The Prophet of Sensuality and Inconsistency

The Case of Maria The Copt

It is no secret to anyone that has studied Islam that Muhammad is depicted as a sex-crazed womanizer, whose sexual prowess was praised by his followers. For the details check out the following post: Muhammad the Womanizing Sensualist

In fact, Muhammad’s sexual lusts even led him to go against his own instructions.

For instance, Muhammad taught that a person who frees his slave girl and marries her would receive a double reward:

Narrated Abu Musa:

Allah’s Messenger said, “He who has a slave-girl and educates and treats her nicely and then manumits and marries her, will get a double reward.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 46, Hadith 720 https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=46&translator=1&start=0&number=720)

And yet instead of following his advice, Muhammad chose not to free his slave-girls but to keep them as his sex slaves, as in the case of Maria the Copt:

(O Prophet! Lo! We have made lawful unto thee thy wives unto whom thou hast paid their dowries, and those whom thy right hand possesseth) Maria the Copt (of those whom Allah hath given thee as spoils of war, and the daughters of thine uncles on the father’s side) and it is lawful for you to marry the daughters of your paternal uncle (and the daughters of thine aunts on the father’s side) from the Banu ‘Abd al-Muttalib, (and the daughters of thine uncles on the mother’s side) from the Banu ‘Abd Manaf Ibn Zahrah (who emigrated with thee) from Mecca to Medina, (and a believing woman) who believes in Allah’s divine Oneness: i.e. Umm Sharik Bint Jabir al-‘Amiriyyah (if she give herself unto the Prophet and the Prophet desire to ask her in marriage, a privilege for thee only) and a dispensation for you only, (not for the (rest of) believers. We are aware of that which We enjoined upon them) what We have made lawful for and enjoined upon the believers (concerning their wives) concerning marrying up to four wives after giving them their dowry and making a proper marriage contract (and those whom their right hands possess) without limit (that thou mayst be free from blame) regarding marrying that which Allah has made lawful for you to marry, (for Allah is Forgiving) of that which has ensued from you, (Merciful) regarding that which He made a dispensation for you. (Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs, Q. 33:50 https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=33&tAyahNo=50&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2; bold emphasis mine)

(It is not allowed thee to take (other) women) to marry other women (henceforth) after explaining these criteria; it is also said this means: after your nine wives: ‘A’ishah the daughter of Abu Bakr, Hafsah the daughter of ‘Umar, Zaynab Bint Jahsh al-Asdiyyah, Umm Salamah Bint Abi Umayyah al-Makhzumi, Umm Habibah Bint Abi Sufyan Ibn Harb, Safiyyah Bint Huyayy Ibn Akhtab, Maymunah Bint al-Harth al-Hilaliyyah, Sawdah Bint Zam’ah Ibn al-Aswad and Juwayriyyah Bint al-Harith al-Mustaliqiyyah, (nor that thou shouldst change them for other wives) among those I explained amongst the daughters of your uncles and aunts (even though their beauty pleased thee) you are not allowed to marry them, (save those whom thy right hand possesseth) Maria the Copt. (And Allah is Watcher over all things) and Allah is Guardian over all things. (Ibid., Q. 33:52 https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=33&tAyahNo=52&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2; bold emphasis mine)

Women are not lawful for you read lā tahillu or lā yahillu beyond that beyond the nine that have chosen you as their husband nor is it lawful for you to change tabaddala one of the two original tā’ letters of tatabaddala has been omitted them for other wives by divorcing them or some of them and marry in place of those whom you divorce even though their beauty impress you except those whom your right hand owns of slavegirls which is in contrast lawful for you. In addition to these slavegirls the Prophet came to own Māriya the Copt. She bore for him Ibrāhīm who died during his lifetime. And God is Watcher over Preserver of all things. (Tafsir al-Jalalayn https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=33&tAyahNo=52&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2; bold emphasis mine)

An Account of the Messenger of God’s
Slave Concubines

They were Mariyah bt. Sham‘un, the Copt, and Rayhanah bt. Zayd al-Quraziyyah who, it is said, was of the Banu al-Nadir. An account of them has been given above. (The History of Al-Tabari: The Last years of the Prophet, translated and annotated by Ismail K. Poonawala [State University of New York Press (SUNY), Albany, NY 1990], Volume IX, p. 141; bold emphasis mine)

