Hafsah was the only one among the Prophet’s wives who was divorced by the Prophet (peace be upon him). There are several reports suggesting the reason for the divorce, but none of them carries much weight so as to be more probable. It is perhaps better to say that the main reason was Hafsah’s own character, while one or the other of these suggested reasons triggered the Prophet’s action. She was a woman of strong character, bold and self-assured. When the Prophet divorced her, she was extremely sad. However, it was her father who felt the divorce to be his own personal catastrophe. He threw dust over his own head and lamented: “Why will God care for Umar and his daughter now that she is divorced?”
However, the divorce did not last long. The angel Gabriel came to the Prophet with this order: “God commands you to take Hafsah back, as a kindness to Umar.” Another report suggests that Gabriel said: “God commands you to take Hafsah back, for she is a highly devoted servant of God and she is your wife in heaven.” Needless to say, the Prophet immediately carried out God’s order and Hafsah was back as one of the Prophet’s wives, the mothers of all believers.
We should reflect a little on these two reports. The first tells us that God Almighty sent His angel with the command that the Prophet should take back his divorced wife in kindness to her father. God knew that Umar would spend the rest of his life in sorrow, should the divorce be made permanent. He felt that the great love he felt toward the Prophet was cemented by this marriage. Now that the marital bond was severed, he felt lost, uncared for by God or His messenger. Hence, his lamentation.
The other report mentions the virtues of Hafsah and her dedication to the cause of Islam and continuous devotion. She was a woman worthy of being a wife of God’s messenger and a mother of all believers. Hence Gabriel tells the Prophet that she will be among his wives in heaven.
The two reports are not mutually exclusive. In fact both could be true. The angel might have said both statements when he brought to the Prophet, God’s command to reinstate his marriage to Hafsah.
When the Prophet had several wives, mutual jealousy was inevitable. We need to remember that none of them thought that it was wrong for a man to marry more than one wife. Polygamy was the normal practice in Arabia and many other parts of the world. Islam simply restricted it, allowing a man no more than four wives at the same time. The Prophet, however, had an exemption because of his special status and the needs of his message. May God be pleased with all the wives of the Prophet.