Verses 23–28

Chapter 4: Al-Nisāʾ (The Women) · Printed edition: Volume 8, pp. 75–144

These are decisive verses which enumerate the women with whom marriage is prohibited—and those who are allowed. The preceding verse, which prohibited marriage with fathers’ wives, is connected in theme with these verses; but its style was more in agreement with the preceding verses; that is why we included it in the preceding commentary, as it had some thematic relevance with those verses also.

The verses give a list of all those women with whom marriage is absolutely prohibited without any condition or exception. This is clear from the words immediately after enumeration of prohibited relatives: and lawful for you is (all) besides that ... That is why all scholars unanimously say that the verse prohibits son’s daughter and daughter’s daughter as well as father's mother and mother’s mother; and that the verse: do not marry women whom your fathers married, prohibits grandfather’s wife too. From this, we may easily understand the Qur’anic view about sons and daughters and that who are included in these terms according to the sharīʿah, as will be explained later, God willing.

حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمْ أُمَّهَاتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُكُمْ وَأَخَوَاتُكُمْ وَعَمَّاتُكُمْ وَخَالَاتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُ الْأَخِ وَبَنَاتُ الْأُخْتِ وَأُمَّهَاتُكُمُ اللَّاتِي أَرْضَعْنَكُمْ وَأَخَوَاتُكُمْ مِنَ الرَّضَاعَةِ وَأُمَّهَاتُ نِسَائِكُمْ وَرَبَائِبُكُمُ اللَّاتِي فِي حُجُورِكُمْ مِنْ نِسَائِكُمُ اللَّاتِي دَخَلْتُمْ بِهِنَّ فَإِنْ لَمْ تَكُونُوا دَخَلْتُمْ بِهِنَّ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَحَلَائِلُ أَبْنَائِكُمُ الَّذِينَ مِنْ أَصْلَابِكُمْ وَأَنْ تَجْمَعُوا بَيْنَ الْأُخْتَيْنِ إِلَّا مَا قَدْ سَلَفَ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا ٢٣

(4:23) Forbidden to you are your mothers and your daughters and your sisters and your paternal aunts and your maternal aunts and brother’s daughters and sister’s daughters and your mothers that have suckled you and your foster-sisters and mothers of your wives and your step-daughters who are in your guardianship, (born) of your wives to whom you have gone in but if you have not gone in to them, there is no blame on you (in marrying them) and the wives of your sons who are of your own loins, and that you should have two sisters together, except what has already passed; surely Allah is Forgiving

It is the list of those who are prohibited by blood-relation; they are seven in number. ‘Mother’ is a woman from whom man is born, either direct or through an intermediary, like father’s mother or mother’s mother, how high so ever. ‘Daughter’ is a woman who is born of the man, either direct or through an intermediary, like son’s daughter or daughter’s daughter, how low so ever. ‘Sister’ is a woman having affinity with the man by common birth from the same father and mother, or same father or same mother without any intermediary. ‘Paternal aunt’ is father’s sister, as well as paternal or maternal grandfather’s sister. ‘Maternal aunt’ is mother’s sister, as well as paternal or maternal grandmother’s sister.

Prohibition of mothers and the others described in the verse, means prohibition of marriage with them, as is understood from the subject and the order. It is not different from other such expressions; for example: Forbidden to you is that which dies of itself, and blood and flesh of swine ... (), that is, eating it; and the words: ... So it shall surely be forbidden to them for forty years. (), that is, living in it. Such metaphorical expressions are very common in every language.

Nevertheless, it seems a bit difficult to say that it is ‘marriage’ which is implied by the word, ‘forbidden’, because of the exceptional clause coming later: except those whom your right hands possess. Sexual intercourse with one’s slave women is lawful without marriage. Therefore, it would seem more appropriate if prohibition is taken to refer to sexual intercourse, and not to marriage alone, as will be explained later. The same is the implication of the words: that you seek (them) by means of your wealth ..., as will be described afterwards. Thus the fact emerges that the implied word after ‘forbidden’ is cohabitation, or another similar word, not marriage. God has avoided mentioning it explicitly, because the divine speech refrains from such words and maintains a high moral decorum.

The talk is addressed to men. It does not say: Forbidden to women are their sons, or, for example, there is no marriage between woman and her son. It is because by nature it is the man who seeks the woman and proposes marriage.

The verse addresses the men (in plural), and also the prohibited women are mentioned in plural, e.g., ‘mothers’ and ‘daughters’, etc. It implies comprehensive distribution. In other words, it means: Forbidden to each man among you is his mother and his daughter, etc. Obviously, it does not mean that the whole group of these women is forbidden to the whole group of men. Nor does it mean that every woman who happens to be a mother or a daughter is forbidden to every man. Otherwise, it would result in abrogation of the institution of marriage altogether. The verse, therefore, means that each man is forbidden to marry his mother, daughter and sister, etc.

... and your mothers that have suckled you and your foster-sisters: Now begins the list of the women prohibited by other than blood- relationship. They too are seven—six are mentioned in this verse and one in the preceding one: and marry not women whom your fathers married.

The style of the verse establishes motherhood and sonship between a woman and the child whom she suckles; likewise it creates brotherhood and sisterhood between man and his foster-sister; note how it uses the words ‘mothers’ and ‘sisters’ for them as an accepted reality. Therefore, according to the sharīʿah, breast-feeding creates relationship parallel to blood-relationship; and as will be described later, it is a special feature of the Islamic laws.

Both sects have narrated a correct tradition from the Prophet that he said: ‘‘Verily God has prohibited through suckling what He has prohibited through blood-relationship.’’ It follows that suckling creates prohibition parallel to the prohibited blood-relationship, that is, foster- mother, foster-daughter, foster-sister, foster paternal aunt, foster maternal aunt, daughter of foster brother and daughter of foster-sister—a total of seven groups.

How the suckling relationship is established; what conditions are necessary concerning its quantity, quality and duration, to create the prohibition; and other relevant rules—these topics are explained in the Islamic jurisprudence, and are outside the scope of this book.

The words translated as, ‘‘and your foster-sisters’’, literally means, ‘and your sisters from suckling’, and the phrase refers to those sisters whom the man’s mother had suckled with the milk flowing because of his father.

... and mothers of your wives: It makes no difference whether the man had established sexual relation with that wife or not. The word ‘women’, when used in genitive construction with ‘man’, means wives unconditionally. This generality is clearly proved from the condition mentioned in the next sentence: ... (born) of your wives [lit. ‘women’] to whom you have gone in; but if you have not gone in to them ...

... and your step-daughters who are in your guardianship, (born) of your wives to whom you have gone in; but if you have not gone in to them, there is no blame on you (in marrying them): al-Rabāʾib is plural of al-rabībah; it means daughter of a man’s wife from a previous husband; because it is the present husband who looks after the children whom his wife brings with her. It is he who in most, if not all, cases looks after them and brings them up.

The clause translated as, ‘‘who are in your guardianship’’, literally means, ‘who are in your lap’. This too denotes majority of cases, although not all step-daughters grow up in laps of their step-fathers. That is why it is said that the words, ‘‘who are in your guardianship’’, merely denote general situation, because step-daughter is forbidden whether she grows up in the lap of her mother’s husband or not. The clause, therefore, is explanatory, not restrictive.

It is possible to maintain that the clause, ‘‘who are in your guardianship’’, points to the underlying reason of the law prohibiting women of blood- and other relations, as will be described later. There is continuous and constant mingling between men and these women; they are almost always together in the homes. Consequently, it would have been impossible to avoid incest (merely with prohibition of fornication) if they were not prohibited for ever—as will be explained later.

Accordingly, the clause, ‘‘who are in your guardianship’’, indicates that the criterion and underlying reason of prohibition is applicable to your step-daughters as validly as it is to other groups of prohibited women, because mostly these daughters grow up in your laps and live with you together.

In any case, the clause, ‘‘who are in your guardianship’’, is not a restrictive proviso to limit the prohibition. In other words, it does not mean that a step-daughter is lawful to her step-father if she is not in his guardianship; let us say, if there is an adult daughter whose mother has married another husband. Note for proof the clear wordings of the next clause, ‘‘but if you have not gone in to them, there is no blame on you (in marrying them)’’. Obviously, establishing sexual relation with her mother has a bearing on the law of prohibition, and, therefore, its absence negates the prohibition. If the daughter’s being in the step-father’s guardianship had any bearing on the prohibition, it was necessary to describe it in the same way.

There is a phrase, that is, ‘in marrying them’, implied after the words, ‘‘there is no blame on you’’. It was deleted for brevity's sake as the context had made the meaning clear.

... and the wives of your sons who are of your own loins: al-Halāʾil is a plural of al-halīlah. It is written in Majmaʿ al-Bayān:

al-Halāʾil is plural of al-halīlah which is a synonym of al-muhallalah (lawful); it is derived from al-halāl (legal, lawful); its masculine gender is al-halīl (lawful) and its plural is ahillah on the paradigm of ʿazīz and aʿizzah powerful). Husband and wife were given this name because each of them is lawful to his/her spouse. There is another view that it is derived from al-hulūl (to enter into something), because each spouse enters into bed with his/her partner.

The word, ‘sons’, denotes male child begotten by a human being through birth, either direct or through a son or daughter, [how low so ever]. The conditional clause, ‘‘who are of your loins’’, excludes wives of the so-called sons of adoption.

... and that you should have two sisters together ...: It ordains prohibition of marrying sister of a wife as long as the wife is alive and is married to the man. It is the best and the shortest construction to express this idea. The expression makes it clear that man is forbidden to have both sisters together in his marriage at the same time. There is no hindrance if a man marries a woman and then, after her divorce or death, marries her sister. The proof may be seen in the well-established conduct of the Muslims going back to the Prophet’s time.

The exceptional clause: except what has already passed, has the same implication here as it had in the preceding verse: And marry not women whom your fathers married, except what has already passed. It looks at the custom, prevalent among the Arabs of [the era of] ignorance, of having two sisters in marriage together. This clause proclaims pardon to what they had done in the past—before this verse was revealed. It does not mean that such marriages—if they were contracted earlier—could continue even after the revelation. The verse clearly shows that from now such marriages, being prohibited and unlawful, cannot continue. We have quoted in the ‘‘Traditions’’, under the verse: And marry not women whom your fathers married, except what has already passed, how the Prophet had separated between the sons and the wives of their fathers, at once after that verse was revealed, although the marriages had been contracted before its revelation.

Question: What is the use of pardoning a previous marriage which was dissolved soon after revelation of the verse, and did not continue? What was the benefit of saying that the past union was not prohibited—was lawful—when it had already ceased to exist?

Reply: It had great benefits, because the effects of that marriage were continuing even after the marriage was dissolved, like legitimacy of children, recognition of various relationships and other related matters.

In other words, there is no use in saying that a past marriage, which had joined two sisters together, was lawful or unlawful—when both or one of them had died, or both or one of them had been divorced. But it is quite meaningful to declare that the past conjunction was not unlawful at that time. It was necessary for the welfare of the offspring of such marriages, as it gave them legitimacy and established relationship between the children and their natural fathers and other relatives, which in its turn had bearing on inheritance, marriage and other so many family affairs.

Accordingly, the clause:‘‘except what has already passed’’, regularize the resulting legal aspects of that marriage—not the marriage itself which had anyhow ceased before this legislation. It shows that both sides of this exception are inter-related, are not of two different categories, as many exegetes have written.

Also it is possible to apply this exception to all the clauses mentioned in the verse—without restricting it to the last clause, ‘‘and that you should have two sisters together’’. It is true that the Arabs did not marry any of the women mentioned in the verse, except having two sisters together; they did not marry their mothers, daughters or other prohibited relatives. But, at the time of the revelation of these verses, there were many societies, like the Persians, the Romans and several other civilized and uncivilized nations, which married various prohibited women, each society following its own custom. Islam recognizes the validity of the prevalent marriage-systems of non-Muslim societies—provided it was considered lawful by their religion or tradition. Thus, the exception confirms the legitimacy of their children and recognizes the validity of their relationships even when they enter into the fold of Islam.

Even so, the first explanation is more obvious.

... surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful: It explains the reason of the above-mentioned exception. It is one of those places where divine forgiveness refers to the external effects of a deed, and not to the sins and disobedience.

وَالْمُحْصَنَاتُ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ إِلَّا مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ ۖ كِتَابَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ ۚ وَأُحِلَّ لَكُمْ مَا وَرَاءَ ذَٰلِكُمْ أَنْ تَبْتَغُوا بِأَمْوَالِكُمْ مُحْصِنِينَ غَيْرَ مُسَافِحِينَ ۚ فَمَا اسْتَمْتَعْتُمْ بِهِ مِنْهُنَّ فَآتُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً ۚ وَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِيمَا تَرَاضَيْتُمْ بِهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ الْفَرِيضَةِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا ٢٤

(4:24) And all married women except those whom your right hands possess; (this is) Allah’s ordinance to you; and lawful for you is (all) besides that—that you seek (them) by means of your wealth taking (them) with chastity, not committing fornication. Then as such of them with whom you have mutʿah, give them their dowries as appointed; and there is no blame on you about what you mutually agree after what is appointed; surely Allah is Knowing, Wise

al-Muhsanāt is the nomen patientis (passive participle) of al-ihsān (to make inaccessible); they say: al-hisn al-hasin (invulnerable fortress). When this verb is ascribed to woman as, for example, ahsanat al-marʾah, it gives one of the following three connotations: i) The woman, being chaste, protected herself and abstained from illicit sexual relations, as God says: ... who guarded her chastity (); ii) The woman married, so her husband, or her marriage, protected her from others; in this sense, the verb may be used in passive voice; also iii) She is a free woman and it keeps her away from illicit sexual relations—because fornication was common among slave women.

