Surah Al-Baqarah 2:236-242 - Quran Translation Commentary

236. There is no sin on you if you divorce women before you have touched them or the fixation of their dower; bestow on them (a suitable gift), the wealthy according to his means and the poor according to his means reasonably.³⁶¹ This is an obligation on those who do good.³⁶²

237. And if you divorce them before you have touched them, but after the fixation of a dower for them, then the half of the dower (is due to them),³⁶³ unless they remit it, or it is remitted by him in whose hands is the marriage tie;³⁶⁴ and if your men act generously it is akin to piety. And forget not kindness among yourselves.³⁶⁵ Indeed,Allah sees well all that you do.

238. Guard³⁶⁶ strictly your prayers (SALAT),³⁶⁷ especially the middle prayer,³⁶⁸ (SALATE - WUSTA), and stand before Allah in the most humble maner.³⁶⁹

239. And if you are in a state of fear, then pray on foot or riding. And when you are again in a state of peace, remember Allah³⁷⁰ in the manner³⁷¹ He taught you,³⁷² which you did not know before.

240. Those of you who die³⁷³ and leave wives behind should bequeath to them maintenance for a year without turning them out, but if they go out (of their own accord) there is no sin³⁷⁴ for you for what they do with themselves in a fair way. And Allah is All Powerful, Wise.³⁷⁵

241. For divorced women, some provision be made,³⁷⁶according to the known fair standard. This is an obligation on the righteous.³⁷⁷

242. In this way Allah makes clear His commandments to you, in order that you may understand.

Commentary

361. That is: If a man marries a woman and divorces her before establishing sexual relations with her, the husband should give something in the usual accepted manner according to his means, if the dower (Mehr) was not fixed and release her. Because some damage is caused to the woman and it is very difficult to compensate for such a damage. But giving some gift would serve as a consolation and would create soothing effects.

362. That is: If you want to adopt righteous attitude, then you should give the gift considering it as an obligation.

363. If a man divorces a woman before he establishes sexual relation with his wife whose dower is fixed, then he will have to pay half the amount of dower fixed, except when the woman taking a lenient view reduces the amount of dower. And Quran has advised man to be liberal and pay to the woman according to his superior status.

364. In the text the ,actual words are : (the man in whose hands is the marriage tie). These words signify that opening the tie of Nikah (i.e. divorce) is in man’s hands. The Shariah has given this right to man, and therefore the modern trend of transferring this right from man to a court of law is wrong and against the Shariah.

365. That is: In social life happiness comes not from literally observing the law but taking a kind and liberal view.

366. The chain of commands and laws of Shariah which started from the Verse No.168. ends here and therefore on its termination there is an insistence of protecting the prayers (Salat). This implies that the establishing of Shariah depends on the establishing of prayers (Salat). A man who regularly offers prayers (Salat) finds in his heart an inner urge for leading a God fearing and responsible life. The path for following Divine Commands becomes easier for him to follow. But the man who does not offer prayers regularly finds it difficult to follow this path. It is so because the urge to make him follow the Divine commands unhesitatingly is not sustained in his heart.

367. Guarding or protecting the prayers (Salat) means offering Salat regularly and punctually at the appointed time and that no prayers is lost, so much so that in difficult and dangerous times also the Salat must be performed.

368. In the text are used the words :

prayer of the middle, which is ‘Namaz-Asr’ as is stated in the Hadith. The Prophet said at the time of the Battle of Khandaq :

“They kept us so busy that our Middle prayer, the prayer of Asr was missed”

In Tirmizi, Hazarat Abdullah bin masood has reported that the prophet (P.b.u.h) has stated:

“The Middle prayer is the prayer of Asr.” (Tirmizi-Chapters on Prayers). Islam has prescribed five prayers during the day and night. They start with Fajr (morning) and end with Isha (Night). According to this, the prayer of Asr becomes the middle prayer. The time of Asr signifies the last stage of the day, when the business activities are generally more. During these activities offering of the prayer is a difficult task and if due care is not taken there is every likelihood of missing this prayer. Therefore, a particular mention is made to emphasise the importance of offering this prayer at the right time.

369. This points to the hidden qualities of the prayers. As it is necessary to take care of observing all the external requirements of the prayer, in the same way it is necessary to observe the internal requirements. The main spirit of the prayer is devotion and submission to Allah. So when a Muslim should stand for prayer, he should be in a frame of mind which would reflect his helplessness before the Almighty, Creator of the world.

And fight in the way of Allah and know that Allah is All-Hearing, All-knowing. Who is he that will lend to Allah a goodly loan, which Allah may return to him after multiplying manifold ? Allah causes want and gives plenty and to Him shall be your return. (Al- Quran)

370. That is: If during wartime, the enemy has created such a situation that you are in a state of fear, then you should offer prayers (Salat) in the position in which you are, i.e. if you are on foot or riding on the horseback and if your face is not towards Ka’ba, you can offer prayer in that position. If you are unable to perform Sajda (prostration) then you should bend as much as is possible by bending your head. But in all circumstances it is absolutely necessary that you should offer prayer. And guarding the prayer during the state of danger is offering prayer in that condition. The instruction of offering prayers during the battle is sufficient to give an idea about how clean is Islam’s concept of war and what higher type of training it wants to impart to the fighters in Allah’s cause.

