Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah ( ar, حاطب بن أبي بلتعة) was one of the

sahaba The Companions of the Prophet ( ar, اَلصَّحَابَةُ; ''aṣ-ṣaḥāba'' meaning "the companions", from the verb meaning "accompany", "keep company with", "associate with") were the disciples and followers of Muhammad who saw or m ...

, and was sent by

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

with a letter to

Muqawqis Al-Muqawqis ( ar, المقوقس, cop, ⲡⲭⲁⲩⲕⲓⲁⲛⲟⲥ, ⲡⲓⲕⲁⲩⲕⲟⲥ, p-khaukianos, pi-kaukos "the Caucasian") is mentioned in Islamic history as a ruler of Egypt who corresponded with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ...

, an

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

ian

Coptic Christian Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since antiquity. Most ethnic Copts ar ...

official. He returned with gifts, including two slaves,

Maria al-Qibtiyya (), better known as or ( ar, مارية القبطية), or Mary the Copt, died 637, was an Egyptian woman who, along with her sister Sirin, was sent to the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 628 as a gift by Al-Muqawqis, a Christian governor of Alex ...

and her sister

Sirin Sirin is a mythological creature of Russian legends, with the head of a beautiful woman and the body of a bird (usually an owl), borrowed from the siren of the Greek mythology. According to myth, the Sirin lived in Iriy or around the Euphrates R ...

. Muhammad took Maria as a right hands possession. A veteran of the Battle of Badr, it was discovered that he had sent a secret letter to the

Quraish The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Qu ...

detailing Muhammad's movements. When confronted, he begged for understanding explaining that he had only hoped the Quraysh tribe would help protect his family who were residing in Mecca in return, because unlike other Sahabi his family did not have security as he did not have any blood ties with the Quraysh. While

Umar ibn Khattab ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate ...

sought the Muhammad's permission to kill Balta'ah, Muhammad said that it was unnecessary, as God may have forgiven all veterans of Badr, and knew the sincerity of his heart.

References

{{Islam-bio-stub Companions of the Prophet