Tafsir of Surah Al-Ahzab - Verse 29

Giving the Wives of the Prophet صلى اللصلى الله عليه وسلم the Choice

Here Allah commands His Messenger to give his wives the choice of separating from him so that they may go to someone else with whom they can find what they want of the life of this world and its attractions, or of patiently bearing the straitened circumstances with the Prophet for which they will have a great reward with Allah. They chose Allah and His Messenger and the Home of the Hereafter, may Allah be pleased with them. Then Allah gave them the best both of this world and of the Hereafter. Al-Bukhari narrated from `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, the wife of the Prophet that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to her when Allah commanded him to give his wives the choice. She said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ started with me, and said,

«إِنِّي ذَاكِرٌ لَكِ أَمْرًا فَلَا عَلَيْكِ أَنْ تَسْتَعْجِلِي حَتْى تَسْتَأْمِرِي أَبَوَيْك»

(I am going to tell you about something and you do not have to hasten to respond until you consult your parents.)" He knew that my parents would never tell me to leave him. Then he said:

«إِنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى قَالَ:

يأَيُّهَا النَّبِىُّ قُل لاٌّزْوَجِكَ»

(Allah says: ("O Prophet! Say to your wives...")) and he recited the two Ayat. I said to him, "Concerning what do I need to consult my parents I choose Allah and His Messenger and the Home of the Hereafter." He also narrated it without a chain of narrators, and added, "She said, then all the wives of the Prophet did the same as I." Imam Ahmad recorded that `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave us the choice, and we chose him, so giving us that choice was not regarded as divorce." It was recorded by (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) from the Hadith of Al-A`mash. Imam Ahmad recorded that Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, came to ask permission to see the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the people were sitting at his door, and the Prophet was sitting, but he did not give him permission. Then `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, came and asked permission to see him, but he did not give him permission. Then he gave Abu Bakr and `Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, permission, and they entered. The Prophet was sitting with his wives around him, and he was silent. `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, `I will tell the Prophet something to make him smile.' `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, `O Messenger of Allah, if only you had seen the daughter of Zayd -- the wife of `Umar -- asking me to spend on her just now; I broke her neck!' The Messenger of Allah ﷺ smiled so broadly that his molars could be seen, and he said,

«هُنَّ حَوْلِي يَسْأَلْنَنِي النَّفَقَة»

(They are around me asking me to spend on them.) Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, got up to deal with `A'ishah; and `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, got up to deal with Hafsah, and both of them were saying, `You are asking the Prophet for that which he does not have!' But the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stopped them, and they (his wives) said, `By Allah, after this we will not ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for anything that he does not have.' Then Allah revealed the Ayah telling him to give them the choice, and he started with `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her. He said,

«إِنِّي أَذْكُرُ لَكِ أَمْرًا مَا أُحِبُّ أَنْ تَعْجَلِي فِيهِ حَتَّى تَسْتَأْمِرِي أَبَوَيْك»

(I am going to tell you something, and I would like you not to hasten to respond until you consult your parents.) She said, `What is it' He recited to her:

يأَيُّهَا النَّبِىُّ قُل لاٌّزْوَجِكَ

(O Prophet! Say to your wives...) `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said, `Do I need to consult my parents concerning you I choose Allah and His Messenger, but I ask you not to tell of my choice to your other wives.' He said:

«إِنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى لَمْ يَبْعَثْنِي مُعَنِّفًا، وَلَكِنْ بَعَثَنِي مُعَلِّمًا مُيَسِّرًا، لَا تَسْأَلُنِي امْرَأَةٌ مِنْهُنَّ عَمَّا اخْتَرْتِ إِلَّا أَخْبَرْتُهَا»

(Allah did not send me to be harsh, but He sent me to teach in a gentle and easy manner. If any of them asks me what your decision was, I will tell her.)" This was also recorded by Muslim, but not Al-Bukhari; An-Nasa'i also recorded it. `Ikrimah said: "At that time he was married to nine women, five of them were from Quraysh -- `A'ishah, Hafsah. Umm Habibah, Sawdah and Umm Salamah, may Allah be pleased with them. And he was also married to Safiyyah bint Huyay An-Nadariyyah, Maymunah bint Al-Harith Al-Hilaliyyah, Zaynab bint Jahsh Al-Asadiyyah and Juwayriyyah bint Al-Harith Al-Mustalaqiyyah, may Allah be pleased with all of them.

