Sūrat an-Nisāʾ
Section 22 of 28 · Surah Studies · Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
They Ask You About Women
To conclude, two final themes remain, beginning from wa-yastaftūnaka fī al-nisāʾ, verse 127:
وَيَسْتَفْتُونَكَ فِى ٱلنِّسَآءِ ۖ قُلِ ٱللَّهُ يُفْتِيكُمْ فِيهِنَّ وَمَا يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ فِى ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ فِى يَتَـٰمَى ٱلنِّسَآءِ ٱلَّـٰتِى لَا تُؤْتُونَهُنَّ مَا كُتِبَ لَهُنَّ وَتَرْغَبُونَ أَن تَنكِحُوهُنَّ وَٱلْمُسْتَضْعَفِينَ مِنَ ٱلْوِلْدَٰنِ وَأَن تَقُومُوا۟ لِلْيَتَـٰمَىٰ بِٱلْقِسْطِ ۚ وَمَا تَفْعَلُوا۟ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِهِۦ عَلِيمًا
“They ask you about women. Say, “Allah answers you about them, and so does what is recited to you from the Book regarding orphaned women whom you do not give what is prescribed for them and tend to marry them, and regarding the weak from the children, and that you should maintain justice for the orphans. Whatever good you do Allah is aware of it.” (4:127)
They ask you about women. This is the chapter of women, and so there is a discussion of women: Allah (swt) gives you a fatwā concerning them. Allah (swt) again encourages good conduct towards women. But He also says that if the two wish it, and cannot be reconciled, it is permissible for them to agree to something:
وَإِنِ ٱمْرَأَةٌ خَافَتْ مِنۢ بَعْلِهَا نُشُوزًا أَوْ إِعْرَاضًا فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَآ أَن يُصْلِحَا بَيْنَهُمَا صُلْحًا ۚ وَٱلصُّلْحُ خَيْرٌ ۗ وَأُحْضِرَتِ ٱلْأَنفُسُ ٱلشُّحَّ ۚ وَإِن تُحْسِنُوا۟ وَتَتَّقُوا۟ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرًا
“If a woman fears ill treatment or aversion from her husband, then, there is no sin on them in entering into a compromise between them. Compromise is better. Avarice is made to be present in human souls. If you do good and fear Allah, then, Allah is All-Aware of what you do.” (4:128)
Wa-l-ṣulḥu khayr, wa-uḥḍirati al-anfusu al-shuḥḥ. But to be excellent in one's conduct and to fear Allah — that is what matters most. Again the reiteration: do not be unjust and unfair when you have more than one wife.
وَلَن تَسْتَطِيعُوٓا۟ أَن تَعْدِلُوا۟ بَيْنَ ٱلنِّسَآءِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتُمْ ۖ فَلَا تَمِيلُوا۟ كُلَّ ٱلْمَيْلِ فَتَذَرُوهَا كَٱلْمُعَلَّقَةِ ۚ وَإِن تُصْلِحُوا۟ وَتَتَّقُوا۟ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا
“You shall never be able to maintain real equality between wives, even though you are eager to. So, do not lean totally (towards one) and leave the other as suspended. If you act righteously and fear Allah, then, Allah is Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful.” (4:129)
Wa-lan tastaṭīʿū an taʿdilū bayna al-nisāʾ: you will not be able to be just between women, however hard you try. Some today attempt to use this verse to say that more than one wife is therefore disallowed altogether — that, they say, is what Allah means. That is not true. It says only that one must always be suspicious of oneself, because having more than one wife will always be a conundrum: a man may simply incline more to one than to the other. What cannot be helped, Allah may forgive; but fa-lā tamīlū kulla al-mayl — the one thing not to do is to incline wholly to one, fa-tadharūhā ka-l-muʿallaqah, and leave the other completely suspended. Wa-in tuṣliḥū wa-tattaqū fa-inna Allāha kāna ghafūran raḥīmā.
وَإِن يَتَفَرَّقَا يُغْنِ ٱللَّهُ كُلًّا مِّن سَعَتِهِۦ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعًا حَكِيمًا
“If they separate, Allah shall, through His capacity, make each of them need-free (of the other). Allah is All-Embracing, All-Wise.” (4:130)
This is the best verse. It should be kept in mind by all those who have a problem, and who know that divorce is the right course in their case, yet are not divorcing: they persecute their wives and will not let them go, and it has been two years since they saw each other — three years, even, and more. Allah says this, and when it is put to people it makes a great deal of sense. Allah says wa-in yatafarraqā yughni Allāhu kullan min saʿatih: if husband and wife do have to separate, Allah says that Allah will enrich each of them from His broadness. And Allah is Wāsiʿ and Ḥakīm. When people eventually do let go — for there is a great psychological conundrum in it, and it is not easy for many — if they do at last let go, for the right reason, Allah will enrich them both. This has been seen in so many cases. But one must let go, and one must have trust in Allah. On reaching Sūrat al-Ṭalāq one sees more of this: the three verses of taqwā there, where it speaks of divorce. But all the women who are still holding grudges, the men who are persecuting their wives in this way, and the women now divorced who will not allow their husbands — the fathers — to see the children, the malicious parent syndrome: you need to look at this verse. If you wish to be open, and wish for vastness from Allah, then you need to let it go. You need to let it go, and do what is in the best interest.
The last verses, then — again, verse 135 is about standing up for justice. The theme recurs over and over.