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The question

What was the reason for the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, divorcing Hafsa, may God be pleased with her, with a single revocable divorce, and not doing the same with Aisha, may God be pleased with her, despite their shared involvement in the incident of the "maghafir" (a type of sweet-smelling tree resin), and was this due to the Prophet’s inclination towards Aisha, may God be pleased with her, and is this action considered a violation of justice among his wives?

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Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

A Muslim must safeguard his religion from doubts. It is forbidden to look into the books of the People of the Book and to associate with the people of innovation. The reason for the Prophet (peace be upon him) divorcing Hafsa was her disclosure of a secret he had confided in her regarding either Maria al-Qibtiyya, or the honey, or the succession of Abu Bakr and Umar, as mentioned in the exegesis of the verse: "And [remember] when the Prophet confided to one of his wives a statement" (Surah At-Tahrim: 3). Al-Qurtubi mentioned that the disclosure of the secret to Aisha led to her being divorced once. As for the story of the honey and the maghafeer, it was not the cause of the divorce. Divorce is not among the matters where a man is required to be just between wives. The Prophet (peace be upon him) had the right to bring close whoever he willed of his wives and put aside whoever he willed. Aisha was the most beloved of the Prophet’s wives to him, and his divorce of Hafsa, but not Aisha, was due to the disclosure of the secret, which is permissible and does not contradict justice.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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