Tafsir of Surah Al-Ahzab - Verse 49

A Gift and no (Iddah) for Women Who are divorced before Consummation of the Marriage

This Ayah contains many rulings, including the use of the word Nikah for the marriage contract alone. There is no other Ayah in the Qur'an that is clearer than this on this point. It also indicates that it is permissible to divorce a woman before consummating the marriage with her.

الْمُؤْمِنَـتِ

(believing women) this refers to what is usually the case, although there is no difference between a believing (Muslim) woman and a woman of the People of the Book in this regard, according to scholarly consensus. Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib, Al-Hasan Al-Basri, `Ali bin Al-Husayn Zayn-ul-`Abidin and a group of the Salaf took this Ayah as evidence that divorce cannot occur unless it has been preceded by marriage, because Allah says,

إِذَا نَكَحْتُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَـتِ ثُمَّ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ

(When you marry believing women, and then divorce them) The marriage contract here is followed by divorce, which indicates that the divorce cannot be valid if it comes first. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "If someone were to say, `every woman I marry will ipso facto be divorced,' this does not mean anything, because Allah says:

يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ إِذَا نَكَحْتُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَـتِ ثُمَّ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ

(O you who believe! When you marry believing women, and then divorce them....)." It was also reported that Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "Allah said,

إِذَا نَكَحْتُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَـتِ ثُمَّ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ

(When you marry believing women, and then divorce them.) Do you not see that divorce comes after marriage" A Hadith to the same effect was recorded from `Amr bin Shu`ayb from his father from his grandfather, who said: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«لَا طَلَاقَ لِابْنِ آدَمَ فِيمَا لَا يَمْلِك»

(There is no divorce for the son of Adam with regard to that which he does not possess.) This was recorded by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah. At-Tirmidhi said, "This is a Hasan Hadith, and it is the best thing that has been narrated on this matter." It was also recorded by Ibn Majah from `Ali and Al-Miswar bin Makhramah, may Allah be pleased with them, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«لَا طَلَاقَ قَبْلَ نِكَاح»

(There is no divorce before marriage.)

فَمَا لَكُمْ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ عِدَّةٍ تَعْتَدُّونَهَا

(no `Iddah have you to count in respect of them.) This is a command on which the scholars are agreed, that if a woman is divorced before the marriage is consummated, she does not have to observe the `Iddah (prescribed period for divorce) and she may go and get married immediately to whomever she wishes. The only exception in this regard is a woman whose husband died, in which case she has to observe an `Iddah of four months and ten days even if the marriage was not consummated. This is also according to the consensus of the scholars.

فَمَتِّعُوهُنَّ وَسَرِّحُوهُنَّ سَرَاحاً جَمِيلاً

(So, give them a present, and set them free in a handsome manner.) The present here refers to something more general than half of the named dowery or a special gift that has not been named. Allah says:

وَإِن طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تَمَسُّوهُنَّ وَقَدْ فَرَضْتُمْ لَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً فَنِصْفُ مَا فَرَضْتُمْ

(And if you divorce them before you have touched (had a sexual relation with) them, and you have fixed unto them their due (dowery) then pay half of that) (2:237). And Allah says:

لاَّ جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِن طَلَّقْتُمُ النِّسَآءَ مَا لَمْ تَمَسُّوهُنَّ أَوْ تَفْرِضُواْ لَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً وَمَتِّعُوهُنَّ عَلَى الْمُوسِعِ قَدَرُهُ وَعَلَى الْمُقْتِرِ قَدْرُهُ مَتَـعاً بِالْمَعْرُوفِ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُحْسِنِينَ

(There is no sin on you, if you divorce women while yet you have not touched them, nor fixed unto them their due (dowery). But bestow on them gift, the rich according to his means, and the poor according to his means, a gift of reasonable amount is a duty on the doers of good.) (2:236) pIn Sahih Al-Bukhari, it was recorded that Sahl bin Sa`d and Abu Usayd, may Allah be pleased with them both, said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ married Umaymah bint Sharahil, and when she entered upon him he reached out his hand towards her, and it was as if she did not like that, so he told Abu Usayd to give her two garments." `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said "If the dowery had been named, she would not be entitled to more than half, but if the dowery is not been named, he should give her a gift according to his means, and this is the "handsome manner."

Commentary

Some attributes and the special eminence of the Holy Prophet ﷺ have been mentioned in the preceding verse. Some special rules that are exclusive to him in matters of marriage and divorce are intended to be mentioned in forthcoming verses in which he has a distinction over the general Ummah. But before that, a general rule regarding divorce has been mentioned as a prologue which is applicable to all Muslims in general.

There are three injunctions regarding divorce in this verse.

