Maria al-Qibtiyya

Maria bint Sham'ûn, better known as Maria al-Qibtiyya (Arabic: مارية القبطية‎) (alternatively, "Maria Quptiyah"), or Maria the Copt, (died 637) was an Egyptian Coptic slave who was gifted to the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 628 by Muqawqis the Copt, the Christian ruler of Egypt at the time. She converted to Islam on the way to Al-Madinah to marry the prophet and later bore a son, Ibrahim who died in childhood, and then she died almost five years later.

She was not the prophet's wife, but his concubine. As Islamic law allows marital relations with ones wives who are given their dowry, and legally-acquired concubines, as both wives and concubines are considered part of one's household. She is also not mentioned in Ibn-Hisham's notes on Ibn-Ishaq's biography where he lists the wives of Muhammad. Despite this, she enjoyed a special status in the prophetic Household, in that she followed the same laws of modesty and hijab as the Mothers of the believers (wives) did, she later observed the same etiquette and lifestyle as a widow, and was treated in a similarly generous way by the Caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar. According to Sunni Islam, all of the prophet's wives in this world, and Mariya the Mother of his son, are eternally his wives in paradise. Her sister, Sirin, was also sent to Muhammad, who gave her to his follower Hassan ibn Thabit.