Commentary

Out of the objectives of this Surah, the most important is the stress placed on avoiding everything that may cause pain to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . In addition to that, there is a reiteration of instructions to obey him and seek his pleasure. Mentioned in connection with the event of the battle of al-Ahzab appearing immediately earlier was the pain caused to the Holy Prophet ﷺ at the hands of the disbelievers and hypocrites. Along with it, also mentioned there was their ultimate disgrace and the victory and success that came to the Holy Prophet ﷺ on every occasion. Also praised there were sincere believers who sacrificed what they had at the instance of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and it was said that they would have high ranks in the Hereafter.

In the verses cited above, the blessed wives of the Holy Prophet ﷺ have been particularly taught to be careful that no word or deed that issues forth from them goes on to cause pain to him. And this is possible only when they devote themselves and become totally obedient to Allah and His Messenger. Some injunctions in this connection have been given by addressing the blessed wives directly.

As for giving the choice of the taking of divorce to the blessed wives in the initial verses, it is limited to one or some incidents that came from the side of the blessed wives. These were contrary to the intent of the Holy Prophet ﷺ which caused pain to him.

One of these incidents is reported from Sayyidna Jabir ؓ and appears in the Sahih of Muslim and elsewhere as well. It is said there that the blessed wives got together and asked the Holy Prophet ﷺ that their sustenance allowance should be increased. Abu Hayyan explains it in Tafsir al-Bahr ul-Muhit by saying that the victories of Banu Nadir and Banu Quraizah after the battle of al-Ahzab coupled with the distribution of spoils had generated a certain improved economic wellbeing among common Muslims. At that time, the blessed wives thought the Holy Prophet ﷺ would have also set aside a share for himself in the spoils. Therefore, they appealed to him jointly saying, "ya RasulAllah, the wives of Cyrus and Caesar are laden with all sorts of valuable ornaments and dresses and have maids appointed to serve them while you see how hungry and ill-clad we are. Therefore, some liberal treatment in our case seems to be in order now."

When the Holy Prophet ﷺ heard this demand from the blessed wives that they should be treated at par with the life styles of kings and the worldly-wise rich, he was grieved about how much they had missed to appreciate the worth and value of living in the home of a prophet of Allah. On their part, the blessed wives never thought that their submission would cause pain to him. It was simply because of the wellbeing of common Muslims around them that they had also thought of the same for themselves. Abu Hayyan says that the description of this incident after the battle of al-Ahzab also supports the likelihood that this very demand of the wives became the cause of the choice of divorce given to them. According to some Hadith narratives, following the event of having a honey drink while at the home of Sayyidah Zainab ؓ which will appear in detail later under the commentary on Surah At-Tahrim, 66:1-5, in Ma’ ariful-Qur'an, Volume VIII- a situation created by the mutual sense of importance among the blessed wives became the cause of this choice of divorce. If both of these happened close in time to each other, then, it is also not remote to believe that they both could be the cause. But, the words of the Verse of Choice (1) are more supportive of the understanding that some financial demand had become its cause - for it was said in this verse: إِن كُنتُنَّ تُرِ‌دْنَ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا وَزِينَتَهَا (If you intend (to have the pleasure of worldly life and its charm - 28).

(1). The 'Verse of Choice' is the title of the verse 29 cited above where the blessed wives of the Holy Prophet ﷺ are given a choice either to seek divorce from him or to remain with him, seeking the pleasure of Allah and His Messenger.

