." From the legal point of view, the
consent of the girl was not necessary for the validation of her marriage. "The girl's consent is unnecessary and the need for it
is nowhere suggested in the Law."
As to the right of divorce, we read in the Encyclopedia Biblica: "The woman being man's property, his right to divorce her
follows as a matter of course." The right to divorce was held only by man. "In the Mosaic Law divorce was a privilege of the
husband only .... "
The position of the Christian Church until recent centuries seems to have been influenced by both the Mosaic Law and by the
streams of thought that were dominant in its contemporary cultures. In their book, Marriage East and West, David and Vera
Mace wrote:
Let no one suppose, either, that our Christian heritage is free of such slighting judgments. It would be hard to find anywhere a
collection of more degrading references to the female sex than the early Church Fathers provide. Lecky, the famous historian,
speaks of (these fierce incentives which form so conspicuous and so grotesque a portion of the writing of the Fathers . . .
woman was represented as the door of hell, as the mother of all human ills. She should be ashamed at the very thought that
she is a woman. She should live in continual penance on account of the curses she has brought upon the world. She should
be ashamed of her dress, for it is the memorial of her fall. She should be especially ashamed of her beauty, for it is the most
potent instrument of the devil). One of the most scathing of these attacks on woman is that of Tertullian: Do you know that you
are each an Eve? The sentence of God on this sex of yours lives in this age: the guilt must of necessity live too. You are the
devil's gateway: you are the unsealer of that forbidden tree; you are the first deserters of the divine law; you are she who
persuades him whom the devil was not valiant enough to attack. You destroyed so easily God's image, man. On account of
your desert - that is death - even the Sop of God had to die). Not only did the church affirm the inferior status of woman, it
deprived her of legal rights she had previously enjoyed. (Jamal Badawi, The Status of Women In Islam, Source)
So that ends the lie that women before Islam had more rights.
Also notice how Ali Sina contradicts himself. He said...
"...Religion has always played a role in subjugating women and taking away their human rights...",
then in the next sentence he says
"...women in Mecca were more subdued than those living anywhere else in Arabia and especially Medina that was a more
cosmopolitan city having civilized nations like Jews and Christians as its inhabitants...".
Everyone knows that Judaism and Christianity are not nations, they are religions. So which, if any, is the true statement? Are
Judaism and Christianity not really religions, despite what their followers may believe? Or are they religions which, according
to Sina, are all responsible for the subjugation of women? If one of these statements is true, the other must be false.
Ali Sina said:
The fact that there is so much emphasis in Quran and in Ahadith about the importance of women being obedient to their
husbands is indeed an indication of Muhammad's own desire to control his young and rebellious wives. (See Q. 4: 34)
Our Response:
I see no problem in the Ayat, if husbands maintain their wives, is there a problem Ali Sina? If wives don't protect the husbands
interests while he is absent, is there a problem Ali Sina? Is it OKAY for a wife to be disobedient to their husband, the person
who is taking care of the family? Is it NOT okay for the husband to respond to her behavior?
For a more in depth look into this verse you can visit
http://www.answering-christianity.com/karim/noble_quran_4_34.htm
Ali Sina said:
The other important point of the above Hadith is that it reveals yet another sexual scandal of the prophet.
One-day Muhammad goes to his wife's house Hafsa the daughter of Omar and finds her maid Mariyah attractive. He sends
Hafsa to Omar's house, telling her that he wanted to see her. When Hafsa leaves, Muhammad takes Mariyah to bed and has
intercourse with her. Meanwhile Hafsa, who finds out that her father was not expecting her, returns home much sooner than
expected, and to her chagrin finds her illustrious husband in bed with her maid.
She becomes hysteric and forgetting the station of the prophet she shouts and causes a scandal. The prophet pleads with her
to calm down and promises not to sleep with Mariah anymore and begs her also not to divulge this secret to anyone else.
However, Hafsa would not control herself and relays everything to Ayisha who also turns against the prophet and jointly with
his other wives cause him much anguish. So the prophet decides to punish all of them and not sleep with any one of his wives
for one month. Depriving one's wives sexually is the second grade of punishment recomendedn in Quran. The first level is
admonishing, the second level is depriving them of sex and the third level of punishment is beating them. Q. 4: 34.
Our Response:
As I already mentioned, there is dispute whether Mariya was the wife of the Prophet.