Obviously, the word, al-muhsanāt, in this verse, has the second connotation, that is, married women. It cannot have the first or the third meaning, because apart from the fourteen groups (mentioned in the preceding two verses), the only thing prohibited is marriage with a married woman; there is no snag at all in marrying other women, whether they be chaste or unchaste, free or slave. There is, therefore, no reason for interpreting the word, al-muhsanāt here as chaste women (because the prohibition is not confined to the chaste women) and then attaching to the verse a condition that they should not be in other’s marriage. Nor is there any justification for explaining the said word as free women (because the rules about slave women are the same as those for free ones) and then attaching to the verse a condition of their being unmarried. Such interpretations are not agreeable to good literary taste.

al-Muhsanāt, therefore, means married women, that is, those who are presently married to a husband. The word is in conjunction with your mothers and your daughters ... The meaning: Forbidden to you are all married women as long as their present marriage continues.

Consequently, the exceptional clause, ‘‘except those whom your right hands possess’’; will exclude one’s married slave girl from this prohibition. It has been narrated in traditions that the master of a married slave woman may take away that woman from her husband, keep her untouched for the prescribed term, then have sexual relation with her, and thereafter return her to her husband.

Some exegetes have opined: The exception, ‘‘except those whom your right hands possess’’, means, except those chaste women whom you possess by marriage or as slave. Possession thus implies the right of having sexual pleasure.

But this opinion is not correct, because:

First: It interprets the word, al-muhsanāt (married women) as chaste women, and you have already seen how wrong that interpretation is.

Second: The Qur’an always uses the phrase, ‘‘those whom your right hands possess’’, for slaves; not for any other right of benefitting from something.

Likewise, someone has said: The phrase refers to unbeliever married women imprisoned in jihād. A tradition from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī is offered in support, in which he says: ‘‘This verse was revealed about the captives of Awtās, where the Muslims had captured some women of the polytheists, whose husbands were in (their) non-Muslim region. When this verse was revealed, an announcer announced on behalf of the Messenger of God ‘Be careful! The pregnant ones should not be approached for sexual intercourse until they deliver, nor the non- pregnant ones until they complete (their) waiting period.’ ’’

But apart from weakness of this tradition, it amounts to particularization of the verse without a particularizer. Therefore, only the meaning given by us is to the point.

... (this is) Allah’s ordinance to you: The phrase, ‘‘God’s ordinance to you’’, means: Adhere to God’s command which is ordained and prescribed for you. The exegetes have said: ‘‘God’s ordinance to you’’ is a cognate accusative of an implied verb. The original sentence is supposed to be: God has ordained an ordinance for you; the verb was then deleted and the accusative—ordinance—attached to the subject—God—in a genitive construction, taking the place of the subject. They have not taken the phrase, ‘‘to you’’, as verbal-noun [in the meaning of, ‘It is incumbent on you’]; because the grammarians say that this phrase, as a verbal-noun, is weak in effect and its object cannot precede it [as it does in this verse].’’

... and lawful for you is (all) besides that: [The construction, mā warāʾa dhālikum (what is besides that) requires careful consideration.] It uses, mā (what) which is obviously used for ‘irrational’ things; the demonstrative pronoun, dhālikum, is used for masculine singular object. Also the phrase is followed by the words: that you seek by means of your wealth. All these factors together make it clear that the relative and demonstrative pronouns refer to the same thing which was implied by the beginning word, ‘‘Forbidden’’, i.e., sexual intercourse, or words like that. Meaning: It is lawful for you to have it with other than what has been described above, that is, to have sexual intercourse after marriage with other than the fifteen prohibited groups or after obtaining in slavery some other women. In this way the appositional substantive (that you seek them by means of your wealth ...) will perfectly enmesh with the rest of the sentence.

Many exegetes have explained this exceptional clause in very amusing ways. One says that the clause, ‘‘and lawful for you is (all) besides that’’, means that all other relatives are lawful to you. According to another, it means that it is lawful for you to have less than five—that is, four or less—women that you seek them for marriage by means of your wealth. A third one opines that, it is lawful for you to have slave women outside the mentioned fifteen groups. Still another says that it means: Lawful for you is all besides the prohibited relatives—provided the number does not exceed four—that you seek by means of your wealth to marry them or purchase them in slavery.

All these interpretations are simple absurd, because none is supported by the wordings of the verse. Moreover, all of them apply the relative pronoun, ‘what’, to rational beings, without any justification, as you have seen above. Apart from that, the verse aims only at explaining as with whom conjugal relations cannot be established. In this context, it enumerates the prohibited groups of women—without looking at their number. There is no reason why the exceptional clause should be explained in term of numbers. The fact is that the verse aims at describing permission for the acquisition of women—other than those mentioned in the preceding two verses—by marriage or by possession.

... that you seek (them) by means of your wealth, taking (them) with chastity, not committing fornication: The clause is neither an appositional substantive standing for the preceding clauses, (all) besides that; or is in explicative apposition with that. In any case, it explains the lawful way of approaching women and having sexual intercourse with them. The preceding exceptional clause: and lawful for you is (all) besides that, if left at that, could be applied to three things: Marriage, possession by slavery and fornication. This clause, ‘‘that you seek ’’, forbids fornication and restricts permission to the remaining two: marriage and possession by slavery. Then it attaches importance to seeking them by means of one’s wealth: In marriage, it is dowry, which is one of its chief elements; in possession, it is price, which is the main procedure of acquiring slaves. The meaning now will be as follows: Apart from the above-mentioned prohibited categories, you are allowed to seek other women by spending your wealth on dowry of those whom you marry, or on price of slave girls—in all this you have to remain chaste and avoid illicit sexual relations.

It is now clear that the word, muhsinīn in this clause denotes chastity; it cannot imply being married or free. The phrase ‘‘seek (them) by means of your wealth’’, covers marriage and possession both; there is no reason to restrict it to marriage: therefore, the word, muhsinīn, should not be restricted here to married ones. Also chastity does not mean celibacy; otherwise, the word would be irrelevant here. The word, chastity, as used here is opposite of illicit sexual relations of all types. It tells men to restrain themselves from unlawful sexual activities and restrict themselves to what God has allowed of the sexual enjoyment—to which man is attracted by natural instinct.

Someone has said that the clause, ‘‘that you seek (them)’’, means ‘in order that you may seek them’. But this view is not correct. This clause explains the same thing which was said by the preceding one: and lawful for you is (all) besides that. Therefore, it is appositional substantive standing for the preceding clause; it does not mention anything that springs from the preceding one, or which is the effect of that.

Likewise, another writer has opined that the verb, al-musāfahah (to spill or shed something; metaphorically used in meaning of fornication) used here in the form of ghayra musāfihīn (translated here as, not committing fornication) has actually been used in its literal sense, and the verse forbids merely ejaculating semen in womb, without intending to achieve the goal for which God has created the natural sexual urge in man, i.e., without wanting to establish a family and procreate. Conversely, al-ihsān (which aims at producing children.) implies permanent marriage

Reply: The only thing that can be said about the writer is that he is confused. Generally, there are two ways of discussing a law: Sometimes one looks at its underlying reason and benefit; at other times, talk is focused at the law itself. That writer has muddled the two together, inadvertently putting himself in a corner.

Discussion about underlying reason of a law is rational in nature, based on intellect; while discussion of the law itself—together with its subject, concomitants, conditions and impediments—is based on its wordings, and its expansion or constriction depends entirely on that of the phraseology chosen by the Law-giver. Of course, there is no doubt that all the divinely ordained laws are based on genuine reasons and benefits. The ordainment of marriage laws too is based on real benefit, genuine underlying reason, and that is procreation. We also know that the system of creation wants human species to continue through successive existence of its individual members—as long as God wished. To achieve that goal, human body has been equipped with procreative organs; which take a minute part of human bodies, nurture and develop it until it becomes a new human being, ready to take the place of the preceding generation. In this way the species continues without interruption. At the same time, sexual urge was ingrained in human beings in order that they should not neglect using the said organs. It is because of this urge that each group—male and female—is attracted to the other and establishes sexual relations. All this was perfected with the power of understanding, which prevents human beings from subverting this process to which the system of creation invites.

Even so, although the natural system has achieved its goal, that is, continuation of human species, we know that not every sexual intercourse between man and woman achieves that goal. Cohabitation is the initial step on that path. But not every union is blessed with child, nor every sexual intercourse results in pregnancy, nor every lust brings about that effect. Not every man or woman, nor every marriage, is inexorably pushed to cohabitation and procreation. These things happen in many, but not in all, cases.

The natural faculty exhorts man to marry, seeking procreation through sexual urge; and the reason ingrained in him restrains him from indecency, from unlawful carnal activities, as such deviation spoils felicity of life, demolishes foundation of family and disrupts procreation. This composite benefit—procreation and prevention of indecency is the underlying reason (which takes place in most of the cases), on which the institution of marriage is based in Islam. But this ‘appearance in most of the cases’, this generality, governs the underlying reason only. So far as the related ordained laws are concerned, they are not for ‘most’, but for all, human beings and for all times.

Therefore, it is not correct to say that marriage or cohabitation should be lawful or unlawful depending on whether or not the afore-said benefit can be obtained from it. It will be absurd to claim that marriage is not lawful without intention of procreation. Otherwise, such people will have to say that: marriage of an infertile man or woman is unlawful; marriage of a woman in menopause is unlawful; marriage of a minor girl is unlawful; marriage of a fornicator is unlawful; intercourse with a pregnant wife is unlawful; intercourse without ejaculation is unlawful; marriage, before establishing a household is unlawful; and so on and so forth.

The fact is that marriage between male and female is a lawful institution, and it has its own permanent rules and regulations [which apply to the whole mankind for all times to come—without any exception]. This institution was established for protection of common benefits which are obtained from it in most cases, as you have seen. But it is meaningless to make this ordained institution dependent on that benefit for its existence [or lawfulness], or to say that every marriage or its every rule or aspect that did not lead to procreation was unlawful.

... Then as to such of them with whom you have mutʿah give them their dowries as appointed; ...: Probably, the word, mā (translated here as ‘such’) is relative pronoun; the verb, you have mutʿah is its antecedent; the pronoun in bihi (with whom) refers to the relative pronoun, and the words, ‘‘of them’’ to the antecedent. Meaning: Then as to Such of the women with whom you have mutʿah.

Another possible grammatical explanation: The pronoun in bihi (with which) refers to cohabitation (which was implied in the clause: and lawful for you is (all) besides that; mā then would denote time and mean ‘whenever’; and the words, ‘of them’, would be connected to the verb, istamtaʿtum which may literally be translated as, ‘you seek to enjoy’. In this case, the translation would be as follows: Then whenever you seek to enjoy (sexually) with any of them, give them their dowries as appointed.

This sentence, ‘‘Then as to such of them ...’’, undoubtedly branches out from the preceding talk—as the letter, fa (then) shows—as a component is described after the whole, or a particular is explained after the general. As was explained, the preceding sentence: that you seek (them) by means of your wealth ..., is certainly a branching of a component or particular from a whole or general concept.

Such branching is very common in the divine book. For example: For a counted Number of days; then whoever among you is sick or on a journey ... (); ... when you are secure, then whosoever enjoys by the ʿumrah until the hajj ... (); There is no compulsion in religion; truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error; therefore, whoever disbelieves in the rebels (false deities) and believes in Allah ... (); there are many such examples.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the word, al-istimtāʿ (lit., to enjoy) used in this verse means mutʿah marriage. The verse is Medinite, and a part of the chapter of ‘The Women’, that was revealed in the first half of the Prophet’s life at Medina, as the majority of its verses indicate; and in that period this type of marriage, that is, mutʿah, was, without any doubt, a common practice, a prevalent custom among the Muslims—and the traditions unanimously accept this fact. It makes no difference whether or not it was Islam which had originated this system; what is important is the fact that this marriage was in vogue within the sight and hearing of the Prophet; and it had this very name, mutʿah; no other word was used to denote this type of marriage. Accordingly, there is no escape from applying the clause, fa-māstaʿtum bihi minhunna to the mutʿah marriage. There were so many customs, practices and cohabits prevalent among the Arabs at the period of the revelation, which had their own well-known and well-understood names; and whenever a verse was revealed concerning them using their names whether it was confirmation or rejection, order or prohibition—there was no other way but to apply that nomenclature to their usual meanings i.e., to the customs concerned; nobody ever thought of interpreting those names in their literal sense. For example, Qur’an has used the words, hajj, trade, interest, profit, booty, and many similar names, but no one could ever think that, for instance, hajj of the House meant planning to go to the Kaʿbah; nor were other such names ever explained in their literal meanings. Likewise, the Prophet brought many items of the sharīʿah, and they spread with their given religious names, like salāt, sawm (fast), zakāt, hajjuʿt-tamattuʿ, etc. After the establishment of these names, nobody would think of applying these words, when they appear in the Qur’an, to their original literal meanings—once the words have been established for their terminological meanings—in the usage of the religion or the people of religion.

