Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:227
And if they decide on divorce - then indeed, Allah is Hearing and Knowing.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The statement on the interpretation of His, the Exalted, word: وَإِنْ عَزَمُوا الطَّلاقَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ (227) ("And if they are resolved upon divorce (ṭalāq), then Allah is indeed All-Hearing, All-Knowing.") (2:227)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of interpretation differed concerning the meaning of Allah's word, whose mention is exalted: "And if they are resolved upon divorce."
Some of them said: The meaning of that is: for those who swear to abstain from their wives there is a waiting period of four months. Then if they return and turn to what Allah has made obligatory upon them (the wives) of proper conduct during the four months that Allah has permitted them as a waiting period in which they abstain from them and from sexual intercourse with them, and they treat them properly in that respect, "then Allah is forgiving, merciful toward them." But if they refrain from returning to them during the four months that Allah has permitted them as a waiting period, until they have elapsed, then their wives, from whom they abstained by oath, are divorced from them by their elapsing. The elapsing of this is, according to the adherents of this view, the proof that the one who swears is resolved upon the divorce of his wife, from whom he abstained by oath.
* * *
Then the adherents of this interpretation differed among themselves concerning the divorce that befalls her by the elapsing of the four months.
Some of them said: it is an irrevocable (bāʾin) divorce.
* Mention of who said that:
4557 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Bishr related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Khilās or al-Ḥasan, on the authority of ʿAlī, who said: When four months have elapsed, then it is an irrevocable divorce.
4558 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʿādh ibn Hishām related to us, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of Qatāda: that ʿAlī and Ibn Masʿūd regarded it as one divorce: when four months have elapsed, then she has more right over herself. Qatāda said: The statement of ʿAlī and ʿAbdallāh is the most pleasing to me concerning the ʿīlāʾ.
4559 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: that ʿAlī said concerning the ʿīlāʾ: When four months have elapsed, she is divorced by one divorce.
4560 - Ibn Abī al-Shawārib related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Maʿmar related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Abū Salama: that ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān and Zayd ibn Thābit said: When the four months have elapsed, then she is divorced by one irrevocable divorce.
4561 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, saying: ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī informed us, saying: Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān heard me asking Ibn al-Musayyab about the ʿīlāʾ. I passed by him and he said: What did Ibn al-Musayyab tell you? I related to him his statement, whereupon he said: Shall I not tell you what ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān and Zayd ibn Thābit said? I said: Yes indeed! He said: They said: When four months have elapsed, then she is divorced by one divorce, and she has more right over herself.
4562 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: al-Walīd related to us, on the authority of al-Awzāʿī, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, he said: Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us: that ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān said: When four months have elapsed from the day he swore, then it is an irrevocable divorce.
4563 - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar - or it was related to me on his authority - on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Abū Salama, on the authority of ʿUthmān and Zayd: that they said: When four months have elapsed, then it is an irrevocable divorce.
4564 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAlqama, who said: ʿAbdallāh ibn Unays swore to abstain from his wife, and she remained thus for six months. Then he came to Ibn Masʿūd and asked him, whereupon he said: Inform her that she has become mistress over her own affair. He went to her and informed her of it, and he gave her as bridal gift a raṭl of silver.
4565 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Ḥuṣayn informed us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh: that he used to say concerning the ʿīlāʾ: When the four months have elapsed, then it is an irrevocable divorce.
4566 - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh, the same.
4567 - Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, who said: ʿAbdallāh ibn Unays swore to abstain from his wife. He said: He departed and stayed away from her for six months, then he returned and went in to her. It was said: She is divorced from you! Then he came to ʿAbdallāh and mentioned that to him, whereupon ʿAbdallāh said to him: She is divorced from you, go to her, inform her, and ask her in marriage. He went to her, informed her that she was divorced from him, asked her in marriage, and gave her as bridal gift a raṭl of silver.
4568 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, he said: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿĀmir, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, that he said concerning the ʿīlāʾ: When four months have elapsed, then it is one irrevocable divorce.
