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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 (236-7) حَافِظُوا عَلَى الصَّلَوَاتِ وَالصَّلَاةِ الْوُسْطَى وَقُومُوا
لِلَّهِ قَانِتِينَ فَإِنْ
خِفْتُمْ فَرِجَالًا أَوْ رُكْبَانًا فَإِذَا أَمِنتُمْ فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ
كَمَا عَلَّمَكُمْ مَا لَمْ تَكُونُوا تَعْلَمُونَ 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 (240) وَلِلْمُطَلَّقَاتِ مَتَاعٌ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ حَقًّا عَلَى
الْمُتَّقِينَ (241) كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ (242) وَلِلْمُطَلَّقَاتِ مَتَاعٌ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ حَقًّا عَلَى
الْمُتَّقِينَ (241) كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ (242) 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) |
1. These words
after ‘لَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ’ are suppressed here in
accordance with the style adopted by the Qur’an 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
mujanasah. It is evident from the Qur’anic 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’an, as specified in an earlier verse (228) of this very
surah ‘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. 4. While commenting on this verse, Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi writes:
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’an. 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’an 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 surah ends here. This section is basically composed of the
directives of the Shari‘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. 11. 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‘ul) 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 Surah Nisa mentions. This, I am afraid, is not the
case. The verse has not been abrogated by any other Qur’anic verse.
Quite obviously, it is an extension of another Qur’anic 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’anic style, Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi writes:
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