The Messenger of God also had a eunuch called Mabur, who was presented to him by al-Muqawqis WITH TWO SLAVE GIRLS, ONE OF THEM WAS CALLED MARIYAH, WHOM HE TOOK AS A CONCUBINE, and the other [was called] Sirin, whom he gave to Hassan b. Thabit after Safwan b. al-Mu‘attal had committed an offense against him. Sirin gave birth to a son called ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Hassan. Al-Muqawqis had sent this eunuch with the two slave girls in order to escort them and guard them on their way [to Medina]. He presented them to the Messenger of God when they arrived. It is said that he was the one [with whom] Mariyah was accused of [wrongdoing], and that the Messenger of God sent ‘Ali to kill him. When he saw ‘Ali and what he intended to do with him, he uncovered himself until it became evident to ‘Ali that he was completely castrated, not having anything left at all of what men [normally] have, so [Ali] refrained from killing him. (Ibid., p. 147; capital emphasis mine)

And:

Mariyah, the Prophet’s CONCUBINE and the mother of his son, Ibrahim.

Al-Muqawqas, lord of Alexandria, gave her with her sister Sirin and other things as a present to the Prophet.

According to Ibn ‘Umar [al-Waqidi] – Ya‘qub b. Muhammad b. Abi Sa‘sa‘ah – ‘Abdallah b. ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Sa‘sa‘ah: In the year 7/May 11, 628-April 30, 629, al-Muqawqas, lord of Alexandria, sent to the Prophet Mariyah, her sister Sirin, a thousand gold coins, twenty fine robes, his mule Duldul, and his donkey ‘Ufayr, or Ya‘fur. With them was Mariyah’s brother, a very old eunuch called Mabur. Al-Muqawqas sent all this [to the Prophet] with Hatib b. Abi Balta‘ah. The latter suggested to Mariyah that she embrace Islam and made her wish to do so; thus she and her sister were converted, whereas the eunuch adhered to his religion until he was [also] converted later in Medina, while the Prophet was [still] alive.

The Prophet admired Umm Ibrahim, who was fair-skinned and beautiful. He lodged her in al-‘Aliyah, at the property nowadays called of Umm Ibrahim. He used to visit her there and ordered her to veil herself, [but] he had intercourse with her BY VIRTUE OF HER BEING HIS PROPERTY… (The History of Al-Tabari: Biographies of the Prophet’s Companions and Their Successors, translated by Ella Landau-Tasseron [State University of New York Press (SUNY) Albany, NY 1998], Volume XXXIX, pp. 193-194; capital emphasis mine)

845. That is, Mariyah was ordered to veil herself as did the Prophet’s wives, BUT HE DID NOT MARRY HER… (Ibid., p. 194; capital emphasis mine)

<those (slaves) whom your right hand possesses whom Allah has given to you,> means, ‘the slave-girls whom you took from the war booty are also permitted to you.’ He owned Safiyyah and Juwayriyah, then he manumitted them and married them, AND HE OWNED Rayhanah bint Sham`un An-Nadariyyah AND MARIYAH AL-QIBTIYYAH, the mother of his son Ibrahim, upon him be peace; THEY WERE BOTH AMONG THE PRISONERS, may Allah be pleased with them. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir http://www.alim.org/library/quran/AlQuran-tafsir/TIK/33/50; capital emphasis mine)

Besides these, the Prophet HAD TWO CONCUBINES. The first was Mariyah Bintu Sham’un the Coptic, Umm Ibraheem. She was a present from Al-Muqawqis, the commander of Alexandria and Egypt, along with her sister Shereen, a horse named Mabur and a mare named Adduldul. The Prophet offered Shereen to Hassan Ibn Thabit and she gave birth to their son Abderahman. Mariyah died in the month of Muharram in year 16 A.H. and it was Omar Ibn Al-Khattab who assembled people for her funeral, performed Salat for her and buried her in Al-Baqee’. As for the second concubine, she was Rahanah Bintu ‘Amru, and it was said Bintu Zaid, he chose her among the captives from Bani Quraidha, and he later set her free to join her people. (The Seerah of Prophet of Muhammad (S.A.W.), abridged by Muhammad Ali Al-Halabi Al-Athari [Al-Firdous Ltd., London, 2001: First Edition], Part II, pp. 32-33; capital emphasis mine)

In fact, Muhammad’s lust for Maria was so great that he even had his deity justify his violating his promise to never sleep with her again after dishonoring one of his wives by having sex with Maria on the day assigned to that specific spouse, in the house and on the very bed of that particular wife!