4569 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿĀmir: that a man of the Banū Hilāl, named a certain ibn Unays - or: ʿAbdallāh ibn Unays - wanted from his wife what a man wants from his wife, but she refused. He swore not to approach her. The next day a military summons came upon the people, and he departed and stayed away for six months, then he returned and approached his wife without thinking that anything rested upon him! He went to the people and told them of his displeasure with his wife when he departed, and of his contentment with her when he returned. The people said: She has become forbidden to you! Then he came to Ibn Masʿūd and asked him about that, whereupon Ibn Masʿūd said: Do you not know that she has become forbidden to you? He said: No! He said: Then go and ask permission to enter to her, for she will deny that; then inform her that the oath you had sworn has become a divorce, and inform her that she is divorced by one divorce and that she is mistress over herself. If she wishes, then ask her in marriage, and she will be with you on the basis of two remaining divorces; and otherwise she is mistress over herself.
4570 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Badhīma, on the authority of Abī ʿUbayda, on the authority of Masrūq, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh, who said concerning the ʿīlāʾ: When four months have elapsed, then it is an irrevocable divorce, and she observes a waiting period (ʿiddah) of three menstrual periods.
4571 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, al-Aʿmash and Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: that ʿAbdallāh ibn Unays abstained from his wife by oath, and four months elapsed, then he had intercourse with her while he had forgotten it. Then he came to ʿAlqama, who brought him to ʿAbdallāh, whereupon ʿAbdallāh said: She is divorced from you, so ask her in marriage. And he gave her as bridal gift a raṭl of silver.
4572 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Ayyūb related to us - and Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: Ayyūb related to us - on the authority of Abī Qilāba: that al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr abstained from his wife by oath, whereupon Ibn Masʿūd struck him on his thigh and said: When four months have elapsed, then acknowledge one divorce.
4573 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, saying: I heard Dāwūd, on the authority of ʿĀmir: that Ibn Masʿūd said concerning the one who swears (mūlī): When four months have elapsed and he has not returned, then his wife is divorced from him by one divorce, and he is a suitor.
4574 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Miqsam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The being resolved upon divorce is the elapsing of the four months.
4575 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Miqsam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, the same.
4576 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: that he said concerning the ʿīlāʾ: When four months have elapsed, then it is one irrevocable divorce.
4577 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Khālid ibn Makhlad related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Burqān, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Aʿlā ibn Maymūn ibn Mihrān, on the authority of ʿIkrima, that he said: When the four months have elapsed, then it is an irrevocable divorce - and he mentioned that on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās.
4578 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Ziyād ibn Abī al-Jaʿd, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Miqsam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The being resolved upon divorce is the elapsing of the four (months).
4579 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Miqsam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, the same.
4580 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, saying: al-Aʿmash related to us, on the authority of Ḥabīb, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: that the governor of Mecca asked him about the one who swears, whereupon he said: Ibn ʿUmar used to say: When four months have elapsed, she has become mistress over her own affair - and Ibn ʿAbbās used to say that too.
4581 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥajjāj, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Miqsam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: When four months have elapsed, then it is an irrevocable divorce.
4582 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ related to us, on the authority of Ḥajjāj, on the authority of Sālim al-Makkī, on the authority of Ibn al-Ḥanafiyya, the same.
4583 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: my father and Shuʿayb related to us, on the authority of al-Layth, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb, on the authority of Abān ibn Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb: that Qabīṣa ibn Dhuʾayb said concerning the ʿīlāʾ: It is an irrevocable divorce, and she begins the waiting period anew, and she has the disposal over her own affair.
4584 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of Shurayḥ: that a man came to him who said: I have abstained from my wife by oath, and four months elapsed before I returned. Shurayḥ said: "And if they are resolved upon divorce, then Allah is indeed All-Hearing, All-Knowing" - he added nothing more to it. Then the man came to Masrūq and mentioned that to him, whereupon he said: May Allah have mercy on Abū Umayya (Shurayḥ); if we had said what he said, no one would bring relief to him! For he came only to seek relief! Then he said: It is an irrevocable divorce, and you are a suitor among the suitors.