The first injunction is that if after nikah (marriage) a woman is divorced before the spouses have had full privacy اَلخَلوۃ الصحیحۃ (Al-khalwah As-sahihah), then she is not liable to any period of عِدَّہ ` iddah (waiting period), which means that she can enter into another marriage immediately. In the present verse, 'touching' means having sexual intercourse, either actually or by presumption, because if the spouses meet together at a private place without any apprehension of interference by someone and there is nothing to prevent them from having sex, this type of privacy اَلخَلوۃ الصحیحۃ (Al-khalwah As-sahihah) carries the same legal consequences as an actual intercourse.

The second injunction is that the divorced woman should be separated gracefully and by giving some gifts to her. Giving something to a divorced woman at the time of her departure is desirable according to Sunnah, and in some cases it is compulsory as elaborated in verse 236 of Surah –Baqarah لَّا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِن طَلَّقْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ مَا لَمْ تَمَسُّوهُنَّ There is no sin on you if you divorce women when you have not touched them. 2:236). The use of the word 'mata" here is perhaps based on the wisdom that this word has a wide and general meaning and is applicable to anything which may be beneficial, which includes the woman's obligatory rights, like mahr (dower), etc., which means that the dower, if not already paid, has to be paid at the time of divorce gladly; and it also includes her rights that are not compulsory, for example, a set of clothes to be gifted to her at the time of departure, which is mustahab (commendable) in respect of every divorced woman and the Qur'an has persuaded the husband for both, the compulsory as well as commendable rights.

A leading scholar of Hadith ` Abd Ibn Humayd has narrated the dictum of Sayyidna Hasan ؓ that every divorced woman has to be given something as mut'ah whether one has had Al-khalwah Assahihah (full privacy) with her or not and whether her mahr (dower) was fixed or not.

Details of Mut'ah to be given at the time of Divorce

Badai', the famous book of Hanafi fiqh has mentioned that mut'ah of divorce means those clothes which a woman wears necessarily when going out. It includes a pair of trousers, long shirt, shawl and a large sheet as covering from head to feet. Clothes can be graded as high quality, medium and ordinary. Muslim jurists have determined that if both the husband and wife belong to wealthy families, the clothes have to be of high quality; if they are both poor, then the clothes should be of ordinary quality, and if one is poor and the other wealthy, then the clothes may be of medium quality.

Islam's matchless teaching in discharging social obligations gracefully

Recognition of rights and a courteous behavior towards others is restricted in common practice to relatives, friends and at the best it is extended to common people. Recognizing and discharging of the rights of opponents and foes and devising rules and regulations for their execution is a distinct feature of Islamic teachings. Although many organizations have been established in our days exclusively for the protection of human rights, and some rules and regulations have also been devised for this purpose. Huge sums of money are collected as donations from all over the world for this objective, but all of them are politically oriented and whenever they do help the suffering people, such help is not available everywhere, nor is it without a motive. It is rather given to fulfill their own political aims. And, supposing, these organizations do start functioning properly to serve the suffering humanity, the most they can do is to help when some area is affected by a devastating storm, epidemic disease, etc. But who would know about the suffering of individuals and single persons? Who can reach them? Let us look at the matter of divorce which obviously is a result of mutual discord, anger and disharmony which usually results in the relationship which was established on the basis of extreme concord, love and affection changing to the opposite i.e. combined emotions of hate enmity and revenge. The above mentioned verse of the Holy Qur'an and many other similar verses have given such instructions to Muslims to be observed right at the time of divorce that they fully test gracefulness of behavior and courteous discharge of social obligations. The emotions keep on inciting one to take as much revenge as one can from the woman who has inflicted so much pain and agony to him that the relationship had to be terminated. But the noble Qur'an has bound the common divorced woman to stay during the period of ` iddah in the house of her husband; it has been made obligatory on the husband not to turn the divorced woman out of his house during the period of ` iddah and to continue to provide her the usual daily maintenance and upkeep during that period. It has also been made desirable for the husband to give her mut ah i.e. a set of clothes at the time of departure after completion of the period of ` iddah and to release her with grace and respect. Only those women are exempt from the period of ` iddah who have only gone through nikah without stepping into the husband's house, without having had true privacy, but more stress has been laid on offering mut'ah to them as compared to other women.

The third injunction is: (سَرِّ‌حُوهُنَّ سَرَ‌احًا جَمِيلًا) "Release them gracefully" which has imposed a restriction on the husband not to say anything harsh even verbally nor to indulge in taunts or sarcasms.

Only that person can honor the rights of the opponents during confrontation who can control his emotions and passions. All the teachings of Islam have laid due emphasis on this principle.

If a man marries a woman, but divorces her before the marriage is consummated, the waiting period (‘iddah) does not have to be observed, as happens in ordinary cases. But Islamic ethical considerations demand that the separation of husband and wife should be as dignified as their coming together was. If some alimony (mahr) was fixed for the concerned lady, then the man shall have to repay half of that. Otherwise, she should be graciously sent off after being given some amount commensurate with her status and the man’s capacity to pay. The woman is permitted to enter into a second marriage immediately, if she wants to do so. There is no need for her to observe the waiting period.