Tafseer of The Clans · Al-Ahzaab · 33:53
O you who have believed, do not enter the houses of the Prophet except when you are permitted for a meal, without awaiting its readiness. But when you are invited, then enter; and when you have eaten, disperse without seeking to remain for conversation. Indeed, that [behavior] was troubling the Prophet, and he is shy of [dismissing] you. But Allah is not shy of the truth. And when you ask [his wives] for something, ask them from behind a partition. That is purer for your hearts and their hearts. And it is not [conceivable or lawful] for you to harm the Messenger of Allah or to marry his wives after him, ever. Indeed, that would be in the sight of Allah an enormity.
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 saying of the Exalted: "O you who believe, do not enter the houses of the Prophet, except when permission is given to you for a meal, without waiting for its preparation. But when you are invited, then enter, and when you have eaten, then disperse, without lingering in conversation. Indeed, that used to grieve the Prophet, and he was ashamed before you, but Allah is not ashamed of the truth. And when you ask them for something, then ask it of them from behind a partition (ḥijāb). That is purer for your hearts and their hearts. And it is not fitting for you to grieve the Messenger of Allah, nor that you should ever marry his wives after him. Indeed, that is, with Allah, tremendous" (33:53).
The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says to the companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: O you who believe in Allah and His Messenger, do not enter the houses of the Prophet of Allah, except when you are invited to a meal to partake of it; "without waiting for its preparation," which means: without waiting for its cooking and its becoming ready. It is a verbal noun from their saying: "anā hādhā al-shayʾ yaʾnī inā wa-anyan wa-ināʾ" (this thing has become ripe/ready). Al-Ḥuṭayʾa said:
"And I delayed the evening meal until Suhayl, or the Shiʿrā, and long for me grew the waiting (al-anāʾ)."
And there is another dialectal variant: one says "qad āna laka," that is: it has become clear to you, "ayanā," and "nāla laka" and "anāla laka." Of this is the saying of Ruʾba ibn al-ʿAjjāj:
"She became excited, while it befits one like me to restrain himself, a dove that cooed to turtledoves in song."
And in the spirit of what we have said about this, the exegetes too have spoken.
Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the saying of Allah "for a meal, without waiting for its preparation," he said: awaiting the right time of its cooking.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "without waiting for its preparation," he says: without waiting for the food to be prepared.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "without waiting for its preparation," he said: without awaiting the time of its meal.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, the same. And (غير, ghayr) in His saying "without waiting for its preparation" is in the accusative (naṣb) as a circumstantial qualifier (ḥāl) to the kāf and mīm in His saying "except when permission is given to you," because the kāf and mīm are definite and ghayr is indefinite, and it is a quality of the kāf and mīm. Some grammarians of Basra said: it is not permissible to place (غير) in the genitive (jarr), related to "the meal," unless you say "antum" (you); and he says: do you not see that, if you were to say "li-ʿAbdillāh ʿalayya imraʾatun mubghiḍan lahā" (by ʿAbdallāh there is owed to me a woman, while I hate her), only the accusative is possible therein, unless you say "mubghiḍun lahā huwa," for when you make its quality refer to her and do not make manifest the concealed pronoun indicating that the quality belongs to him, then it is not a sound utterance. If you were to say "hādhā rajulun maʿa imraʾatin mulāzimihā" (this is a man with a woman, while he constantly accompanies her), that would be an error, until you place it in the nominative and say "mulāzimuhā," or say "mulāzimahā huwa" and then place it in the genitive.
