Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:229
Divorce is twice. Then, either keep [her] in an acceptable manner or release [her] with good treatment. And it is not lawful for you to take anything of what you have given them unless both fear that they will not be able to keep [within] the limits of Allah. But if you fear that they will not keep [within] the limits of Allah, then there is no blame upon either of them concerning that by which she ransoms herself. These are the limits of Allah, so do not transgress them. And whoever transgresses the limits of Allah - it is those who are the wrongdoers.
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.
Divorce is twice; then an honourable retaining or a kindly release (2:229)
The statement concerning the interpretation of Allah's saying: Divorce is twice; then an honourable retaining or a kindly release . The people of interpretation have differed over its interpretation. Some of them said: it is an indication of the number of divorces (ṭalāq) in which the man has the right to take his wife back, and the number by which his wife becomes definitively separated from him. Mention of who said that this verse was revealed because the people of the Jāhiliyya and the Muslims, before its revelation, knew no end to their divorcing, by reaching which limit the woman would become definitively separated from him — as long as he took her back within her waiting period (ʿiddah). Allah, exalted be His mention, set a limit for that, by reaching which limit in divorcing He forbade the divorced woman to the man, except after another husband, and at that point He made her more mistress over herself than he.
Mention of the reports that have been transmitted with what we have said about that:
3775 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, on the authority of his father, who said: A man used to divorce as often as he wished, and if he then took his wife back before her waiting period (ʿiddah) had elapsed, she remained his wife. Then a man of the Anṣār became angry with his wife and said to her: "I will not approach you, and you will not be free of me!" She said to him: "How is that?" He said: "I divorce you, and then when your term draws near, I take you back, and then I divorce you again; and when your term draws near, I take you back." He said: Then she complained of that to the Prophet ﷺ, and Allah, exalted be His mention, revealed: Divorce is twice; then an honourable retaining . ... the verse.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Hishām, on the authority of his father, who said: A man said to his wife in the time of the Prophet ﷺ: "I will not give you shelter, and I will not set you free!" She said to him: "How do you do that?" He said: "I divorce you, and then when the elapsing of your waiting period (ʿiddah) draws near, I take you back." [She said:] "When then do I become free?" Then she went to the Prophet ﷺ, and Allah revealed: Divorce is twice; then an honourable retaining or a kindly release . Then the people began with it anew, both whoever had already divorced and whoever had not yet divorced.
3776 - Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā informed us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: The people of the Jāhiliyya — the man used to divorce three times, ten times, and more than that, and he would then take her back as long as she was in the waiting period (ʿiddah). Then Allah set the limit of divorce at three pronouncements.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: The people of the Jāhiliyya — one of them would divorce his wife and then take her back, with no limit therein; she was his wife as long as he took her back within her waiting period (ʿiddah). Then Allah set the limit of that so that it comes out to three menstrual periods (qurūʾ), and He set the limit of divorce at three pronouncements.
3777 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: Divorce is twice , he said: Divorce, before Allah set divorce at three, had no limit; the man divorced his wife a hundred times, and if he then wished to take her back before she became free, that was permissible for him. A man would divorce his wife until she was almost free, and then he would take her back, and after that he would resume the divorce anew, in order to harm her by leaving her [thus] suspended; until he would take her back just before the elapsing of her waiting period (ʿiddah), and this he would do repeatedly. When Allah knew this of him, He set divorce at three, twice, and then after the two times an honourable retaining or a kindly release.
3778 - Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: Divorce is twice; then an honourable retaining or a kindly release . As for His saying: Divorce is twice , that is the term within which he has over her the right of taking [her] back.
3779 - Hannād related to us, saying: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima concerning His saying: Divorce is twice; then an honourable retaining or a kindly release , he said: When the man wishes to divorce his wife, he divorces her with two pronouncements; if he then wishes to take her back, he has over her the right of taking [her] back; and if he wishes, he divorces her a third time, and then she is not lawful for him until she marries another husband.
The interpretation of the verse according to this report which we have mentioned is thus: the number of divorces in which you, O people, have over your wives the right of taking [them] back — when intercourse has been had with them — is two pronouncements. Then, for whoever of you takes [her] back after the two pronouncements, it is obligatory: an honourable retaining or a kindly release, for he has no right of taking [her] back any longer after the two pronouncements, if he releases her and divorces her a third time.
And others said: This verse was revealed to the Prophet of Allah ﷺ only as an instruction from Allah, exalted be His mention, to His servants concerning the proper manner (sunna) of divorcing their wives when they wish to divorce them, not as an indication of the quantity by which the woman becomes definitively separated from her husband. Mention of who said that:
3780 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Muṭarrif, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh [ibn Masʿūd] concerning His saying: Divorce is twice; then an honourable retaining or a kindly release , he said: He divorces her after she has become pure, without intercourse having taken place; then he leaves her until she becomes pure again; then he divorces her if he wishes; then, if he wishes to take her back, he takes her back; then, if he wishes, he divorces her; and otherwise he leaves her until she completes three menstruations and thereby becomes definitively separated from him.
3781 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, [concerning] His saying: Divorce is twice; then an honourable retaining or a kindly release , he said: When the man divorces his wife with two pronouncements, let him fear Allah at the third pronouncement: either he retains her honourably and treats her well, or he releases her kindly and withholds from her nothing of her right.
3782 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His saying: Divorce is twice; then an honourable retaining or a kindly release , he said: The man divorces his wife while she is pure, without intercourse; when she then menstruates and afterwards becomes pure, the period (qurʾ) is completed; then he divorces her a second time just as he divorced her the first time, if he wishes to do so; and if he divorces the second time and she then menstruates a second time, then those are two pronouncements and two periods. Then Allah, exalted be His mention, said concerning the third: an honourable retaining or a kindly release ; thus he divorces her throughout that whole period, if he wishes, at the moment when she gathers her garments about herself.
