Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:35
And if you fear dissension between the two, send an arbitrator from his people and an arbitrator from her people. If they both desire reconciliation, Allah will cause it between them. Indeed, Allah is ever Knowing and Acquainted [with all things].
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 discourse on the explanation of His statement: وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ شِقَاقَ بَيْنِهِمَا فَابْعَثُوا حَكَمًا مِنْ أَهْلِهِ وَحَكَمًا مِنْ أَهْلِهَا إِنْ يُرِيدَا إِصْلاحًا يُوَفِّقِ اللَّهُ بَيْنَهُمَا (And if you fear discord between the two of them, then send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family; if the two of them desire reconciliation, Allah will bring about concord between them.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His statement, exalted is His praise, "and if you fear discord between the two of them," He means: and if you know, O people — "discord between the two of them" — and that is the dissension (mushāqqa) of each of the two with his or her spouse, namely that he or she inflicts upon the other that which is difficult for him or her. As for the woman: that is the disobedience (nushūz) and the neglect of her duty toward Allah which Allah has imposed upon her toward her husband. As for the husband: that is his failing to retain her in a proper manner or to release her in a good manner.
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And "al-shiqāq" is a verbal noun derived from the statement of someone: "shāqqa fulān fulānan" — when each of the two inflicts upon the other that which is difficult for him — "fa-huwa yushāqquhu mushāqqatan wa-shiqāqan," and that may be enmity, as:
9403 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, regarding His statement: "and if you fear discord between the two of them," he said: if he strikes her and she refuses to return and falls into dissension with him — he says: she displayed enmity toward him.
* * *
And "al-shiqāq" was only annexed to "al-bayn" (the 'between') because "al-bayn" may be a noun, as He, exalted is His praise, said: لَقَدْ تَقَطَّعَ بَيْنَكُمْ [Surah al-Anʿām: 94] (Indeed, the bond between you has been severed), in the reading of whoever reads it thus.
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And as for His statement: "then send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family," concerning it the scholars of interpretation differed over those addressed in this verse: who is the one commanded to send the two arbiters?
Some of them said: the one commanded with this is the authority (sulṭān) before whom the matter is brought.
*Mention of who said that:
9404 — Muḥammad 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 regarding the woman who ransoms herself (al-mukhtaliʿa): he admonishes her; if she desists, [well and good], and otherwise he shuns her. If she desists, [well and good], and otherwise he strikes her. If she desists, [well and good], and otherwise he presents her case to the authority, who then sends an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family. The arbiter who is from her family says: "he treats her in such-and-such a way," and the arbiter who is from his family says: "she treats him in such-and-such a way." Whichever of the two is the wrongdoer, the authority brings him back and holds his hand over him (restrains him); and if she is disobedient (nāshiz), he commands him to have [her] ransom [the marriage] (dissolve it by khulʿ).
9405 — Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: "and if you fear discord between the two of them, then send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family," he said: no, that [belongs] to the authority.
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And others said: no, the ones commanded with this are the man and the woman.
*Mention of who said that:
9406 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and if you fear discord between the two of them, then send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family," if he has struck her. If she then returns, he has no way against her. But if she refuses to return and falls into dissension with him, then he sends an arbiter from his family and she sends an arbiter from her family.
* * *
Then the scholars of interpretation differed over that for which the two arbiters are sent, and what it is permissible for the two arbiters to adjudicate between them [the two], and in what manner their dispatch between them [the two] takes place.
Some of them said: the two spouses send them by giving them authorization to investigate their case. And it is not permissible for them [the arbiters] to do anything in their case except that for which they have authorized them, or that for which each of the two has authorized him with respect to what concerns him; they then act according to that for which they are authorized by whoever authorized them of the man and the woman, in that wherein their authorization is valid, or the authorization of whichever of the two is authorized for it.
*Mention of who said that:
9407 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of Muḥammad, on the authority of ʿAbīda, he said: A man came with his wife, between whom there was discord, to ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, and with each of the two a great crowd of people. ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, said: send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family. Then he said to the two arbiters: do you two know what your duty is? Your duty is: if you deem it right to bring together, then bring together, and if you deem it right to separate, then separate. The woman said: I am content with the Book of Allah, with what it contains to my detriment and to my benefit. The man said: as for separation, no. Then ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, said: you have lied, by Allah, you shall not leave until you acknowledge the same as what she has acknowledged.