Even if for sake of argument, that Hafsah did walk in on the Prophet and Mariya, the Prophet would obviously get upset at
Hafsa for breaking her promise. Look at this hadith...
Saheeh Bukhari
Volume 003, Book 043, Hadith Number 639.
-----------------------------------------
Narated By 'Abdullah bin 'Amr : The Prophet said, "Whoever has (the following) four characters will be a hypocrite, and
whoever has one of the following four characteristics will have one characteristic of hypocrisy until he gives it up. These are:
(1) Whenever he talks, he tells a lie; (2) whenever he makes a promise, he breaks it; (3) whenever he makes a covenant
he proves treacherous; (4) and whenever he quarrels, he behaves impudently in an evil insulting manner." (See Hadith No. 33
Vol. 1)
So obviously the Prophet would get mad at Hafsa, because she committed a sin by breaking her promise.
Ali Sina said:
Of course when a man decides to punish a wife with sexual deprivation he can satisfy himself with his other wives. But
Muhammad's anger had made him make the oath not to sleep with any of them for one month. That of course would have
been too much of hardship for the beloved messenger of God (peace be upon his immaculate soul), therefore God in his
mercy came to the aid of his prophet and revealed the Surah Tahrim (Banning). In this Surah Allah rebukes Muhammad for
being hard on himself and for depriving himself from what he really likes and has been made lawful for him, in order to please
his wives.
This is the text of the Surah Tahrim: Q. 66: 1-5.
1. O Prophet! Why do you ban (for yourself) that which Allâh has made lawful to you, seeking to please your wives? And Allâh
is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
2. Allâh has already ordained for you (O men), the dissolution of your oaths. And Allâh is your Maula (Lord, or Master, or
Protector, etc.) and He is the All-Knower, the All-Wise.
3. And (remember) when the Prophet (SAW) disclosed a matter in confidence to one of his wives (Hafsah), so when she told it
(to another i.e. 'Aishah), and Allâh made it known to him, he informed part thereof and left a part. Then when he told her
(Hafsah) thereof, she said: "Who told you this?" He said: "The All-Knower, the All-Aware (Allâh) has told me".
4. If you two (wives of the Prophet SAW, namely 'Aishah and Hafsah turn in repentance to Allâh, (it will be better for you), your
hearts are indeed so inclined (to oppose what the Prophet SAW likes), but if you help one another against him (Muhammad
SAW), then verily, Allâh is his Maula (Lord, or Master, or Protector, etc.), and Jibrael (Gabriel), and the righteous among the
believers, and furthermore, the angels are his helpers.
5. It may be if he divorced you (all) that his Lord will give him instead of you, wives better than you, Muslims (who submit to
Allâh), believers, obedient to Allâh, turning to Allâh in repentance, worshipping Allâh sincerely, fasting or emigrants (for Allâh's
sake), previously married and virgins. "
Comment:
Although Muhammad gave his word to Hafsa, not to have sex with her maid he could not resist the temptation. Especially now
that he had taken another oath not to sleep with all of his wives. It was a difficult situation and no one but Allah could help him.
Well, nothing is impossible when you are the prophet of Allah. Leave everything in the hands of the Almighty and let him take
care of it. And that is exactly what happened. Allah himself intervened and gave him the green light to follow his heart's desire.
In the Surah Tahrim God licensed his beloved prophet to have his flings and not pay attention to his wives. What can a
prophet ask more? Allah was so concerned about Muhammad's carnal pleasures that he even allowed ALL MEN to break their
oaths as a bounty. Alhamdulillah! AllahuAkbar! Subhanillah. Isn't Allah great?
Our Response:
Ali Sina simply does not make sense. By his own admission, the Prophet abstained from sex for nearly a month. That shows
that the Prophet was not a sexual predator as most anti Islamics like Ali Sina portray him to be.
Secondly, the interpretation of the verse will be provided soon within the article so read on....
Ali Sina said:
The above story must have been also embarrassing for Muhammad's followers even when they gobbled mindlessly everything
he told them. So they made other hadithes to explain those verses of Quran that were already explained by Omar.