Some grammarians of Kufa said: if you were to place (غير) in His saying "without waiting for its preparation" in the genitive, that would be correct, because before it stands "the meal," which is indefinite, so that their action is made to follow "the meal," because of the back-reference to the meal in "its preparation," just as the Arabs say: "raʾaytu Zaydan maʿa imraʾatin muḥsinan ilayhā" (I saw Zayd with a woman, doing good toward her) — with muḥsinan in the accusative — and "muḥsinin ilayhā" — in the genitive. Whoever says "muḥsinan" makes it a quality of Zayd; and whoever places it in the genitive, it is as though he said: I saw him with the one toward whom he is doing good. When the adjunct belongs to the indefinite, you make it follow it, even if it is an action of something other than the indefinite, as al-Aʿshā said:
"I said to him: this is she, give her, to us, with a tawny [mare], while he leads her by the rein."
He made "al-muqtād" (the rein-leader) follow the case of "bi-admāʾa," because it takes the position of your saying "bi-admāʾa taqtāduhā" (with a tawny one which he leads), and he placed it in the genitive because it is an adjunct to it. He said: and one recites: "bi-admāʾi muqtādihā," with admāʾ in the genitive because of its annexation (iḍāfa) to "al-muqtād." He said: and its meaning is: give her by the hand of the one who leads her. And he also recited:
"And indeed, a man who sent you a gift while between him [and you] of land there lay a desert and a vast wilderness, she is truly obliged to give heed to his voice, and to know that whoever is aided is blessed."
And it has been transmitted from some of the Arabs, recorded by hearing, that one recited:
"Have you seen, when I gave you all my love, and there was with me, if you refuse, no refusal? Are you one who delivers me to death, while you yourself then die? And is there for the delivered souls any lasting permanence?"
And he did not say "fa-mayyitun anā" (while I then die, with the pronoun). And al-Kisāʾī said: I heard the Arabs say "yaduka bāsiṭuhā," by which they mean "anta" (you), and that is frequent in speech. He said: on this basis the genitive of (غير) is permissible.
The correct view in this matter, according to us, is the saying that permits the genitive of (غير) in "ghayra nāẓirīna" in ordinary speech, but not in the recitation, because of the verses we have cited. As for the recitation, nothing but the accusative is permissible in (غير), because of the consensus of the authoritative proof of the reciters upon its accusative.
And His saying: "But when you are invited, then enter," by which He says: but when the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, invites you, then enter the house which it is permitted for you to enter; "and when you have eaten, then disperse," by which He says: when you have eaten the meal to which you were invited to eat, then disperse, which means: depart and leave his dwelling; "without lingering in conversation." His saying "without lingering in conversation" is in the position of the genitive, as a conjunction with "waiting" (nāẓirīn), as one says in speech: "anta ghayru sākitin wa-lā nāṭiqin" (you are neither silent nor speaking). And it may also be that one says: "mustaʾnisīn" is in the position of the accusative, as a conjunction with the meaning of "waiting," because its meaning is: except when it is permitted to you to come to a meal, not waiting for its preparation, so that His saying "without lingering" is then in the accusative. The Arabs do that, when they place something between the first and the second; sometimes they refer back to the wording of the first and sometimes to its meaning. And al-Farrāʾ has mentioned that Abū al-Qamqām recited to him:
"Indeed, you will not, as long as time lasts, see me as one beholding Rāma, nor [as one who is] sensible, or you have come aside, nor as one who ascends among those ascending toward Manʿij, nor as one who, as long as I live, descends to the rocky hill of Shaṭīb."
He made "muṣʿid" refer back to the fact that in "rāʾī" there lurks a genitive-forming bāʾ, since he placed between it and "al-muṣʿid" that of speech which separated them.
And the meaning of His saying "without lingering in conversation" is: and without talking with one another, after you have finished eating the meal, taking delight, one in the other.
As Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "without lingering in conversation," after you have eaten.
The people of knowledge differed concerning the occasion in which this verse was revealed. Some of them said: it was revealed concerning a group of people who ate with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, at the wedding feast of Zaynab bint Jaḥsh, and afterward sat talking in the dwelling of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while the Messenger of Allah had need to be with his wife, but shame prevented him from ordering them to leave his dwelling.
