Miss Maria Qibityya , the wife of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and (the)daughter of Qibityya Simon, was born by a Roman mother in Hafan village of Ansnay region of Egypt.

The holy Prophet (pbuh) in the sixth year of migration sent ambassadors to foreign countries and in His letters invited rulers of those countries to Islam. Messenger of Allah also sent Hateb ibn Abi Balteh to Maquqs, the ruler of Egypt, and invited him to Islm. Letters of the Holy Prophet were saying: "In the Name of Allah,from Mohammed bin Abdullah to the great Maquqs of Egypt, greetings to the(true) followers, and then I invite you to accept the religion of Islam. If you do so, Allah will reward you double returns, otherwise you shall bear the sin of all Qibites. "

Considering the stamp and signature of the Holy Prophet, Maquqs read the letter. He then placed it in a container of ivory and asked Hateb ibn Abi Balteh to talk about the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and his lifestyle and characters. Hateb ibn Abi Balteh did so. Maquqs thought a little and then said: "I thought the last prophet, will come from Shaam where the prophets appeared, while I see that he has risen from al-Arab peninsula,(so) Qibites will not obey him."

Then, he ordered his secretary to (prepare a letter) as he wished: "But then I read your letter and what were written (in) it, and I understood it and heard your invitation. But I believed that the last prophet comes from Shaam. I will respect your messenger and will send you two bondwomen of large land of Qiibite with clothes and horse, (along with him) Valsalam ".

Maquqs delivered the reply to Hateb and offered an apology for the Qibites’s refusal of the invitation to Islam and asked him to(cover up) what he had seen and heard in Qibite. Hateb returned to the (holy) Prophet (pbuh) while bringing two bondwomen named Maria and Syrin together with thousand ounces of gold with twenty Egyptian costumes and a gray mule and some honey and perfume.

Young girls , Maria and Syrin were distressed because of getting away from their homeland. Thus, he narrated the stories of myths, Mecca and Hejaz. Then he recited some points of Islam and the (holy) Prophet (pbuh). Hearing the attributes of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and the goodness of Islam, they felt happy and were pleased by Islam and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Then, they converted to Islam and pondered about an idea of a new life. They arrived Medina in the seventh year of Hijra; then the (holy) Prophet (pbuh) had newly returned from Hodaybieh.

(The Holy)Prophet (pbuh), received the letters and gifts (that were) sent by Moquqs. He got married with Maria and Hesan ebne Sabet, who was the famous poet and scholar, took Syrin as his wife. then he delivered a son named Abdul Rahman, the (holy)Prophet (pbuh) distributed gifts among the Companions.

The news distributed among the wives of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) that a woman of Nile land was gifted to the Prophet and he resided her in the house of Hares ebne Naman, in(nearness) of the mosque.

Within one year,Miss Marieh was satisfied with the(position that) she acquired before the (holy) prophet comparing to her past life. The (holy) prophet was also very gratified with this woman, because she was doing her best to delight the prophet. In her relationship with the Prophet she was sincere, virtuous and fully obedient to the orders of the prophet, because the Prophet was her husband and ma’ola (guardian).

Maria and Hajar

Miss Maria was really fascinated with the story of Hajar, Abraham and Ismail (a.s) and she has heared them repeatedly how the Almighty Allah helped Hajar while she was alone in Hejaz land. The Almighty Allah bestowed a Grauting the Zamzam well, a new life to Hajar, He knew that the life of Hajar would remain in history, and her jogging between Safa and Marveh Mountains would turn into one of the rituals (practice) of Hajj.

Lady Maria was usually thinking of her similarities to that of the Hajar that is they both were bondwoman. Hajar was granted to Ibrahim by Sareh and Lady Maria was granted to the (holy) Prophet by the Maquqs, the only difference was that Hajar was the mother of Ismail and Maria had no child from the(holy) Prophet.

After the demise of Hazrat Khadijeh, the Prophet had no child of his wives, only Hazrat Khadijeh had six children; namely, Qasem, Zeinab, Roghayeh, Ome kolsum, Fatemeh and Abdollah (a.s), sons of whom died during infancy.

Birth of Abraham

At one night in the eight year of Hijra, Lady Maria found herself pregnant. The news came to the Prophet, he became very happy and made a thank to Allah.

Abraham was born in the month of Zelhajeh. His midwife, “ Salameh”, gave the news to her husband, “ Abu Rafe”, then he came to the Prophet (pbuh) and broke the news of the newly born infant. The Prophet (pbuh) granted a bondwoman to him and the infant was named Abraham, taken from the name of the great grand father, Abraham Khalilollah (a.s). On the seventh day of Birth, a sheep was slaughtered (aqiqeh) for Abraham. The infant’s hair was shaved and the amount of its weight, silver (was) spent for the poor in the way of Allah.

Abraham was greatly adored by the Prophet. Anas ebne Malek says:

“ when Abraham was born, Gabriel (came to) the prophet saluting in this way ‘ Assalamoalayk ya Aba Abraham’(my salutation to you O’ the father of Abraham’)

The(Holy) Prophet (PBUH), upon the birth of the Abraham, stated that “ last night I had a child who I named him(,abraham) after my father.