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, in like manner, except that he said: and she menstruated the second menstruation, just as he divorced [her] the first, and those are two pronouncements and two periods; then he said: the third. And the rest of the report is the same as the report of Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of Abū ʿĀṣim.
The interpretation of the verse according to the saying of these [authorities] is: the proper manner (sunna) of divorcing which I have prescribed for you and permitted you, if you wish to divorce your wives, is that you divorce them twice, once in each period of purity. Then it is obligatory upon you thereafter: either to retain them honourably, or to release them kindly.
And what most accords with the literal text of the revelation is what ʿUrwa and Qatāda said, and whoever said the same as them — namely that the verse is only an indication of the number of divorces by which the prohibition takes effect, and of the duration within which the taking back [is possible], and within which the right of taking back exists. That is because Allah, exalted be His mention, said in the verse that follows this one: And if he divorces her, she is not lawful for him thereafter until she marries another husband . Thus He instructed His servants of the quantity by which the woman becomes forbidden to her husband except after a [further] husband, but He did not therein clarify the time at which divorce is permitted and the time at which it is not permitted, so that the interpretation of the verse would be directed to what has been transmitted from Ibn Masʿūd and Mujāhid and whoever said the same as them concerning that.
And as for His saying: an honourable retaining or a kindly release : concerning its interpretation and what is meant by it, there is disagreement among the people of interpretation. Some of them said: Allah, exalted be His mention, meant by it the indication of what is obligatory upon the husbands with respect to the twice-divorced women, after they have taken them back following the second pronouncement: living together with them honourably, or separating from them by a [third] pronouncement. Mention of who said that:
3783 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: I said to ʿAṭāʾ: "Divorce is twice?" He said: He says at the third: either he retains honourably, or he releases kindly. And another said it [too]. He said: And Mujāhid said: The man has more right to his wife at two pronouncements than another; but when he pronounces the third, he has no right to her at all any longer, and she observes a waiting period for another.
3784 - Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Sumayʿ, on the authority of Abū Razīn, who said: A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: "O Messenger of Allah, what is your view concerning His saying: Divorce is twice; then an honourable retaining or a kindly release ? Where then is the third?" The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "An honourable retaining or a kindly release; that is the third."
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, both saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Sumayʿ, on the authority of Abū Razīn, who said: A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: "O Messenger of Allah, divorce is twice — where then is the third?" He said: "An honourable retaining or a kindly release."
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Abū Razīn, who said: A man said: "O Messenger of Allah, Allah says: Divorce is twice; then an honourable retaining — where then is the third?" He said: "The kindly release."
3785 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: or a kindly release , he said: at the third.
3786 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: Divorce had no fixed time until Allah revealed: Divorce is twice . He said: the third is: an honourable retaining or a kindly release .
And others of them said: No, Allah meant by it the indication of what is obligatory for them after the second pronouncement, namely: a taking back honourably, or a kindly release by abstaining from taking them back until their waiting period (ʿiddah) has elapsed, so that they become more mistress over themselves. And they rejected the saying of the first [group], who said that it is an indication of the third pronouncement. Mention of who said that:
3787 - Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī concerning His saying about that: an honourable retaining or a kindly release : when he divorces once or twice, either he retains — and retaining means: he takes [her] back honourably — or he keeps silent about her until her waiting period (ʿiddah) elapses, so that she has more right to herself.
3788 - ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: or a kindly release , and the release is: that he leaves her until her waiting period (ʿiddah) elapses.
3789 - Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk concerning His saying: Divorce is twice; then an honourable retaining or a kindly release , he said: He means two pronouncements between which there is a taking back; and He commanded that he retain or release kindly. He said: and if he divorces her a third time, then she is not lawful for him until she marries another husband.
It is as if the speakers of this saying, which we have mentioned on the authority of al-Suddī and al-Ḍaḥḥāk, took the meaning of the words to be: Divorce is twice, and with each of the two [there is] a retaining of them honourably, or a releasing of them kindly. And this is a view which the literal text of the revelation could permit, were it not for the report which I have mentioned on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, which Ismāʿīl ibn Sumayʿ transmitted on the authority of Abū Razīn; for following the report of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has, for us, precedence over anything else.
And when that is the obligatory [interpretation], then it is clear that the interpretation of the verse is: The divorce in which the husbands have over their wives the right of taking back is twice; then the command, when they take them back at the second [pronouncement], is either a retaining honourably, or a releasing of them kindly by the third pronouncement, until they become definitively separated from them, so that what they had over them of the right of taking back lapses, and they become more mistress over themselves than they.
If someone says: And what is that "retaining honourably"? Then it is answered: it is what:
3790 - ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā al-Muḥāribī related to us about that, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk concerning His saying: an honourable retaining , he said: the honourable is: that he treats her well.
3791 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: an honourable retaining , he said: let him fear Allah at the third pronouncement: either he retains her honourably and treats her well.
And if he says: And what is the "kindly release"? Then it is answered: it is what:
3792 - Al-Muthannā related to me about that, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: or a kindly release : it is said: he releases her and withholds from her nothing of her right.
3793 - 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: an honourable retaining or a kindly release , he said: that is the solemn covenant (al-mīthāq al-ghalīẓ).
3794 - Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: or a kindly release , he said: the acting kindly is: that he gives her her right in full, and does not harm her nor revile her.
3795 - ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: or a kindly release , he said: the kindly release is: that he leaves her until her waiting period (ʿiddah) elapses, and gives her her bridal gift (mahr) if she is owed that by him when he divorces her. That is the kindly release, and the compensation (mutʿa) is according to [his] means.
3796 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd ibn Naṣr related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His saying: and they have taken from you a solemn covenant (4:21), he said: His saying is: an honourable retaining or a kindly release .
And if he says: And what is the [grammatical] subject (al-rāfiʿ) of "retaining" and "releasing"? Then it is answered: it is omitted, sufficing with the indication of what became clear from the words by mentioning it; and its meaning is: Divorce is twice, and the obligatory matter at that point is an honourable retaining or a kindly release. And we have already explained and clarified that with His saying: then a fulfilment honourably and a payment to him kindly (2:178), so that this absolves us from repeating it in this place.