For example, the Muslim sources state that surah 66 was “revealed” to bail Muhammad out from another problem he caused for himself, due to his inability to control his lustful passions. According to the Islamic tradition, Muhammad would apportion certain days to specific wives or sex slaves that he so desired. On those days Muhammad was supposed to limit himself to that particular wife, and not visit any other.

When the day came for Muhammad to spend time with Hafsah, the daughter of Umar bin al-Khattab, Muhammad’s wife decided to visit her father. Muhammad took this as an opportunity to bring his sex-slave Maria the Copt to Hafsah’s home in order to have sex with her. When Hafsah returned she caught Muhammad with concubine in her home and on her bed.

Suffice it to say, Hafsah was livid and caused a scene. In order to diffuse the situation, Muhammad swore an oath to never sleep with his concubine again and banish her to a house in the outskirts of Medina to be left there all alone, as long as Hafsah promised to tell no one about what had happened. He specifically ordered her not to share this scandal with his childbride, Aisha. Though she had sworn not to do so, Hafsah couldn’t help herself and ended up telling Aisha anyway. This upset Muhammad so much that he threatened to divorce all his wives and swore not to touch any of them for a whole month.

Once again, Muhammad’s god rushed to defend his “prophet”, severely reprimanding the wives, specifically Hafsah and Aisha, for annoying the “messenger”, and gave Muhammad the authority to dissolve the oath he took to never have sex with his concubine Maria.

Lest a Muslim accuse me of making this up, note how the following Muslim expositors explained the historical background of surah 66:

O Prophet! Why do you prohibit what God has made lawful for you, in terms of your Coptic handmaiden Māriya – when he lay with her in the house of Hafsa, who had been away, but who upon returning [and finding out] became upset by the fact that this had taken place in her own house and on her own bed – by saying, ‘She is unlawful for me!’, seeking, by making her unlawful [for you], to please your wives? And God is Forgiving, Merciful, having forgiven you this prohibition. (Tafsir al-Jalalayn http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=66&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0; bold emphasis mine)

Verily God has prescribed, He has made lawful, for you [when necessary] the absolution of your oaths, to absolve them by expiation, as mentioned in the sūrat al-Mā’ida [Q. 5:89] and the forbidding of [sexual relations with] a handmaiden counts as an oath, so did the Prophet expiate? Muqātil [b. Sulaymān] said, ‘He set free a slave [in expiation] for his prohibition of Māriya’; whereas al-Hasan [al-Basrī] said, ‘He never expiated, because the Prophet has been forgiven [all errors]’. And God is your Protector, your Helper, and He is the Knower, the Wise. (Tafsir al-Jalalayn http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=66&tAyahNo=2&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0; bold emphasis mine)

For more on this scandal, I suggest reading the following post: Allah Abdul-Muhammad (“Slave of Muhammad”) Pt. 2

Hence, instead of following his own counsel by freeing and marrying Maria, Muhammad chose to keep her as his sex slave. As if this weren’t pitiful enough, Muhammad’s lust for her even caused him to use his god to allow him to violate the oath he made to Hafsa that he would never have sex with his concubine again.

Muhammad truly was a sexual deviant who appealed to his lord to permit him to indulge his perverted sexual fantasies such as prostituting women under the guise of temporary marriage, raping captive women, even married ones, lusting for and marrying his adopted son’s wife, etc.

Further Reading

Muhammad’s Christian Sex-Slave

Muhammad’s Adulterous Lust for a Married Woman

Was Mariya the Wife or Concubine of the Prophet?

More of Muhammad’s Inconsistencies

Muhammad’s Multiple Marriages: A Dawagandist Seeks to Defend the Indefensible

Muhammad’s Multiplicity of Marriages

An Examination of Muhammad’s Marriage Privileges

Muhammad and the treatment of wives

Never Shall He Be Satisfied: Responding to one Muslim Polemicist’s Defense of Muhammad’s Multiple Marriages

A Muslim Greenhorn’s War Against Allah and His “Messenger” [Part 1]

A Muslim Greenhorn’s War Against Allah and His “Messenger” [Part 2]