Ansar women who were fully informed (about) the love of the Prophet to Miss Maria had been competing to suckle Abraham, because they intended to get close to (miss) Maria. The midwife of Abraham was given to “Om bardey khole daughter of Monzer ebne Zeid”.

The (holy) Prophet (pbuh) was happily(pleased) by witnessing seeing his growing up. Once the Holy Prophet who(was) out (doing) do something, was informed (about) the devastating state of his child, Abraham, and returned home,took him from the bosom of his mother while his grief was completely remarkable on his face, he stated:

يا إبراهِيم لَو لا اَنَّهُ اَمْرٌ حَقٌّ وَوَعْدٌ صِدقٌ ، وَأنَّ آخِرَنا سَيَلْحَقُ بِأوَّلِنا ، لَحَزِنّا عَلَيْكَ حُزْناً هُوَ اَشَدُّ مِنْ هذا ، تَدْمَعُ الْعَيْنُ وَ يَحْزَنُ الْقَلْبُ وَ لا نَقُولُ إلاّ ما يَرضي رَبَّنا وَاللهُ يا إبْراهِيم ، إنّا بِكَ لَمَحْزُونُون.

“ O’ Abraham! If death were not a (real fact) and the true promise of Allah and we were not supposed(to return) to the first (position), we would become(so unhappy, the eyes are crying and the heart is very sad, but (we) would say nothing (because of ) (pleasing) the Creator. However, you shall know that we are saddened of missing you and your death.”

Some people (complained) the Prophet that “O’ Messenger of Allah, (do you forbid us of crying)?” The Prophet (pbuh) stated that “No, I have not forbidden you to cry for the death of your beloved ones. Because crying is a sign of kindness and compassion and whoever has no sympathy towards others would not be compassioned by the Almighty Allah.

(any way), the(Holy) Prophet (pbuh) ordered to wash (the dead body of Abraham), embalm and shroud (It). Then, they took (it) Baqi Cemetery and buried in a place which is now called “Abraham Grave”.

(when Abraham was died) an eclipse happened and peoples of Medina were saying: ‘solar eclipse occurred due to the death of Abraham. The Prophet went on the pulpit and addressed the people to (improve) this mistake and fight against these superstitions as follows:

اَيُّهَا النّاس إنَّ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ آيَتانِ مِنْ آيات ِاللهِ لاتَخْسِفانِ لِمَوْتِ اَحَدٍ وَلا لِحَياتِهِ.

“O’ people, sun and moon are the two signs of the power of Almighty Allah and they are ordained by Him and would not cry for the death of anybody.

In another narration it reads:

إنَّ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ لايَنْكَسِفانِ لِمَوْتِ اَحَدٍ وَلا لِحَياتِهِ فَإذا رَأيْتُمْ فَصَلُّوا وَادْعُوا الله.

“Verily, the sun and the moon do not eclipse for the death and life of anybody, therefore, when you face it, you shall start praying.”

Lady Maria was very sad of this disaster and kept mourning for Abraham:

“Oh Abraham, You were my son who have still been suckled, from now on angels will suckle you in Paradise.”

After this catastrophe, Lady Maria became home bound, whenever the Prophet visited her she was continuously saying, “We are from the Almighty Allah and we would return to Him”

"اِنّا لِلّه وَاِنّا اِلَيهِ راجِعُون"

Lady Maria was among the wives(was respected) by the Prophet and she was interested in Hazrat Zahra (a.s). For Lady Maria convenience, the Prophet (pbuh) made her home in a garden near Medina named Mashrabeye “Om Abraham”.

Lady Maria and her life with the Messenger of Allah

The first house of Omol-momenin Maria was the house of Hares ebne Naman. She lived in that house for a year and then as she asked for movement to another place, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), inhabited her in the upper part of Medina in a small groves of their properties owned through Bani Nazir Battle called “ Mashrabeye Ome Abraham”. Lady Maria lived there in the summer and the season of date harvesting and Prophet (pbuh) used to go there to visit her. Some time after the settlement of Lady Maria in “Mashrabeye Ome Abraham”, in Zel Hajjeh of the eight year of Hijrah Abraham, son of Prophet (pbuh) was born.

Interest of Ahlulbait ( AS) in Lady Maria

Hazrat Ali (a.s) and Fatemeh Zahra (a.s) paid a special heed to Lady Maria. It is said when Abraham was born Ali (a.s) became very happy. He has always been supportive of Lady Maria, and he himself was dealing with her issues. He had a special prejudice with Lady Maria.

Moral Characteristics

Maria was a lady of virtue, religion, benevolence, and worthy. She was much adored by the Prophet (pbuh), appraised for her being religious by historians. The prophet (pbuh), in a sense expressed his love in this Lady as follows:

“When you conquered Egypt, treat them properly, because I am their son- in- law.”

Maria’s Life after the Demise of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh)

After the demise of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh), Abubakir established pensions for her and its payment continued during the term of second Caliph.

Her Demise

In the end, she passed away during the term of second caliph in Muharram (sixteenth) year of Hijra. Omarebne Khattab called peoples for her funeral and prayed for her. She was buried in Baqi Cemetry.

Contributed by : Sheila Maaleki Dizaji