Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:21
And how could you take it while you have gone in unto each other and they have taken from you a solemn covenant?
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 His word: وَكَيْفَ تَأْخُذُونَهُ وَقَدْ أَفْضَى بَعْضُكُمْ إِلَى بَعْضٍ ("And how could you take it, when you have already gone in to one another?").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His praise — means by His word "and how could you take it": and by what means would you take back from your wives what you have given them as bridal gifts (dowries), when you wish to divorce them and to take others in their place as wives = "when you have already gone in to one another," that is to say: you have touched one another and have had intercourse with one another.
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And this statement, even though it has the form of a question, nonetheless has the meaning of reproach and severity, just as a man says to another: "How can you do such-and-such, when I do not consent to it?", in the sense of threat and warning.
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As for "going in to" (al-ifḍāʾ) something, that is the reaching of it by touching it, as the poet said:
[Worn out] by wear that penetrated to every seam, whose passage from within became visible after it had been visible from without.
He means thereby that the decay and the wear had penetrated to the stitchings. And that which "going in to" (al-ifḍāʾ) denotes in this place is sexual intercourse in the private parts.
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The explanation of the statement, since that is its meaning, is: and how would you take what you have given them, when you have already gone in to one another through intercourse?
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And along the lines of what we said about that, a group of the exegetes spoke.
Mention of who said that:
8914 — ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bayān al-Qannād related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: al-ifḍāʾ is the touching, but Allah is generous and uses euphemisms for what He wills.
8915 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Bakr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: al-ifḍāʾ is sexual intercourse, but Allah uses euphemisms.
8916 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Muzanī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: al-ifḍāʾ is sexual intercourse.
8917 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "when you have already gone in to one another," he said: having intercourse with the women.
8918 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid the same.
8919 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and how could you take it, when you have already gone in to one another," he means: sexual intercourse.
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The explanation of His word: وَأَخَذْنَ مِنْكُمْ مِيثَاقًا غَلِيظًا ("and they have taken from you a solemn covenant") (4:21).
Abū Jaʿfar said: That is to say: that to which you bound yourselves toward them upon yourselves, of covenant and acknowledgment on your part regarding that to which you bound yourselves toward yourselves, namely to retain them in a proper manner or to release them with good treatment.
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And in the marriage covenant of the Muslims, according to what has reached us, it used to be said of old to the one who married: "By Allah who obliges you, that you shall surely retain her in a proper manner or release her with good treatment!"
8920 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His word "and they have taken from you a solemn covenant": and the solemn covenant which He took for the women upon the men is: retaining in a proper manner or releasing with good treatment. And in the covenant of the Muslims it used to be said at their marriages: "By Allah who obliges you, that you shall surely retain her in a proper manner or release her with good treatment."
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And the exegetes differed concerning "the covenant" (al-mīthāq) which Allah — exalted be His praise — meant by His word "and they have taken from you a solemn covenant."
Some of them said: It is retaining in a proper manner or releasing with good treatment.
Mention of who said that:
8921 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, he said: Hushaym related to us, he said: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk concerning His word "and they have taken from you a solemn covenant," he said: retaining in a proper manner or releasing with good treatment.
8922 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, he said: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk the same.
8923 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His word "and they have taken from you a solemn covenant," he said: it is what Allah — blessed and exalted is He — took for the women upon the men: فَإِمْسَاكٌ بِمَعْرُوفٍ أَوْ تَسْرِيحٌ بِإِحْسَانٍ ("then retaining in a proper manner or releasing with good treatment"). He said: and that used to be taken upon the contracting of the marriage.
8924 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: as for "and they have taken from you a solemn covenant," that is that one marries the woman, and her guardian says: we have married her to you under the surety of Allah (bi-amānat Allāh), on the condition that you retain her in a proper manner or release her with good treatment.
8925 — ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His word "and they have taken from you a solemn covenant," he said: "the solemn covenant" which Allah took for the women is: retaining in a proper manner or releasing with good treatment, and in the covenant of the Muslims it used to be said at their marriage: "By the oath of Allah who obliges you, that you shall surely retain her in a proper manner and surely release her with good treatment."
8926 — ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, he said: Abū Qutayba related to us, he said: Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan and Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn concerning His word "and they have taken from you a solemn covenant," he said: retaining in a proper manner or releasing with good treatment.
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Others said: It is the word of the marriage contract by which the private part was made permissible.
Mention of who said that:
8927 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and they have taken from you a solemn covenant," he said: the word of the marriage contract by which their private parts were made permissible.
8928 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid the same.
8929 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Hāshim al-Makkī, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His word "and they have taken from you a solemn covenant," he said: his statement: "I marry" (nakaḥtu).
8930 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Ḥakkām related to us, he said: ʿAnbasa related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī: "and they have taken from you a solemn covenant," he said: it is their statement: "You have taken possession of the marriage."
8931 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Sālim al-Afṭas, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and they have taken from you a solemn covenant," he said: the word of the marriage contract.
8932 — Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word "and they have taken from you a solemn covenant," he said: the covenant is the marriage.
8933 — ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, he said: Sālim al-Afṭas related to me, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and they have taken from you a solemn covenant," he said: the word of the marriage contract, his statement: "I marry" (nakaḥtu).