Therefore, the only possible way is to apply the word, al-istimtāʿ, of this verse, on the mutʿah marriage, because it was known with this very name when this verse was revealed. It is quite irrelevant whether or not the mutʿah marriage was later abrogated by the Qur’an or tradition.

In short, the verse speaks about an aspect of the mutʿah marriage; and it is the explanation which is narrated from the ancient exegetes among the Companions and their disciples, like Ibn ʿAbbās, Ibn Masʿūd, Ubayy b. Kaʿb, Qatādah, Mujāhid, al-Suddī, Ibn Jubayr, al-Hasan and others. The same is the madhhab of the Imams of the Ahl al-bayt.

This shows the incorrectness of the following two interpretations: Some exegetes have written that al-istimtā‘ (lit., to seek enjoyment) means marriage, because marriage-tie is established in order to get enjoyment from it.

Someone else has said that istamtaʿtum actually means tamattaʿtum (you enjoy); and ‘s’ and ‘t’ have been added only for emphasis, [not to indicate seeking of something].

But both opinions are wrong, because prevalence and currency of mutʿah marriage (with this very name) among them does not leave any room to its literal meaning to enter the hearers’ minds.

Moreover, if we accept [for the sake of argument] that the verse means seeking enjoyment, or enjoying, then this conditional clause would not agree with the resulting clause. It will be wrong to say that when you enjoy (sexually with) or seek to enjoy with, a woman, then give her dowry to her. The wife becomes entitled to dowry just on recitation of the formula of marriage; it does not depend on sexual relation, nor on the pursuit of the same (a term which may apply even to proposal of marriage, recitation of marriage formula, foreplay and sexual intercourse, etc.). Of course, half of the dowry is payable on recitation of the formula and the balance on coition. Apart from that, many verses, which were revealed before it, had fully established the obligatoriness of paying dowry, with all its various propositions. Accordingly, there was no reason to repeat the order of its obligatoriness here. Vide, for example:

And give women their dowries as a free gift ().

And if you wish to have (one) wife in place of another and you have given one of them a heap of gold, then take not from it anything ... ().

There is no blame on you if you divorce women while yet you have not touched them or appointed for them a dowry, and make provision for them, on the wealthy according to his means and on the straitened in circumstances according to his means, ... And if you divorce them before you have touched them and you have appointed for them a dowry, then (pay to them) half of what you have appointed, unless they remit or he remits in whose hand is the marriage-tie; and it is nearer to piety that you should remit;... (2:236–7).

Someone has proposed that this sentence may be aiming at putting emphasis on the law of dowry. But the above-mentioned verses, and especially the ending clauses of the verses: And if you wish to have (one) wife in place of another ..., are much more forceful and stronger than the verse under discussion. Therefore, how can this verse be supposed to put emphasis on those verses?

Now, a look at the question of abrogation:

1) It has been said that this verse was abrogated by the following verses of the chapter of ‘The Believers’:... And who guard their private parts, except before their mates or those whom their right hands possess, for they surely are not blameable; but whoever seeks to go beyond that, these are they that exceed the limits ().

2) It was abrogated by the verse of al-ʿiddah ( waiting period after divorce or death of husband): O Prophet! when you divorce women, divorce them for their prescribed time, and calculate the number of the days prescribed (); And the divorced women should keep themselves in waiting for three monthly courses ().

Their argument: The marriage is dissolved by means of divorce and waiting period, but mutʿah marriage has neither.

3) It was abrogated by the verse of inheritance: And you shall have half of what your wives leave ... (). There is no inheritance in mutʿah marriage.

4) It is abrogated by the verse of prohibition: Forbidden to you are your mothers and your daughters (), as this verse is about marriage.

5) It is abrogated by the verse of number: ... then marry such (other) women as seem good to you, two and three and four ().

Others have said that the verse of mutʿah is abrogated by tradition. [But they seem unable to agree on its details:]

It is said that the Messenger of God abrogated the mutʿah marriage in the year of Khaybar [that is, 7 A H].

Others say: It was abrogated in the year of the Conquest [of Mecca, that is, 8 AH].

Third claim: It was abolished in the Last Hajj [that is, 10 A H].

A fourth claim is that mutʿah was allowed, then forbidden; and this alternate permission and prohibition happened twice or thrice, and the last order was of prohibition.

Let us look at the claims of abrogation by the Qur’an:

1) As for the verse of the chapter of ‘The Believers’, first of all it cannot abrogate the verse of mutʿah, because it is of Meccan period while the verse of mutʿah is of Medinite period, and a Meccan verse cannot abrogate a Medinite one.

Secondly, the claim that mutʿah is not a marriage, or a woman married in mutʿah is not a wife, is totally unacceptable. You will see the truth if you just look at the sayings of the Prophet and wordings of the early Muslims, including the Companions and their disciples, who always called it mutʿah marriage.

2) As for the claim of abrogation by the verses of inheritance, divorce or number, the relation between these and the verse of mutʿah is not that of abrogator and abrogated. It is the relation that exists between general and particular, or between unrestricted and restricted. Let us look, for example, at the verse of inheritance; it is general and covers all wives whether married in permanent marriage or temporary one; and then the tradition particularizes it by removing some groups from its jurisdiction, that is, it excludes wives of mutʿah marriage from inheritance. The same is obviously the case with the verses of divorce and number. Probably those who claimed abrogation could not distinguish the two relations.

Of course, some scholars of the Fundamentals of Jurisprudence have said that if a particular order is given then a contradictory general order follows, it abrogates the previous particular one. But apart from weakness of this view (as has been explained in its place), it cannot be applied to this case, because: The verse of divorce (the general order) is in the chapter of ‘The Cow’, which is the first Medinite chapter revealed before the chapter of ‘The Women’ which contains the verse of mutʿah.

Likewise, the verse of number, a part of the same chapter of ‘The Women’, precedes [and is not preceded by] the verse of mutʿah; the same is the case with the verse of inheritance, which comes before the verse of mutʿah in one uninterrupted sequence and context in the same chapter. The particular order, therefore, was given later than the general one, in any case.

3) The claim, that this verse was abrogated by this very verse of prohibition is most astonishing of all. First, because the whole verse containing details of prohibited women and permission of mutʿah is one single speech, having one context; its sentences are interlinked, its parts interconnected. How could it be imagined that one of its clauses would legalize the mutʿah marriage and the preceding sentences would revoke this subsequent order?

Secondly, this whole verse says nothing, explicitly or implicitly, about prohibition of temporary marriage. It only aims at describing the categories of the women who are prohibited to man, and then at declaring that all other women are lawful to them, either with marriage or possession; and as we have explained, mutʿah is a marriage. The two things are not contradictory to each other, so that it could lead to abrogation or revocation.

Objection: The clauses: and lawful for you is (all) besides that—that you seek (them) by means of your wealth, taking (them) with chastity, not committing fornication, makes it difficult to interpret this verse in terms of mutʿah. The former has made lawfulness of women conditional on dowry and on marriage without fornication; and there is no marriage in mutʿah; that is why if a man (who has a mutʿah wife) commits adultery, he is not stoned, because he is not considered as married.

Reply: First, this argument is not based on solid grounds. We have already described (while explaining the phrase, taking [them] with chastity, not committing fornication) that al-ihsān in this context means chastity, not marriage, because the phrase covers union with one’s slave girls as well.

Second: There will be no difficulty even if we agree, for the sake of argument, that al-ihsān refers here to marriage. It would only mean that the law of stoning an adulterer was not applicable to a man who had a wife of mutʿah, and that this exclusion was based on the tradition, not on the Qur’an. After all, the law of stoning itself is not mentioned anywhere in the Qur’an.

As for the claim of abrogation by tradition, we shall discuss it in detail under the ‘‘Traditions’’. At this juncture, it is enough to point out that such abrogation is invalid ab initio, as it goes against the mutawātir traditions ordering the Muslims to judge the traditions with the help of the Qur’an and reject what does not agree with it.

وَمَنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ مِنْكُمْ طَوْلًا أَنْ يَنْكِحَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ فَمِنْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ مِنْ فَتَيَاتِكُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ۚ وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِإِيمَانِكُمْ ۚ بَعْضُكُمْ مِنْ بَعْضٍ ۚ فَانْكِحُوهُنَّ بِإِذْنِ أَهْلِهِنَّ وَآتُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ مُحْصَنَاتٍ غَيْرَ مُسَافِحَاتٍ وَلَا مُتَّخِذَاتِ أَخْدَانٍ ۚ فَإِذَا أُحْصِنَّ فَإِنْ أَتَيْنَ بِفَاحِشَةٍ فَعَلَيْهِنَّ نِصْفُ مَا عَلَى الْمُحْصَنَاتِ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَنْ خَشِيَ الْعَنَتَ مِنْكُمْ ۚ وَأَنْ تَصْبِرُوا خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ ٢٥

(4:25) And whoever among you has not within his power ampleness of means to marry free believing women, then (he may marry) of those whom your right hands possess from among your believing maidens; and Allah knows best your faith: you are (sprung) the one from the other; so marry them with the permission of their people, and give them their dowries justly, they being chaste, not fornicating, nor receiving paramours; and when they are taken in marriage, then if they are guilty of indecency, they shall suffer half the punishment which is (inflicted) upon free women. This is for him among you who fears falling into evil; and that you abstain is better for you, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful

al-Ṭawl (riches; ampleness of ability); either meaning fits in the context. al-Muhsanāt in this verse means free women, because it has been used in contrast to slave women; this also shows that it has not been used in the meaning of chaste; otherwise it would have been contrasted with unchaste. Obviously, it does not refer to married women either, because they cannot be married again [as long as their present marriage continues]; nor does it mean Muslim women; otherwise there was no need to qualify it with the adjective, ‘believing’.

The words, ‘‘those whom your right hands possess’’, actually means slaves of other believers than him who intends to marry, because a man is not allowed to ‘marry’ his own slave girl—such a marriage is void. Possession has been ascribed to all the believers—not excepting the suitor—because Islam counts all believers as one body, not separate from one another, inasmuch as their religion is one and their benefits are one; it is as though they were one person.

The words, ‘free women’ and ‘maidens’, have been qualified with the adjective, ‘believing’. It indicates unlawfulness of marriage with non- believing woman, be she a Jewish, a Christian or a polytheist. This topic has a supplement which will be found in the beginning of the fifth chapter, ‘The Table’, God willing.

The verse says that whoever among you is unable to marry free believing woman, inasmuch as he does not have means to pay dowry and meet her expenses, then he may marry believing slave-girls, in order that he should not face difficulties (because of his inability to marry free women) and should not put himself in danger of indecency and spiritual infelicity.

The marriage, in this verse, refers to permanent marriage. The verse provides an alternative (of an inferior category), that is, if you are unable to do that, then do this. The talk has been confined to only one group of the higher category, that is, to the permanent marriage, to the exclusion of the temporary one, because it is the permanent marriage which is more popular and which a man—who wants to establish a house, procreate and leave an heir—naturally opts for. As for the mutʿah (temporary) marriage, it is a facility provided by the religion, which God has used to lighten the burden of His servants, in order that the path of indecency should be closed and social evils be uprooted.

Not infrequently, the Qur’an narrows an ongoing talk to its well- known aspects which generally come to mind at the first glance—and especially so in ordaining the sharīʿah’s rules and regulations. For example, God says:

... so whoever of you witness the month, he shall fast therein, and whoever is sick or on a journey, (he shall fast) the same number of other days (). But we know that genuine reasons of postponing a fast are not confined to sickness and journey.

... and if you are sick, or on a journey, or one of you come from the privy or you have touched the women, and you cannot find water, betake yourselves to clean earth (). As you see, the verse mentions only the more common and well-known causes of al-tayammum (ritual ablution with earth). There are many examples of this style.

This explanation has been written keeping in sight the general view that this verse refers to the permanent marriage. But its wordings can easily be applied to marriage in general—permanent and temporary alike—as will be shown in explanation of the rest of the clauses.

What we have shown here is that even if we apply the word ‘marriage’ here to permanent one, and look at the inferior alternative it provides and the latitude it gives, it does not necessarily follow that the marriage in preceding verse should exclusively refer to the permanent one and that the verse: Then as such of them with whom you have mutʿah ..., should have nothing to do with mutʿah marriage—as some people have said. The fact is that both sides of this latitude—the original order and the alternative—are found in this very clause, ‘‘And whoever among you has not within his power ampleness of means then (he may marry) of those whom your right hands possess ’’. There is no need to go further back to explain this verse.

... and Allah knows best your faith: you are (sprung) the one from the other;: As this order was conditional on belief; and belief is a matter of heart, the reality of which cannot be known by others. There was a possibility for people to think that the permission was conditional on something difficult or next to impossible; this could have prevented them from making use of it. Therefore, God declared that He knows the faith of His believing servants. It implies that people are required to base their mutual dealings on apparent signs that point to the faith, like the two witnessing, attending congregational prayers and discharging common religious duties. Thus, the criterion is the apparent belief, not its reality.

