Did the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) free Mariya before marrying her

Dear Brother / Sister,

Mariya (ra) stayed with the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as his concubine and became the mother of Ibrahim (Abraham).

“O Prophet! We have made lawful to thee thy wives to whom thou hast paid their dowers; and those whom thy right hand possesses out of the prisoners of war whom Allah has assigned to thee…” (al-Ahzab, 33/50)

In the verse above, the women who were halal for the Prophet are stated as two groups: the free women whose mahrs were given and the concubines who were included in the booty of war.

It is understood from the verse above that the Prophet (pbuh) took some concubines into his family. According to the information given by the sources, among the concubines the Prophet (pbuh) took as war booty, he freed Safiyya and Juwayriyya - by giving them mahr - and married them as free women. He included Rayhana and Mariya, who was given to him as a gift by the Egyptian ruler Muqawqis, in his family as concubines (see Ibn Kathir, Mawardi, Baghawi, Samarqandi, Qasimi, Ibn Ashur, Alusi, Maraghi, the interpretation al-Ahzab, 50; Qurtubi, al-Ahzab: interpretation al-Ahzab 28-29).

Regarding the issue that Mariya was included in the family of the Prophet (pbuh) as a concubine, (see Tabari, Samarqandi, Ibn Juzay, Razi, the interpretation of at-Tahrim, 1).

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