وَ یَسْـَٔلُوْنَكَ And they ask you عَنِ about الْمَحِیْضِ ؕ [the] menstruation قُلْ Say هُوَ It اَذًی ۙ (is) a hurt فَاعْتَزِلُوا so keep away (from) النِّسَآءَ [the] women فِی during الْمَحِیْضِ ۙ (their) [the] menstruation وَ لَا And (do) not تَقْرَبُوْهُنَّ approach them حَتّٰی until یَطْهُرْنَ ۚ they are cleansed فَاِذَا Then when تَطَهَّرْنَ they are purified فَاْتُوْهُنَّ then come to them مِنْ from حَیْثُ where اَمَرَكُمُ has ordered you اللّٰهُ ؕ Allah اِنَّ Indeed اللّٰهَ Allah یُحِبُّ loves التَّوَّابِیْنَ those who turn in repentance وَ یُحِبُّ and loves الْمُتَطَهِّرِیْنَ those who purify themselves نِسَآؤُكُمْ Your wives حَرْثٌ (are) a tilth لَّكُمْ ۪ for you فَاْتُوْا so come حَرْثَكُمْ (to) your tilth اَنّٰی when شِئْتُمْ ؗ you wish وَ قَدِّمُوْا and send forth (good deeds) لِاَنْفُسِكُمْ ؕ for yourselves وَ اتَّقُوا And be conscious اللّٰهَ (of) Allah وَ اعْلَمُوْۤا and know اَنَّكُمْ that you مُّلٰقُوْهُ ؕ (will) meet Him وَ بَشِّرِ And give glad tidings الْمُؤْمِنِیْنَ (to) the believers وَ لَا And (do) not تَجْعَلُوا make اللّٰهَ Allahs (name) عُرْضَةً an excuse لِّاَیْمَانِكُمْ in your oaths اَنْ that تَبَرُّوْا you do good وَ تَتَّقُوْا and be righteous وَ تُصْلِحُوْا and make peace بَیْنَ between النَّاسِ ؕ [the] people وَ اللّٰهُ And Allah سَمِیْعٌ (is) All-Hearing عَلِیْمٌ All-Knowing 2. Al-Baqarah Page 36 لَا Not یُؤَاخِذُكُمُ will take you to task اللّٰهُ Allah بِاللَّغْوِ for (what is) unintentional فِیْۤ in اَیْمَانِكُمْ your oaths وَ لٰكِنْ [and] but یُّؤَاخِذُكُمْ He takes you to task بِمَا for what كَسَبَتْ (have) earned قُلُوْبُكُمْ ؕ your hearts وَ اللّٰهُ And Allah غَفُوْرٌ (is) Oft-Forgiving حَلِیْمٌ Most Forbearing لِلَّذِیْنَ For those who یُؤْلُوْنَ swear (off) مِنْ from نِّسَآىِٕهِمْ their wives تَرَبُّصُ (is a) waiting (of) اَرْبَعَةِ four اَشْهُرٍ ۚ months فَاِنْ then if فَآءُوْ they return فَاِنَّ then indeed اللّٰهَ Allah غَفُوْرٌ (is) Oft- Forgiving رَّحِیْمٌ Most Merciful وَ اِنْ And if عَزَمُوا they resolve الطَّلَاقَ (on) [the] divorce فَاِنَّ then indeed اللّٰهَ Allah سَمِیْعٌ (is) All-Hearing عَلِیْمٌ All-Knowing وَ الْمُطَلَّقٰتُ And the women who are divorced یَتَرَبَّصْنَ shall wait بِاَنْفُسِهِنَّ concerning themselves ثَلٰثَةَ (for) three قُرُوْٓءٍ ؕ monthly periods وَ لَا And (it is) not یَحِلُّ lawful لَهُنَّ for them اَنْ that یَّكْتُمْنَ they conceal مَا what خَلَقَ (has been) created اللّٰهُ (by) Allah فِیْۤ in اَرْحَامِهِنَّ their wombs اِنْ if كُنَّ they یُؤْمِنَّ believe بِاللّٰهِ in Allah وَ الْیَوْمِ and the Day الْاٰخِرِ ؕ [the] Last وَ بُعُوْلَتُهُنَّ And their husbands اَحَقُّ (have) better right بِرَدِّهِنَّ to take them back فِیْ in ذٰلِكَ that (period) اِنْ if اَرَادُوْۤا they wish اِصْلَاحًا ؕ (for) reconciliation وَ لَهُنَّ And for them (wives) مِثْلُ (is the) like الَّذِیْ (of) that which عَلَیْهِنَّ (is) on them بِالْمَعْرُوْفِ ۪ in a reasonable manner وَ لِلرِّجَالِ and for the men عَلَیْهِنَّ over them (wives) دَرَجَةٌ ؕ (is) a degree وَ اللّٰهُ And Allah عَزِیْزٌ (is) All-Mighty حَكِیْمٌ۠ All-Wise
(2:222) They ask you about menstruation. Say: “It is a state of impurity; so keep away from women in the state of menstruation,238 and do not approach them until they are cleansed. And when they are cleansed,239 then come to them as Allah has commanded you.”240 Truly, Allah loves those who abstain from evil and keep themselves pure.