The direction given to non-affluent Muslims to marry slave-girls, had another apparent disadvantage, which could affect compliance: Common people looked down at slaves, who generally suffered from disrespect and dishonor, indignity and humiliation. This created in the people a sort of disinclination towards mingling and mixing with them socially, and particularly towards establishing marriage-ties with them, which is a lifelong partnership and unites both parties in heart and body.

[To erase that aversion] God has said, ‘‘you are (sprung) the one from the other’’. It is a clear reality which would, if pondered upon, remove this wrong impression, this prejudice. Slave is as much a human being as is a free man; there is no difference between them in any aspect of humanness. The only difference is in some laid down rules which were necessary for maintenance of human society, so that they could lead to people’s felicity. But such distinctions have no validity before God. What is recognized there is the piety with which man finds honor before God. It is not good for the believers to be influenced by such imaginary allusion which would remove them from knowledge, the real knowledge that ensures their success and happiness in both worlds. It should not be forgotten that deviation from the straight pathway—even if it looks slight in the initial stages—continues to take man further and from the path of guidance until it throws him into the valley of perdition.

It is now clear that the sequence in the beginning of the verse that contains a condition and implies a sort of concession and latitude (whoever among you has not within his power ampleness of means to marry free believing women, then [he may marry] of those whom your right hands possess ...), is just a way of talking, using the same style which the audience generally did under the influence of its habit and custom. But it is not an obligatory condition that the believers must follow this sequence. In other words, it is not that one has to be too poor to marry a free woman before he is allowed to marry a slave girl. It is just that the Qur’an has addressed the people in their own language. That is why it has said that if you are unable to marry free women, you should marry slave girls without any hesitation. Then it has drawn their attention to the fact that the free and the slave both are members of the same humanity, each of them is related to the other.

It also shows incorrectness of what someone has written under the clause, ‘‘and that you abstain is better for you’’, that it means: if you abstain from marrying slave women and remain chaste, it is better for you than marrying them—as it may bring disgrace and indignity to you. The fact is that the clause, ‘‘you are (sprung) the one from the other’’, contradicts such interpretations.

... so marry with the permission of their people and give them their dowries justly, they being chaste, not fornicating, nor receiving paramours;: In this paragraph, al-muhsanāt refers to chaste women; it cannot mean married ones, because there is no question of marrying them while they are married. al-Musāfihāt (fornicating women) is placed parallel to the phrase, ‘‘receiving paramours’’. al-Akhdān is plural of al-khidn (friend, paramour); it is used for masculine as well as feminine, and for singular as well as plural; this verse uses the plural form to clearly point to numerousness; when one takes a paramour for fornication, one generally does not stop at one or two, because man’s appetite does not stop at any point once it exceeds the limit.

It is looking at this contraposition that someone has said: The word, fornication, as used in this verse, means open illicit sexual relation, and receiving paramour implies secret liaison. Such secret affairs were commonplace in Arabia; even among free women, it was not frowned upon; while open fornication was criticized if done by other than slave girls.

The clause, ‘‘so marry them with the permission of their people’’, advises them to marry slave women provided it is done with permission of their masters; because the rein of their affairs is held by none other then their masters. The masters have been called their ‘people’ in accordance with the preceding clause: you are (sprung) the one from the other; thus the slave girl is a member of the family of her master, and the master is her guardian, her people.

One has to give them their dowries in a proper way. In other words, the suitor should fix her dowry according to prevalent standard; paying it to her actually means paying it to her master. The clause guides the people to appoint and pay their dowries without reduction, without delay and without hurting the feelings.

... and when they are taken in marriage, then if they are guilty of indecency, they shall suffer half the punishment which is (inflicted) upon free women: The verb uhsinna (they are taken in marriage) is in passive voice; some have recited it in active voice, and that recitation is rather preferable.

If al-ihsān refers to their marriage, then it was included in the conditional clause just because the preceding talk had circled around their marriage. [It has no legalistic significance] because if a slave fornicates, she gets only half the punishment of a free woman who is guilty of the same offence; and it makes no difference whether the slave-girl is married or not; her being married does not increase her sentence in any way.

But if al-ihsān refers to their being Muslims—which the recitation of active voice would support—then the meaning will fit the wordings effortlessly. They shall suffer half the punishment of the free women, no matter whether they are married or not.

The punishment refers to flogging, not stoning, because stoning cannot be halved. This in its turn proves that the word, al-muhsanāt (translated here as ‘free women’) refers to unmarried ones, and not to the married ones who are mentioned by the same word, in the beginning of the verse [24: And all married women ...]. The definite article in ‘the punishment’, refers to the well-known punishment. The meaning: If believing slave women commit indecency, i.e., fornication, they shall be given half the punishment of unmarried free women, that is, they shall receive fifty stripes.

Another possible explanation: al-Ihsān may imply chastity. The slave girls in those days were not free to do as they liked; they had to obey the orders of their masters, especially in indecency and debauchery. When they indulged in prostitution, it was usually by the order of their masters who exploited them and used them as a source of income. The masters sold their slaves’ honor to increase their wealth. This aspect is implied in the prohibition contained in the verse: and do not compel your slave girls to prostitution when they desire to keep chaste, in order to seek the frail good of this world’s life (). Obviously when they sold their bodies and indulged in prostitution, it was done by the order of their masters, without any choice left to them. If the masters did not compel them for fornication, then the believing slaves among them would have observed Islamic piety, at least in appearance, and would have preserved their chastity as was expected of a believer. But if they indulged in fornication after that, then they would be given half the punishment of free women. It is this aspect to which the verse points, ‘‘and when they are taken in marriage, then if they are guilty of indecency, they shall suffer half the punishment which is (inflicted) upon free women’’.

But if the word uhsinna (translated here as, ‘‘taken in marriage’’), is taken to indicate chastity [‘and when they become chaste’], then the conditional clause would be superfluous, because if they were not chaste then they would be under duress, compelled to do as their masters said. Likewise, there would be no meaning in the words: and do not compel your slave girls to prostitution, when they desire to keep chaste (), because if they do not want to be chaste, there is no question of compulsion by the masters—they would indulge in fornication willingly. Think over it.

This is for him among you who fears falling into evil ... Forgiving, Merciful: al-ʿAnat literally means affliction, hardship and perdition; in this context, it implies fornication, which takes place when man is afflicted by lust, suffers from hardship of sexual desire and thus falls in perdition. The demonstrative pronoun, ‘This’, reportedly refers to the marriage with slave girls mentioned in this verse. Accordingly, the next clause, ‘‘and that you abstain is better for you’’; would mean: If you abstain from marrying slave girls, or from fornication, it is better for you. Also, possibly the pronoun refers to obligatoriness of marriage with slave girls, or marriage in general—if such ideas could be inferred from the context of the preceding verse; and God knows better.

However, abstinence and patience is better, in any case. If it indicates abstaining from marrying slave girls, it is because of the rights their masters have on them and on their offspring—as described in books of jurisprudence; and if it implies abstaining from illicit sexual relations, then it looks at the purity of character that the patience and abstinence create, and at the trait of piety which is strengthened when man refuses to yield to his lustful desires—no matter whether he is married or not; ‘‘and God is Forgiving, Merciful’’: He erases, through His forgiveness, the effects of evil thoughts from the minds of His pious servants, and has mercy on them.

يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُبَيِّنَ لَكُمْ وَيَهْدِيَكُمْ سُنَنَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ وَيَتُوبَ عَلَيْكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ ٢٦

(4:26) Allah desires to explain to you, and to guide you into the ways of those before you, and to turn to you (mercifully), and Allah is Knowing, Wise.

The first part of the sentence and the subsequent ones indicate and explain the ultimate goal of various laws ordained in the preceding three verses; and the benefits that are derived when society follows them scrupulously. The meaning, accordingly, will be as follows: God desires to explain to you the rules of His religion, as it leads you to the good of this world and the next one, and contains many underlying benefits and reasons. According to this explanation, the object of this verb was deleted to show its greatness and importance. Another possibility: The verbs, ‘‘to explain to you’’, and ‘‘to guide you’’, may be having a common object, i.e., ‘the ways of those before you’.

... and to guide you into the ways of those before you: That is, the life-styles of the prophets and the good people, who spent their days seeking God’s pleasure, and through it enjoyed the happiness of this world and the hereafter. If this interpretation is correct, then ‘‘the ways’’ would indicate their way of life in general terms, not all their customs and traditions with all their details and particulars. Accordingly, there would be no room for the objection, that the ancients had some laws which these very verses have revoked, like marriage between brothers and sisters in Adam’s time, and having two sisters together (in the sharīʿah of Jacob, who, according to some reports, had two sisters together—Leah, mother of Judah, and Rachel, mother of Joseph).

There is another interpretation offered by some people: The clause speaks about guiding to the ways of all previous societies, no matter whether they were on the right path or the wrong. Accordingly, it means: We have explained to you all the previous customs—right and wrong, all—in order that you may have an insight into them, adopt the right customs and reject the wrong ones.

There is no difficulty in accepting this meaning, except that guidance has not been used in this meaning in the Qur’an. It has always been used for conveyance to the truth or to show the truth. God says: Surely you cannot guide whom you love, but Allah guides whom He pleases (); Surely We have shown him the way; he may be thankful or unthankful (). It is more appropriate to the Qur’anic taste to express such ideas, as given by that exegete, with the words, explanation or narration, etc.

Nevertheless, if the verb, ‘‘to explain to you’’ and ‘‘to guide you’’ are taken to have the common object, ‘‘the ways of those before you’’; and the subsequent verb, ‘‘to turn to you (mercifully)’’, is also taken to refer to the same, then the above explanation will fit the verse properly. The meaning, then, would be as follows: ‘God explains to you the ways of those before you, and guides you to the correct ones among them, and turns mercifully to you concerning the wrong customs which you had adopted.’ The preceding verses have mentioned previous people’s customs—right and wrong both—and have proclaimed pardon for the wrong practices of the past.

... and to turn to you (mercifully), and Allah is knowing, Wise: al-Tawbah here refers to God’s turning to His servant with favor and mercy, ordaining the sharīʿah and explaining the reality, and guiding him to the right path. All these are various facets of God’s turning, as is the acceptance of the servant’s repentance and erasure of sin’s effects and consequence from him.

The ending clause, ‘‘and God is Knowing, Wise’’, covers all the clauses of the verse. Had it been connected only to the last one, it would apparently have been more appropriate to say: and God is Forgiving, Merciful.

وَاللَّهُ يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَتُوبَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَيُرِيدُ الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الشَّهَوَاتِ أَنْ تَمِيلُوا مَيْلًا عَظِيمًا ٢٧

(4:27) And Allah desires that He should turn to you (mercifully), and those who follow (their) lusts desire that you should deviate (with) a great deviation.

The verse reiterates God’s turning to the believers to indicate that the following sentence, that is, ‘‘and those who follow (their) lusts desire that you should deviate (with) a great deviation’’, stands face to face with the only last of the three clauses of the preceding verse. If there were no repetition, the sentence, ‘‘and those who follow ...’’, would have looked as standing parallel to all three preceding clauses, and would have seemed irrelevant.

The great deviation implies transgression of God’s limits described in these verses: Having incestuous relations; disregarding the effects of blood-and marriage-relationships; licentiousness and debauchery; and refusal to follow the right path laid by God.

يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ أَنْ يُخَفِّفَ عَنْكُمْ ۚ وَخُلِقَ الْإِنْسَانُ ضَعِيفًا ٢٨

(4:28) Allah desires that He should make light your burdens, and man is created weak

Man is weak. Why? Because desire is an integral part of his creation; it unceasingly incites him to indulge in lust, and thus creates an internal turmoil. God in His mercy and favor, has made lawful for them the ways to calm down their desire, i.e., He has ordained the institution of marriage to lighten their burdens and lessen their hardships, as He has said: and lawful for you is (all) besides that. This includes marriage and possession; in this way He has guided them to the ways of those who were before them. Then He has given them another concession by legalizing the mutʿah marriage, as it does not entail as much hardships as the permanent marriage does, that is, heavy dowry, regular maintenance, etc.

Someone has said: The lightening of burdens refers to the permission of marrying slave girls in times of need. But this explanation is not to the point. Arabs used to marry slave girls at times of need even in pre- Islamic days; this custom was prevalent among them, although they did not like it, and, considered it degrading to themselves. What these verses have done is to erase that stigma and removes that dislike and aversion, by explaining that a slave girl is as much a human being as a free woman is, without there being any difference between them in any way. The status of slavery does not make a slave unworthy of social mingling and family ties.

Undeniably, the verses are clearly addressed to the believers of this ummah. Accordingly, the said lightening of burdens concerns this ummah only, and it means what we have described.