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Others said: Rather, the word of the Prophet ﷺ was meant: "You have taken them under the surety of Allah, and you have made their private parts permissible with the word of Allah."
Mention of who said that:
8934 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: my father related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Jābir and ʿIkrima: "and they have taken from you a solemn covenant," they both said: you have taken them under the surety of Allah, and you have made their private parts permissible with the word of Allah.
8935 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "and they have taken from you a solemn covenant," and the solemn covenant is: you have taken them under the surety of Allah, and you have made their private parts permissible with the word of Allah.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct of these opinions in the explanation thereof is the opinion of the one who said: The covenant that is meant by this in this verse is what is taken for the woman upon her husband at the contracting of the marriage, of an undertaking to retain her in a proper manner or to release her with good treatment, and to which the man consented. For Allah — exalted be His praise — admonished the men thereby regarding their wives.
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And we have already previously expounded the meaning of "the covenant" (al-mīthāq) in a manner that makes it needless to repeat it in this place.
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And there was disagreement concerning the ruling of this verse: is it firmly established (muḥkam) or abrogated (mansūkh)?
Some of them said: It is firmly established, and it is not permissible for the man to take anything of what he has given her, when he wishes to divorce her, unless she is the one who wishes the divorce.
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Others said: It is firmly established, and it is in no case permissible for him to take anything of what he has given her, whether she is the one who wishes the divorce or he is. And among those from whom this opinion is related is Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Muzanī.
8936 — Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to us, he said: ʿUqba ibn Abī al-Ṣahbāʾ related to us, he said: I asked Bakr about the woman who has ransomed herself by khulʿ: may he take anything from her? He said: No, "and they have taken from you a solemn covenant."
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Others said: Rather it is abrogated; His word abrogated it: وَلا يَحِلُّ لَكُمْ أَنْ تَأْخُذُوا مِمَّا آتَيْتُمُوهُنَّ شَيْئًا إِلا أَنْ يَخَافَا أَلا يُقِيمَا حُدُودَ اللَّهِ ("And it is not permissible for you to take anything of what you have given them, unless they both fear that they cannot maintain the limits of Allah") [Surah al-Baqara: 229].
Mention of who said that:
8937 — Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word وَإِنْ أَرَدْتُمُ اسْتِبْدَالَ زَوْجٍ مَكَانَ زَوْجٍ ("And if you wish to replace one wife with another") up to His word "and they have taken from you a solemn covenant," he said: then thereafter He granted relief and said: وَلا يَحِلُّ لَكُمْ أَنْ تَأْخُذُوا مِمَّا آتَيْتُمُوهُنَّ شَيْئًا إِلا أَنْ يَخَافَا أَلا يُقِيمَا حُدُودَ اللَّهِ فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلا يُقِيمَا حُدُودَ اللَّهِ فَلا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا فِيمَا افْتَدَتْ بِهِ ("And it is not permissible for you to take anything of what you have given them, unless they both fear that they cannot maintain the limits of Allah; and if you fear that they both will not maintain the limits of Allah, then there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself") [Surah al-Baqara: 229]. He said: and this one abrogated that one.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct of the opinions concerning that is the opinion of the one who said: "It is firmly established and not abrogated," and it is not permissible for the man to take anything of what he has given her, when he wishes to divorce her without there being any rebelliousness (nushūz) on her part, nor any doubtful conduct that she has displayed.
That is because the abrogating of rulings is that which removes its opposite of rulings, as we have expounded in our other books. And in His word وَإِنْ أَرَدْتُمُ اسْتِبْدَالَ زَوْجٍ مَكَانَ زَوْجٍ ("And if you wish to replace one wife with another") there is no removal of the ruling of His word فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلا يُقِيمَا حُدُودَ اللَّهِ فَلا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا فِيمَا افْتَدَتْ بِهِ ("and if you fear that they both will not maintain the limits of Allah, then there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself") [Surah al-Baqara: 229]. For that which Allah forbade the man with His word وَإِنْ أَرَدْتُمُ اسْتِبْدَالَ زَوْجٍ مَكَانَ زَوْجٍ وَآتَيْتُمْ إِحْدَاهُنَّ قِنْطَارًا فَلا تَأْخُذُوا مِنْهُ شَيْئًا ("And if you wish to replace one wife with another and you have given one of them a great sum, take nothing back from it") is taking what he has given her, when he is the one who wishes to divorce her. And as for that which He permitted him to take from her with His word فَلا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا فِيمَا افْتَدَتْ بِهِ ("then there is no sin upon them both in that with which she ransoms herself"), that is when she is the one who wishes his divorce while he detests that, for some of the reasons that we have mentioned elsewhere. And in the ruling of one of the two verses there is no removal of the ruling of the other.
And since that is so, it is not permissible to judge concerning one of the two that it is abrogating, and concerning the other that it is abrogated, except with a proof to which one must submit.
And as for what Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Muzanī said =: namely that it is not permissible for the husband of the woman who has ransomed herself by khulʿ to take what she has given him for his divorce of her, when she is the one who requests the divorce while he detests that = that is not correct, because of the authenticity of the report about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he commanded Thābit ibn Qays ibn Shammās to take what he had given to his wife and to divorce her when she requested divorce from him, while the rebelliousness (nushūz) came from her part.
