Refuting the Claim That the Prophet ﷺ Was Intimate with Mariyah in Hafsah's House on Her Day — The Correct Understanding of Surah At-Tahrim
The Mursal Narration Being Examined
Sa’id ibn Mansur and Al-Bayhaqi narrated on the authority of Hisham, on the authority of Ubaidah, on the authority of Ibrahim, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of Al-Dahhak:
That Hafsah (RA), the Mother of the Believers, visited her father one day — and it was her day. When the Prophet ﷺ came and did not see her in the house, he sent for his slave girl Mariyah al-Qibtiyyah and had intercourse with her in Hafsah’s house. Hafsah came in that state and said: “O Messenger of Allah, are you doing this in my house on my day?” He said: “It is forbidden to me — do not tell anyone about it.” So Hafsah went to Aisha and told her about it, and Allah revealed in His Book: {O Prophet, why do you forbid what Allah has made lawful for you?} until His saying {and the righteous believers} — and He ordered him to atone for his oath and return to his slave girl.
The Ruling on This Narration
This narration is mursal — as can be seen from its chain — meaning it is not authentic. With such narrations they attack and incite, without deliberation or knowledge.
The Two Authentic Narrations
In order to know the story correctly, it is important to stop at the authentic and proven narrations and then build on them the correct understanding of the issue.
First Authentic Narration
Grade: Its chain of transmission is authentic — as stated by Al-Shawkani in Al-Durari al-Mudhiyyah, p. 225.
Second Authentic Narration
Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned in his tafsir: Al-Haytham ibn Kulayb said in his Musnad: Abu Qilabah Abdul Malik ibn Muhammad al-Raqashi told us, Muslim ibn Ibrahim told us, Jarir ibn Hazim told us, on the authority of Ayoub, on the authority of Nafi’, on the authority of Ibn Umar, on the authority of Umar (RA):
Grade: This is a sound chain of transmission. None of the authors of the six books narrated it. It was chosen by Al-Hafiz Al-Dhiya’ Al-Maqdisi in his Al-Mustakhraj.
What the Authentic Narrations Establish — and What They Do Not
As can be seen by the intelligent observer: the two authentic narrations do not contain any mention that this happened in Hafsah’s house, nor on her day, nor on her bed. The narrations did not say this. Look twice and see if you find something like this in these two narrations.
What is correct from the narrations is that the Prophet ﷺ used to come to Mariyah, so Lady Hafsah and Lady Aisha (may God be pleased with them) became jealous, so they kept pressing him until he forbade her to himself, and told Lady Hafsah (may God be pleased with her) not to tell anyone that the Prophet ﷺ had forbidden Mariyah to himself. This was a secret between him and her — but she told Lady Aisha (may God be pleased with her) about it, and God revealed the verses of Surah At-Tahrim, according to those who said that the reason for the revelation of the verses was this story.
It is not correct that this happened on Hafsah’s day, nor in her house, nor on her bed. This has not been proven and is not correct.
What the Authentic Narrations Reveal About the Prophet’s ﷺ Character
The authentic narrations indicate the good morals of the Prophet ﷺ towards his wives and his good treatment of them — that he was pleased with them and was kind to them, out of mercy towards his wives and to please them. As Allah the Almighty said:
“O Prophet, why do you forbid what Allah has made lawful for you, seeking the approval of your wives? And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
He forbade himself from having intercourse with his female slave whom he loved and from whom he had his son and beloved Ibrahim — so he gave priority to what his wives wanted over what he himself wanted and loved. He forbade himself what he loved until his wives were satisfied. Is someone like this to be criticised? Is someone like this to be criticised for his morals?
The Stronger Narration — Aisha (RA) Herself About Honey
These kinds of narrations are called Mursal of a Sahabi, which may or may not be accepted depending on different factors. One of the factors which renders this narration non-acceptable is the second incident reported under the exegesis of the same verses of Quran 66:1–4 by Aisha (RA) herself, reported in the primary hadith books including Bukhari and Muslim:
- Sahih al-Bukhari 5267
- Sahih al-Bukhari 6691
- Sahih Muslim 1474b
- Sunan al-Nasa’i 3958
- Sunan Abi Dawud 3714
- And several other books
Grade: Sahih — Bukhari and Muslim
Imam al-Nasa’i himself wrote in Sunan al-Kubra after narrating this incident of Aisha (RA):
“This hadith has a very good chain of narration, and it is Sahih. This hadith of Aisha is about honey.”
It can be seen that this incident — reported with a stronger chain of narrators and in the primary books of hadith — contradicts the incident referred to in the mursal narration. In addition to this, this incident comes from a first-hand source, which is Aisha (RA) herself, as opposed to the Mursal of a Sahabi. Therefore, many exegetes have concluded that the narration of Bukhari correctly depicts the incident.
The Scholars’ Conclusions
Al-Qurtubi mentions the story of Aisha (RA) about honey, followed by the narrations that include Mariyah, then he writes:
“The most correct of these opinions is the first of them, and the weaker of them are the others.”
Ibn al-Arabi concludes:
“And the only authentic narration is that it was about honey, that the Prophet ﷺ drank it with Zainab (RA), and Aisha (RA) and Hafsah (RA) pretended to be offended by it. There occurred what occurred and the Prophet made an oath never to drink it again. He confided that to his wife and the verse was revealed regarding all of them.”
Conclusion
Hence on the basis of the above explanation and the factors mentioned therein, the first incident — the mursal narration placing the event in Hafsah’s house — cannot be accepted on academic grounds.
The mursal narration through Al-Dahhak is disconnected in its chain, contradicted by a stronger first-hand Sahih narration from Aisha (RA) herself preserved in Bukhari and Muslim, and rejected as the weaker opinion by both al-Qurtubi and Ibn al-Arabi.
Nasai 3959