Baqarah (233-5)
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi /
 Shehzad Saleem
   
   

وَالْوَالِدَاتُ يُرْضِعْنَ أَوْلَادَهُنَّ حَوْلَيْنِ كَامِلَيْنِ لِمَنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ يُتِمَّ الرَّضَاعَةَ وَعَلَى الْمَوْلُودِ لَهُ رِزْقُهُنَّ وَكِسْوَتُهُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ لَا تُكَلَّفُ نَفْسٌ إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا لَا تُضَارَّ وَالِدَةٌ بِوَلَدِهَا وَلَا مَوْلُودٌ لَهُ بِوَلَدِهِ وَعَلَى الْوَارِثِ مِثْلُ ذَلِكَ فَإِنْ أَرَادَا فِصَالًا عَنْ تَرَاضٍ مِنْهُمَا وَتَشَاوُرٍ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا وَإِنْ أَرَدْتُمْ أَنْ تَسْتَرْضِعُوا أَوْلَادَكُمْ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذَا سَلَّمْتُمْ مَا آتَيْتُمْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ (223)

وَالَّذِينَ يُتَوَفَّوْنَ مِنْكُمْ وَيَذَرُونَ أَزْوَاجًا يَتَرَبَّصْنَ بِأَنفُسِهِنَّ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ وَعَشْرًا فَإِذَا بَلَغْنَ أَجَلَهُنَّ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِيمَا فَعَلْنَ فِي أَنفُسِهِنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ  وَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِيمَا عَرَّضْتُمْ بِهِ مِنْ خِطْبَةِ النِّسَاءِ أَوْ أَكْنَنتُمْ فِي أَنفُسِكُمْ عَلِمَ اللَّهُ أَنَّكُمْ سَتَذْكُرُونَهُنَّ وَلَكِنْ لَا تُوَاعِدُوهُنَّ سِرًّا إِلَّا أَنْ تَقُولُوا قَوْلًا مَعْرُوفًا وَلَا تَعْزِمُوا عُقْدَةَ النِّكَاحِ حَتَّى يَبْلُغَ الْكِتَابُ أَجَلَهُ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي أَنفُسِكُمْ فَاحْذَرُوهُ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ حَلِيمٌ (234-35)


    And [after divorce also] mothers shall suckle their offspring for two whole years, for those who desire to complete the term. And the child’s father [in such a case] shall have to bear the cost of their food and clothing according to the norms. No one should be burdened beyond his capacity. Neither shall the mother be treated unfairly because of her child, nor the father on account of his child – and an heir shall be accountable in the same way – But if they both decide on weaning by mutual consent and after due consultation, there is no blame on them. And if you decide to engage someone else to suckle you’re your offspring, there is no blame on you, provided you pay [the mother] in accordance with the norms [of the society] what you promised. But fear Allah and know that Allah sees well what you do.1 (233)

    And those of you who die and leave widows behind, they should keep themselves in waiting for four months and ten days2; then when they have fulfilled their term, there is no blame on you3 about what they do with themselves in accordance with the norms [of the society]. And Allah is well acquainted with what you do. And there is also no blame on you also if you tacitly send a marriage proposal to these women or hold it in your hearts. Allah knows that you would definitely talk to them. [Do so] but do not make a secret contract. Of course you can say something in accordance with the norms [of the society]. And do not decide to marry till the law reaches its term. And know that Allah knows what is in your hearts, so be fearful of Him; and know that Allah is Most forgiving and Most Forbearing4. (235)
 

Researcher’s Companion

I Meaning & Morphology (الصرف و اللغة)

1. َالْمَعْرُوف
    The word ma‘ruf in the Qur’an as well as in Arabic has two meanings:
    1. the good and the equitable.
    2. the norms and customs of a society.
    For example, it is said in the Qur’an that Muslims enjoin the ma‘ruf and forbid munkar:

And believing men and women are friends to each other. They enjoin what is ma‘ruf and forbid what is munkar. (9:71)

    Since the word munkar means ‘evil’, one can easily conclude that here the word ma‘ruf is used in the first meaning ‘good,’ given above.
    Similarly, it is said in the Qur’an that if a Muslim has murdered a Muslim and if the family of the slain person forgives him, then he should pay Diyah (fine) to them according to the ma‘ruf:

Then for whom there has been some remission from his brother, [the remission] should be followed according to the Ma‘ruf and Diyat should be paid with goodness. (2:178)

    Here the word ma‘ruf is used in the second meaning ‘custom’ given because first, the imperative verb used is ittiba‘ (to follow) which collocates with this meaning and second, the latter part of verse 2:178 (pay it [– the Diyah –] with goodness) becomes redundant if the first meaning is thought to be implied.
    It is in this second meaning that the word is used all four times that it occurs in these set of verses. The norms and conventions of a society here point actually to the good and acceptable norms – those which human nature and intuition endorse as good.

2. ب اَلْْْكِِتَا
    The way the word ب الْكِتَاis used in 2:235 conclusively shows that here it means ‘law’ – that is the law which denotes the prescribe time period of Iddat.

3. Usage of the particle ‘س
     As pointed out in the translation, the particle ‘س’ in the word ‘سَتَذْكُرُونَهُنَّ’ denotes ‘certainty’ and ‘definiteness’. Its usage as a particle of future is not implied here.i
 

II Eloquence & Style (الاساليب و البلاغة)

1. Ellipses of a Preposition
     In Arabic the preposition of a verb is sometimes suppressed in order to stress the action the verb denotes. In the expression ‘وَلَا تَعْزِمُوا عُقْدَةَ النِّكَاحِ’ 2:235, the preposition ‘عَلى’ has been suppressed after the verb ‘تَعْزِمُوا’. The implied meaning being that a person should not even think of declaring his decision of marriage until the prescribed waiting period expires.ii

2. Usage of عَشَرَا
    In classical Arabic, whenever the ‘مَعْدُوْد’ (the counted object) is ellipsed – whether it be a feminine noun or a masculine noun – the ‘عَدَد’ (the numeral) may be masculine or feminine. It is not necessary that it follow the general rule.

    Here it is obvious that the suppressed ‘مَعْدُوْد’ (the counted object) is ‘اَيَّام’ and, consequently, even though it is masculine, the ‘عَدَد’ (the numeral) is not ‘عَشَرَهَ’ as should have been the case in accordance with the general rule in this regard.

3. Addressees of ‘عَلَيْكُمْ
    It is evident that in 2:234 while the addressees of the first ‘عَلَيْكُمْ are the guardians of the widow, the addressees of the second عَلَيْكُمْ are those men who intend to propose to the widow.

4. Use of the Verb ‘آتَيْتُمْ
    In the Arabic language, a verb may be used in various degrees. For example, a verb may express intention, result or completeness depending upon the context in which it is used. The verb ‘آتَيْتُمْ’ (2:223), as pointed by the author in his translation (what you promised) expresses intention. Consequently, Zamakhsari points to this usage of ‘آتَيْتُمْ’ by saying: ‘مَا اَرَدْتُمْ اِيْتَاءَهُ  iii.
 

III. Exegesis and Explanation (الشرح و التفسير)

1. ‘Iddat of a Widow
    The ‘Iddat of a widow as 2:234 specifies is four months and ten days. For a divorced lady it is three months (three menstrual cycles), as stated in 2:228.
    The author has pointed out (ref. 2) that the basic reason for the extended ‘Iddat period of a widow is to be absolutely certain whether she is pregnant or not. In case of a divorced lady, the husband has been directed to divorce her in that period of purity in which sexual intercourse has not taken place. In such instances three menstrual cycles are enough to determine pregnancy. Obviously, in case of a widow no such care can be exercised; hence the ‘Iddat period has been extended to a period after which pregnancy or a lack of it can be ascertained with certainty.
 