Now, the given reason that, ‘‘man is created weak’’, is not confined to this ummah; it is common to all humanity, be they of this ummah or of the previous ones; while the lightening of burdens was ordained for this ummah only. The verse, thus, gives a general cause but keeps silent about what restricts its effect. It is as though it was saying: We have lightened your burdens, because the weakness pervading the mankind was always demanding this lightening; but there were always some impediments there, which prevented it from taking effect—the impediments which hindered lightening of burdens and spreading of mercy in previous nations. Then came your turn and the divine mercy has now encompassed you and its effects are now appearing among you. Now the said cause has brought its effects into being and God has reduced your burdens—although the previous nations were not allowed this concession. This fact may be gleaned from the following two verses: ‘‘Our Lord! do not lay on us a burden as Thou didst lay on those before us’’ (); He has chosen you and has not laid upon you any hardship in religion ().

It appears from the above that this general cause also aims at showing that all the favors bestowed on humanity have appeared in their complete form in this ummah.

Examining Narrations

1. The Prophet said: ‘‘Verily, God has forbidden by reason of breast-feeding what He has forbidden by reason of blood-relationship.’’
2. Also he has said: ‘‘Suckling is a relationship like blood-relationship.’’
3. Mālik and ʿAbd al-Razzāq have narrated from ʿĀʾishah that she said: ‘‘Among what was revealed of the Qur’an was (the verse of) ten known sucklings; then it was abrogated by (the verse of) five known (sucklings); and the Messenger of God expired and those (verses) were a part of what was recited of the Qur’an.’’ (al-Durr al-Manthūr)

Author’s comments: al-Suyūtī has narrated in his above book other traditions from ʿĀʾishah, through other chains. But they are among the traditions which imply distortion and alteration of the Qur’an; such reports are totally rejected because of their inconsistency with the Qur’an.

4. ʿAbd al-Razzāq, ʿAbd b. Hamīd, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir and al- Bayhaqī (in his al-Sunan) have narrated through two chains from ʿAmr b. Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather from the Prophet that he said: ‘‘When a man marries a woman, then it is not lawful to him to marry her mother, whether he has gone into that girl (his wife) or not; on the other hand, if he marries the mother and divorces her before going into her, then he may marry (her) daughter, if he so wishes.’’ (ibid.)

Author’s comments: This meaning is narrated through the Shīʿī chains from the Imams of Ahl al-bayt, and it is their known madhhab, and the same is inferred from the Qur’an, as was explained in the preceding Commentary. But the Sunnīs have narrated from ʿAlī that there was no harm in marrying the mother of the wife (if one divorces the latter) before establishing sexual relations with her; and that she was in this respect like the step-daughters; also that it was not unlawful for a man to marry his step-daughter if she was not under his guardianship. But such assertions are contrary to all that is narrated from them (Imāms,) through the Shīʿī chains.

5. al-Kulaynī has narrated through his chains from Mansūr b. Hāzim that he said: ‘‘I was with Abū ʿAbdillāh when a man came and asked him about a man who had married a woman, but she died before he could establish sexual relations with her—‘Can he marry her mother?’ Thereupon, Abū ʿAbdillāh said: ‘A man of us had done so and had not considered it objectionable.’ Then I said: ‘May I be made your ransom! The Shīʿah do not boast except by the judgment of ʿAlī concerning this (problem) about al-mashīkhah, about which Ibn Masʿūd had given a rulling that there was no snag in it. Then he came to ʿAlī and asked him. ʿAlī said to him: ‘‘From where [that is, on what authority] will he take her?’’ He said: ‘‘From the word of God, the Mighty, the Great: and your step-daughters who are in your guardianship, (born) of your wives to whom you have gone in; but if you have not gone in to them, there is no blame on you (in marrying them).’’ ʿAlī said: ‘‘This is conditional, while that (i.e., prohibition of the mother-in-law) is unconditional.’’ ’ Then Abū ʿAbdillāh said to the man [who had asked the question]: ‘Do you not hear what this (man) narrates from ʿAlī?’. ‘‘Thereafter when I stood up, I felt remorse and said (to myself): ‘What have I done? He [i.e., the Imām, a.s.] says: ‘‘A man of us had done so and had not considered it objectionable’’, and then I [contradict him and] say: ‘‘ ʿAlī had given such ruling on this (matter)’’.’ So I met him afterwards and said: ‘May I be made your ransom! Concerning that man’s enquiry, it was a mistake on my part that I spoke as I did; so what do you say in this respect?’ He said: ‘O Shaykh! You inform me that ʿAlī had decided this matter and then you ask me what I say about it!’ ’’ (al-Kāfī)

Author’s comments: The story of his judgment concerning the rulling of Ibn Masʿūd, as narrated in al-Durr al-Manthūr from al-Sunan, is as follows: A man from (the tribe of) Banū Shamakh married a woman, but before establishing sexual relations with her, he saw her mother and liked her. He asked Ibn Masʿūd about it; and he told him to leave (that is, divorce) the said wife and then marry her mother. He did so, and got children from her. Then Ibn Masʿūd came to Medina and was told that she was not lawful (for him). Therefore, on returning to Kūfah he informed the man that she was forbidden to him; and he separated from her.

But this story does not ascribe that judgment to ʿAlī. It rather says that he had asked the Companions of the Prophet about it. Another text says that he had asked ʿUmar about it. A third narration says that he was informed that his ruling was not correct and that the condition applied to the step-daughters only.

6. [al-Shaykh narrates] through his chains from Ishāq b. ʿAmmār from Jaʿfar from his father that ʿAlī used to say: ‘‘The step-daughters are forbidden to you (who are born) of the mothers with whom you have cohabited, no matter whether they are in your guardianship or not; and (the wives’) mothers are (forbidden) unconditionally, whether sexual intercourse was established or not. Therefore, treat as unlawful and unconditional what God has kept unconditional.’’ (al-Istibsār)

Author’s comments: Some Sunnī traditions ascribe to ʿAlī that prohibition of step-daughters was conditional on their being in one’s guardianship. But this is rebutted by the traditions narrated from the Imāms of Ahl al-bayt, and as was explained earlier, the latter was in conformity with the connotation of the verse.

al-Mubhamāt (translated above as ‘unconditionally’,) is derived from al-buhmah, which implies a thing that has a single color, unmixed with another color. This adjective is used for those categories of prohibited women whose prohibition is general and unconditional, that is, mothers, daughters, sisters, paternal aunts, maternal aunts, brother’s daughters and sisters’s daughters, as well as foster relatives, mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law.

7. Zurārah narrates from Abū Jaʿfar that he asked him about a man who has a slave girl with whom he has cohabited—‘‘Is it lawful for him to marry her daughter?’ The Imām said: ‘No. She is as God has said: and your step-daughters who are in your guardianship ...’ ’’ (ibid.)
8. Abū ʿAwn has reported that he heard Abū Sālih al-Hanafī saying: ‘‘ ʿAlī said one day: ‘Ask me (whatever you wish to ask).’ Ibn al-Kawwāʾ said: ‘Tell me about the daughter of the foster sister, and about two sisters in possession (of one master).’ (The Imām,) said: ‘Surely you are wondering; (better) ask about that which concerns you or may be useful to you.’ Ibn al-Kawwāʾ said: ‘We ask you only about what we do not know; as for that which we know, we do not ask you about.’ Then (the Imām,) said [inter alia]: ‘As for the two slave sisters, one verse makes them lawful, while another prohibits them; and I neither allow them nor forbid them; but I do not do it nor does anyone of my household.’ ’’ (al-Tafsīr, al-ʿAyyāshī)
9. It is narrated from Muʿammar b. Yahyā b. Sālim that he said: ‘‘We asked Abū Jaʿfar about what the people narrate from the Leader of the faithful concerning some things which he neither allowed nor prohibited except his own self and his children; and I said: ‘How is it possible that he said, ‘‘One verse allows it and another forbids it’’.’ We said: ‘First of all, either, one of them had abrogated the other, or both were decisive which should be followed.’ (The Imām, a.s.) then said: ‘He made the matter clear to them when he forbade himself and his children.’ We said: ‘What prevented him from explaining it [in clear words] to the people?’ He said: ‘He was afraid that his (orders) would not be obeyed; because if the Leader of the faithful could firmly establish his authority, he would have enforced the Book of God, all of it, and the truth, all of it!’ ’’ (al-Tahdhīb)

Author’s comments: The tradition of ʿAlī, referred to, is the one narrated from him through the Sunnī chains. It is quoted in al-Durr al- manthūr from al-Bayhaqī and others that ʿAlī said about two sister slave girls: ‘‘One verse makes them lawful while another one prohibits them; and I neither allow (it) nor disallow (it); nor do I make them lawful or unlawful; and I do not do it, nor do the people of my household (do so).’’ The same book narrates from Qubaysah b. Dhuʾayb that someone asked ʿAlī about it and he said: ‘‘If I had any authority and had found anyone doing it, I would have made him a warning example (that is, would have given him exemplary punishment).’’

10. ʿAbdullāh b. Sinān said: ‘‘I heard Abū ʿAbdillāh saying: ‘If a man has two [slave] sisters in his possession, and has sexual relations with one of them, and then wishes to have the same [relations] with the other, it is not allowed to him to do so, until the former goes out of his possession—either he gifts her (to someone) of sells her. Thus it will be sufficient if he gives her as a gift to his son.’ ’’ (al-Tahdhīb)
11. Muḥammad b. Muslim said: ‘‘I asked Abū Jaʿfar about the word of God: and all married women except those whom your right hands possess. He said: ‘It is [like] this, that a man orders his slave (whom is married to his slave girl), and tells him, ‘‘Put aside your wife and do not go near her’’. Then he keeps her confined until she sees her blood; after that he touches her. There after when she again sees blood after his touching her, he returns her to him [i.e., to her slave husband] without [any need of a new] marriage.’ ’’ (al-Kāfī; al-Tafsīr, al-ʿAyyāshī)
12. Ibn Muskān has narrated through Abū Basīr, from one of the two Imāms, about the word of God: And all married women except those whom your right hands possess, that he said: ‘‘They are the women having husbands except those whom your right hands possess. If you have given your slave girl in marriage to your slave boy, you may remove her from him if you so wish.’’ ‘‘I said: ‘Do you see, if he has given her in marriage to other than his own slave boy?’ He said: ‘(Then) he has no right to remove (her from him) until she is sold away; then if he sells her, her affair is transferred to other than him (that is, to the buyer); then the buyer may separate (her from her husband) if he so desires, and may reconfirm (the marriage) if he so wishes.’’ (al-Tafsīr, al-ʿAyyāshī)
13. al-Suyūtī has narrated from Ahmad, Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī (who has said that the tradition is good) and Ibn Mājah, from Fīrūz al-Daylamī, that he entered into Islam and there were two sisters under him (i.e., he had gathered two sisters in marriage); so the Prophet said to him: ‘‘Give divorce to whomever you wish (to leave) of the two.’’ (al-Durr al-Manthūr)
14. Ibn ʿAbdi al-Barr has narrated in al-Istidhkār, from Ayās b. ʿĀmir that he said: ‘‘I asked ʿAlī b. Abī Tālib and said: ‘I have two sisters among my slaves, with one of whom I have established sexual relations and she has borne children for me; then I am attracted to the other; now what should I do?’ He said: ‘You should emancipate the one you had cohabited with, then you (may) cohabit with the other.’ Then he said: ‘Surely, all the categories of free women forbidden to you in the Book of God, are also forbidden to you from among those whom your right hands possess, except the number (or he said, ‘except the limit of four’) and all the categories forbidden to you in the Book of God through kinship, are also forbidden to you through breast-feeding.’ ’’ (ibid.)

Author's comments: al-Suyūtī has narrated it from ʿAlī through other chains too.

15. Abū Hurayrah said: ‘‘The Messenger of God said: ‘A woman and her paternal aunt are not gathered together, nor are a woman and her maternal aunt.’ ’’ (al-Sahīh, al-Bukhārī, Muslim)

Author’s comments: This theme is found also in some Sunnī traditions narrated through other chains; but the traditions of the Imāms of Ahl al-bayt refute it, and the Qur’an supports them.

16. al-Ṭayālisī, ʿAbd al-Razzāq, al-Fariyābī, Ibn Abī Shaybah, Ahmad, ʿAbd b. Hamīd, Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī and al-Nasāʾī; as well as Abū Ya‘lā, Ibn Jarīr, Ibnl al-Mundhir, Ibn Abī Hātim, al-Tahāwī, Ibn Hibbān and al-Bayhaqī (in his al-Sunan) have narrated from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī that he said: ‘‘Verily, the Messenger of God sent an army, on the day of Hunayn, to Awtās. They met the enemy and defeated them. after a fight and took captives. Some companions of the Messenger of God refrained from cohabiting with them, because they had their polytheist husbands. Then God revealed: And all married women except those whom your right hands possess, that is, except those whom God has given to you as booty. So we treated them as lawful to us on that authority.’’ (al-Durr al-Manthūr)

Author’s comments: The same book narrates it through al-Ṭabarānī from Ibn ʿAbbās.

