d 150),[354] Hisham-bin-Abdul Malik (died 213 A.H.),[355] and Abul
Mo'tamar Soleiman (died 143 A.H.[356])[357] have not inserted the
portion of the tradition of Maria the Coptic maid being sent by the
Egyptian Governor to Mohammad. The tradition narrated by Ibn Sad--(1)
through Wakidi and Abd-ul-Hamid from Jafar, (2) and Abdullah bin Abdur
Rahman bin Abi Sasata--is undoubtedly apocryphal, Wakidi and
Abd-ul-Hamid are of impeached integrity, or no authority at all. Ibn
Khallikan, in his Biographical Dictionary, translated by Slane, writes
regarding Wakidi:--"The Traditions received from him are considered of
feeble authority, and doubts have been expressed on the subject of his
(_veracity_.)"[358] Ibn Hajar Askalani writes regarding Wakidi in his
_Takrib_, that "he has been struck off as an authority (literally left
out), notwithstanding his vast knowledge." Zahabi's opinion of Wakidi
in Mizan-al-Etedal is that Ahmed bin Hanbal said "he was the greatest
liar." Bokhari and Abu Hatim say he is struck off (or left out as an
authority).

Regarding Abd-ul-Hamid, Zahabi writes that Abu Hatim said he is not
quoted as an authority, and Sofian said he was a weak authority.

Jafar and Abdullah bin Abdur Rahman bin Abi Sasata are of the middle
period in the Tabaeen's class, and do not quote their authority on the
subject.

[Sidenote: Maria neither a slave;]

10. (2) Supposing that the Governor of Egypt had sent two Coptic maids,
with other presents, to Mohammad, it does not follow necessarily that
they were slave-girls. It is never stated in history that they were
captives of war, or, if they were so, that they were enslaved
subsequently. There is no authority for a haphazard conjecture that they
were slave-girls.

[Sidenote: nor a concubine-slave.]

11. (3) Even if it be admitted that Maria the Coptic was a slave-girl,
there is no proof that she was a concubine-slave. It is a stereotyped
fabrication of traditionists, and the unpardonable blunder on the part
of European writers, that they almost always confound female-slaves, and
even sometimes captives, with concubine-slaves. None of the six standard
collectors of traditions--Imams Bokhari (died 256 A.H.), Muslim (died
261 A.H.), Aboo Daood (died 275 A.H.), Tirmizee (died 279 A.H.), Nasaee
(died 303 A.H.), and Ibn Maja (died 273 A.H.)--has narrated that Maria
the Coptic was a concubine-slave of the Prophet. Even the early
biographers--Ibn Ishak (died 150 A.H.) and Ibn Hisham