Hafsa bint Umar

Hafsa bint Umar Mother of the Believers
حفصة بنت عمر
Born	c. 605 CE Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia (present-day KSA)
Died	Sha'ban 45 AH; October/November, c. 665(665-00-00) (aged 59–60) Medina, Hejaz, Arabia (historically Umayyad Caliphate)
Resting place	Al-Baqi Cemetery, Medina
Known for	Fourth wife of Prophet Muhammad
Spouses	Khunays ibn Hudhafa (m. 619/620 died August 624) Muhammad (m. 624/625; died 632)
Parents	ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (father) Zaynab bint Maẓʿūn (mother)
Relatives	List Abd Allah (full brother) Ubayd Allah (paternal half-brother) Asim (paternal half-brother) Zayd (paternal half-brother) Fatima (paternal aunt) Uthman (maternal uncle) Zayd (paternal uncle)
Family	Banu Adi (by birth) Ahl al-Bayt (by marriage)

Hafsa bint Umar (Arabic: حفصة بنت عمر, romanized: Ḥafṣa bint ʿUmar; c. 605–665) was the fourth wife of Muhammad and a daughter of the second caliph Umar (r. 634–644). In Islamic writings, her name is thus often prefixed by the title "Mother of the Believers" (Arabic: أمّ المؤمنين, romanized: ʾumm al-muʾminīn).

Early life

Hafsa was the daughter and eldest child of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab and Zaynab bint Maz'un. She was born "when Quraysh were building the House Kaʿbah, five years before the Prophet was sent," i.e., in 605.

Marriage

She was married to Khunays ibn Hudhafa but became a widow in August 624.

As soon as Hafsa had completed her waiting period, her father Umar offered her hand to Uthman ibn 'Affan, and thereafter to Abu Bakr; but they both refused her. When Umar went to Muhammad to complain about this, Muhammad replied, "Hafsa will marry one better than Uthman and Uthman will marry one better than Hafsa."

Muhammad married Hafsa in Sha'ban AH 3 (late January or early February 625). This marriage "gave the Prophet the chance of allying himself with this faithful follower," i.e., Umar, who now became his father-in-law.

Surat al-Tahrim

There are two stories related to the revelation of the opening verses of surat al-Tahrim. One is authentic according to imams al-Bukhari and Muslim and found in sahih Muslim 1474 and narrated by the prophet's wife Aisha. In this authentic narration, the prophet prevented himself from drinking honey to please his wives. The other narration is mursal and weak, narrated by Zaid ibn Aslam from the third generation who did not witness the event and found in Tafsir al-Tabari (who was known to record numerous kinds of narrations, both authentic and inauthentic, as a compendium for hadith scholars to peruse and criticize narrations). In this weak narration, the prophet was intimate with Maria al-Qibtiyya while Hafsa was away visiting her father, then asked him "in my home and on my bed?" when returning. He then made Maria forbidden upon himself to please Hafsa. Al-Qurtubi states that the first one is authentic and the second is weak.

Ibn Al-Arabi wrote in Ahkam al-Quran that: "Indeed, the only authentic narration is that it was about honey, that the Prophet drank it with Zainab, and Aisha and Hafsa 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."

Notable work

Uthman, when he became Caliph, used Hafsa's copy when he standardized the text of Qur'an. She is also said to have narrated sixty hadiths from Muhammad.

Death

She died in Sha'ban AH 45, i.e., in October or November 665. She is buried in Al-Baqi Cemetery next to the other Mothers of the Faithful.

Contrasting Views

Sunni View

Hafsa is seen as scholarly and inquisitive by the Sunnis. She is also respected as a Mother of The Believers.

Shi'a View

Due to the honey incident with the prophet, Shi'as disapprove of Hafsa and Aisha in this particular incident and cite the beginning of surat al-Tahreem and the accompanying hadith as evidence. But they do not curse them generally, which is extremism.

See also

• Companions of the Prophet

External links

• Story of Hafsa and Maria in Surat at-Tahrim

Sources

• Bagley, F. R. C. (1 February 2013). Twenty-three Years: A Study of the Prophetic Career of Mohammad. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-03041-4.
• Bosworth, C. E.; Donzel, E. van; Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch., eds. (1991). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Volume VI (Mahk-Mid): [Fasc. 99-114a]. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-08112-3. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
• Hassan, Riaz (2013). Islam and Society: Sociological Explorations. Melbourne University Publishing. ISBN 978-0-522-86256-0.
• Hekmat, Anwar (1997). Women and the Koran: The Status of Women in Islam. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-57392-162-6.
• Irving, Washington (2007). Mohammed. Wordsworth Editions. ISBN 978-1-84022-573-0.
• Morgan, Diane (12 November 2009). Essential Islam: A Comprehensive Guide to Belief and Practice. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-0-313-36026-8.
• Rodinson, Maxime (2 March 2021). Muhammad. New York Review of Books. ISBN 978-1-68137-493-2.
• Wherry, E. M. (4 July 2013). A Comprehensive Commentary on the Quran: Comprising Sale's Translation and Preliminary Discourse: Volume IV. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-39281-8.