4585 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, that he heard al-Shaʿbī narrate: that he was present with Shurayḥ - and a man asked him about the ʿīlāʾ - whereupon he said: لِلَّذِينَ يُؤْلُونَ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ تَرَبُّصُ أَرْبَعَةِ أَشْهُرٍ ("For those who swear to abstain from their wives, there is a waiting period of four months") - the entire āya. He (al-Shaʿbī) said: I rose from beside him and went to Masrūq and said: O Abū ʿĀʾisha! - and I informed him of the statement of Shurayḥ, whereupon he said: May Allah have mercy on Abū Umayya; if all people were to say something like that, who then would bring us relief in such a matter! Then he said: When four months have elapsed, then it is one irrevocable divorce.
4586 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim, who said: I read in the book of Abī Qilāba in the presence of Ayyūb: I asked Sālim ibn ʿAbdallāh and Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, whereupon both said: When four months have elapsed, then it is an irrevocable divorce.
8587 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim, on the authority of Qays ibn Saʿd, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, who said: When four months have elapsed, then it is an irrevocable divorce, and he asks her in marriage during the waiting period (ʿiddah).
4588 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muʿtamir related to us, on the authority of his father - concerning the man who says to his wife: "By Allah, nothing shall ever bring my head and your head together!", and who swears never to approach her - when four months elapse and he has not returned, then it is an irrevocable divorce, and he is a suitor - that is the statement of ʿAlī, Ibn Masʿūd, Ibn ʿAbbās and al-Ḥasan.
4589 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: that he was asked about a man who said to his wife: "If I approach you, then you are divorced thrice". He said: When four months have elapsed, then it is an irrevocable divorce, and that (threefold) declaration lapses.
4590 - Sawwār related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us - and Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us - both on the authority of Yazīd ibn Ibrāhīm, he said: I heard al-Ḥasan and Muḥammad concerning the ʿīlāʾ, both saying: When four months have elapsed, then she is divorced by one irrevocable divorce, and he is a suitor among the suitors.
4591 - Yaʿqūb related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAwn, on the authority of Muḥammad, who said: We used to say concerning the oath (al-aliyya) that, when four months have elapsed, it is an irrevocable divorce.
4592 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿAthhām related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning the ʿīlāʾ, who said: If they elapse - that is to say: four months - then she is divorced from him.
4593 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-Nakhaʿī, who said: If he approaches her before the four months, then she is divorced from him by three (divorces); and if he refrains from her until the four months elapse, then she is divorced from him by the ʿīlāʾ - concerning a man who said to his wife: "You are divorced thrice if I approach you for a year."
4594 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʿādh ibn Hishām related to us, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: ʿUbaydallāh ibn Ziyād stayed deep into the night with Hind, on the night of Umm ʿUthmān, the daughter of ʿUmar ibn ʿUbaydallāh. When he came to her (Umm ʿUthmān), she gave her maidservants an order, and they shut the doors against him. Then he swore not to come to her until she would come to him, whereupon it was said to him: If four months elapse, she is lost to you.
4595 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: ʿAwf related to us, saying: it has reached me that, when a man abstains from his wife by oath and four months elapse, it is an irrevocable divorce, and he asks her in marriage if he wishes.
4596 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his word: لِلَّذِينَ يُؤْلُونَ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ تَرَبُّصُ أَرْبَعَةِ أَشْهُرٍ ("For those who swear to abstain from their wives, there is a waiting period of four months") - concerning the one who swears; and if the four months elapse, then she has become forbidden to him, and she observes the waiting period of a divorced woman, while he is one of the suitors.
4597 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Qabīṣa ibn Dhuʾayb, who said: When the four months have elapsed, then it is an irrevocable divorce.