Mention of who said that:
ʿImrān ibn Mūsā al-Qazzāz related to me, he said: ʿAbd al-Wārith related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Ṣuhayb related to us, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, who said: the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, consummated his marriage with Zaynab bint Jaḥsh, and she sent me to invite [people] to the meal. I invited [them], and one company came, ate, and went away, and then another company came, ate, and went away. Then I said: O Prophet of Allah, I have invited until I find no one left to invite. He said: take up your meal. And Zaynab was sitting in a corner of the house, and she had been given beauty. Three men remained sitting in the house talking. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went out in the direction of ʿĀʾisha's chamber and said: "peace be upon you, people of the house." They said: and upon you be peace, O Messenger of Allah, how did you find your wife? He said: thus he passed by the chambers of his wives, and they said the same as what ʿĀʾisha had said. Then the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, returned, and there the three were still sitting in the house talking. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was very bashful, so he went out again in the direction of ʿĀʾisha's chamber — and I do not know whether I informed him or whether he was informed that the little group had departed — and he returned until he set one of his feet on the threshold inside the house and the other outside it, when the curtain was let down between me and him, and the verse of the ḥijāb was revealed.
Abū Muʿāwiya Bishr ibn Diḥya related to me, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, who said: Ubayy ibn Kaʿb asked me about the ḥijāb, and I said: I am of the people the most expert about it. It was revealed concerning Zaynab. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave a wedding feast for her with dates and barley-meal porridge, and then was revealed: "O you who believe, do not enter the houses of the Prophet, except when permission is given to you..." up to His saying "That is purer for your hearts and their hearts."
Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Wahb related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: Yūnus informed me, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, who said: Anas ibn Mālik informed me that he was ten years old at the coming of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to Medina, and he said: I was of the people the most expert about the matter of the ḥijāb when it was revealed at the consummation of the marriage of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with Zaynab bint Jaḥsh. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, became a bridegroom with her in the morning, and he invited the people, and they took of the meal until they departed; but there remained of them a little group with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and they stayed long. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stood up and went out, and I went out with him so that they would depart. The Messenger of Allah walked, and I walked with him, until he came to the threshold of the chamber of ʿĀʾisha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, supposed that they had departed, so he returned and I returned with him, until he entered upon Zaynab, and behold, they were still sitting there and had not risen. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, returned and I returned with him, and behold, they had departed. Then he let down a curtain between me and him, and the ḥijāb was revealed.
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd, on the authority of Anas, who said: I invited the Muslims to the wedding feast of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on the morning that he consummated his marriage with Zaynab bint Jaḥsh. He provided them abundantly with bread and meat, and then he returned as he was wont to do, and passed by the chambers of his wives and greeted them, and they prayed for him, and he returned to his house and I was with him. When we came to the door, behold, there were two men who had become engaged in conversation in a corner of the house. When he saw them, he turned away and went back. When those two saw the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, leaving his house, they went away hastily, and I do not know whether I informed him or whether he was informed. He returned to his house, and the curtain was let down between me and him, and the verse of the ḥijāb was revealed.
Ibn Bashshār related to me, he said: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, who said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: I said to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: would you not veil your wives? For both the pious and the immoral enter upon them. Then the verse of the ḥijāb was revealed.
Al-Qāsim ibn Bishr ibn Maʿrūf related to me, he said: Sulaymān ibn Ḥarb related to us, he said: Ḥammād ibn Zayd related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of Abī Qilāba, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, who said: I am of the people the most expert about this verse, the verse of the ḥijāb. When Zaynab was entrusted to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, he prepared a meal and invited the people. They came and entered, while Zaynab was in the house together with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and they began to talk. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, kept going out and then coming in again, while they remained sitting. He said: then this verse was revealed: "O you who believe, do not enter the houses of the Prophet..." up to "then ask it of them from behind a partition." He said: then the people rose and the ḥijāb was hung up.
