لَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِنْ طَلَّقْتُمْ النِّسَاءَ مَا لَمْ تَمَسُّوهُنَّ أَوْ تَفْرِضُوا لَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً وَمَتِّعُوهُنَّ عَلَى الْمُوسِعِ قَدَرُهُ وَعَلَى الْمُقْتِرِ قَدَرُهُ مَتَاعًا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُحْسِنِينَ  وَإِنْ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ تَمَسُّوهُنَّ وَقَدْ فَرَضْتُمْ لَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً فَنِصْفُ مَا فَرَضْتُمْ إِلَّا أَنْ يَعْفُونَ أَوْ يَعْفُوَ الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ وَأَنْ تَعْفُوا أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَى وَلَا تَنسَوْا الْفَضْلَ بَيْنَكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ (٢٣٦-٧)

حَافِظُوا عَلَى الصَّلَوَاتِ وَالصَّلَاةِ الْوُسْطَى وَقُومُوا لِلَّهِ قَانِتِينَ  فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ فَرِجَالًا أَوْ رُكْبَانًا فَإِذَا أَمِنتُمْ فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَمَا عَلَّمَكُمْ مَا لَمْ تَكُونُوا تَعْلَمُونَ (٢٣٨-٩)

وَالَّذِينَ يُتَوَفَّوْنَ مِنْكُمْ وَيَذَرُونَ أَزْوَاجًا وَصِيَّةً لِأَزْوَاجِهِمْ مَتَاعًا إِلَى الْحَوْلِ غَيْرَ إِخْرَاجٍ فَإِنْ خَرَجْنَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي مَا فَعَلْنَ فِي أَنفُسِهِنَّ مِنْ مَعْرُوفٍ وَاللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ (٢٤٠)

وَلِلْمُطَلَّقَاتِ مَتَاعٌ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُتَّقِينَ (٢٤١)

كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ (٢٤٢)

There is no blame on you in the matter of dower1 if you divorce women before touching them nor having fixed their dower; but [this should definitely be the case that you] bestow on them some resources of life according to the norms of the society — the wealthy according to his means, and the poor according to his means. This is an obligation on those who are righteous.2 And if you divorce them before touching them, but after the fixation of a dower for them, then half of this fixed dower should be given to them, unless they forgo it or he forgoes it in whose hands is the marriage knot3; and if you men forgo your right, it is nearer to piety. And do not forget your superiority among yourselves. For Allah sees well all that you do4. (236-7)

[This is the Sharī‘ah of Allah and if you want to remain steadfast on it] be watchful over your prayers5, especially the one which comes in the middle6 [of the morning and evening prayers when it is not easy for you to take out time from your involvements], and stand before Allah devoutly [leaving aside everything]. Then if you fear any danger, pray on foot or while riding, as may be most convenient, but when there is security, remember7 Allah in the very manner8 He has taught you, which you knew not. 9 (238-9)

And [there is another thing that requires explanation regarding the directives given to you about widows and divorced women:] Those of you who die and leave widows should bequeath for their widows a year’s provision and [bequeath] that [in this period] they shall not be turned out of their residences10; but if they themselves leave the residence, then there is no blame on you for what they do with themselves according to the norms of the society. [This is the Law of God] and [know that] Allah is Exalted in Power11, Wise12. (240)

[And similarly, this explanation is also necessary that] divorced women should in all cases be given some resources according to the norms of the society when they are sent off. This is an obligation on those who are fearful of God13 . (241)

Thus does Allah make clear His verses to you in order that you may understand14 . (242)

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1. These words after ‘لَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ’ are suppressed here in accordance with the style adopted by the Qur’ān in this verse. They have been unfolded in the translation.

2. The implication is that one should part ways in a decent manner with a wife with whom neither sexual relations have been established nor the dower had been fixed before the divorce: she should be given whatever the husband can afford according to the norms of the society and according to his own financial position.

3. The implied meaning is that if the dower had been fixed but a lady was divorced before having sexual relations with the husband, then the husband is liable to pay half the amount of dower fixed except if the wife willingly forgoes the total amount or the husband pays the full amount. The words used to convey this meaning are ‘إِلَّا أَنْ يَعْفُونَ أَوْ يَعْفُوَ’ which occur on the basis of mujānasah. It is evident from the Qur’ānic words ‘الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ’ that it is the husband who has been given the right to divorce. The reason is very obvious: The husband has always been trusted with the responsibility of financially supporting the wife as well as protecting her – responsibilities he has been inherently created to fulfill. For these very reasons, he has been regarded as the guardian of the wife by the Qur’ān, as specified in an earlier verse (228) of this very sūrah ‘وَلِِلرِّجَالِ عَلَيْهِنَّ دَرَجَةٌ’ (and although men [as husbands] have a status above women). Consequently, it is the requisite of both his responsibilities and his status as a husband that he be given this right.

It is obvious from this explanation that a wife does not have the right to divorce her husband; if she wants to separate from him, she will demand divorce from him. In normal circumstances, every decent husband seeing that there is no way to continue would accept her demand; however, if this not be the case, she can seek help from a court of law.