   

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1. The previous verses mention the directives regarding divorce. These verses now take up the issue of suckling the offspring. Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi, while summarizing the directives of suckling that these verses mention, writes:

i) It is the responsibility of a divorced lady to suckle her offspring for two full years in case the husband wants her to complete the total suckling period.

ii) During this period, it is the responsibility of the father to provide his divorced wife with food and clothing, keeping in view the norms of the society. In other words, the status of the husband, the needs of the divorced wife and her own status shall be kept in consideration while providing her this maintenance.

iii) Neither of the parties shall be burdened beyond their capacity. Neither the mother shall be harmed in any way by taking advantage of the fact that she is the mother of the child nor the father be unduly pressurized in any way on the pretext that he is the father of the child.    

iv) If the father of the child is dead, his heirs will be responsible for all the above mentioned rights and obligations.

v) If through mutual consent and consultation, the estranged husband and wife decide to terminate the suckling period before two years, they can do so.

vi) If the child’s father or, in his absence, the heirs of the child want to suckle the child from some other lady instead of the mother, they are authorized to do so provided what has been agreed with the mother regarding her maintenance is fully honored. (Islahi, Amin Ahsan, Tadabbur-i-Qur’an, 2nd ed., vol. 1, (Lahore: Faran Foundation, 1986), p. 545)

2. In contrast with the waiting period (‘iddat) of a divorced lady, the waiting period of a widow has been extended by forty days. The reason is that while a husband has been asked to divorce his wife in the period of purity in which he has had no sexual intercourse with her, no such principle can obviously be established in the case of a widow. It is to exercise care that these days have been added by the Qur’an.
    Since the reason to observe the waiting period for a divorced lady and a widow is the same, all the exceptions that have been stated in the directive of divorce for a divorced lady shall also hold in case of the waiting period of a widow. Consequently, there shall be no waiting period for a widow with whom the deceased husband has had no intercourse. Similarly, the waiting period of a pregnant widow shall extend till childbirth. It is narrated in Bukhari (No. 5320) that when a pregnant widow Sabi‘ah (rta) presented her case before the Prophet (sws), her case was decided on these very grounds by him.
3. After the expiry of the waiting period, she is free to do whatever she deems appropriate for herself. However, she should follow the norms of the society in this matter. In other words, she should not indulge in any activity which damages the repute, honor and integrity of the family nor the conventions of the society. If all this is kept in consideration, then no blame can be caste on her or her guardians. Writes Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi:

What is implied is that one should not blame and censure one another without any reason by equating all un-islamic customs with Islam. On the one hand, a situation should not develop where the guardians of the widow or the heirs of the deceased husband are censured on the grounds that they got tired of her much before she could mourn the loss of her husband. On the other hand, circumstances should not deteriorate to where the widow herself is censured on the grounds that she became interested in re-marrying soon after her husband’s death. In all cases, only the bounds of the Almighty should be observed and one should remember that the Almighty is aware of all the deeds of his creatures. (Islahi, Amin Ahsan, Tadabbur-i-Qur’an, 2nd ed., vol. 1, (Lahore: Faran Foundation, 1986), p. 546)

4. If a person wants to marry a widow, then it is according to the norms that he make up his mind during her waiting period or inform her of his intentions in a very tacit manner. However, it is no way permitted that he, without considering the sentiments of the affected family, send a marriage proposal to the widow or make some hidden agreement with her. On such occasions, whatever is said must never exceed the bounds of sympathy and expressing of condolences. Consequently, the verses forewarn a person that since it is definite that he would express his intention in such a situation, it should not be in the form of a marriage proposal or some hidden or open agreement. This intention should be expressed in a manner that is befitting to the situation and in accordance with the norms of the society. Of course, once the waiting period expires, a person can decide to marry such a lady. At that time, he cannot be blamed in any way.  
    It stems from this directive that the behavior of the widow should also befit the situation she finds herself in. On these very grounds, the Prophet (sws) directed such women to spend their waiting period in the house of their deceased husband in a state of mourning and to refrain from embellishing themselves. He is reported to have said:

A widow should not wear colored clothes, neither golden nor red nor ochre. She should not adorn jewelry nor put on henna or stain her eyes with antimony. (Abu Da’ud, No: 1960)

i. Similar usage of the particle ‘س’ can be seen in ‘فَسَيَكْفِيْكَهُمُ الله (2:137).
ii. For another example in which a preposition has been ellipsed to obtain the required affect, see 1:5. Here also the preposition ‘ِالى’ is ellipsed after the verb ‘اِهْدِنَا’.
iii. Kashshaff, Zamakhshari, 1st ed., vol. 1, (Beirut: Daru’l-Ahya al-Turath al‘Arabi, 1997), p. 309
 

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