(2:223) Your wives are your tilth; go, then, into your tilth as you wish241 but take heed of your ultimate future242 and avoid incurring the wrath of Allah. Know well that one Day you shall face Him. Announce good tidings to the believers.
(2:224) Do not swear by Allah in your oaths if they are intended to hinder you from virtue, piety and promoting the good of mankind.243 Surely Allah is All-Hearing, All- Knowing.
(2:225) Allah will not take you to task for the oaths you utter in vain,244 but will certainly take you to task for the oaths you utter in earnest. Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Forbearing.
(2:226) For those who vow abstinence from their wives there is a respite of four months.245 Then, if they go back on their vow they will find that Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate.246
(2:227) And if they resolve on divorce,247 surely Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.248
(2:228) Divorced women shall keep themselves in waiting for three menstrual courses and it is unlawful for them, if they believe in Allah and the Last Day, to hide whatever Allah might have created in their wombs. Should their husbands desire reconciliation during this time they are entitled to take them back into wedlock.249
Women have the same rights against their men as men have against them; but men have a degree above them. Allah is All- Powerful, All-Wise.
238. The Arabic word adha denotes both a state of ritual impurity and sickness. Menstruation is not merely an impurity, but also a state in which the woman is closer to sickness than to health.
239. With regard to matters such as these the Qur'an resorts to metaphors and figurative language. Hence it instructs men not to approach women. This does not mean that people should either abstain from sitting together on the same floor or eating together when a woman has her monthly period making her virtually an untouchable, as has been the custom among the Jews, Hindus and certain other nations. The explanation of this injunction by the Prophet makes it clear that during this period men are only required to abstain from sexual intercourse; no change is postulated in other relationships, and the woman is to be treated in the normal way. (See, for instance, Bukhari, 'Hayd', 10, 'Itikaf', 2-4, 10, 19; Muslim, 'Hayd', 6-13; Abu Da'ud, 'Taharah', 102, 106 - Ed.)
240. The 'command' of God mentioned here is not a formal legal injunction from God, but that inherent urge with which the nature of both men and animals has been imbued and which is apprehended instinctively.
(The verse means, therefore, that after the end of the menstrual course people may again engage in sexual intercourse - Ed.)
241. That is, God's purpose in the creation of women is not merely to provide men with recreation. Their mutual relationship is like that between a farmer and his tilth. A farmer approaches his field not just for the sake of pleasure, but to acquire produce. Similarly, man ought to approach the tilth of the human race with the purpose of acquiring produce, that is, offspring. What is of concern to the Law of God is not the particular mode of cultivating one's tilth, but rather that one should go only to one's tilth and not elsewhere, and that one should go there for the purpose of cultivation.
242. These words are susceptible to two meanings. First, that a person should try to maintain the continuity of the human race so that when he departs from this world there should be others to replace him in his tasks. Second, that one should be concerned with the quality of the coming generation, i.e., how far it is endowed with religious devotion, moral excellence and humanity, and that one should do all that is possible to promote these qualities. The latter part ot the verse contains the warning that those who deliberately neglect these two duties will he severely taken to task by God.
243. Authentic Traditions indicate that if a person takes a vow and discovers later that righteousness and common good are best served by breaking that vow then he should do so. Expiation consists in either feeding or providing clothes for ten poor people, or setting free a slave, or fasting for three days (see 5: 89).
244. This refers to oaths which one utters either through habit or without any intent and purpose. The breach of such vows neither entails expiation nor makes man liable to God's reproach.