4598 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, his word: لِلَّذِينَ يُؤْلُونَ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ تَرَبُّصُ أَرْبَعَةِ أَشْهُرٍ فَإِنْ فَاءُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ ("For those who swear to abstain from their wives, there is a waiting period of four months; then if they return, then Allah is indeed forgiving, merciful") - this concerns the man who abstains from his wife by oath and says: "By Allah, my head and your head shall not come together, I will not approach you nor have intercourse with you!" The people of the time of ignorance (Jāhiliyya) regarded that as a divorce, whereupon Allah fixed for them both a term of four months. If he returns within it, he atones for his oath, and she is his wife. And if four months elapse and he has not returned, then it is an irrevocable divorce, and she has more right over herself, while he is one of the suitors.
4599 - It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, the same.
4600 - Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: لِلَّذِينَ يُؤْلُونَ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ تَرَبُّصُ أَرْبَعَةِ أَشْهُرٍ ("For those who swear to abstain from their wives, there is a waiting period of four months"), he said: ʿAlī, Ibn Masʿūd and ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb used to say: When four months have elapsed, then she is irrevocably divorced, and she has more right over herself.
4601 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Wahb related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: لِلَّذِينَ يُؤْلُونَ ("For those who swear") - the āya - that is the one who swears not to approach his wife; if four months elapse and he has not returned and has not divorced, then she is divorced from him by the ʿīlāʾ. If she then returns to him, that requires a new bridal gift (mahr), a marriage with witnesses, and the consent of the guardian.
* * *
Others said: Rather, the divorce that befalls her by the elapsing of the four months is a revocable divorce, in which the husband possesses the right of taking back (rajʿa).
* Mention of who said that:
4602 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: Mālik related to us, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab and Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām, both saying: When a man abstains from his wife by oath and four months elapse, then it is one divorce, and he has more right to take her back.
4603 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Mālik, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, who said: When four months have elapsed, then it is a divorce in which he possesses the right of taking back.
4604 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Umayya, on the authority of Makḥūl, who said: When four months have elapsed, then it is a divorce in which he possesses the right of taking back.
4605 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, who said: It is one (divorce) and he has more right to her - that is to say: when the four months have elapsed - and al-Zuhrī gave his legal opinion (fatwā) in accordance with this statement of Abū Bakr.
4606 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: al-Layth related to us, saying: Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Shihāb said: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab related to me that he said: When a man abstains from his wife by oath and the four months elapse before he returns, then it is a divorce, and he has more right to her as long as she is in her waiting period.
4607 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Yamān related to us, saying: Abū Yūnus al-Qawī related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab said to me: From whom are you? He said: I said: From the people of Iraq! He said: Perhaps you are of those who say: "When four months have elapsed, then she is irrevocably divorced!" No! Even if four years were to elapse.
4608 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj ibn Rishdīn related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn ʿUmar related to us, on the authority of Rabīʿa: that he said concerning the ʿīlāʾ: When four months have elapsed, then it is a divorce, and she begins her waiting period, and her husband has more right to take her back.
4609 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us: Ibn Shubruma used to say: When four months have elapsed, then he has the right of taking back - and he adduced the Qurʾān as argument and interpreted this āya thus: وَبُعُولَتُهُنَّ أَحَقُّ بِرَدِّهِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ [Surah Al-Baqarah: 228] ("And their husbands have more right to take them back therein"). Then he adduced as proof: لِلَّذِينَ يُؤْلُونَ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ تَرَبُّصُ أَرْبَعَةِ أَشْهُرٍ فَإِنْ فَاءُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ * وَإِنْ عَزَمُوا الطَّلاقَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ ("For those who swear to abstain from their wives, there is a waiting period of four months; then if they return, then Allah is indeed forgiving, merciful. And if they are resolved upon divorce, then Allah is indeed All-Hearing, All-Knowing").
4610 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: Abū ʿAmr said: We hold in that respect - that is to say concerning the ʿīlāʾ - to the statement of our masters al-Zuhrī and Makḥūl, that it is a (revocable) divorce - that is to say the elapsing of the four months - and that he has more right to her as long as she is in her waiting period.