And it is not lawful for you to take back anything of what you have given them, except when both fear that they will not maintain the limits of Allah
The statement concerning the interpretation of Allah's saying: And it is not lawful for you to take back anything of what you have given them . Allah, exalted be His mention, means by His saying: And it is not lawful for you to take back anything of what you have given them : it is not lawful for you, O men, to — when you wish to divorce your wives, by your divorcing and your leaving them — take back anything from them of what you have given them of bridal gift and transferred to them. Rather, it is obligatory upon you to release them kindly, and that is paying in full their rights to bridal gift, compensation (mutʿa), and the like of what is due to them from you — except when both fear that they will not maintain the limits of Allah.
The reciters have differed over its recitation. Some of them recited: except when both fear (yakhāfā) that they will not maintain the limits of Allah , and that is the recitation of the majority of the people of the Ḥijāz and Basra, with the meaning: except when the man and the woman fear that they both will not maintain the limits of Allah. And it has been mentioned that in the recitation of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb it is: "except when both suppose (yaẓunnā) that they will not maintain the limits of Allah."
3797 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, saying: Thawr informed me, on the authority of Maymūn ibn Mihrān, who said: In the reading of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb the ransom (al-fidāʾ) is one pronouncement. He said: Then I mentioned that to Ayyūb, and we went to a man who possessed an old muṣḥaf of Ubayy, from a reliable source, and we read it, and in it was: "except when both suppose that they will not maintain the limits of Allah; and if both suppose that they will not maintain the limits of Allah, then there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself": she is not lawful for him thereafter until she marries another husband.
The Arabs sometimes place in their language the "supposing" (ẓann) in the position of "fearing" (khawf), and the "fearing" in the position of "supposing," because of the close kinship of the meanings of the two, as the poet said: Words reached me about Nuṣayb which he is said to have spoken; and I did not fear (khiftu), O Sallām, that you would reproach me — with the meaning: I did not suppose.
And others, from the people of Medina and Kufa, recited: "except when both fear (yakhāfā) that they will not maintain the limits of Allah." As for the one who recites it thus from the people of Kufa, it has been mentioned of him that he recited it thus on the basis of the recitation of Ibn Masʿūd, and it has been mentioned that in the recitation of Ibn Masʿūd it is: "except when you fear (takhāfū) that they both will not maintain the limits of Allah." And reciting it thus on the basis of the recitation of Ibn Masʿūd which has been mentioned of him is an error. That is because Ibn Masʿūd, if he recited it as has been mentioned of him, made "fearing" govern only "an" (that), and that is not to be refuted in its soundness, as the poet said: When I die, bury me beside a vine, that its roots may water my bones after my death; and do not bury me in the desert, for I fear (akhāfu) that, once I am dead, I shall not taste it.
But as for the one who recites it except when both fear (yakhāfā) with that meaning, he has made the [verb] govern something whose naming is omitted (the passive subject) and also "an"; thus he has made it govern three things: the omitted [subject], which is the noun of the passively constructed verb, and "an" which takes the place of two things. And the Arabs do not say in their language "he supposed that they both stand." But reciting it thus is correct in a manner other than that in which the one whose recitation we have mentioned recited it on the basis of the recitation of ʿAbd Allāh [Ibn Masʿūd] which we have described — namely that what is meant by it, when it is recited thus, is: except when it is feared that they both do not maintain the limits of Allah, or that they both do not maintain the limits of Allah, so that what governs "an" is something other than the "fearing," and the "fearing" governs that whose subject is not named (the passive subject). And that is, in our view, the correct [reading] in the recitation, because of the indication of what comes after it for its correctness, namely His saying: then if you fear (khiftum) that they both will not maintain the limits of Allah ; thus it became clear that the first has the meaning: except when you fear that they both will not maintain the limits of Allah.
If someone says: And which state is the state in which it is feared for them both that they will not maintain the limits of Allah, so that it is permitted to the man at that point to take back from her what he has given her? Then it is answered: the state of her disobedience (nushūz) and her displaying her aversion toward him, such that it is feared for her that she will abandon obedience to Allah in that which has been imposed upon her of right toward her husband, and it is feared for her husband that he, through her falling short in fulfilling his rights which Allah has imposed upon her for him, will neglect the fulfilment of what is obligatory for her. That is the moment of fear for them both that they will not maintain the limits of Allah and will not obey Him in that which He has imposed upon each of them toward the other; and it is the state in which the Prophet ﷺ permitted Thābit ibn Qays ibn Shammās to take what he had given his wife, when she rose against him out of aversion to him. As:
3798 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I read aloud to Fuḍayl, on the authority of Abū Jarīr, that he asked ʿIkrima: "Did the khulʿ [separation at the woman's request against a ransom] have a basis?" He said: Ibn ʿAbbās used to say: The first khulʿ that there was in Islam was [that of] the sister of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy. She came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said: "O Messenger of Allah, nothing will ever join my head and his head together! I lifted a side of the tent-cloth and saw him coming amid a group, and behold, he was the blackest of them, the shortest of stature, and the ugliest of face." Her husband said: "O Messenger of Allah, I have given her the best of my property, a garden; let her return to me my garden!" He said: "What do you say?" She said: "Yes, and if he wishes, I will give him even more." He said: Then he separated them from each other.
3799 - Muḥammad ibn Maʿmar related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Abū ʿAmr al-Sadūsī related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh — that is, Ibn Abī Bakr —, on the authority of ʿAmra, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha: that Ḥabība bint Sahl was married to Thābit ibn Qays ibn Shammās, and he struck her and broke a part of her [body]. Then she came after the morning prayer to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and complained of him. Then the Messenger of Allah called Thābit and said: "Take a part of her property and divorce her!" He said: "Is that permissible, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "Yes." He said: "I have given her two gardens as bridal gift, and they are in her possession." Then the Prophet ﷺ said: "Take them both and divorce her!" And he did that.