9408 — Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Hishām ibn Ḥassān and ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAwn related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad: that a man came with his wife to ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, and with each of the two a great crowd of people. ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, commanded the two of them to send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family, that they might investigate [the matter]. When the two arbiters approached him, ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, said to them: do you two know what your authority is? Your authority is: if you deem it right to separate, separate; and if you deem it right to bring together, bring together. — Hishām said in his narration: then the woman said: I am content with the Book of Allah, to my benefit and to my detriment; and the man said: as for separation, no! Then ʿAlī said: you have lied, by Allah, until you are content with the same as that with which she is content. — And Ibn ʿAwn said in his narration: you have lied, by Allah, you shall not leave until you are content with the same as that with which she is content.
9409 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Manṣūr and Hishām informed us, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn, on the authority of ʿAbīda, he said: I was present with ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him — and he mentioned something similar.
9410 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: when he shuns her in the bed and strikes her, and she refuses to return and falls into dissension with him, then he has an arbiter from his family sent and she sends an arbiter from her family. The woman says to her arbiter: "I have appointed you over my case; if you command me to return, I return, and if you separate, we separate," and she informs him of her case, whether she desires maintenance or hates some of the matters, and she commands him to remove that from her so that she returns, or she informs him that she does not desire divorce. And the man sends an arbiter from his family, appoints him over his case and informs him, tells him his need: whether he wants her or does not want to separate from her, [or] he gives her what she asked and increases her maintenance; and otherwise he tells him: "take back for me from her what she has of mine, and separate from her," and he appoints him over his case; if he wishes, then he separates, and if he wishes, then he retains [her]. Then the two arbiters come together, and each of the two reports what he desires for the one who appointed him, and each of the two exerts himself for what he desires for the one who appointed him. If the two arbiters agree on something, then that is valid, whether they separate or they retain [them]. That is the statement of Allah: "then send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family; if the two of them desire reconciliation, Allah will bring about concord between them." And if the woman sends an arbiter and the man refuses to send one, then he does not approach her until he sends an arbiter.
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And others said: the one who sends the two arbiters is the authority, except that he sends them only so that they may distinguish the wrongdoer from the wronged among them, to move them [the two] toward what is obligatory which each of the two owes the other, not to separate them [the two].
*Mention of who said that:
9411 — 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 — and it is [also] the statement of Qatāda — that the two of them said: the two arbiters are sent only to reconcile and to testify against the wrongdoer of his wrongdoing. And as for separation, that is not within their power, and it is not granted to them — that is to say: "and if you fear discord between the two of them, then send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family."
9412 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, [regarding] His statement: "and if you fear discord between the two of them, then send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family," the verse, [he said:] the two arbiters are sent only to reconcile. And if reconciliation proves too difficult for them, they testify against the wrongdoer of his wrongdoing, and separation is not within their power, and it is not granted to them.
9413 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Saʿd, he said: and I asked about the two arbiters, he said: send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family, and whatever the two arbiters adjudicate, that is valid; Allah, blessed and exalted, says: إِنْ يُرِيدَا إِصْلاحًا يُوَفِّقِ اللَّهُ بَيْنَهُمَا (If the two of them desire reconciliation, Allah will bring about concord between them). He said: the arbiter of the man speaks privately with the husband, and the arbiter of the woman with the woman, and each of the two says to the one who appointed him: "be honest with me about what is within you." And when each of the two has been honest with the one who appointed him, the two arbiters come together, and each of the two takes an oath from the other: "you will honestly tell me what the one who appointed you told you, and I will honestly tell you what the one who appointed me told me." That is when the two of them desire reconciliation, [then] Allah will bring about concord between them. When they have done that, each of the two is informed of what the one who appointed him entrusted to him, and thereby they recognize which of the two is the wrongdoer and the disobedient one; then they come upon him and pass judgment over him. If it was the woman, then the two of them say: "you are the wrongdoing disobedient one; you will not be provided for until you return to the right and obey Allah therein." And if it was the man who is the wrongdoer, then the two of them say: "you are the wrongdoer, the inflictor of harm; you do not enter a house for her until you provide for her maintenance and return to the right and to justice." And if she refuses that, then she is the wrongdoing disobedient one, and there is taken from her what she has, and that is permissible and good for him. And if he is the wrongdoer, who treats her badly and inflicts harm upon her, then he separates from her, and it is not permissible for him [to take] anything of her property. And if he retains her, he retains her as Allah has commanded, and provides for her maintenance and treats her well.
