Ibrāhīm. Her midwife was Salmā, the freedwoman of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. She went out to her husband, Abū Rāfiʿ, and told him that she had given birth to a boy. Abū Rāfiʿ then came to the Messenger of Allah and conveyed the good news, whereupon the Prophet presented him with a young slave-boy (1). The wives of the Messenger of Allah grew jealous, and their jealousy intensified once she had borne him a child.

The ḥadīth master Abū al-Ḥasan al-Dāraqutnī (2) narrated—from Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Ismāʿīl, from Ziyād ibn Ayyūb, from Saʿīd ibn Zakariyyā al-Madāʾinī, from Ibn Abī Sārah (3), from ʿIkrima, from Ibn ʿAbbās—who said: When Māriyah gave birth, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Her child has set her free.” Al-Dāraqutnī then remarked, “Ziyād ibn Ayyūb is the sole transmitter of this report, and he is trustworthy.” Ibn Mājah (4) also recorded it—through the narration of Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās, from ʿIkrima, from Ibn ʿAbbās—with the same wording, and we have transmitted it (5) through another chain as well. We have devoted an independent monograph to this legal issue—the sale of slave-mothers—in which we listed the scholars’ views, amounting to eight opinions, and cited the proofs for each. All praise and favor belong to Allah.

Yūnus ibn Bukayr (6) narrated—from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, from Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, from his father, from his grandfather ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib—who said: People spoke at length about Māriyah, the mother of Ibrāhīm, regarding a Coptic cousin of hers who used to visit her frequently. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Take this sword and go; if you find him with her, kill him.” I said, “O Messenger of Allah, when you send me, shall I be like a red-hot iron bar, allowing nothing to deter me until I carry out your command, or does the eyewitness see what the absent does not?” He replied, “The eyewitness sees what the absent does not.”

So I set off with the sword slung across me. I found him with her and drew the blade. When he saw me, he realized my intent; he climbed a date-palm, then threw himself on his back and raised his legs. Lo and behold, he was a eunuch—smooth, possessing nothing of what men possess, neither much nor little. I returned to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and informed him. He said, “Praise be to Allah, who has averted disgrace from the People of the House.”

Imām Aḥmad (8) said: Yahyā ibn Saʿīd narrated to us; Sufyān narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib narrated to me, from ʿAlī, who said: I said, “O Messenger of Allah, when you send me, shall I be like a red-hot iron bar, or does the eyewitness see…"