When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent emissaries to rulers, he dispatched Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a to Al-Muqawqis, the ruler of Alexandria (whose name was Juraij ibn Mina) in the seventh year of Hijra. Al-Muqawqis gifted the Prophet ﷺ Maria the Copt and her sister Shirin. The Prophet ﷺ chose Maria for himself, while he gifted Shirin to Hassan ibn Thabit, who fathered a son with her, Abd al-Rahman ibn Hassan.
Lady Maria the Copt, the Mother of Ibrahim:
Maria was the daughter of Sham'oon. She was gifted to the Prophet ﷺ by Al-Muqawqis, the ruler of Alexandria, in the seventh year of Hijra. She hailed from a village in Egypt called Hafn. During the rule of Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, he exempted the people of this village from paying taxes as a mark of honor for her, as she bore a male child from the Prophet ﷺ, Ibrahim (peace be upon him). The Messenger of Allah ﷺ kept her as a bondwoman and made her wear hijab. Maria became pregnant, giving birth to the Prophet's ﷺ son, Ibrahim. Upon Ibrahim's birth, the Prophet ﷺ said, "She is freed by her child." She passed away during the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) in Muharram of the year 16 AH. Umar personally gathered people for her funeral, prayed over her, and she was buried in Al-Baqi.
The Prophet ﷺ's Tears for His Son Ibrahim:
Al-Bukhari (1303) and Muslim (2315) narrate on the authority of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said:
"We entered with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ upon Abu Saif the blacksmith, who was a foster father to Ibrahim (peace be upon him). The Messenger of Allah ﷺ took Ibrahim, kissed him, and smelled him. Later, we entered again while Ibrahim was breathing his last. Tears flowed from the eyes of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him, 'Even you, O Messenger of Allah?' He ﷺ replied, 'O son of Awf, this is mercy.' Then, he followed it with another (tear or statement) and said, 'The eyes shed tears, and the heart grieves, but we do not say except what pleases our Lord. And indeed, we are saddened by your departure, O Ibrahim.'"
(Foster father refers to the husband of the wet nurse, Khawla bint al-Mundhir al-Ansariyyah. 'Tears flowed' means they ran down his cheeks. 'Even you?' means expressing emotions similar to others in times of loss. 'Followed it with another' refers to adding another tear or statement.)
The Death of the Prophet's Male Children in Childhood:
It was Allah's will—out of His infinite wisdom—that none of the Prophet's ﷺ male children lived to adulthood. This ensured that there would be no temptation for people to elevate them or falsely claim prophethood for them. Allah granted the Prophet ﷺ male offspring to complete his human nature and fulfill his natural desires for fatherhood, without diminishing his masculinity or providing detractors with a pretext. He then took them in childhood, offering solace to those without sons or those who lose them. It also served as a form of trial, for the most severely tested among people are the prophets, followed by the next best[1] .
[1] Nabawiyya fi Daw' al-Qur'an wa al-Sunna) by Dr. Muhammad Abu Shahba (1/224).
