A wife of the Prophet associated with the custody of Qur’anic sheets.
Family and migration
Hafsah was the daughter of Umar ibn al-Khattab. Before marrying Prophet Muhammad she was married to Khunays ibn Hudhafah and migrated with him to Madinah. Her life connects the history of the Prophet’s household with that of the earliest Muslim community.
Custody of the collected text
In the traditional account of the Qur’an’s collection, the written sheets gathered under Abu Bakr passed to Umar and then to Hafsah. Uthman requested these sheets for the preparation of copies and returned them afterward. The TDV biography cites the relevant report in Sahih al-Bukhari. This account concerns the preservation and copying of the text; it does not mean Hafsah authored it. Her literacy and place in the transmission history make her an important figure for further study.
Sources and further reading
M. Yaşar Kandemir — Hafsa, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (Turkish)