17. ʿAbd b. Hamīd has narrated from ʿIkrimah: ‘‘This verse in the chapter of ‘The Women’, that is: And all married women except those whom your right hands possess, was revealed about a woman, called Maʿādhah, who was married to an old man of Banū Sadūs, named Shujāʿ b. al-Hārith. There was his other wife with her, who had borne to him children, [now grown-up] men. Shujāʿ went to Hajar to get provisions for his family. In the meantime, a cousin of Maʿādhah passed from there, and she said to him: ‘Take me away to my people, because there is no good with this old man.’ So he carried her away with him. (Their departure almost) coincided with the old man’s arrival. He went to the Messenger of God and said: ‘O Messenger of God, and the most excellent of the Arabs! I had gone out in [the month of] Rajab to get provisions for her; and she fled away; and she is the worst dominator for anyone who is dominated; she saw a boy sitting on the hump; there is a desire in her and in him.’ The Messenger of God said: ‘Bring (them) to me! Bring (them) to me! If the man has opened her cloth (that is, committed adultery with her), then stone her; otherwise, return to the old man his wife.’ So Mālik, son of Shujāʿ from the other wife, went out in pursuit and brought her back and she came down to her house.’’ (ibid.)

Author’s comments: It has repeatedly been mentioned that such stories purporting to describe the occasion when a verse was revealed—and especially those dealing with some parts or clauses of a verse—are merely the attempts of the narrators to fit some events to some verses or sentences; they do not give the real reasons of revelation.

18. al-Sādiq was asked about the word of God, And all al-muhsanāt women: He said: ‘‘It means those who are married.’’ Then he was asked about the words, and al-muhsanāt from among those who have been given the Book before you []; he said: ‘‘The chaste women.’’ (Man lā yahduruh al-faqīh)

Author’s comments: al-ʿAyyāshī too has narrated it from the same Imām.

19. al-Ṭabrisī has explained the words, And whoever among you has not within his power ampleness of means, as ‘‘whoever among you does not have riches’’; and according to him it is narrated from Abū Jaʿfar. (Majmaʿ al-Bayān)
20. al-Sādiq said: ‘‘Today a free man should not marry a slave girl. It was (allowed) as God has said, And whoever among you has not within his power ampleness of means; and ampleness of means refers to dowry, but today the dowry of a free woman is (just like) the dowry of a slave girl or even less.’’ (al-Kāfī)

Author’s comments: Wealth and riches is one connotation of ‘ampleness of means’, as was explained earlier. The tradition does not show more than undesirability of such marriages.

21. Abu al-ʿAbbās al-Baqbāq has said: ‘‘I said to Abū ʿAbdillāh: ‘Can a man marry a slave girl without the permission of her people?’ He said: ‘It is fornication. Surely God says: so marry them with the permission of their people.’ ’’ (al-Tahdhīb)
22. Ahmad b. Muḥammad b. Nasr says: ‘‘I asked al-Ridā: ‘Can mutʿah be done with a slave girl with the permission of her people?’ He said: ‘Yes. Surely God, the Mighty, the Great, says: so marry them with the permission of their people.’ ’’ (ibid.)
23. Muḥammad b. Muslim says narrating from one of the two Imāms: ‘‘I asked him about the word of God regarding the slave girls, and when they are taken in marriage—‘What was the connotation of al-ihsān here?’ He said: ‘Consummation of marriage.’ I said: ‘Then if the marriage is not consummated, there is no [fixed] punishment prescribed for them?’ He said: ‘Certainly.’ ’’ (al-Tafsīr, al-ʿAyyāshī)
24. Harīz said: ‘‘I asked him about al-muhsin (who has that which suffices him.’ ’’ (ibid.)). He said: ‘He Muḥammad b. Qays narrates from Abū Jaʿfar that he said: ‘‘The Leader of the faithful used to sentence slave men and women, if any of them committed fornication, to be flogged fifty stripes—whether he/she be a Muslim or unbeliever or Christian; and he/she was not to be stoned or banished.’’ (al-Kāfī)
25. Abū Bakr al-Hadramī narrates that Abū ʿAbdillāh said about a slave who defamed a free man [of fornication]: ‘‘He shall be flogged eighty stripes; it is among the rights of the people; as concerning that which is among the rights of God, the Mighty, the Great, he shall be given half of the prescribed punishment.’’ ‘‘I said: ‘What are the things among the rights of God, the Mighty, the Great?’’ He said: ‘When he fornicates or drinks liquor; it is among those rights for which he shall be given half of the punishment.’ ’’ (ibid.)
26. Barīd al-ʿIjlī narrates from Abū Jaʿfar that he said about a slave girl who commits fornication: ‘‘She shall be given half the prescribed punishment, no matter whether she has a husband or not.’’ (al Tahdhīb)
27. Ibn Jarīr has narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās that he said: ‘‘al-Musāfihāt refers to those who commit fornication openly; and muttakhidhāt akhdān, to those who have only one paramour.’’ Also he said: ‘‘The people of the (era of) ignorance considered fornication unlawful if it was done openly; but what remained concealed was treated as lawful. They used to say: ‘What becomes known is ignoble, but there is no blame in that which remains secret.’ Then God revealed: and do not draw near to indecencies, those of them which are apparent, and those which are concealed.’’ [], (al-Durr al-Manthūr)

Author’s comments: There are numerous traditions on the themes described above; but we have quoted only a few of them as samples.

A Review of Traditions About Mutʿah Marriage

1. Abū Basīr says: ‘‘I asked Abū Jaʿfar about the mutʿah. He said: ‘It has been revealed in the Qur’an: Then as to such of them with whom you have mutʿah, give them their dowries as appointed; and there is no blame on you about what you mutually agree after what is appointed.’ ’’ (al-Kāfī)
2. Ibn Abī ʿUmayr narrates through his narrator from Abū ʿAbdillāh that he said: ‘‘It was revealed (as follows): Then as to such of them with whom you have mutʿah—for a fixed period—give them their dowries as appointed.’’ (ibid.)

Author’s comments: This recital has been narrated by al-ʿAyyāshī from Abū Jaʿfar; also the Sunnis have narrated it by various chains from Ubayy b. Kaʿb and ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAbbās, as will be described below. Probably, such traditions aim at describing the intended meaning of the verse, rather than asserting that the actual revelation contained these words.

3. Zurārah said: ‘‘ ʿAbdullāh b. ʿUmayr al-Laythī came to Abū Jaʿfar and asked: ‘What do you say about mutʿah with women?’ He replied: ‘God has made it lawful in His Book and on the tongue of His Prophet; therefore, it is lawful up to the Day of Resurrection.’ He said: ‘O Abū Jaʿfar! (a person) like you says this while ʿUmar had prohibited and made it unlawful?’ He said: ‘Even if he did so.’ Then (al-Laythī) said: ‘I seek God’s protection for you that you should consider a thing lawful which ʿUmar had made unlawful.’ ’’
4. Zurārah says: ‘‘Then the Imām said to him: ‘Well, you adhere to the word of your companion, while I am on the word of the Messenger of God. Well, come on, let me utter imprecations against you that the (right) word is that which the Messenger of God had said, and that false is that which your companion had uttered.’ Thereupon ʿAbdullāh b. ʿUmayr turned to him and said: ‘Would you like it if your women, and your daughters, and your sisters, and your cousins did it?’ ’’ Zurārah says: ‘‘ ‘Then Abū Jaʿfar turned away from him when he mentioned his women and cousins.’’ (ibid.)
5. Abū Maryam narrates that Abū ʿAbdillāh said: ‘‘As for the mutʿah, the Qur’an was revealed for it (that is, the Qur’an allowed it), and the tradition of the Messenger of God put it in force.’’ (ibid.)
6. ʿAbdu al-Rahmān b. Abī ʿAbdillāh said: ‘‘I heard Abū Hanīfah asking Abū ʿAbdillāh about mutʿah. (The Imām,) said: ‘About which mutʿah you are asking?’ He said: ‘I have already asked you about the mutʿah of hajj [that is, hajj al-tamattuʿ]; now tell me about the mutʿah of women, is it right?’ Then (the Imām, a.s.) said: ‘God be praised! Have you not read the Book of God: Then as to such of them with whom you have mutʿah, give them their dowries as appointed?’ He said: ‘‘By God! (It seemed as if) it was a verse I had never read.’ ’’ (ibid.)
7. Muḥammad b. Muslim narrates from Abū Jaʿfar that he said: ‘‘Jābir b. ʿAbdillāh has narrated from the Messenger of God that they [i.e., the Muslims] went on an expedition with him [the Holy Prophet], and he made mutʿah lawful for them and (then) did not prohibit it; and ʿAlī used to say: ‘Had not the son of Khattāb (that is, ʿUmar) gone ahead of me in this matter [i.e., had he not forbidden it before I came to power], none would have committed fornication except a scoundrel’; and Ibn ʿAbbās used to say: ‘Then as to such of them with whom you have mutʿah—for a fixed period—give them their dowries as appointed; and these people deny it, while the Messenger of God had allowed it and not forbidden it.’ ’’ (al-Tafsīr, al-ʿAyyāshī)
8. Abū Basīr narrates from Abū Jaʿfar that he said about mutʿah: ‘‘The verse was revealed; then as to such of them with whom you have mutʿah, give them their dowries as appointed; and there is no blame on you about what you mutually agree after what is appointed.’’ Then he said: ‘‘There is no blame if you increase her (dowry) and she increases your (period), when the period (fixed) between you two expires. You may say, with her consent, ‘I make you lawful for me for another (fixed) period.’ But she is not lawful for other than you until her waiting period expires; and her waiting period is two monthly courses.’’ (ibid.)
9. al-Shaybānī narrates from Abū Jaʿfar and Abū ʿAbdillāh that they said regarding the verse, and there is no blame on you about what you mutually agree after what is appointed: ‘‘It means that he increases her dowry or she increases his (fixed) period.’’

Author’s comments: There are mutawātir or nearly mutawātir traditions narrated from the Imāms of Ahl al-bayt on the above themes; but we have quoted only a few of them. Anyone wanting to study the lot, should refer to the collections of traditions.

Traditions on the Recitation: ‘‘For a Fixed Period’’

1. Ibn Abī Hātim has narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās, that he said: ‘‘The mutʿah of women was in the beginning of Islam. A man. used to arrive at a town; there was none with him to mend his things or to look after his property. Therefore, he married a woman for as long as he thought his work (there) would last; and she looked after his property and mended his things.’’ And he [Ibn ʿAbbās] used to recite: ‘‘Then as to such of them with whom you have mutʿah—for a fixed period.’’ ‘‘It was abrogated by the words: with chastity, not committing fornication. And marriage-tie was in the hand of man, he kept (her) as long as he wished, and let (her) go when he wished.’’ (al-Durr al-Manthūr)
2. al-Hākim narrates through his chains from Abū Nadrah, that he said: ‘‘I recited before Ibn ʿAbbās, Then as to such of them with whom you have mutʿah, give them their dowries as appointed; Ibn ʿAbbās said: ‘Then as to such of them with whom you have mutʿah—for a fixed period.’ I said: ‘‘We do not read it like that.’ Ibn ʿAbbās said: ‘By God! God had revealed it like that.’ ’’ (al-Mustadrak)

Author’s comments: This tradition has also been narrated in al-Durr al-Manthūr from al-Hākim, ʿAbd b. Hamīd, Ibn Jarīr and Ibn al-Anbārī (in al-Masāhif).

3. ʿAbd b. Hamīd and Ibn Jarīr have narrated from Qatādah that he said: ‘‘ ʿUbayy b. Kaʿb used to recite: Then as to such of them with whom you have mutʿah—for a fixed period.’’ (al-Durr al-Manthūr)
4. Muḥammad b. Kaʿb narrates from Ibn ʿAbbās that he said: ‘‘The mutʿah was in the beginning of Islam. A man used to arrive at a town which he did not know. So, he married a woman for as long as he thought he would stay there; so she looked after his property and mended his things. (It continued) until the verse was revealed: ... except before their mates or those whom their right hands possess’’ []; Ibn ʿAbbās said: ‘‘Now every woman except these two (categories) is unlawful.’ ’’ (al- Sahīh, al-Tirmidhī)

Author’s comments: It implies that the mutʿah was abrogated in Mecca [before hijrah], because the purportedly abrogating verse is of Meccan period!

5. ʿAbdullāh b. Abī Malīkah says: ‘‘I asked ʿĀʾishah about the mutʿah of women. She said: ‘The Book of God is between me and you.’ Then she recited: And who guard their private parts, except before their mates or those whom their right hands possess, for they surely are not blameable, []; but whoever seeks to go beyond what God has given in his marriage or in his possession, he surely exceeds the limit.’’

Some Traditions showing that the Mutʿah was abrogated by the Qur’an

1. Abū Dāwūd (in his al-Nāsikh), Ibn al-Mundhir and al-Nahhās have narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās that the verses, Then as to such of them with whom you have mutʿah, give them their dowries as appointed, was abrogated by the verses, O Prophet! when you divorce them for their prescribed time []; And the divorced women should keep themselves in waiting for three monthly courses []; And (as for) those of your women who have despaired of menstruation, if you have a doubt, their prescribed time shall be three months []. (al-Durr al-Manthūr)
2. Abū Dāwūd (in his al-Nāsikh), Ibn al-Mundhir, al-Nahhās and al-Bayhaqī have narrated from Saʿīd b. al-Musayyab that he said: ‘‘The verse of inheritance has abrogated the mutʿah.’’ (ibid.)
3. ʿAbd al-Razzāq and Ibn al-Mundhir have narrated from ʿAlī, that he said: ‘‘Ramadān abrogated every (other) fast; and al-Zakāt abrogated every (other) alms; and mutʿah was abrogated by divorce, waiting period and inheritance; and the sacrifice (of hajj) abrogated every (other) slaughter.’’ (ibid.)

