Nasai

(1) In the previous hadith, the incident involving honey was mentioned as the reason for the revelation of this verse, while in this hadith, the incident involving the slave woman is cited. It is possible that both incidents occurred close to each other; therefore, both can be considered as reasons for the revelation. Especially since the remaining details are also almost identical. In both incidents, there is mention of Aisha (radi Allahu anha). The cause in both is jealousy. In both, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said in secret that he would not use it again, but not to tell anyone; in both, the secret was disclosed, as is evident from detailed narrations, although many researchers have given preference to the incident of honey.

(2) There is no fixed turn (bari) for a slave woman. To console her, an oath was taken that this slave woman is now forbidden (haram) for me. Similar details are also found in Fath al-Bari, the commentary of Surah al-Tahrim, and many other books, the summary of which is that the slave woman whom the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) declared forbidden upon himself was Maria al-Qibtiyya (radi Allahu anha), who was the noble mother of the Prophet’s (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) beloved son, Ibrahim. It happened that once Maria (radi Allahu anha) went to the house of Umm al-Mu’minin Hafsa (radi Allahu anha) while Hafsa herself was not present at home at that time, but the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was present in her house because it was her turn that day. By Allah’s will, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was in seclusion with Maria (radi Allahu anha) when Lady Hafsa (radi Allahu anha) arrived. She was displeased to see the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) in seclusion with Maria in her house; the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) himself also sensed this. Therefore, to console Hafsa (radi Allahu anha) and to please her, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) took an oath that Maria is forbidden to me from today, and also told Hafsa not to inform anyone of this matter. However, she informed Lady Aisha al-Siddiqa (radi Allahu anha) of this incident. Thus, they were admonished to repent for this. This incident is also mentioned as a reason for the revelation of Surah al-Tahrim. For details, see: (Tafsir Ahsan al-Bayan, commentary of Surah al-Tahrim). In any case, there is neither any legal restriction nor any moral flaw in having relations with a slave woman, so this act of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) is absolutely not objectionable. Furthermore, the matter of turns (bari) pertains to free wives; although the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was not legally obliged to observe turns, he had, of his own accord, assigned turns among the noble wives (azwaj mutahharat).

(3) The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) declared the slave woman forbidden upon himself to reconcile the heart of Hafsa (radi Allahu anha), but this was not correct according to the Shariah, so Allah, the Exalted, corrected it... (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)... and both noble wives (radi Allahu anhuma) were instructed to repent for disclosing the secret.