Sahih Muslim Book 009, Number 3496:
'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) narrated that Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) used to spend time with Zainab
daughter of Jahsh and drank honey at her house. She ('A'isha further) said: I and Hafsa agreed that one whom Allah's Apostle
(may peace be upon him) would visit first should say: I notice that you have an odour of the Maghafir (gum of mimosa). He (the
Holy Prophet) visited one of them and she said to him like this, whereupon he said: I have taken honey in the house of Zainab
bint Jabsh and I will never do it again. It was at this (that the following verse was revealed): 'Why do you hold to be forbidden
what Allah has made lawful for you... (up to). If you both ('A'isha and Hafsa) turn to Allah" up to:" And when the Holy Prophet
confided an information to one of his wives" (lxvi. 3). This refers to his saying: But I have taken honey.
Also Sahih Muslim Book 009, Number 3497:
Our Response:
These are authentic hadith that Ali Sina cannot deny. When there is a narration that supports his views, he accepts them and
if there is a narration that goes against his views, he accepts them. This is illogical.
Yusuf Ali in his commentary said...
66. 1:
C5529. The Prophet's household was not like other households. The Consorts of Purity were expected to hold a higher
standard in behaviour and reticence than ordinary women, as they had higher work to perform. See n. 3706 to xxxiii. 28. But
they were human beings after all, and were subject to the weaknesses of their sex, and they sometimes failed. The
commentators usually cite the following incident in connection with the revelation of these verses. It is narrated from 'Aisha, the
wife of the holy Prophet (peace be on him) by Bukhari, Muslim, Nasai. Abu Dawud and others that the holy Prophet usually
visited all his wives daily after 'Asr Prayer. Once it so happened that he stayed longer than usual at the quarters of Zainab bint
Jahsh, for she had received from somewhere some honey which the holy Prophet liked very much. "At this", says 'Aisha, "I felt
jealous, and Hafsa, Sawda, Safiya, and I agreed among ourselves that when he visits us each of us would tell him that a
peculiar odour came from his mouth as a result of what he had eaten, for we knew that he was particularly sensitive to
offensive smells". So when his wives hinted at it, he vowed that he would never again use honey. Thereupon these verses
were revealed reminding him that he should not declare to himself unlawful that which Allah had made lawful to him. The
important point to bear in mind is that he was at once rectified by revelation, which reinforces the fact that the prophets are
always under divine protection, and even the slightest lapse on their part is never left uncorrected.
C5530. The tender words of admonition addressed to the Consorts in xxxiii. 28-34 explain the situation far better than any
comments can express. If the holy Prophet had been a mere husband in the ordinary sense of the term, he could not have
held the balance even between his private feelings and his public duties. But he was not an ordinary husband, and he
abandoned his renunciation on his realisation of the higher duties with which he was charged, and which required conciliation
with firmness.
Source: Yusuf Ali's Commentary from QuranTrans
What does it mean when it says "O Prophet! Why do you ban (for yourself) that which Allâh has made lawful to you, seeking to
please your wives? And Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. "?
Here is what Ibn Kathir says...
Al-Bukhari recorded that `Ubayd bin `Umayr said that he heard `A'ishah claiming that Allah's Messenger used to stay for a
period in the house of Zaynab bint Jahsh and drink honey in her house. (She said) "Hafsah and I decided that when the
Prophet entered upon either of us, we would say, `I smell Maghafir on you. Have you eaten Maghafir' When he entered upon
one of us, she said that to him. He replied (to her),
No, but I drank honey in the house of Zaynab bint Jahsh, and I will never drink it again.)'' Then the following was
revealed
(O Prophet! Why do you fobid that which Allah has allowed to you) up to
(If you both turn in repentance to Allah, your hearts are indeed so inclined;) in reference to `A'ishah and Hafsah.
(Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Source)
What does it mean that the Prophet disclosed something in secret? Here's what Ibn Kathir states:
And (remember) when the Prophet disclosed a matter in confidence to one of his wives,) which refers to this saying
(But I have drunk honey.) Ibrahim bin Musa said that Hisham said that it also meant his saying,
(I will not drink it anymore, I have taken an oath to that. Therefore, do not inform anybody about it.) (Tafsir Ibn Kathir,
Source)
Ali Sina said:
First of all honey does not smell bad.
Our Response:
Sina is correct in the sense in that honey does not smell bad. But the hadith he quoted does not say that. It says that
mughafir, which the hadith tells us is the gum of the Mimosa tree, smells bad.
For the evidence see what Ibn Kathir says...
