Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:241
And for divorced women is a provision according to what is acceptable - a duty upon the righteous.
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 explanation of the words of Him, whose praise is exalted: وَلِلْمُطَلَّقَاتِ مَتَاعٌ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُتَّقِينَ (241)
(And for the divorced women there is a fitting provision, as an obligation upon the God-fearing.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted means thereby: and to every woman who is divorced there is due, from the husband who has divorced her, "a provision (matāʿ)." He means thereby: that which she may make use of, such as clothing and garments, or maintenance, or a servant, and other things from which one derives benefit. We have already expounded the meaning of this earlier, as well as the disagreement of the scholars concerning it, and what in our view is the correct opinion regarding it, in a manner that absolves us of the need to repeat it here.
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The scholars have differed over which divorced women are meant by this verse.
Some of them said: thereby are meant the previously-married women (al-thayyibāt), with whom intercourse has already been had. They said: and we say this only because [the rights that are obligatory toward the divorced women] with whom no intercourse has been had, concerning the provision, have already been expounded by Allah — exalted is His mention — in the verses that precede this one. From that we therefore know that in this verse the matter is expounded concerning those with whom intercourse has indeed been had.
* Mention of those who said this:
5590 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā ibn Maymūn related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, concerning His word: "And for the divorced women there is a fitting provision, as an obligation upon the God-fearing," he said: the previously-married woman (al-thayyib) — her husband provides for her in a fitting manner when he has had intercourse with her.
5591 — 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, something similar. And he added thereto: Shibl transmitted it on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ.
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Others said: rather, in this verse there is an indication that to every divorced woman a provision (matāʿ) is due. Allah — exalted is His mention — sent it down to His Prophet ﷺ only because of the added meaning it contains in relation to the other verses about the provision, since the remaining verses about the provision contain only the exposition of the ruling concerning the untouched woman when she is divorced, whereas this verse contains the exposition of the ruling concerning all divorced women regarding the provision.
* Mention of those who said this:
5592 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: Ayyūb related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning this verse: "And for the divorced women there is a fitting provision, as an obligation upon the God-fearing," he said: to every divorced woman a fitting provision is due, as an obligation upon the God-fearing.
5593 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ḥabbān ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, saying: Yūnus informed us, on the authority of al-Zuhrī — concerning the slave-woman (ama) who is divorced by her husband while she is pregnant — he said: she spends her waiting-period (ʿiddah) in her house. And he said: I have heard nothing concerning the provision for the slave-woman (al-mamlūka) that I can mention, but Allah — exalted is His mention — said: "a fitting provision, as an obligation upon the God-fearing," and the provision is due to her until she gives birth.
5594 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ḥabbān ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, saying: Ibn Jurayj informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, he said: I asked him: is a provision due to the slave-woman (ama) of a free man? He said: no. I said: and the free woman who is married to a slave (ʿabd)? He said: no. But ʿAmr ibn Dīnār said: yes, "and for the divorced women there is a fitting provision, as an obligation upon the God-fearing."
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Others said: this verse was sent down only because, when Allah — exalted is His mention — sent down His word: وَمَتِّعُوهُنَّ عَلَى الْمُوسِعِ قَدَرُهُ وَعَلَى الْمُقْتِرِ قَدَرُهُ مَتَاعًا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُحْسِنِينَ [Surah Al-Baqarah: 236]
(And provide for them — the well-off according to his means and the needy according to his means — with a fitting provision, as an obligation upon those who do good.)
— a man of the Muslims said: then we shall not do it, if we do not wish to do good. Thereupon Allah sent down: "And for the divorced women there is a fitting provision, as an obligation upon the God-fearing," whereby this was made obligatory upon them.
* Mention of those who said this:
5595 — Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: وَمَتِّعُوهُنَّ عَلَى الْمُوسِعِ قَدَرُهُ وَعَلَى الْمُقْتِرِ قَدَرُهُ مَتَاعًا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُحْسِنِينَ
(And provide for them — the well-off according to his means and the needy according to his means — with a fitting provision, as an obligation upon those who do good.)
— then a man said: if I do good, I shall do it, and if I do not wish to, I shall not do it! Thereupon Allah sent down: "And for the divorced women there is a fitting provision, as an obligation upon the God-fearing."
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct opinion regarding this is what Saʿīd ibn Jubayr has said, namely that Allah — exalted is His mention — sent it down as a proof for His servants that to every divorced woman a provision is due. For Allah — exalted is His mention — in the remaining Qurʾānic verses in which the provision for women is mentioned, named only particular categories of women. Thus He clarified in the verse in which He said: لا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِنْ طَلَّقْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ مَا لَمْ تَمَسُّوهُنَّ أَوْ تَفْرِضُوا لَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً [Surah Al-Baqarah: 236]
(It is no sin upon you if you divorce the women as long as you have not yet touched them, or have not yet fixed a bridal gift for them.)
and in His word: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نَكَحْتُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ تَمَسُّوهُنَّ [Surah Al-Aḥzāb: 49]
(O you who believe, when you marry the believing women and then divorce them before you have touched them...)
— what is due to them as a provision when they are divorced before being touched. And with His word: يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ لأَزْوَاجِكَ إِنْ كُنْتُنَّ تُرِدْنَ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا وَزِينَتَهَا فَتَعَالَيْنَ أُمَتِّعْكُنَّ [Surah Al-Aḥzāb: 28]
(O Prophet, say to your wives: if you desire the worldly life and its adornment, then come, and I shall provide for you...)
— the ruling concerning those with whom intercourse has been had. But the ruling remained outstanding concerning the young girls (al-ṣabāyā) when they are divorced after the marriage with them has been consummated, and the ruling concerning the unbelieving women (al-kawāfir) and the slave-women (al-imāʾ). Therefore Allah — exalted is His mention — encompassed, with His word: "And for the divorced women there is a fitting provision," the mention of all of them, and informed that the provision is due to them, just as in the remaining Qurʾānic verses He specifically named the divorced women who are described by their characteristics. And for that reason He repeated in this verse the mention of all of them.
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As for His word: (حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُتَّقِينَ) (as an obligation upon the God-fearing): we have already expounded the meaning of His word "ḥaqqan" (as an obligation), as well as the reason for its accusative ending, and the disagreement of the grammarians over His word: حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُحْسِنِينَ [Surah Al-Baqarah: 236] (as an obligation upon those who do good). Thereby we are absolved of the need to repeat it in this place.
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And as for "the God-fearing" (al-muttaqūn): they are those who fear Allah in His command and His prohibition and His prescribed limits (ḥudūd), and who observed these in the manner to which He obligated them, out of fear of Him and out of dread of His punishment.
The exposition of the explanation of this has already preceded explicitly with transmission.