* * *
Others said: The meaning of His word لِلَّذِينَ يُؤْلُونَ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ ("For those who swear to abstain from their wives") up to His word "then Allah is indeed All-Hearing, All-Knowing" is: for those who swear to abstain from their wives there is a waiting period of four months, upon his part and hers. "Then if they return", after the elapsing of the four months, to them, and turn to proper conduct with them and the abandoning of the avoidance of them, and they proceed to intercourse and sexual relations with them, "then Allah is indeed forgiving, merciful. And if they are resolved upon divorce", by giving them a divorce after the four months, "then Allah is indeed All-Hearing" of their divorcing of them, "All-Knowing" of what they did to them of good and evil.
The adherents of this interpretation said: The elapsing of the four months gives the wife the right to call her husband, who abstained from her by oath, to account for returning or divorcing, and it is the duty of the authority (the sulṭān) to compel the husband to that. If he then returns or divorces, (it is well); and otherwise the authority pronounces the divorce on his behalf.
* Mention of who said that:
4611 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: al-Muthannā ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ informed us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab: that ʿUmar said concerning the ʿīlāʾ: Nothing rests upon him until he is brought to a stand (compelled to choose), whereupon he divorces or holds firm.
4612 - ʿAbdallāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Shabbawayh related to me, saying: Ibn Abī Maryam related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb related to us, on the authority of al-Muthannā, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, on the authority of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, the same.
4613 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ghundar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Simāk, he said: I heard Saʿīd ibn Jubayr narrate on the authority of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb: that he said concerning the ʿīlāʾ: When four months have elapsed, he did not regard it as anything (a completed divorce).
4614 - Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of al-Shaybānī, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Salama, on the authority of ʿAlī: that he brought the one who swears to a stand after the four months until he returned or divorced.
4615 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Shaybānī, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Salama, on the authority of ʿAlī: he said concerning the ʿīlāʾ: He is brought to a stand.
4616 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Shaybānī, on the authority of Bukayr ibn al-Akhnas, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of ʿAlī: that he brought him to a stand.
4617 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Shaybānī, on the authority of Bukayr ibn al-Akhnas, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of ʿAlī: that he brought him to a stand.
4618 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam, on the authority of ʿAlī, who said: The one who swears is brought to a stand at the elapsing of the four months until he returns or divorces. Abū Kurayb said: Ibn Idrīs said: And that is the statement of the people of Medina.
4619 - Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī related to us, saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Marwān, on the authority of ʿAlī, the same.
4620 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam, on the authority of ʿAlī, who said: The one who swears must either return or divorce.
4621 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Misʿar, on the authority of Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit, on the authority of Ṭāwūs: that ʿUthmān brought the one who swears to a stand in accordance with the statement of the people of Medina.
4622 - Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Misʿar related to us, on the authority of Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit, who said: I met Ṭāwūs and asked him, whereupon he said: ʿUthmān held to the statement of the people of Medina.
4623 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to us, saying: Hammām related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, on the authority of Abū al-Dardāʾ, that he said: There is no fixed term for him, and it is a sin (maʿṣiya). He is brought to a stand concerning the ʿīlāʾ, and he must either hold firm or divorce.
4624 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Hammām related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, that Abū al-Dardāʾ said concerning the ʿīlāʾ: When four months have elapsed, then he is brought to a stand: he must either return or divorce.
4625 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muʿādh ibn Hishām related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, that Abū al-Dardāʾ used to say: It is a sin, and his wife is not forbidden to him after the four months, and the waiting period is imposed upon her after the four months.
4626 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, that Abū al-Dardāʾ and Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab said: He is brought to a stand at the elapsing of the four months, and he must either return or divorce, and he remains in sin until he returns or divorces.
4627 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, that Abū al-Dardāʾ and ʿĀʾisha said: The one who swears is brought to a stand at the elapsing of the four (months), and he must either return or divorce.