3800 - Abū Yasār related to us, saying: Rawḥ related to us, saying: Mālik related to us, on the authority of Yaḥyā, on the authority of ʿAmra, that she informed him on the authority of Ḥabība bint Sahl al-Anṣāriyya: that she was married to Thābit ibn Qays ibn Shammās, and that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw her at his door in the darkness before sunrise. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Who is this?" She said: "I am Ḥabība bint Sahl. Not I, and not Thābit ibn Qays!" — meaning her husband. When Thābit came, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him: "Here is Ḥabība bint Sahl; she mentions what Allah wills that she mention." Ḥabība said: "O Messenger of Allah, all that he has given me, I still have with me." Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Take it from her!" And he took it from her, and she sat in her house.
3801 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: Al-Ḥasan ibn Wāqid related to us, on the authority of Thābit, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rabāḥ, on the authority of Jamīla bint Ubayy ibn Salūl: that she was married to Thābit ibn Qays and rose against him (nashazat). Then the Prophet ﷺ sent for her and said: "O Jamīla, what do you hold against Thābit?" She said: "By Allah, I hold nothing against him as regards his religion or his character, except that I loathe his ugliness." Then he said to her: "Will you return the garden?" She said: "Yes!" Then she returned the garden, and he separated them from each other.
And it has been mentioned that this verse was revealed concerning the case of the two of them, that is, concerning the case of Thābit ibn Qays and this wife of his.
3802 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: This verse was revealed concerning Thābit ibn Qays and Ḥabība. He said: And she had complained of him to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Will you return to him his garden?" She said: "Yes!" Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called him and mentioned that to him. He said: "Is that lawful for me?" He said: "Yes." Thābit said: "I have already done [it]." Then it was revealed: And it is not lawful for you to take back anything of what you have given them, except when both fear that they will not maintain the limits of Allah; then if you fear that they both will not maintain the limits of Allah, there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself. Those are the limits of Allah, so do not transgress them .
And as for the people of interpretation, they have differed over the meaning of the fear of them both that they will not maintain the limits of Allah. Some of them said: that is that the woman displays bad character and bad living-together toward her husband; and when that becomes visible of her toward him, it is permitted to him to take what she gives him as ransom for divorcing her. Mention of who said that:
3803 - ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: And it is not lawful for you to take back anything of what you have given them , except when the disobedience (nushūz) and the bad character come from her side, such that she drives you to [a point] where she ransoms herself from you; then there is no sin upon you in that with which she ransoms herself.
3804 - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: Hishām ibn ʿUrwa informed me that ʿUrwa used to say: The ransom is not permitted until the corruption comes from her side; and he used not to say: it is not permitted to him until she says: "I will not keep your oath, and I will not wash myself for you from the [major] ritual impurity (janāba)."
3805 - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: ʿAmr ibn Dīnār informed me, saying: Jābir ibn Zayd said: When the disobedience (nushūz) comes from her side, the ransom is permitted.
Al-Rabīʿ ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Abī al-Zinād related to me, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, that his father used to say: When the bad character and the bad living-together come from the woman's side, then it is permitted to release her by khulʿ.
ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Kathīr related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Hishām, on the authority of his father, that he said: The khulʿ is not valid until the corruption comes from the woman's side.
3806 - ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bayān al-Qannād related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of ʿĀmir, concerning a woman who said to her husband: "I will not keep your oath, I will not obey your command, and I will not wash myself for you from the [major] ritual impurity." He said: What is this? — and he moved his hand — "I will not keep your oath, and I will not obey your command"! When the woman loathes her husband, let him take [his gift] and release her.
3807 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: Ayyūb related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, that he said concerning the woman divorced by khulʿ: He admonishes her; if she desists [it is well], and otherwise he shuns her; if she desists [it is well], and otherwise he strikes her; if she desists [it is well], and otherwise he refers her case to the ruler (al-sulṭān), who then appoints an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family. Then the arbiter who is from her family says: "She does such and such to him," and the arbiter who is from his family says: "He does such and such to her." Whichever of the two is the more unjust, the ruler restrains him and holds back his hand; and if she is in rebellion (nāshiz), he commands him to release her by khulʿ.
3808 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ concerning His saying: Divorce is twice; then an honourable retaining up to His saying: there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself , he said: When the woman is content, happy, and obedient, then it is not permitted to him to strike her until she ransoms herself from him; and if in that case he takes anything from her, then what he has taken from her is forbidden. And when the disobedience (nushūz), the aversion, and the wrongdoing come from her side, then it is permitted to him to take from her that with which she ransoms herself.
3809 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Zuhrī concerning His saying: And it is not lawful for you to take back anything of what you have given them, except when both fear that they will not maintain the limits of Allah , he said: It is not permitted to the man to release his wife by khulʿ, unless he sees that from her; but as for his harming her so that she ransoms herself by khulʿ — that is not valid. But when she rises [against him] (nashazat) and displays aversion to him and lives badly with him, then it is permitted to him to release her by khulʿ.
3810 - Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk concerning His saying: And it is not lawful for you to take back anything of what you have given them , he said: the bridal gift except when both fear that they will not maintain the limits of Allah ; and [not maintaining] the limits of Allah is that the woman is in rebellion (nāshiz). Allah then commanded the husband to admonish her with the Book of Allah; if she accepts that [it is well], and otherwise he shuns her — and shunning is that he has no intercourse with her and does not sleep with her on one bed, and turns his back to her and does not speak to her. If she refuses, he uses harsh words toward her with reproach, so that she may return to his obedience. If she refuses, then the striking — a striking that causes no injury. And if she refuses nothing but obstinacy, then the ransom from her is permitted to him.
