Apparently, these two ladies did not trust their husband for fairplay.

Apparently, these two ladies did not trust their husband for fairplay. They thought that he was being partial to Zaynab - perhaps at their expense. If they had trusted him, they would not have hatched such a scheme. Abul Kalam Azad says that jealousy is an instinct of women, and it can overcome all other instincts in them. Ayesha, he says, was led by this very human instinct to improvise an artifice to make her husband spend less time with Zaynab than he was doing.

Muhammed Mustafa told these two ladies that he would not eat honey again. This must have pleased both of them because they probably believed that their plot was successful. But at this point, Revelation intervened and clinched the matter with the following verse: O PROPHET! WHY HOLDEST THOU TO BE FORBIDDEN THAT WHICH ALLAH HAS MADE LAWFUL TO THEE? THOU SEEKEST TO PLEASE THY CONSORTS. BUT ALLAH IS OFT-FORGIVING, MOST MERCIFUL. (Quran Majid.

Chapter 66; verse 1) Hadhrat Ayesha and Hadhrat Hafsa did not want their husband to eat honey, and he agreed not to, but then Allah Ta'ala Himself had to remind him that the consumption of honey was quite lawful, and that he ought not to deny himself the pleasure of eating it. Muhammed Mustafa, of course, returned to Zaynab's apartment and enjoyed honey as he had done before.

Mary the Copt In the year 10 A.H., the governor of Egypt, sent a slave girl called Mary the Copt to Medina to wait on Muhammed Mustafa. Mary soon won a place for herself in his affections and his home. He loved her and she also loved him. From her, he had a son whom he called Ibrahim. Ibrahim was born late in the life of his father. The father, therefore, loved him immensely. Ibrahim was a special gift which Allah bestowed upon His slaves, Muhammed Mustafa and Mary the Copt.

TO GOD BELONGS THE DOMINION OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH. HE CREATES WHAT HE WILLS (AND PLANS). HE BESTOWS (CHILDREN) MALE OR FEMALE ACCORDING TO HIS WILL (AND PLAN), OR HE BESTOWS BOTH MALES AND FEMALES, AND HE LEAVES BARREN WHOM HE WILL: FOR HE IS FULL OF KNOWLEDGE AND POWER. (Quran Majid. Chapter 42; verses 49, 50) Muhammed Mustafa and Mary the Copt were blessed by Allah with the birth of their son, Ibrahim. They thanked Him for the great blessing which filled their life and their home with.

But the birth of Ibrahim did not bring happiness to some other wives of his father. D. S.