4628 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Abū al-Dardāʾ and Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, similarly.
4629 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulayka, who said: ʿĀʾisha said: He is brought to a stand at the elapsing of the four months, and he must either return or divorce. He (Ibn Idrīs) said: I said: Did you hear it from her? He said: Do not chide me so.
4630 - Ibrāhīm ibn Muslim ibn ʿAbdallāh related to us, saying: ʿImrān ibn Maysara related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: Ḥasan ibn al-Furāt related to us, with his isnād, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, the same.
4631 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn al-Ward related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulayka, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, the same.
4632 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: ʿUbaydallāh ibn ʿUmar related to me, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Qāsim, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, that she said: When a man swears not to touch his wife, and four months elapse, then he must either hold her firm as Allah commanded him, or divorce her. What he has done does not oblige him to a divorce nor to anything else.
4633 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Yūnus ibn Yazīd, Nājiya ibn Bakr and Ibn Abī al-Zinād informed me, on the authority of Abī al-Zinād, he said: al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad informed me: that Khālid ibn al-ʿĀṣ al-Makhzūmī was married to the daughter of Abī Saʿīd ibn Hishām, and he swore concerning her many times that he would not approach her for a long time. He (al-Qāsim) said: I heard ʿĀʾisha say to him: Do you not fear Allah, O Ibn al-ʿĀṣ, concerning the daughter of Abī Saʿīd? Will you not desist (from that oath)? Do you not read this āya in "Surah Al-Baqarah"? He said: It was as if she held him to be sinful, but she was not of the opinion that he was divorced from his wife.
4634 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of ʿUbaydallāh, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, that he said concerning the one who swears: Nothing is permitted for him except what Allah has permitted him: he must either return or divorce.
4635 - Tamīm ibn al-Muntaṣir related to us, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Numayr informed us, saying: ʿUbaydallāh informed us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, similarly.
4636 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: ʿUbaydallāh related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, who said: It is not permitted for the one who swears to neglect what Allah commanded him; he says: he makes known her taking-back, or he divorces at the elapsing of the four months - he makes known her taking-back, or he divorces. Abū Kurayb said: Ibn Idrīs said and added to that: And I asked him about it again, whereupon he said something meaning: that he has the right of taking back.
4637 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: that ʿUmar said something resembling the statement of Ibn ʿUmar.
4638 - Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim informed us, saying: Nāfiʿ informed us that Ibn ʿUmar said concerning the ʿīlāʾ: He is brought to a stand at the four months.
4639 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: ʿUbaydallāh ibn ʿUmar related to me, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, that he said: When a man swears not to touch his wife and four months elapse, then he must either hold her firm as Allah commanded him, or divorce her, and what he has done does not oblige him to a divorce nor to anything else.
4640 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: I asked Ibn ʿUmar about the ʿīlāʾ, whereupon he said: The holders of authority pass their judgment on that.
4641 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, who said: The one who swears is brought to a stand after the elapsing of the four (months). He must either divorce or return.
4642 - ʿAbdallāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Shabbawayh related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Maryam related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb related to us, on the authority of ʿUbaydallāh ibn ʿUmar, on the authority of Suhayl ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of his father, who said: I asked twelve men of the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about the man who abstains from his wife by oath, and they all said: Nothing rests upon him until the four months elapse; then he is brought to a stand, and if he returns (it is well), and otherwise he divorces.
4643 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab - concerning the man who abstains from his wife by oath - he said: He was of the opinion that divorce was not imposed upon him until he himself divorced.
4644 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, concerning the ʿīlāʾ: When four months have elapsed: Allah has only made it a moment that he may not exceed without returning or divorcing; and if he exceeds it, then he has disobeyed Allah, but his wife is not forbidden to him.
4645 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, who said: When four months have elapsed, then he must either return or divorce.