And others said: No, the fear of that is that she does not keep his oath and does not obey his command and says: "I will not wash myself for you from the [major] ritual impurity (janāba), and I will not obey your command"; then it is permitted to him, according to them, to take what he has given her, as ransom for divorcing her. Mention of who said that:
3811 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of his father, who said: Al-Ḥasan said: When she says: "I will not wash myself for you from the [major] ritual impurity, I will not keep your oath, and I will not obey your command," then at that point the khulʿ is permitted.
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, who said: When the woman says to her husband: "I will not keep your oath, I will not obey your command, I will not wash myself for you from the [major] ritual impurity, and I will not maintain any of the limits of Allah," then her property is permitted to him.
3812 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Hārūn ibn al-Mughīra related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sālim, who said: I asked al-Shaʿbī, I said: When is it permitted to the man to take from the property of his wife? He said: When she displays aversion to him and says: "I will not keep your oath and I will not obey your command."
3813 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, that he was amazed at the saying of whoever says: The ransom is not permitted until she says: "I will not wash myself for you from the [major] ritual impurity." And he said: Indeed, the fornicator (zānī) commits fornication and then washes himself.
3814 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning the rebellious woman (al-nāshiz), he said: Indeed, the woman is sometimes disobedient to her husband and then obeys him again; but when she is disobedient to him and does not keep his oath, then at that point the ransom is permitted.
3815 - Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: And it is not lawful for you to take back anything of what you have given them : it is not permitted to him to take back anything of her bridal gift except when both fear that they will not maintain the limits of Allah ; when they then do not maintain the limits of Allah, then the ransom is permitted to him, and that is that she says: "By Allah, I will not keep your oath, I will not obey your command, I will not honour your person, and I will not wash myself for you from the [major] ritual impurity." Those are the limits of Allah; when the woman says that, then the ransom is permitted to the husband, so that he takes it and divorces her.
3816 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥukkām related to us, saying: ʿAnbasa related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Badhīma, on the authority of Miqsam concerning His saying: and do not hinder them in order to take away part of what you have given them (4:19), he says: "except when they commit something flagrant" in the recitation of Ibn Masʿūd, he said: When she is disobedient to you and harms you, then what you have taken from her is permitted to you.
3817 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His saying: And it is not lawful for you to take back anything of what you have given them , he said: [this concerns] the khulʿ. He said: It is not permitted to him, except when the woman says: "I will not keep his oath and I will not obey his command," so that he accepts it out of fear that he will wrong her if he retains her and overstep the [bound] set by Allah.
And others said: No, the fear of that is that she begins of her own accord, with her tongue, a statement that she loathes him. Mention of who said that:
3818 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam al-Miṣrī related to us, saying: my father and Shuʿayb ibn al-Layth related to us, on the authority of al-Layth, on the authority of Ayyūb ibn Mūsā, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, who said: The khulʿ is permitted [when] the woman says to her husband: "Indeed, I loathe you, and I do not love you, and I fear that I will sleep beside you and not fulfil your right." And you consent to the khulʿ with a content heart.
And others said: No, that which permits him the taking of the ransom is that there is fear that they both together will not maintain the limits of Allah, because of the aversion of each of them to living together with the other. Mention of who said that:
3819 - Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿĀmir; [and] Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, who said: ʿĀmir said: Her property is permitted to him through his disobedience (nushūz) and her disobedience.
3820 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: Ṭāwūs said: The ransom is permitted to him just as Allah, exalted be His mention, has said; and he used not to say the saying of the foolish: "I will not keep your oath," but rather the ransom is permitted to him just as Allah, exalted be His mention, has said: except when both fear that they will not maintain the limits of Allah in that which He has imposed upon each of them toward the other regarding the living-together and the companionship.
3821 - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, who said: I heard al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad say: except when both fear that they will not maintain the limits of Allah , he said: in that which Allah has imposed upon them both regarding the living-together and the companionship.
3822 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Al-Layth related to me, saying: Ibn Shihāb related to me, saying: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib informed me, saying: The khulʿ is not permitted until both fear that they will not maintain the limits of Allah in the living-together that is between the two of them.
And the most correct of these sayings is the saying of whoever said: It is not permitted to the man to take the ransom from his wife as a price for divorcing her, until there is fear of disobedience to Allah from each of the two of them with respect to himself in his negligence toward that which is obligatory for him toward the other — for the two of them together, as we have mentioned on the authority of Ṭāwūs and al-Ḥasan and whoever shared their saying about that. For Allah, exalted be His mention, only permitted the husband to take the ransom from his wife when the Muslims fear for the two of them that they will not maintain the limits of Allah.
If someone says: If the matter is as you have described, then it ought to be obligatory that it is forbidden to the man to accept the ransom from her when the disobedience (nushūz) comes from her side and not from his, until there is from him as much aversion toward her as there is from her toward him? Then it is answered to him: The matter in that is other than what you supposed, and that is because in her disobedience toward him there lies an incitement for him to fall short in what is due to her and to requite her for her bad conduct toward him; and that is precisely the cause which produces for the Muslims the fear for them both that they will not maintain the limits of Allah. But when the falling-short of each of the two in the obligatory right of the other has already taken place, and the bad living-together and bad dealing has already become visible to the Muslims, then there is no place for fear, since what was feared has already occurred; for one fears the occurrence of something before it happens, but after the occurrence there is no longer any ground for fearing it, nor for an increase of aversion to it.
Then if you fear that they both will not maintain the limits of Allah
The statement concerning the interpretation of Allah's saying: Then if you fear that they both will not maintain the limits of Allah . The people of interpretation have differed over the interpretation of His saying: Then if you fear that they both will not maintain the limits of Allah — that [state] which, when it is feared for the husband and the wife that they will not maintain it, the ransom is permitted to him because of the fear for the two of them on account of her conduct. Some of them said: it is the woman's disdain for the right of her husband, and her bad obedience to him, and her harming him with words. Mention of who said that:
3823 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: Then if you fear that they both will not maintain the limits of Allah, there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself , he said: it is her failure to maintain the limits of Allah, and her disdain for the right of her husband, and her bad character, such that she says to him: "By Allah, I will not keep your oath, I will not enter your bed, and I will not obey your command"; if she does that, then the ransom from her is permitted to him.