This verse gave all blessed wives of the Holy Prophet ﷺ the choice to either accept to continue living with him as their husband in the condition he is in (that is, in his straightened economic condition), or become free from him through divorce. If they were to take the first option, they will deserve greater reward and higher ranks in the Hereafter as compared to other women. And if they were to take the second option, that is, taking a divorce, they will not have to face any displeasure as customary with worldly people. In fact, they would be given a send-off with honor, and parting gifts in accordance with Sunnah.

Tirmidhi reports from Umm al-Mu'minin Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ "When this verse of choice was revealed, the Holy Prophet ﷺ disclosed it to me before any other wife. Before reciting the verse, he said: I am going to tell you something. But, you do not have to make haste in giving your response. You should rather consult your parents and then respond. Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ says, "This was his special favour to me that he prohibited me from expressing my opinion without having consulted my parents first, because he was certain that my parents would never advise me to opt for separation from the Holy Prophet ﷺ . When I heard this verse, I immediately submitted before him, "Do I have to go and consult my parents in this matter? As for me, I choose Allah and His Messenger and the Home of the Hereafter." Then, after me, this command of the Qur'an was announced to all blessed wives. All of them said what I had said first (that is, none of them elected to have worldly affluence against the honor of being the wives of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ." (Tirmidhi said: This Hadith is Hasan Sahih).

(1). The 'Verse of Choice' is the title of the verse 29 cited above where the blessed wives of the Holy Prophet ﷺ are given a choice either to seek divorce from him or to remain with him, seeking the pleasure of Allah and His Messenger.

Special Note

Choice of Divorce can be given to a woman in two different forms: (1) That the power of divorce is entrusted with the woman, that is, if she wishes, she can divorce herself and become free. (2) That the power of giving divorce, though, remains in the hands of the husband, yet the husband gives her a promise that when she will wish, he will divorce her. (in the first case, as soon as the wife opts for divorce, she becomes divorced automatically without any act on the part of the husband. But in the latter case, divorce is not effected merely by the woman opting for it unless the husband divorces her.

In the case of the cited verse (28), some commentators are of the view that the choice given to the wives of the Holy Prophet ﷺ was of the first form, while others have maintained that it was of the second form. The esteemed author of Bayan ul-Qur'an has commented that the verse has both probabilities. Until one of the two stands determined on the authority of some definitive text, there is no need to determine any form on one's own.'

Ruling

This verse (28) tells us when there is no congruity between the temperaments of the married couple, the desirable approach is to give the wife the option to live with the husband while being content with whatever state he is in, otherwise, she should be allowed to leave honorably according to Sunnah with divorce and gift of pairs of apparel.

In this case, what can be proved from the cited verse (28) is its desirability only. There is no proof to support its obligation. Some leading Muslim jurists have argued in favour of the obligatory nature of this verse and, on the same basis, they have given the wife of a penniless man, who is incapable of providing living expenses for her, the right to secure a divorce from the court. Full details of this issue have been given in Ahkam ul-Qur'an, Part V, under this very verse.1 (1. This work in Arabic is available from Maktaba-e-Darul-'Uloom, the publishers of the present Tafsir ]

The Hijrah (migration to Madinah) had greatly disrupted the economy of the Muslims. Moreover, after the Hijrah, the enemies of Islam kept the Muslims continuously engaged in wars. As a result, the economic condition of the Muslims had seriously deteriorated. The greatest impact of this condition was on the Prophet Muhammad. It was difficult to provide even the bare necessities of life to the members of his household. Things reached the stage when his consorts were forced to demand maintenance. What his consorts asked for was basic necessities, but this was mentioned by God as a demand for worldly glitter—possibly too forceful an expression, just like the expression ‘shameful acts’ (fahishah). The Prophet had been assigned the most important mission in history, i.e. bringing to an end the age of polytheism and ushering in an era of monotheism. Under these circumstances, it was not possible for him to give importance to anything else. So, the consorts of the Prophet were told that either they should live contentedly with the Prophet and display greater endurance or, if that was not acceptable, to seek separation gracefully, but that raising domestic problems and thus diverting the attention of the Prophet could not be countenanced.