4646 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā and Ibn Bashshār related to us, both saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Ibn al-Musayyab, concerning the ʿīlāʾ: He is brought to a stand at the elapsing of the four months, and he must either return or divorce.
4647 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar - or it was related to me on his authority - on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn al-Musayyab - and on the authority of Ibn Ṭāwūs, on the authority of his father - both saying: The one who swears is brought to a stand after the elapsing of the four (months), and he must either return or divorce.
4648 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn al-Musayyab - and on the authority of Ibn Ṭāwūs, on the authority of his father - both saying: The one who swears is brought to a stand after the elapsing of the four (months), and he must either return or divorce.
4649 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: Mālik ibn Anas related to me, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab and Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām, the same - that is to say like the statement of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb concerning the ʿīlāʾ: Nothing rests upon him until he is brought to a stand, whereupon he divorces or holds firm.
4650 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, that he said concerning the ʿīlāʾ: He is brought to a stand.
4651 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ - and al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ - on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: لِلَّذِينَ يُؤْلُونَ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ تَرَبُّصُ أَرْبَعَةِ أَشْهُرٍ ("For those who swear to abstain from their wives, there is a waiting period of four months"), who said: When four months elapse, he is seized and brought to a stand until he returns to his wife, or divorces.
4652 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn Yasār: that Marwān brought him to a stand after six months.
4653 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, concerning the ʿīlāʾ, who said: He is brought to a stand at the four months until he returns or divorces.
4654 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his word: لِلَّذِينَ يُؤْلُونَ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ تَرَبُّصُ أَرْبَعَةِ أَشْهُرٍ ("For those who swear to abstain from their wives, there is a waiting period of four months"), that is the man who swears by Allah not to have intercourse with his wife. He waits for four months; if he then has intercourse with her, he atones for his oath. And if four months elapse before he has intercourse with her, the authority compels him: either he returns and takes her back, or he resolves and divorces, as Allah, the Exalted, has said.
4655 - Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: لِلَّذِينَ يُؤْلُونَ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ تَرَبُّصُ أَرْبَعَةِ أَشْهُرٍ فَإِنْ فَاءُوا ("For those who swear to abstain from their wives, there is a waiting period of four months; then if they return") - the āya, he said: ʿAlī and Ibn ʿAbbās used to say: When a man abstains from his wife by oath and the four months elapse, then he is brought to a stand and it is said to him: Will you hold firm or divorce? If he holds firm, she is his wife, and if he divorces, then she is divorced.
4656 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word لِلَّذِينَ يُؤْلُونَ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ ("For those who swear to abstain from their wives"), he said: That is the man who swears not to approach his wife, in such and such a manner. Allah has granted him four months to wait. And he said: Allah's word, whose mention is exalted: تَرَبُّصُ أَرْبَعَةِ أَشْهُرٍ ("a waiting period of four months"), by which he waits. فَإِنْ فَاءُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ * وَإِنْ عَزَمُوا الطَّلاقَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ ("Then if they return, then Allah is indeed forgiving, merciful. And if they are resolved upon divorce, then Allah is indeed All-Hearing, All-Knowing"). When she (the wife) brings him before the imam, the latter sets him a term of four months; if he then returns (it is well), and otherwise he pronounces the divorce on his behalf. And if she does not bring him before (the imam), then it is merely a right of hers that she has let go.
4657 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, on the authority of Mālik, he said: No divorce falls upon the one who swears until he is brought to a stand, and he is not one who swears (a mūlī in the legal sense) unless he swears for more than four months. If he swears for (exactly) four months, then no ʿīlāʾ rests upon him, because he is brought to a stand at the four months while the oath has already fallen from him, and the ʿīlāʾ has then vanished.
4658 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, on the authority of Ibn Zayd, he said: Ibn ʿUmar said: Until it is brought before the authority. And my father (Zayd) used to say that and said: No, by Allah, even if four years elapse, until he is brought to a stand.
4659 - Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Fiṭr related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī said, while I was with him: If a man were to abstain from his wife by oath for four years, we would not divorce her from him until we had brought them both together; if he then returns, he returns, and if he is resolved upon divorce, then he resolves (and divorces).