3824 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Zāʾida related to us, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Ibrāhīm, on the authority of al-Ḥasan concerning His saying: Then if you fear that they both will not maintain the limits of Allah, there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself , he said: When she says: "I will not wash myself for you from the [major] ritual impurity," then it is permitted to him to take from her.
3825 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ḥabbān ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, saying: Yūnus related to us, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, who said: The khulʿ is permitted when both fear that they will not maintain the limits of Allah, and [namely] the fulfilment of the limits of Allah in the living-together that is between the two of them.
And others said: the meaning of that is: then if you fear that they both will not obey Allah. Mention of who said that:
3826 - Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of ʿĀmir: Then if you fear that they both will not maintain the limits of Allah , they both said: that they both will not obey Allah.
3827 - 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, he said: The limits [are]: obedience.
And the correct of the saying about that is: Then if you fear that they both will not maintain the limits of Allah — that which Allah has imposed upon them both of duties in that which He has imposed upon each of them of right toward the other, namely the living-together honourably and the companionship in a good manner — then there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself. And under this may fall what we have transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās and al-Shaʿbī, and what we have transmitted from al-Ḥasan and al-Zuhrī; for among the rights that the husband has over the wife is her obedience to him in that of which Allah has made obedience obligatory, and that she does not harm him with words, and does not withhold herself from him when he calls her to his need. When she then acts contrary to what Allah has commanded her of that, then she has neglected the limits of Allah which He commanded her to maintain. And as for the meaning of maintaining the limits of Allah: that is acting according to them, observing them, and abstaining from neglecting them; and we have already set forth previously in this book of ours that which demonstrates its correctness.
Then there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself
The statement concerning the interpretation of Allah's saying: Then there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself . Allah, exalted be His mention, means by it: Then if you, O believers, fear that the two spouses will not maintain that which Allah has bounded for each of the two toward the other of right and imposed upon him as a duty, and you fear for them both that they will neglect the duty of Allah therein and overstep His limits, then at that point there is no sin upon them both in that with which the woman ransoms herself from her husband, and no objection upon them both in that which she gives for the separation of her husband from her, nor upon him in that which he takes from her as recompense and counter-consideration for that.
If someone says: Would the woman have been in sin, if the harming by the man toward her had emanated with respect to that with which she ransoms herself, such that there would be no sin upon them both in that which she gave him as ransom for divorcing her, when the disobedience (nushūz) came from her side? Then it is answered: If she, in the state of his harming her in order to take from her what he has given her, were to know that this harming of his is only in order to take from her what Allah has forbidden him to take in the manner in which Allah has forbidden him to take it from her, and she were then able to abstain from giving it without harm to herself in body, religion, or a right that she has through losing it, then it would not be permitted to her to give him that, except out of sincere voluntariness on her part by giving it to him in the manner in which it is permitted to him to take it from her. For when she gives him what it is not permitted to him to take from her, while she is able to prevent him from that without harm to herself in body, religion, or a right that she has and whose loss she fears, then she has shared with him in the sin by giving him what it is not permitted to him to take from her in the manner in which she gave it to him. Therefore the sin is removed from her when the disobedience (nushūz) comes from her side and she gives him what she gives him as ransom with a sincere disposition, thereby seeking the deliverance of herself and the deliverance of her companion from the burden and the sin. And when she gives him [something] in this manner, she is more entitled, indeed, to the earning of reward and recompense from Allah, exalted be He, if Allah wills, than to the sin and the objection. Therefore Allah, exalted be His mention, said: Then there is no sin upon them both : thus He removed the objection from her in that which she has given in this manner as ransom for the separation of him from her, and from him in that which he received from her, when she gave in the meaning we have described, and he received from her what she gave without harming [her], but rather seeking the deliverance for herself and for her in their religion, and out of precaution against the burdens and the sin.
And His saying Then there is no sin upon them both may also take another direction in the interpretation, namely that, if she were to surrender that which she surrendered as ransom in a manner other than that in which the Prophet of Allah ﷺ permitted it to the wife of Thābit ibn Qays ibn Shammās — namely on account of her aversion to the character of her husband or the ugliness of his appearance and the like of matters which people loathe in one another — but [were to surrender it] in order to turn her face toward someone other than him, in a manner of corruption and what is not permitted to her, then it would be forbidden to her to give anything for her request to him for separation in that manner; for her request to him for separation in that manner is a disobedience of hers toward Allah. And that is the woman divorced by khulʿ — if she is divorced by khulʿ in that manner — concerning whom it is transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ that he called her a hypocrite (munāfiqa). As:
3828 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to me, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Abū Idrīs, on the authority of Thawbān, the freedman (mawlā) of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, that he said: "Whatever woman asks her husband for divorce without necessity, Allah forbids her the fragrance of the Garden (janna)." And he said: "The women divorced by khulʿ, they are the hypocrites (munāfiqāt)."
3829 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Muzāḥim ibn Dāwūd ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Layth ibn Abī Sulaym, on the authority of Abū al-Khaṭṭāb, on the authority of Abū Zurʿa, on the authority of Abū Idrīs, on the authority of Thawbān, the freedman of the Messenger of Allah, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he said: "And the women divorced by khulʿ, they are the hypocrites."
3830 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn Bishr related to us, saying: Qays ibn al-Rabīʿ related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath ibn Sawwār, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of Thābit ibn Yazīd, on the authority of ʿUqba ibn ʿĀmir al-Juhanī, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Indeed, the women divorced by khulʿ, the women who tear themselves away, they are the hypocrites."
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us; and Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us; both saying: Ayyūb related to us, on the authority of Abū Qilāba, on the authority of one who related it to him, on the authority of Thawbān, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Whatever woman asks her husband for divorce without necessity, the fragrance of the Garden is forbidden to her."
Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿĀrim related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Zayd related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of Abū Qilāba, on the authority of Abū Asmāʾ al-Raḥabī, on the authority of Thawbān, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, in like manner.
When, therefore, among the manners in which the woman ransoms herself from her husband, there is a manner by which she falls into sin and upon which the objection and the sin rest upon her in ransoming herself in that manner, and there is among the manners of it one in which the objection and the sin rest upon the man and not upon the woman, and among them one that rests upon them both, and among them one in which there rests upon them both neither objection nor sin — then concerning the manner in which there rests upon them both no objection it is said: there is no sin, since in that which the two of them intended and sought of their separation against the price which the woman surrendered to her husband, there rests no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself, in the manner that is permitted to the two of them, and that is that they both fear that they will not maintain the limits of Allah through the continuance of each of them with the other.
And some linguists claimed that therein are two possibilities: the one is that what would be meant by it is: there is no sin upon the man in that with which the woman ransoms herself, and not upon the woman, even though they are both mentioned together — as He said in Sūrat al-Raḥmān: Out of both come forth the pearl and the coral (55:22), whereas those two come forth from the salt [water] and not from the sweet. He said: And the like of that is [also]: When they reached the junction of the two [seas], they forgot their fish (18:61), whereas only the companion of Mūsā forgot [it]. He said: And the like of that in common speech is that you say: "I have two mounts that I ride and with which I draw water," whereas in reality you ride the one and draw water with the other; and this belongs to the breadth of Arabic, upon the latitude of which one relies in common speech. He said: And the other possibility is that they both together share in the [fact] that there rests upon them both no sin, since she gives that by which sin is averted from the husband; she shared in that, for when she gives that which averts the sin, she has need of the same.
Abū Jaʿfar [al-Ṭabarī] said: He did not hit upon the correct [view] in either of the two possibilities, nor in his demonstration with that by which he argued, namely His saying: Out of both come forth the pearl and the coral (55:22). As for His saying: Then there is no sin upon them both , we have already set forth its correct purport; and we shall set forth the purport of His saying: Out of both come forth the pearl and the coral (55:22) in its place when we come to it, if Allah, exalted be He, wills. And we have declared his saying incorrect only because Allah, exalted be His mention, has informed of His removing the objection from the two spouses when the woman ransoms herself from her husband in the manner He has permitted, and He has informed concerning the two seas that out of both come forth the pearl and the coral, and thus He ascribed [it] to two. So if it were permitted for a speaker to say: "What is meant by it is only the report about one of the two," in that of which it is not impossible that it concerns both, then in every report about two, of which it is not impossible for its correctness to concern both, it would be permitted to say: "It is only a report about one of the two." But that is an inversion of what is understood from the words of people and what is known from their usage in their address; and it is not permitted to interpret the Book of Allah, exalted be He, and His revelation, exalted be His mention, according to the deviant exceptions of common speech, while it [the Book] has a correct, existing purport according to the prevailing understanding among the people.
Then the people of interpretation differed over the interpretation of His saying: Then there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself : is it meant by it that the objection upon them both is removed in every quantity with which the woman ransoms herself — whatever it be —, or in a part of it? Some of them said: what is meant by it is: then there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself of her bridal gift which her husband had given her, the one from whom she frees herself by khulʿ. And they argued for that saying of theirs that the end of the verse is referred back to its beginning, and that the meaning of the words is: And it is not lawful for you to take back anything of what you have given them, except when both fear that they will not maintain the limits of Allah; then if you fear that they both will not maintain the limits of Allah, there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself of what you have given them. They said: That which Allah permitted them both of that, upon the fear for them both that they will not maintain the limits of Allah, is the very thing which He had forbidden them both before the state of fear for them both about that. And they argued for that with the story of Thābit ibn Qays ibn Shammās, and that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded his wife, when she rose against him, only to return what Thābit had given her as bridal gift, and that she offered more but the Prophet ﷺ did not accept it. Mention of who said that:
3831 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, that he used to say: It is not permitted to him to take from her more than what he has transferred to her, and he said: Indeed, Allah says: there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself of that, he says: of the bridal gift. And thus he used to recite it: "in that with which she ransoms herself of it (minhu)."
3832 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to us, saying: Bishr ibn Bakr related to us, on the authority of al-Awzāʿī, he said: I heard ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, and al-Zuhrī say concerning the rebellious woman (al-nāshiz): He takes from her nothing but what he has transferred to her.
3833 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: Al-Walīd related to us, Abū ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, who said: The rebellious woman — he takes from her nothing but what he has transferred to her.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, that he disapproved of his taking, at the khulʿ, more than what he had given her.
3834 - Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā ibn Abī Zāʾida related to me, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: He used to disapprove of the man of the woman divorced by khulʿ taking more than what he had given her, and he held that he should take less than that.
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥaṣīn, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: He takes from her no more than what he has given her.
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Sālim informed us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, that he disapproved of his taking from her more than what he had given her — he means the woman divorced by khulʿ.
3835 - Abū Kurayb and Abū al-Sāʾib related to us, both saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: I heard Layth, on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtayba, who said: ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, used to say: He takes from the woman divorced by khulʿ no more than what he has given her.
3836 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, that he said concerning the woman divorced by khulʿ: It is dearer to me that he not take more.
3837 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd, that al-Ḥasan disapproved of his taking from her more than what he had given her.
Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Maṭar, that he asked al-Ḥasan — or that al-Ḥasan was asked — about a man who married a woman for two hundred dirhams and wished to release her by khulʿ: may he take four hundred? He said: No, by Allah, that would mean that he takes from her more than what he has given her.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, saying: Al-Ḥasan used to say: He takes from her no more than what he has given her. Maʿmar said: And it has reached me concerning ʿAlī that he held that he should not take from her more than what he has given her.
3838 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Jazarī, on the authority of Ibn al-Musayyib, who said: It is not dear to me that he take from her all that he has given her, until he leaves for her of that something by which she can live.
3839 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Ibn Ṭāwūs, that his father used to say concerning the woman who ransoms herself: It is not permitted to him to take from her more than what he has given her.
