The Pleading (Al-Mujadalah)
Verses 2-4 GROUP_1449 58.2-4
2
الَّذِينَ يُظَاهِرُونَ مِنكُم مِّن نِّسَائِهِم مَّا هُنَّ أُمَّهَاتِهِمْ إِنْ أُمَّهَاتُهُمْ إِلَّا اللَّائِي وَلَدْنَهُمْ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَيَقُولُونَ مُنكَرًا مِّنَ الْقَوْلِ وَزُورًا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَعَفُوٌّ غَفُورٌ
Those who separate themselves from their wives by pronouncing, ‘To me you are like my mother’s back,’ must concede that they are not their mothers; none are their mothers except those who gave birth to them—surely they utter an evil word and a lie. God is pardoning, forgiving.
3
وَالَّذِينَ يُظَاهِرُونَ مِن نِّسَائِهِمْ ثُمَّ يَعُودُونَ لِمَا قَالُوا فَتَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ مِّن قَبْلِ أَن يَتَمَاسَّا ذَلِكُمْ تُوعَظُونَ بِهِ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ
Those who put away their wives by equating them with their mothers, and then wish to go back on what they have said, must set free a slave before the couple may touch one another again. This is what you are exhorted to do. God is fully aware of what you do,
4
فَمَن لَّمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيَامُ شَهْرَيْنِ مُتَتَابِعَيْنِ مِن قَبْلِ أَن يَتَمَاسَّا فَمَن لَّمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَإِطْعَامُ سِتِّينَ مِسْكِينًا ذَلِكَ لِتُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَتِلْكَ حُدُودُ اللَّهِ وَلِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
and anyone who does not have the means must fast for two consecutive months before they touch each other, and who is not able to do that must feed sixty needy people. That is to affirm your faith in God and His messenger. These are the limits set by God. Those who deny the truth shall have a painful punishment.
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Commentary
(a) Saying to one’s wife, ‘To me you are like my mother’s back’. This was an old pagan custom which was known as zihar, by which one’s wife could be wrongfully divorced. (b) Islam distinguishes between form and reality. That is why Islam has not recognised the old custom of a man’s calling a woman ‘mother’, although she is not his real mother, and then treating her as such for the purpose of divorcing her. Any such action is absurd, because it cannot change the laws of nature. It is clarified in the Quran that simply by acting in the above-mentioned manner, a man’s wife does not stand divorced. However, it has been made compulsory for the concerned person to pay a penalty and then go back to his wife. After committing an error, if a man pays a penalty in this way, he revives his faith, which he had discarded due to negligence or stupidity.