4. While commenting on this verse, Imām Amīn Ahsan Islāhī writes:

Although the husband has divorced the wife before conjugal contact was made and thus there exists one motive for his wife to forgo her right, yet the Qur’ān here has urged the husband with regard to his honor and forbearance and his status as a husband to not desire his wife’s forfeiture of her dower share. Instead he should show magnanimity in paying her the full amount. The Qur’ān has appealed to him on three grounds to make this sacrifice: First, the Almighty has given him the right to untie the marital knot just as he has the right to tie it. Second, it is more befitting for the ‘stronger’ sex to show sacrifice and selflessness – the manifestations of true piety. Thirdly, the one degree of superiority a husband has been blessed with, by being made the head of the family unit being naturally suited for this task, requires that he take into account this aspect while dealing with the weaker sex. Its natural requirement is that he should be on the giving end rather than being on the receiving end. (Islāhī#, Amīn Ahsan, Tadabbur-i-Qur’ān, 1st ed.,  vol. 1, (Lahore: Faran Foundation, 1986), p. 548)

5. The implied meaning is that even in hardships and difficult circumstances, the prayer must be guarded. This includes giving due consideration and importance to its pre-requisites as well as its components and etiquette about which a person normally becomes indifferent in such circumstances.

6. The prayer alluded to here is the ‘Asr prayer. This piece of advice has been given keeping in view the circumstances that prevailed at the time of revelation of the Qur’ān. In case of any change in circumstances due to a change in society and culture, this directive would of course relate to the prayer that would be the most susceptible to this state of affairs.

7. The essence of the prayer is remembrance of the Almighty. The Qur’ān has pointed out this aspect in a very befitting manner.

8. This refers to the way in which the prayer is offered as taught by the Prophets of Allah. The followers of the religion of Abraham (sws) were well aware of its method before the advent of Muhammad (sws). The pious among them would offer the prayer in this manner. The Prophet Muhammad (sws) revived and reformed it and then passed it on to the Muslim Ummah as a Sunnah. Here in this verse, the Arabs to whom no divine book had been sent are cautioned that such guidance provided by the Almighty to them through His Prophet (sws) is a great favor. It is only befitting for them to give due consideration to it and not show indifference to it like the Israelites.

9. The third section of the sūrah ends here. This section is basically composed of the directives of the Sharī‘ah. It ends with an emphasis on the directive of the prayer. The reason is to highlight the significance of the prayer and to stress the fact that no other directive in Islam occupies as much significance as the prayer. Like a sentinel it guards both a person’s religious concepts and his deeds. A person who is indifferent to the prayer is as if he is indifferent to religion as a whole.

10. Both these verses are appended to the last verses of the section as an end note so that it becomes evident from their very placement that they were revealed after the original directives as their explanation. The words ‘Thus does Allah explains His verses to you’ allude to this.

1. The original words used are ‘وَصِيَّةً لِأَزْوَاجِهِمْ مَتَاعًا إِلَى الْحَوْلِ غَيْرَ إِخْرَاجٍ’. In the opinion of this writer, the correct grammatical analysis of this sentence is as follows: the word ‘وَصِيَّةً’ is the object (maf‘ūl) of a suppressed verb; the word ‘مَتَاعًا’ is the object of ‘وَصِيَّةً’ and the word ‘غَيْرَ إِخْرَاجٍ’ is an accusative of state from ‘لِأَزْوَاجِهِمْ’. Most commentators consider the directive stated in this verse to be abrogated from the verses of inheritance that Sūrah Nisā mentions. This, I am afraid, is not the case. The verse has not been abrogated by any other Qur’ānic verse. Quite obviously, it is an extension of another Qur’ānic directive: the directive given to the husband to provide for and give shelter to his wife in his life time. The verse says that even after his death she should be provided with these services for a year. If it is for the husband that she accepts the restriction of the ‘Iddat period, then she should necessarily be given more time to decide for her future. This is the wisdom behind this directive and bears no relation to the directive of distribution of inheritance.

12. Consequently, no person should dare disobey His law.

13. It is evident from these words that this is an obligation for the husband. If a person does not fulfill it, he might not be liable to any legal action because this is something which pertains to a person’s inner piety and virtue, but he would definitely be held liable in the Hereafter before his Lord, and in the Hereafter the weight and import of pious and virtuous deeds would suffer.

14. This verse is in fact a further explanation of what is explained before. While commenting on this Qur’ānic style, Imām Amīn Ahsan Islāhī writes:

The style of first concisely stating some directive and then explaining it further after an initial explanation actually trains and instructs our intellect to deliberate on various issues of religion and to reach the underlying wisdom and benefit behind them. By explaining His directives in a gradual manner, the Almighty has guided us on how to use our intellect and how to determine corollaries from given principles in the circumstances and affairs that we encounter. It is to this fact that the words ‘لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ’ (that you may understand) point. ( Islāhī#, Amīn Ahsan, Tadabbur-i-Qur’ān, 1st ed., vol. 1, (Lahore: Faran Foundation, 1986), p. 557)