3840 - Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, who said: It is not permitted to the man to take from his wife more than what he has given her.
And others said: No, what is meant by it is: then there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself, whether it be little of what she possesses or much. And they argued for their saying with the generality of the verse, and that it is not permitted to convert a general literal meaning into a particular inner meaning, except on the basis of a proof to which one must submit. They said: And there is no proof to which one must submit that by the verse a part of the ransom is meant and not another part — neither from a foundational text (aṣl), nor from analogy (qiyās); so it [the verse] remains at its literal meaning and its generality. Mention of who said that:
3841 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Ayyūb informed us, on the authority of Kathīr, the freedman of Samura: that a rebellious woman was brought to ʿUmar. He commanded [her] to [be brought] to a house full of refuse, for three [days]; then he called her and said: "How did you find it?" She said: "I have known no rest since I have been with him, except these nights in which you have confined me." Then he said to her husband: "Release her by khulʿ, even if it be for her earring."
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 Kathīr, the freedman of Samura, who said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb took a rebellious woman and admonished her, but she did not accept the good; then he confined her three days in a house full of refuse — and he mentioned something similar to the report of Ibn ʿUlayya.
3842 - Ibn Bashshār and Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā 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 Ḥumayd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān: that a woman came to ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, and complained of her husband. He said: Indeed, she is rebellious (nāshiz). Then he made her spend the night in a house with refuse; and when morning came, he said to her: "How did you find your place?" She said: "I have known with him no night more refreshing to my eye than this night." Then he said: "Take [from her], even if it be her braid of hair."
3843 - Naṣr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ: that a freedwoman of Ṣafiyya freed herself by khulʿ from her husband with all that she possessed except her clothes, and Ibn ʿUmar did not disapprove of that.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā and Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, both saying: Muʿtamir related to us, saying: I heard ʿUbayd Allāh relate, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, who said: It was mentioned to Ibn ʿUmar [that] a freedwoman of his freed herself by khulʿ from her husband with all her property, and he did not disapprove of that for her nor reject it.
3844 - Yaḥyā ibn Ṭalḥa al-Yarbūʿī related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd, on the authority of Rajāʾ ibn Ḥaywa, on the authority of Qabīṣa ibn Dhuʾayb: that he saw no objection in his taking from her more than what he had given her. Then he recited this verse: there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself .
3845 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, who said concerning the khulʿ: Take what is less than the braid of her hair; and indeed, the woman sometimes ransoms herself with a part of her property.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, who said: The khulʿ [is] with what is less than the braid of the head.
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 Ibrāhīm, that he said concerning the woman divorced by khulʿ: Take from her, even if it be her braid of hair.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Mughīra informed us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, who said: The khulʿ [is] with what is less than the braid of the head, and the woman sometimes ransoms herself with a part of her property.
3846 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAqīl, that al-Rubayyiʿ bint Muʿawwidh ibn ʿAfrāʾ related to him, she said: I had a husband who was stingy with the good toward me when he was with me, and withheld from me when he was absent. She said: One day I committed a misstep, and I said: "I ransom myself from you with all that I possess!" He said: "Yes!" She said: Then I did [it]. She said: Then my uncle Muʿādh ibn ʿAfrāʾ brought a dispute [about this] before ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, and he permitted the khulʿ and commanded him to take the braid of my head and what is less — or she said: what is less than the braid of the head.
3847 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ḥabbān ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, saying: Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: There is no objection in that with which he releases her by khulʿ, little or much, even if it be her braid of hair.
3848 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ḥabbān ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, saying: Ḥajjāj informed us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: If he wishes, he takes from her more than what he has given her.
3849 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj informed us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Dīnār informed me that he heard ʿIkrima say: Ibn ʿAbbās said: Let him take from her, down to even her earring — that is, at the khulʿ.
3850 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muṭarrif ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Mālik ibn Anas informed us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of a freedwoman of Ṣafiyya bint Abī ʿUbayd: that she freed herself by khulʿ from her husband with all that she had, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar did not disapprove of that.
Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, saying: Ḥumayd informed us, on the authority of Rajāʾ ibn Ḥaywa, on the authority of Qabīṣa ibn Dhuʾayb, that he recited this verse: there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself , [and] he said: He takes more than what he has given her.
3851 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yazīd, Sahl ibn Yūsuf, and Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd, who said: I said to Rajāʾ ibn Ḥaywa: Indeed, al-Ḥasan says concerning the woman divorced by khulʿ: He takes no more than what he has given her, and he interprets: and take back nothing of what you have given them . Rajāʾ said: Indeed, Qabīṣa ibn Dhuʾayb permitted his taking more than what he had given her, and he interpreted: there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself .
And others said: This verse is abrogated (mansūkh) by His saying: And if you wish to exchange one wife for another, and you have given one of them a treasure, take back nothing of it (4:20). Mention of who said that:
3852 - Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd al-Wārith related to us, saying: ʿUqba ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ related to us, saying: I asked Bakr about the woman divorced by khulʿ: may he take anything from her? He said: No, and he recited: and they have taken from you a solemn covenant (4:21).
3853 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: ʿUqba ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ related to us, saying: I asked Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh about a man whose wife seeks the khulʿ from him. He said: It is not permitted to him to take anything from her. I said: Allah, exalted be His mention, says in His Book: there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself . He said: This is abrogated. I said: Indeed, I have memorized [something]. He said: Have you memorized in Sūrat al-Nisāʾ the saying of Allah, exalted be His mention: And if you wish to exchange one wife for another, and you have given one of them a treasure, take back nothing of it; would you take it by false accusation and manifest sin? (4:20).
And the most correct of these sayings is the saying of whoever said: When it is feared for the man and the woman that they will not maintain the limits of Allah, in the manner of which we have given the explanation, then there rests upon them both no objection in that with which the woman ransoms herself from her husband, little or much of what she possesses, of that which the Muslims are permitted to possess,