Al-Bukhari also recorded this Hadith in the Book of Divorce; then he said, "Al-Maghafir is a type of sap, and in Ar-Rimth (a type
of citrus) its taste is sweet...'' Al-Jawhari said, "The `Urfut is a tree of the shrub variety, which secretes Maghfur.'' Muslim
collected this Hadith from `A'ishah in the Book of Divorce in his Sahih, and his wording is the same as Al-Bukhari in the Book
of Vows. In the Book of Divorce, Al-Bukhari recorded that `A'ishah said, "Allah's Messenger liked sweets and honey. After
performing the `Asr prayer, he used to visit his wives, going close to them. So he went to Hafsah, daughter of `Umar, and
stayed with her more than his usual stay. I (`A'ishah) became jealous and asked about that. It was said to me, `A woman of her
family sent her a small vessel of honey as a gift, and she gave a drink to Allah's Messenger made from it.' I said, `By Allah, we
will contrive a plot against him.' I said to Sawdah bint Zam`ah, `When the Messenger visits you and draws close to you, say to
him, `Have you eaten Maghafir' And when he says to you, `No', then ask him, `What is this odor' He will say to you, `Hafsah
has given me a drink of honey.' Then you should say to him, `The honeybees might have eaten from Urfut, and I will also say
the same to him. Safiyyah, you should also say this.' Sawdah later said, `It was under compulsion that I had decided to state
that which you told me; soon, by Allah, he was standing at my door.' So when Allah's Messenger came near her, she said, `O
Messenger of Allah! Did you eat Maghafir' He said, `No.' She again said, `Then what is this odor' He said,
(Hafsah gave me honey to drink.) She said, `The honeybees might have eaten from `Urfut.')'' `A'ishah continued, "When he
came to me I said the same to him. He then visited Safiyyah and she also said similar to him. When he again visited Hafsah,
she said, `O Messenger of Allah, should I not give you that (drink)' He said,
(I do not need it.) Sawdah said, `By Allah! We have prevented him from drinking honey.' I said to her, `Keep quiet!''' Muslim
also recorded this Hadith, but this wording is from Al-Bukhari. In the narration of Muslim, `A'ishah said, "The Messenger of
Allah used to hate to have a bad odor coming from him'' This is why they suggested to him that he ate Maghafir, because it
causes a bad odor. When he said,
(No, I had some honey.) They said that the bees ate from a tree that is called Al-`Urfut, which has Maghafir gum,
suggesting that this is the reason behind the bad odor they claimed was coming from him. The latter narration,
collected through `Urwah from `A'ishah, mentions that it was Hafsah who gave the Prophet the honey. In another narration
collected from `Ubayd bin `Umayr, from `A'ishah, it was Zaynab bint Jahsh who gave the honey to the Prophet , while `A'ishah
and Hafsah were the plotters. Allah knows best. Some might say that they were two separate incidents. However, it is not likely
that the Ayat were revealed about both incidents, if indeed they were two separate incidents. Allah knows best. A Hadith that
Imam Ahmad collected in the Musnad mentions that `A'ishah and Hafsah were the plotters. Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn
`Abbas said, "I was eager to ask `Umar about the two ladies among the wives of the Prophet , about whom Allah said,
Ali Sina said:
But above all it is inconceivable that a trivial incident like drinking honey could cause such an upheaval in the household of the
prophet to the extend that he decides to divorce all of his wives or to punish them for one month by not sleeping with them.
Our Response:
It wasn't the drinking of honey that caused the Prophet (peace be upon him) to become displeased with his wives, but the
jealousy displayed by them because they felt he was giving too much attention to Zainab, and their secret plotting against him
in order to make him spend less time with her.
Conclusion:
We come to the closing of the article, but we tend to ask ourselves, WAS IT ALL JUST BECAUSE OF HONEY?? No, it wasn't, it
was more. As you can read, Allah Almighty made it clear in the Holy Quran in Sura At-Tahrim :
If you two (wives of the Prophet SAW, namely 'Aishah and Hafsah turn in repentance to Allâh, (it will be better for you), your
hearts are indeed so inclined (to oppose what the Prophet SAW likes), but if you help one another against him (Muhammad
SAW), then verily, Allâh is his Maula (Lord, or Master, or Protector, etc.), and Jibrael (Gabriel), and the righteous among the
believers, and furthermore, the angels are his helpers.
That the Wives of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) conspired against him in this case. They were inclined to oppose
what the Prophet (peace be upon him) liked, in this case, honey, and lied to him. Again, the main reason why the Prophet got
mad was because Hafsah broke her promise and as I showed in the hadith earlier, breaking one's promise is a major sin in
Islam.
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