From this emphatic command it has become clear that salat cannot be postponed (qaza) even in actual combat except when it may not be possible to offer it even by mere sign-movements, then how can there be a possibility of postponing it for lesser excuses like travelling, etc. ? It is essential to offer prayer at the fixed time and for this purpose only the Shariah has given concessions and reliefs and if postponing the prayer were lawful, such concessions would not have been given.

371. Here prayer or Salat is mentioned as remembering Allah which explains the fact that salat is out and out remembering Allah and reciting his name and praises.

372. That is : Offer prayers (Salat) according to the method shown by Allah. Allah has taught or shown the correct method of offering prayers (Salat) through Quran and the Sunnah teachings of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) In the Quran are given the basic commands about the prayer and the details are provided in the Hadith of the prophets (Peace be upon him) Accordingly, the prophet (Peace be upon him) has stated:

“Offer prayers in the same way in which you see me offering prayers.”

This shows that the teachings of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) are the teachings of Allah and that Sunnah is essentially and unavoidably conntected with Quran.

373. The chain of discussion terminated on the mention of Salat. After that in two verses as a supplement, relevant instructions regarding widows and divorced women are given, which are further clarifications.

374. In Verse No.234 a mention about the Iddat of widows has been made. In that connection, for further clarification this instruction is received that men should at the time of their death, leave a will making provision for their widows for their maintenance (residence, feeding, clothing, etc.) So that after their death their widows may not face any difficulties for their maintenance. After this will, on the fulfilment of the term of Iddat, the widows have a right to decide about their own residence or about remarrying in the usual and accepted and reasonable manner. In such a case the heirs of the deceased husband should not compel the widow to stay in the house of her deceased husband.

375. Allah is Mighty and All-powerful and therefore only He has the right to give laws of Shariah. He is wise and therefore His commands are based on wisdom.

376. In the text the word used is ‘Mata’ which means a useful thing. It is applicable on mainte- nance also as is done in the foregoing ayah No.240 (that is: the dying people are directed to make a will in favour of their wives that they should be given maintenance (Mata’) for one year) and it is also applicable on the parting gift given at the time of divorce, which is called ‘Muta’ tut-Talaq’. In ayah No, 236, the words ‘Matte’u Hunna’ {give them benefit (mata)} means parting gift.

Now the question is: what is the meaning of ‘Mata’ in the ayah under reference ‘? In this connection Imam Razi has quoted both the sayings and has preferred the meaning of maintenance (Tafseer Al-Kabeer, Vol.6 page 161). But if its meaning is taken to be maintenance, then it can be maintenance for the period of iddat only because in Surah Talaq command is given to spend for them for the period till their iddat (waiting time) is completed. Therefore, those commentators who have taken the meaning of ’Mata’ to be maintenance,they have done so taking it to be limited to the period of iddat only, otherwise not even a single commentator has said that according to this ayah the divorced woman is entitled to get maintenance till she is remarried or till she breathes her last.

Generally the commentators have taken ‘Mata’ to mean parting gift and it appears to be correct because at other place also in Quran this direction is given in the case of divorce that some benefit should be given to the women and men should part from them in a nice way. This parting gift is a means of keeping them in good spirits and it is like applying balm to their wound, which is the result of divorce given to them.

This ‘Mata’ is payable to every divorced woman, for in the ayah the command is given to give maintenance to all divorced women generally. Besides this command is given in the end after stating the commands concerning divorce, which enjoys the position of the last direction. Therefore, this command is applicable to every kind of divorced woman and the emphasis with which this command has been given supports this view. The reputed commentator Ibn Jarir Tabari writes:

“ According to me the most acceptable is the saying of that person who accepts that every divorced woman is entitled to get the ‘Mata’ (Gift) because .....................Allah has given this right to every divorced woman and has not made any reservation for any of them.” -(Jamiul Bayan, Vol. II, page 331 ).

As for the quantity of the ‘Mata’ Quran has not fixed any quantity, but has asked it to be paid in a good customary way, which means that man should pay according to his position such a gift as would be proper and would express his kindliness. If in the past man had been providing a slave for the service of his former wife then in the present day when the question of maintenance has become an important problem of the time, to provide for her something which would be a means of income for her or for man’s providing with willingness maintenance for the divorced woman would be a desirable thing.

377. These words support its propriety, i.e. providing ‘Mata’ (parting gift) to every kind of divorced woman is compulsory for every man who has Allah’s fear in his heart. This is an emphatic command and we cannot agree with those commentators who had taken it to mean it as merely a casual or non-emphatic command. And so far as the commentaries are concerned, the oldest commentary is that of Ibn Jarir Tabari(died in 310 H.). He accepts ‘Mata’ payment of parting gift as proper and imperative.

(Please see Jamiul Bayan Fi Tafseeril Quran Vol. II page 331).

It is regrettable that Muslims have so much forgotten this emphatic command as if merely uttering the ‘divorce’ from their mouths is sufficient to separate their wives from them and no moral and shariah responsibility of saying good bye to them in a nice and kind way lies on their shoulders. This wrong mentality has created a lot of social problems. would it that they follow the instructions of Allah’s holy Book !