Some Traditions showing that the Mutʿah was abrogated by the Sunnah

1. ʿAbd al-Razzāq, Ahmad and Muslim have narrated from Sabrah al-Juhanī that he said: ‘‘The Messenger of God allowed us, in the year of the Conquest of Mecca, to marry women in mutʿah. So I went out with a man of my tribe; I was his better in beauty while he was almost ugly. Each of us had a garment; my garment was worn and shabby, while my cousin’s was brand new and fresh. When we reached upper region of Mecca, a girl came before us—like a beautiful young she-camel. We said (to her): ‘Do you agree that one of us should marry you in mutʿah?’ She said: ‘And what will you pay?’ So each of us spread his garment. She kept looking at two of us. When my companion saw her (hesitation), he said: ‘Surely, his garment is old and worn; and my garment is new and fresh.’ She kept replying: ‘Even his garment is not bad.’ So, I did mutʿah with her. We had not even departed from Mecca when the Messenger of God prohibited it.’’ (ibid.)
2. Mālik, ʿAbd al-Razzāq, Ibn Abī Shaybah, al-Bukhārī, Muslim, al-Tirmidhī, al-Nasāʾī and Ibn Mājah have narrated from ʿAlī b. Abī Tālib: ‘‘Verily, the Messenger of God forbade the mutʿah of women on the day of Khaybar; and (the same day, prohibited) eating the flesh of domesticated donkeys.’’ (ibid.)
3. Ibn Abī Shaybah, Ahmad and Muslim have narrated from Salamah b. al-Akwaʿ that he said: ‘‘The Messenger of God allowed us to do mutʿah with women, in the year of Awtās for three days, then he forbade it.’’ (ibid.)
4. Ibn al-ʿArabī writes in his Commentary of Sahīh al-Tirmidhī: ‘‘Ismāʿīl narrates from his father, from al-Zuhrī, that Sabrah said that the Prophet prohibited it in the Last Pilgrimage. It has been narrated by Abū Dāwūd, ... and it has been narrated by ʿAbdu al-ʿAzīz b. ʿUmar b. ʿAbdi al-ʿAzīz from al-Rabīʿ b. Sabrah from his father, in which he says that it was in the Last Pilgrimage, after it was allowed, and that it was [marriage] for a fixed period; and al-Hasan has said that it was (forbidden) in the ʿUmrah of al-Qadāʾ.’’
5. The same book narrates from al-Zuhrī that the Prophet forbade mutʿah in the expedition of Tabūk.

Author’s comments: As you see, the traditions contradict each other in identifying the time when the Prophet prohibited the mutʿah. Some say it was prior to hijrah; others, that it was after hijrah. A group says it was abrogated by the verses of marriage, divorce, waiting period and inheritance, while others claim that it was prohibited by the Prophet in the battle of Khaybar [Rajab, 7 AH], or at the ʿUmrah of al- Qadāʾ [end of 7 AH], or in the year of Awtās or the Conquest of Mecca [8 AH], or the year of Tabūk [9 AH], or after the Last Pilgrimage [end of 10 AH]. That is why the Sunnī scholars say that it was prohibited several times, and each of the above traditions describes one or the other of the occasions. But some of the narrators, like ʿAlī, Jābir and Ibn Masʿūd, were too great to remain unaware of the Prophet’s orders—especially when we remember that they were constantly with him and knew every big and small matter of his life.

6. al-Bayhaqī narrates from ʿAlī that he said: ‘‘The Messenger of God forbade mutʿah. It was only for him who did not get [means for permanent marriage]; but when (verses of) marriage, divorce, waiting period and mutual inheritance (rights) of husband and wife were revealed, it was abrogated.’’ (al-Durr al-Manthūr)
7. al-Nahhās has narrated that ʿAlī b. Abī Tālib said to Ibn ʿAbbās: ‘‘Surely, you are a straying man; verily, the Messenger of God had forbidden mutʿah.’’ (ibid.)
8. al-Bayhaqī narrates from Abū Dharr that he said: ‘‘The mutʿah was allowed for the companions of the Messenger of God only for three days; then the Messenger of God forbade it.’’ (ibid.)
9. Abū Jamrah says that Ibn ʿAbbās was asked about mutʿah, and he allowed it. Thereupon a slave of his said to him: ‘‘Surely it was (allowed) when the number of women was small and the condition was hard.’’ Ibn ʿAbbās said: ‘‘Yes.’’ (al-Sahīh, al-Bukhārī)
10. al-Bayhaqī has narrated that ʿUmar delivered a lecture in which he said: ‘‘How is it that some men marry (in) this mutʿah form, and the Messenger of God had forbidden it? None will be brought before me who had married (in) this (form) but I shall stone him.’’ (al-Durr al-manthūr)
11. Ibn Abī Shaybah, Ahmad and Muslim have narrated from Sabrah that he said: ‘‘I saw the Messenger of God standing between the Rukn and the door [of the Kaʿbah], and he was saying: ‘O people! I had allowed you to marry in mutʿah form; well, God has prohibited it up to the Day of Resurrection. Now, if anyone has got any (woman) from them, he should let her go, but do not take back anything from what you have given them.’ ’’(ibid.)
12. Ibn Abī Shaybah narrates from al-Hasan that he said: ‘‘By God! Mutʿah was not but only three days, the Messenger of God had permitted them in that (period); it was not before that, nor after that.’’ (ibid.)

Some Traditions of some Companions and their Disciples about Lawfulness of the Mutʿah

1. Mujāhid has said about (the verse), Then as to such of them with whom you have mutʿah: ‘‘It is the mutʿah marriage.’’ (al-Tafsīr, al-Ṭabarī)
2. al-Suddī said about this verse: ‘‘It is mutʿah; a man marries a woman on the condition of a fixed period; and when the term expires, he has no authority on her and she is free of him; but she is obliged [to observe the waiting period] to be sure of what is in her womb; and there is no inheritance between them, neither will inherit the other.’’ (ibid.)
3. It is narrated in al-Sahīh, al-Bukhārī and al-Sahīh, Muslim, and reported in al-Durr al-Manthūr from ʿAbd al-Razzāq and Ibn Abī Shaybah, from Ibn Masʿūd that he said: ‘‘We used to go on expeditions with the Messenger of God, and our women were not with us. So we said: ‘Should not we castrate ourselves?’ But (the Prophet) forbade us to do so; and allowed us to marry a woman on (dowry of) a garment for a (fixed) period.’’ Then ʿAbdullāh recited: O you who believe! do not forbid (yourselves) the good things which Allah has made lawful for you [].
4. Ibn Abī Shaybah narrates from Nāfiʿ that Ibn ʿUmar was asked about mutʿah, and he said that it was unlawful. It was said to him: ‘‘Verily, Ibn ʿAbbās declares it as lawful.’’ He said: ‘‘Why did not he open his mouth in the reign of ʿUmar?’’ (al-Durr al-Manthūr)
5. Ibn al-Mundhir, al-Ṭabarānī and al-Bayhaqī have narrated from Saʿīd b. Jubayr that he said: ‘‘I said to Ibn ʿAbbās: ‘What have you done? Travellers have carried your ruling (far and wide), and poets have composed poems about it.’ He said: ‘And what have they said?’ I said: ‘They have said: ‘‘I say to the old man, as he has stayed a long time, O my companion! Are you interested in the ruling of Ibn ʿAbbās? Would you like to have a chubby unmarried girl? Who would be your resting place, until the people depart

[from here].’’ ’ (Ibn ʿAbbās) said: ‘Surely, we are God’s, and to Him we shall surely return. No, By God! I have not given this ruling, nor is this which I have meant. I have not allowed it but to one who is hard-pressed; and I have not allowed of it except what God has allowed of dead body, blood and flesh of swine.’ ’’ (ibid.)

6. Ibn al-Mundhir narrates from ʿAmmār (slave of al-Sharīd) that he said: ‘‘I asked Ibn ʿAbbās regarding the mutʿah, whether it is marriage or fornication. He said: ‘Neither marriage nor fornication.’ I said: ‘Then what is it?’ He said: ‘It is mutʿah, as God has said.’ I said: ‘Does it have a waiting period?’ He said: ‘Its waiting period is one monthly course.’ I said: ‘Do they inherit each other?’ He said: ‘No.’ ’’ (ibid.)
7. ʿAbd al-Razzāq and Ibn al-Mundhir have narrated through ʿAtā’ from Ibn ʿAbbās that he said: ‘‘May God have mercy on ʿUmar. Mutʿah was but a mercy from God, which He had bestowed on the ummah of Muḥammad. If he (ʿUmar) had not forbidden it, none but the most wicked would have needed fornication.’’ Also he said: ‘‘It is that which is in the chapter of ‘The Women’: Then as to such of them with whom you have mutʿah to such and such a period on such and such a dowry.’’ Again he said: ‘‘There is no inheritance between them. If they decide to agree after the term [to extend it], then, yes; and if they separate, then, yes; and there is no [permanent] marriage between them.’’ ʿAtā’ said that he heard from Ibn ʿAbbās that in his opinion it was lawful (even) now. (ibid.)
8. It is narrated in al-Tafsīr, al-Ṭabarī and also in al-Durr al-Manthūr from ʿAbd al-Razzāq and Abū Dāwūd (in his al-Nāsikh) from al-Hakam that he was asked about this verse [of mutʿah] whether it was abrogated. He said: ‘‘No.’’ Also ʿAlī has said: ‘‘If ʿUmar had not forbidden mutʿah, none but a scoundrel would have committed fornication.’’

Some Traditions showing that it was ʿUmar who had forbidden the Mutʿah

1. Jābir b. ʿAbdillāh said: ‘‘We used to do mutʿah on a handful of date and flour, for fixed days, in the time of the Messenger of God and Abū Bakr—until ‘Umar disallowed it in the affair of ʿAmr b. Hurayth.’’ (al-Sahīh, Muslim)

Author’s comments: This tradition has also been quoted in Jāmiʿ al- usūl (of Ibn al-Athīr), Zād al-maʿād (of Ibn al-Qayyim), Fath al-bārī (of Ibn Hajar) and Kanz al-ʿummāl.

2. Mālik and ʿAbd al-Razzāq have narrated from ʿUrwah b. al- Zubayr that Khawlah bint Hakīm came to ʿUmar b. al-Khattāb and said: ‘‘Rabīʿah b. Umayyah had done mutʿah with a woman of not pure Arab blood, and she had become pregnant from him.’’ [Hearing this] ʿUmar b. al-Khattāb came out, trailing his robe in dismay, and said: ‘‘This is mutʿah! Had I gone ahead about it [that is, Had I forbidden it before], I would have stoned (the person concerned).’’ (al-Durr al-Manthūr)

Author’s comments: It has also been reported from al-Shāfiʿī (in his Kitāb al-umm) and from al-Bayhaqī (in his al-Sunan).

3. Sulaymān b. Yasār narrates from Umm ʿAbdillāh, daughter of Abū Khaythamah, that a man came from Syria and stayed with her. Then he said: ‘‘Verily, bachelorhood has become hard for me to bear; therefore, find for me a woman with whom I should do mutʿah.’’ She says: ‘‘So, I led him to a woman and he made conditions with her, and got men of probity as witnesses for it. He remained with her as long as God wished him to; and then he went away. Then ʿUmar was informed of it. He called for me and asked: ‘Is it correct what I have been told?’ I said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘If he comes (back), let me know.’ When he came back, I informed ʿUmar; and he called for him and asked: ‘What made you to do what you did?’ He said: ‘I did so in the days of the Messenger of God and he did not forbid us to do so until God took him (to Himself); then (we did it) in the days of Abū Bakr, and he too did not forbid us to do so, until God took him away; then (we did so) during your days and you did not issue to us any prohibition against it.’ Then ʿUmar said: ‘Well, by Him in Whose hand my soul is, if I had gone ahead with its prohibition, I would have stoned you; announce it, in order that marriage might be distinguished from fornication.’ ’’ (Kanz al-ʿummāl)
4. ʿAtāʾ has said: ‘‘Jābir b. ʿAbdillāh came for ʿumrah; so we went to him at his staying place, and people asked him regarding various things, then they mentioned mutʿah. He said: ‘We did mutʿah in the time of the Messenger of God and Abū Bakr and ʿUmar.’ ’’ Ahmad’s narration adds: ‘‘until it was the last period of ʿUmar’s caliphate.’’ (al-Sahīh, Muslim; Musnad, Ahmad)
5. Nāfiʿ reports that ʿAbdullāh b. ʿUmar was asked about mutʿah and he said: ‘‘(It is) forbidden. Why, look, if ʿUmar b. al-Khattāb had caught anyone doing it, he would have stoned him.’’ (al-Sunan, al-Bayhaqī)
6. Ibn al-Jawzī says: ‘‘ ʿUmar (r.a.) used to say: ‘By God! Nobody will be brought before me, (accused of) practising mutʿah, but I shall stone him.’’ (Mirʿāt al-zamān)
7. Ibn Rushd narrates from Jābir b. ʿAbdillāh that he said: ‘‘We did mutʿah in the days of the Messenger of God, and Abū Bakr, and during half the reign of ʿUmar; then ʿUmar forbade people to do so.’’ (Bidāyat al-mujtahid)
8. Ibn al-Kalbī has said: ‘‘Verily, Salamah b. Umayyah b. Khalaf al-Jumahī did mutʿah with Salmā, slave girl of Hākim b. Umayyah b. al-Awqas al-Aslamī, and she bore from him a child, but he denied (paternity of) her child. This news reached ʿUmar; therefore he forbade mutʿah.’’ (al-Isābah)
9. Ayyūb says: ‘‘ ʿUrwah said to Ibn ʿAbbās: ‘Do you not fear God, that you allow mutʿah?’ Ibn ʿAbbās said: ‘Ask your mother, O ʿUrwah!’ Then ʿUrwah said: ‘But Abū Bakr and ʿUmar did not do it!’ Thereupon, Ibn ʿAbbās said: ‘By God! I do not think you will stop (in your arrogance) until God chastises you. We talk to you from the Prophet, and you talk to us from Abū Bakr and ʿUmar.’ ’’ (Zād al-maʿād)

Author’s comments: The mother of ʿUrwah [mentioned in the above tradition] was Asmāʾ, daughter of Abū Bakr, who was married in mutʿah form by al-Zubayr b. al-ʿAwwām, from whom she bore ʿAbdullāh b. al-Zubayr and ʿUrwah.