4660 - Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Mājishūn related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd ibn al-Ḥuṣayn, who said: I heard al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad say: He is brought to a stand when the four (months) have elapsed.
* * *
Others said: The ʿīlāʾ is nothing (has no legal effect in itself).
* Mention of who said that:
4661 - Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, who said: I asked Ibn al-Musayyab about the ʿīlāʾ, whereupon he said: It is nothing.
4662 - Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Jaʿfar ibn Burqān related to me, on the authority of Maymūn ibn Mihrān, who said: I asked Ibn ʿUmar about a man who abstained from his wife by oath, and four months elapsed without him returning to her, whereupon he recited this āya: لِلَّذِينَ يُؤْلُونَ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ تَرَبُّصُ أَرْبَعَةِ أَشْهُرٍ ("For those who swear to abstain from their wives, there is a waiting period of four months") - the āya.
4663 - Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Misʿar related to us, on the authority of Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit, who said: I sent someone to ʿAṭāʾ to ask him about the one who swears, whereupon he said: I have no knowledge of that.
* * *
Others of the adherents of this view said: Rather, the meaning of His word "And if they are resolved upon divorce" is: and if they refuse to return, after the imam has brought them to a stand for returning or divorcing.
* Mention of who said that:
4664 - Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, who said: The one who swears is brought to a stand at the elapsing of the four (months); if he then returns, she remains his wife, and if he does not return, then he makes her into an irrevocable divorce.
4665 - Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, who said: The one who swears is brought to a stand at the elapsing of the four (months); if he then does not return, then it is an irrevocable divorce.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The view that most corresponds to what the outward meaning of the Book of Allah, the Exalted, indicates is the statement of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, ʿUthmān and ʿAlī - may Allah be pleased with them - and of those who adopt their statement concerning the divorce: namely that His word "Then if they return, then Allah is indeed forgiving, merciful. And if they are resolved upon divorce, then Allah is indeed All-Hearing, All-Knowing" means only this: if they return after the imam has brought them to a stand following the elapsing of the four months, and they turn to fulfilling the right that Allah has imposed upon them toward their wives, from whom they abstained by oath, then Allah is forgiving, merciful toward them. "And if they are resolved upon divorce" and divorce them, "then Allah is indeed All-Hearing" of their divorce of them when they divorce, "All-Knowing" of what they did to them.
We have said only that this most corresponds to the interpretation of the āya, because Allah, the Exalted, when He said "And if they are resolved upon divorce", (added to it) "then Allah is indeed All-Hearing, All-Knowing." It is known that the elapsing of the four months is not heard, but only known. So if the "being resolved upon divorce" were the elapsing of the four months, then the āya would not have been concluded with Allah's mention of the report about Himself, the Exalted, that He is "All-Hearing, All-Knowing" - just as He did not conclude the āya in which He mentions the return to His obedience - upon the taking-back by the one who swears of his wife, from whom he abstained by oath, and the fulfilling of her right to her - with the mention of the report that He is "severe in punishment", since that was not a place for a threat against a sin, but He concluded it with the mention of the report in which He describes Himself, the Exalted, as "forgiving, merciful", since it was a place for a promise to the penitent for his return to His obedience. Likewise He concluded the āya in which the mention of speech occurs with the description of Himself that He is "All-Hearing" of the spoken word and "All-Knowing" of the deed. Thus He, the Exalted, said: and if those who swear concerning their wives are resolved upon the divorce of those from whom they abstained by oath, "then Allah is indeed All-Hearing" of their divorce of them if they divorce them, "All-Knowing" of what they did to them, of what is permitted to them and what is forbidden to them.
We have treated the exposition of the proof for the correctness of this statement at length in our book (Kitāb al-Laṭīf min al-bayān ʿan aḥkām sharāʾiʿ al-dīn), and for that reason we deemed it undesirable to repeat it in this place.