ʿUmar ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Mujālid related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of Bayān, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, who said: the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, consummated his marriage with one woman of his wives, and he sent me, and I invited the people to the meal. When they had eaten and departed, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stood up and went in the direction of the house of ʿĀʾisha. He saw two men sitting, so he returned, and Allah revealed: "O you who believe, do not enter the houses of the Prophet, except when permission is given to you."
ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, he said: Abū Dāwūd related to us, he said: al-Masʿūdī related to us, he said: Ibn Nahshal related to us, on the authority of Abī Wāʾil, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh, who said: ʿUmar commanded the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to [observe] the ḥijāb. Then Zaynab said: O son of al-Khaṭṭāb, do you show jealousy over us while the revelation descends in our houses? Then Allah revealed: "And when you ask them for something, then ask it of them from behind a partition."
Muḥammad ibn Marzūq related to me, he said: Ashhal ibn Ḥātim related to us, he said: Ibn ʿAwn related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Saʿd, on the authority of Anas, who said: I was with the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he passed by his wives. He came to a bride, and then he came back while there was a company with her. He went away and relieved himself, and stayed away and returned, and they had departed. He said: he went in and let down a curtain between me and him. He said: I told Abū Ṭalḥa, and he said: if it is as you say, something will surely be revealed about this. He said: and the verse of the ḥijāb was revealed.
And others said: that took place in the house of Umm Salama.
Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying "But when you are invited, then enter, and when you have eaten, then disperse, without lingering in conversation," he said: this was in the house of Umm Salama. He said: they ate and afterward remained long in conversation, and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, kept going in and out and was ashamed before them, but Allah is not ashamed of the truth.
He said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning "And when you ask them for something, then ask it of them from behind a partition," he said: it has reached us that they were then enjoined the ḥijāb.
And His saying "Indeed, that used to grieve the Prophet," by which He says: indeed, your entering the houses of the Prophet without permission being given to you, and your sitting there lingering in conversation after you have finished eating the meal to which you were invited, used to grieve the Prophet, for he was ashamed before you to put you out when you stayed sitting after the meal for conversation, or to forbid you entry when you entered without permission, despite his aversion to that on your part; "but Allah is not ashamed of the truth," to make it clear to you, even though your Prophet was ashamed and did not make clear to you the aversion to it, out of shame before you. "And when you ask them for something, then ask it of them from behind a partition," by which He says: and when you ask the wives of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the women of the believers who are not your wives, for something, "then ask it of them from behind a partition," by which He says: from behind a curtain between you and them, and do not enter their houses upon them; "That is purer for your hearts and their hearts," the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: your asking them for something, when you ask them for it from behind a partition, is purer for your hearts and their hearts against the assaults of the eye therein that arise in the breasts of the men in the matter of the women, and in the breasts of the women in the matter of the men, and it makes it more likely that Satan will have no way against you and them.
And it has been said: the occasion for which Allah commanded the women [to observe] the ḥijāb was only because a man ate together with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while ʿĀʾisha was with them both, and her hand touched the man's hand, and that displeased the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
Mention of who said that:
Yaʿqūb related to me, he said: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was eating while some of his companions were with him, and the hand of a man of them touched the hand of ʿĀʾisha, and that displeased the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace; then the verse of the ḥijāb was revealed.
And it has been said: it was revealed on account of ʿUmar's question to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb and Yaʿqūb related to us, they said: Hushaym related to us, he said: Ḥumayd al-Ṭawīl related to us, on the authority of Anas, who said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: I said: O Messenger of Allah, indeed, upon your wives enter both the pious and the immoral; would you not command them to veil themselves? He said: then the verse of the ḥijāb was revealed.
Yaʿqūb related to me, he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, he said: Ḥumayd related to us, on the authority of Anas, on the authority of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, something similar.
Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to me, he said: ʿAmr ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Wahb related to me, he said: Yūnus related to me, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of ʿUrwa, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, who said: indeed, the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to go out at night when they relieved themselves toward al-Manāṣiʿ, which is a wide-open ground. And ʿUmar kept saying: O Messenger of Allah, veil your wives. But the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not do it. Then Sawda bint Zamʿa, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went out — and she was a tall woman — and ʿUmar called out to her with his loudest voice: we have recognized you, O Sawda; out of desire that the ḥijāb would be revealed. He said: then Allah revealed the ḥijāb.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: Ibn Numayr related to us, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, who said: Sawda went out for her need after the ḥijāb had been enjoined upon us — and she was a woman who surpassed the [other] women in height — and ʿUmar saw her and called out to her: O Sawda, by Allah, you are not hidden from us, so consider how you go out or how you do it! Then she turned back and returned to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while he was at the evening meal, and she told him what had happened and what he had said to her, and in his hand was a gnawed bone. Then it was revealed to him, and afterward it left him, while the bone was still in his hand, and he said: "Indeed, it is permitted to you to go out for your need."
Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭūsī related to me, he said: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd al-Wārith related to us, he said: Hammām related to us, he said: ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib related to us, on the authority of Abī Wāʾil, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, who said: ʿUmar commanded the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to [observe] the ḥijāb. Then Zaynab said: O son of al-Khaṭṭāb, do you show jealousy over us while the revelation descends in our houses? Then Allah revealed: "And when you ask them for something, then ask it of them from behind a partition."
Abū Ayyūb al-Nahrānī Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd related to me, he said: Yazīd ibn ʿAbd Rabbih related to us, he said: Ibn Ḥarb related to me, on the authority of al-Zubaydī, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of ʿUrwa, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, that the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to go out at night when they relieved themselves toward al-Manāṣiʿ, which is a wide-open ground. And ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb kept saying to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: veil your wives. But the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not do it. Then Sawda bint Zamʿa, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went out on one of the nights in the evening — and she was a tall woman — and ʿUmar called out to her with his loudest voice: we have recognized you, O Sawda; out of desire that the ḥijāb would be revealed. ʿĀʾisha said: then Allah revealed the ḥijāb. Allah said: "O you who believe, do not enter..." the verse.
And His saying "And it is not fitting for you to grieve the Messenger of Allah," the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and it does not befit you to grieve the Messenger of Allah, and that is not fitting for you; "nor that you should ever marry his wives after him," by which He says: and it does not befit you ever to marry his wives after him, for they are your mothers, and it is not permitted to a man to marry his mother.
And it has been mentioned that this was revealed concerning a man who entered [upon them] before the ḥijāb, who said: if Muḥammad dies, I shall surely marry a woman of his wives — he named her by name. Then Allah, blessed and exalted is He, revealed concerning this: "And it is not fitting for you to grieve the Messenger of Allah, nor that you should ever marry his wives after him."
Mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying "And it is not fitting for you to grieve the Messenger of Allah, nor that you should ever marry his wives after him. Indeed, that is, with Allah, tremendous," he said: sometimes it would reach the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that the man said: if the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, were to die, I would marry so-and-so after him. He said: and that used to grieve the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace; then the Qurʾān was revealed: "And it is not fitting for you to grieve the Messenger of Allah..." the verse.
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, he said: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿĀmir, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, died while he had taken possession of Qayla bint al-Ashʿath [as a wife by marriage contract], and ʿIkrima ibn Abī Jahl married her afterward. That weighed very heavily upon Abū Bakr, and ʿUmar said to him: O successor of the Messenger of Allah, she is not among his wives; the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not give her the choice [between remaining or separating] and did not veil her, and He exempted her from him by the apostasy (ridda) into which she had apostatized with her people. Then Abū Bakr was reassured and grew calm.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿĀmir, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, died while he had taken possession of bint al-Ashʿath ibn Qays [by marriage contract] but had not had intercourse with her — he mentioned something similar.
And His saying "Indeed, that is, with Allah, tremendous," by which He says: indeed, your grieving the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and your marrying his wives after him, is, with Allah, a tremendous sin.