10. al-Rāghib writes: ‘‘ ʿAbdullāh b. al-Zubayr reproached ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAbbās because the latter considered mutʿah as lawful. ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAbbās told him: ‘Ask your mother how the censers glowed between her and your father?’ So he asked her and she replied: ‘I did not give birth to you but in mutʿah’ ’’(al-Muhādarāt)
11. Muslim al-Quriyy says: ‘‘I asked Ibn ʿAbbās about mutʿah; and he allowed it; but Ibn al-Zubayr used to reject it. So (Ibn ʿAbbās) said: ‘This is the mother of Ibn al-Zubayr, who narrates that the Messenger of God had allowed it; so go to her and ask her.’ ’’ Muslim says: ‘‘So we went to her and, lo! she was a stout blind woman. She said: ‘The Messenger of God has allowed it.’ ’’ (al-Sahīh, Muslim)

Author’s comments: The context shows that the question was about the mutʿah of women; and other traditions too give the same meaning.

12. Abū Nadrah said: ‘‘I was with Jābir b. ʿAbdillāh when someone came to him and said: ʿIbn ʿAbbās and Ibn al-Zubayr have differed about the two mutʿahs [that is, mutʿat al-hajj and mutʿah of women].’ Jābir said: ‘We did both with the Messenger of God, then ʿUmar forbade us both, but we did not deviate from them.’ ’’ (al-Sahīh, Muslim)

Author’s comments: Reportedly al-Bayhaqī too has narrated it in his al-Sunan; and the same theme has been narrated in al-Sahīh of Muslim, in three places with different wordings, one of which reports Jābir as saying: ‘‘But when ʿUmar stood up [that is, came to power], he said: ‘Surely God used to allow for His Messenger whatever He wished in any way He wished. Therefore, you complete the hajj and the ʿumrah, as God has ordered, and stop marrying these women. No man shall be brought to me who would have married a woman for a [fixed] period but I shall stone him.’

13. Also this theme has been narrated by al-Bayhaqī in his al-Sunan and al-Jassās in his Ahkam al-Qur’an; also it is reported in Kanz al-ʿummāl and al-Durr al-Manthūr, as well as in al-Tafsīr of ar-Rāzī and Musnad of al-Ṭayālisī.
14. al-Qurtubī has narrated, in his al-Tafsīr, from ʿUmar that he said in his lecture: ‘‘Two mutʿahs were [practised] in the time of the Messenger of God; but I forbid them and shall inflict punishment on them; the mutʿah of hajj and the mutʿah of women.’’

Author’s comments: This lecture of his is among the things unanimously accepted by all narrators; and they have reported it as an undisputed fact. Vide, for example, al-Tafsīr of al-Rāzī, al-Bayān wa al-tabʿīn, Zād al-maʿād, Ahkām al-Qur’an, [al-Tārīkh of] al-Ṭabarī and of Ibn ʿAsākir among other references.

15. al-Ṭabarī has narrated from ʿUmar that he said: ‘‘There were three things in the time of the Messenger of God; but I am forbidding them; and shall give punishment on them: mutʿah of hajj, and mutʿah of women, and hayya ʿalā khayr al-ʿamal in the adhān (call for prayer).’’ (al-Mustabīn)
16. ʿImrān b. Sawādah says: ‘‘I prayed dawn (prayer) with ʿUmar; he recited (the chapter of) Subhān and another one with it; then he returned and I stood with him. He said: ‘(Do you have) any work (with me)?’ I said: ‘(Yes,) there is (some) work.’ He said: ‘Then join (me).’ I joined him. When he entered (his house), he gave permission to me. I found him on a bare bed-stead which had nothing on it. I said: ‘(I have come with) a sincere advice.’ He said: ‘Welcome to the adviser, day and night.’ I said: ‘Your people blame (you) for four things.’ (Hearing this) he put the handle of his whip under his chin and its tip on his thigh, and said: ‘Let me hear it.’ I said: ‘They say that you have prohibited ʿumrah during the months of hajj, while neither the Messenger of God nor Abū Bakr had done so, and it is lawful (in sharīʿah).’ He said: ‘Is it lawful? If they do ʿumrah during the months of hajj, they will think it suffices them from hajj; and will go out at once like a chick from it shell; and the hajj (days) will be empty (of people), while it is a splendor from God’s splendors; and I have done right.’ ‘‘I said: ‘Also they say that you have prohibited the mutʿah of women, while it was a permission from God. We used to do mutʿah on a handful [of date, etc.] and separate after three (days).’ He said: ‘Surely, the Messenger of God had allowed it at a time when there was need (of it), then the people did get affluence; thereafter, I do not know any Muslim who did it or resorted to it. Now let anyone who so wishes marry [permanently] on a handful [of date] and separate the third day by divorce; and I have done right.’ ‘‘Then I said: ‘You have granted freedom to a slave girl if she delivers a child, even without being emancipated by her master.’ He said: ‘I have joined honor with honor; and I did not mean but good; and I ask pardon of God.’ ‘‘I said: ‘And they complain against your reviling the public and your harsh demeanor.’ (Hearing this,) he drew the whip and wiped it until he came to its end, then said: ‘I am a travelling-companion of Muḥammad and was his travelling-companion in the expedition of Qarqarat al-Kidr. By God! I put (animals) to pasture until I satiate, and I give (them) drink until I quench their thirst; I hit the unruly camel and restrain the untamed one; and I defend my cooking-pot and drive my steps; and gather obdurate ones, and join slow ones; and I often admonish but seldom strike; and make a show of whip but repulse by hand. (Even) if it had not been so, I would have had an excuse.’ ’’
17. (ʿImrān) said: ‘‘This narrative reached Muʿāwiyah, and he said: ‘He was, by God, knowledgeable of his subjects.’ ’’ (al-Tārīkh, al-Ṭabarī)

Author’s comments: Ibn Abi al-Hadīd has narrated it in his Sharh Nahj al-balāghah from Ibn Qutaybah.

These are some of the traditions regarding the topic of mutʿah of women.

A discerning scholar, looking at them, cannot fail to see:

a) The contradictions and irreconcilability so glaringly found in them. The scholar cannot reach at any conclusion from them except that it was ʿUmar b. al-Khattāb who, during his reign, forbade and prohibited it because of his personal opinion, which he formed after hearing the stories of ʿAmr b. Hurayth and Rabīʿah b. Umayyah b. Khalaf al-Jumahī. As for the claim of its abrogation by the Qur’an or tradition, you have already seen that it has no leg to stand on. It is quite apart from the fact that whatever stand one takes, some traditions contradict the others. The only point of agreement is that it was ʿUmar b. al-Khattāb who prohibited it and enforced his prohibition, who decided that the action was forbidden and laid down the punishment of stoning for him who did it.

b) That it was a custom that was prevalent in the time of the Prophet by his permission; it makes no difference whether he had established that custom, or had let an old custom continue. Also that it was practised by such of his companions who cannot be accused of fornication, by any stretch of imagination. For instance, Jābir b. ʿAbdillāh, ʿAbdullāh b. Masʿūd, al-Zubayr b. al-ʿAwwām and Asmāʾ, daughter of Abū Bakr, who had given birth to ʿAbdullāh, son of al-Zubayr through this very mutʿah marriage.

c) That there were among the companions and their disciples, people who continued to believe and declare that mutʿah was lawful, like Ibn Masʿūd, Jābir, ʿAmr b. Hurayth and others (among the companions); and Mujāhid, al-Suddī, Saʿīd b. Jubayr and others [among the disciples].

This open and clear conflict among the traditions has led the Sunnī scholars, first to disagree among themselves whether mutʿah was lawful or unlawful, and then compelled the protagonists of prohibition to opt for diverse opinions as to how it was prohibited. In all, they have adopted not less than fifteen views—each different from the others and all amazing.

One may discuss this topic from many angles, but we are concerned here with some of them only. There is a sectarian polemic going on between the Sunnīs and the Shīʿahs. There is a jurisprudential aspect, whether mutʿah is lawful or not. Lastly, there is the exegetical angle, dealing with the exegesis of the verse: Then as to such of them with whom you have mutʿah Does it ordain the lawfulness of the mutʿah? If yes, then was it abrogated by any other verse, like that of the chapter 23 (The Believers) or those of marriage, prohibition, divorce, waiting period or inheritance? Or was it abrogated by the sunnah of the Prophet? Also, if it was legalized, had Islam initiated a new system? Or had it just confirmed an old custom? And so on and so forth.

It is this third aspect, i.e., exegetical, that we shall discuss in this book. We have already explained these matters in the Commentary; but here we shall give some more details, by drawing the readers’ attention to what has been said [by some non-Shīʿahs] against the verse’s implication regarding the mutʿah marriage and its legislation.

Discourse

The discussions “An Exegete’s Claims and our Comments”; “An Academic Discourse [Meaning of ‘‘Son’’ in Shariah]”; “Another Academic Discourse [Philosophy of Prohibition of the Women of Prohibited Degree]” appear here in the printed volume. Read them in the Al-Mizan App.

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1. The Vatican seems oblivious of this simple difference between underlying reason of a law and the law itself. That is why it has totally prohibited use of contraceptives, on the plea that it goes against the philosophy of marriage. But does Vatican have the conviction of courage to take this ‘argument’ to its logical end? Is it prepared to forbid intercourse with a pregnant wife, or ban marriage of infertile men or women? They should have banned these and other examples given in the text because they too cannot produce pregnancy. The prelates of the Roman Catholic Church—all unmarried men—are perhaps unaware that lawful satisfaction of sexual urge is in itself a valid underlying reason of marriage. [Trans.] ↩︎

2. A part from that, the arguments about the mutʿah are intended to establish whether mutʿah is a valid form of marriage or not; whether the woman of mutʿah is a lawful wife or not. Now to assume that the word, ‘mates’ (or wives), used in this verse excludes the mutʿah wife, is to beg the question. [Trans.]. ↩︎

3. There are other examples where a wife is not entitled to her husband’s inheritance. For example, if she is a slave or has killed the husband, she is debarred from his inheritance. Likewise, the Sunnīs allow marriage with a Jewish or Christian woman, but she, being an unbeliever, does not get any share in the husband’s inheritance. Nobody would suggest that this exclusion affects her status as wife in any way. [Trans.] ↩︎

4. Probably the correct word is al-Shamakhī (one belonging to the tribe of al-Shamakh). Some Sunnī traditions say that he was a man from the tribe of al-Shamakh. Or, the correct text may be: ‘about the woman from the tribe of al-Shamakh concerning whom Ibn Masʿūd had given a ruling.’ [Auth.] ↩︎

5. The text of al-Wāfī says: ‘From where did he take it?’ [Auth.] ↩︎

6. Another version says: ‘except the most scoundrel.’ [Auth.] ↩︎

7. How can a preceding phrase of the same verse abrogate the clause of mutʿah which comes after it? [Trans.] ↩︎

8. As the author has commented above, such claim would antedate the supposed prohibition of mutʿah prior to hijrah, which even the Sunnīs do not claim. Moreover, as I have noted earlier, the whole argument for or against mutʿah is meant to establish whether a women of mutʿah is a lawful wife or not. Now to assume that the word, ‘mates’, used in this verse excludes the mutʿah wife is begging the question. [Trans.] ↩︎

9. Other scholars say that it was allowed and disallowed repeatedly. Muslim has given the following heading to the chapter of ‘‘Mutʿah’’ in his al-Sahīh: ‘‘Chapter of the mutʿah marriage, and that it was allowed, then abrogated, then again allowed, and then abrogated ...’’ al-Shāfiʿī says: ‘‘I do not know anything in Islam that was allowed, then prohibited, then allowed and then prohibited.’’ Some have said that it was allowed and abrogated three times; others have said, more than three times. Vide Tafsīr Mazharī, by Qādī Thanāʾullāh Pānīpatī, p. 72. [Trans.] ↩︎