245. In the legal terminology of Islam this is known as ila'. It is obvious that harmony and cordiality do not always prevail in matrimonial life. There are occasions when strains and tensions develop, leading to discord and estrangement. But the Law of God does not approve of that discord which causes a husband and wife, who are legally tied to one another in matrimony, to remain for all practical purposes alienated from one another as if they had ceased to be spouses. For this kind of abnormal discord and estrangement God has fixed a limit of four months during which the spouses are required either to settle their difference, or to break the tie of wedlock so that each becomes free to contract marriage with someone with whom a harmonious matrimonial relationship appears more likely.
Since the verse mentions 'taking a vow', the Hanafi and Shafi'i jurists consider the injunction to be applicable only when a husband has taken a vow not to have sexual relations with his wife. According to them, the injunction does not apply if the husband merely forsakes sexual relations with his wife without taking any vow to that effect. The Maliki jurists are, however, of the opinion that irrespective of whether a person has taken a vow, the maximum permissible limit for abstaining from sexual relations in wedlock is four months. A statement to that effect is also attributed to Ahmad b. Hanbal. (See Ibn Rushd, Bidayat al-Mujtahid, vol. 2, pp. 98 ff. - Ed.)
According to 'Ali, Ibn Abbas and Hasan al-Basri, this injunction is related to the cessation of sexual relations as a result of unpleasantness in the relationship of the spouses. It would not apply, however, if a husband were to decide to abandon sexual relations with his wife out of some beneficial consideration - say because the wife is breastfeeding - at a time when their relationship was pleasant. According to other jurists, however, any vow which prevents sexual intercourse between a husband and wife is ila', and ought not to last longer than four months irrespective of the state of the matrimonial relationship when it was taken. (See Jassas, Ahkam al-Qur'an, vol. 1, pp. 355 ff - Ed.)
246. Some jurists have interpreted this verse to signify that if the spouses break their vow and re-establish sexual relations they will not be liable to any expiation and will be pardoned by God gratuitously. However, the majority of jurists are of the opinion that they, are required to expiate. The statement that God is Oft-Forgiving and Merciful does not mean that God has forgiven them. It means rather that God will accept their expiation and will forgive them for whatever excesses they may have committed against each other.
247. According to 'Uthman, Ibn Mas'ud, Zayd ibn Thabit and others the limit for the restoration of matrimonial relations is four months. The mere termination of that period proves that the husband has decided to repudiate the marriage and so divorce automatically ensues. It will be reckoned as an irrevocable (ba'in) repudiation. This means that separation between the spouses will come into force and the husband will not have the right to revoke it during the period of waiting ('iddah). The two parties will, however, have the right to recontract marriage by mutual consent. Statements from 'Umar, 'Ali, Ibn 'Abbas, and also a statement from Ibn 'Umar, have been reported in support of this doctrine and have been accepted by the Hanafi jurists as the basis of their doctrine.
Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, Makhul, Zuhri,. and some other early jurists agree with this doctrine to the extent that divorce comes into force after four months. But they consider that the husband may revoke it during the period of waiting; and even after the lapse of that period the spouses may recontract marriage by mutual consent.
However, 'A'ishah, Abu al-Darda' and the majority of the jurists of Madina are opposed to this opinion and hold that after four months the matter should be placed before the court when the judge will order the husband either to resume matrimonial relations with his wife or divorce her. Statements from 'Umar and 'Ali as well as a statement from Ibn 'Umar have come down in support of this doctrine. This opinion has been accepted by Malik and Shafi'i. (See Jassas, vol. 1, pp. 359 f. - Ed.)
248. That is, if a man has abandoned his wife on unreasonable grounds, he should not feel secure from the wrath of God for He is not unaware of the excesses that he may have committed.
249. Jurists disagree about the legal import of this verse. According to some, as long as a woman has not completed her third menstrual period repudiation will not have the effect of irrevocable divorce. This is the view of Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Ali, Ibn 'Abbas, Abu Musa al-Ash'arl, Ibn Mas'ud and several distinguished Companions of the Prophet. This is also the accepted doctrine of the Hanafi jurists. On the other hand, another group of jurists is of the view that, as soon as the third monthly period of a woman begins, the husband ceases to have the right to revoke the divorce. This is the view of , 'A'ishah, Ibn 'Umar and Zayd ibn Thabit, and has been accepted by, the Shafi'i and Maliki jurists. It should be clear, however, that this injunction is applicable only when the husband has pronounced single or double divorce. In case of triple divorce, the husband ceases to have the right of revocation. (See Jassas, vol. 1. pp. 364 ff. - Ed.)