9414 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Mūsā ibn ʿUbayda, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī, he said: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah be pleased with him, used to send the two arbiters, an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family. The arbiter from her family then says: "O so-and-so, what do you reproach your wife with?" and he says: "I reproach her with such-and-such." He said: then he says: "what do you think, if she desists from what you detest toward what you love, are you then one who fears Allah concerning her, who deals with her in the manner you owe her with respect to her maintenance and her clothing?" And when he says "yes," the arbiter from his family says: "O so-and-so, what do you reproach your husband so-and-so with?" and she says something similar; and if she says "yes," he brings the two of them together. He said: and ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, said: the two arbiters — through them Allah brings together and through them He separates.
9415 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, saying: al-Ḥasan said: the two arbiters adjudicate the bringing together, and they do not adjudicate the separation.
9416 — 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, [regarding] His statement: وَاللاتِي تَخَافُونَ نُشُوزَهُنَّ فَعِظُوهُنَّ (And those [women] whose disobedience you fear, admonish them), and that is the woman who is disobedient toward her husband; her husband may then ransom her (dissolve [the marriage] by khulʿ) when the two arbiters command that, and that is after she says to her husband: "by Allah, I will not fulfill any oath for you, and I will admit into your house [someone] without your permission!" And the authority says: "we do not permit you khulʿ" — until the woman says to her husband: "by Allah, I will not wash myself for you from [major ritual] impurity (janāba), nor will I perform a [ritual] prayer for you!" At that point the authority says: "ransom the woman (dissolve the marriage by khulʿ)!"
9417 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said regarding His statement: "and those [women] whose disobedience you fear, admonish them," he said: he admonishes her; and if she refuses and resists, then he shuns her in her bed. And if she also overcomes this, then he strikes her. And if she also overcomes this, then an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family is sent. And if she also overcomes this and desires something else, then — indeed, my father said — or: my father used to say — the two arbiters have no authority whatsoever to separate; if they see the wrongdoing on the part of the husband, the two of them say: "you, O so-and-so, are a wrongdoer, desist!" And if he refuses, they present that to the authority. The two arbiters have no authority whatsoever to separate.
* * *
And others said: no, it is the authority who sends the two arbiters, with the understanding that their judgment is carried out against the two spouses, in the bringing together and in the separating.
*Mention of who said that:
9418 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, [regarding] His statement: "and if you fear discord between the two of them, then send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family," that is the man and the woman: when what is between them becomes corrupted, Allah, glory be to Him, has commanded that they send a righteous man from the family of the man, and his like from the family of the woman, so that the two of them may investigate which of the two is the evildoer. If the man is the evildoer, they keep his wife away from him and compel him to maintenance; and if the woman is the evildoer, they compel her to [obedience to] her husband and withhold maintenance from her. And if the judgment of the two of them coincides upon separating or bringing together, then their decision is valid. And if the two of them decide to bring together, and one of the two spouses is content with that while the other detests it, and afterward one of the two dies, then the one who was content inherits from the one who detested it, but the one who detested it does not inherit from the one who was content. That is His statement: "if the two of them desire reconciliation" — he said: those are the two arbiters — "Allah will bring about concord between them."
9419 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Rawḥ related to us, saying: ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn: that the arbiter from her family and the arbiter from his family separate and bring together when they deem it right — "then send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family."
9420 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra, he said: I asked Saʿīd ibn Jubayr about the two arbiters, and he said: I had not yet been born at that time! Then I said: I mean only the arbiter of discord [between spouses]. He said: they turn to the one from whose side the dispute has come. If he does [what is right], [well and good], and otherwise they turn to the other. If he does [it], [well and good], and otherwise they pass a judgment. And whatever they adjudicate, that is valid.
9421 — ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bayān related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Yazīd informed us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of ʿĀmir, regarding His statement: "then send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family," he said: whatever the two arbiters decide, that is valid.
9422 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: whatever the two of them adjudicate, that is valid. If the two of them separate the two with three divorces or two divorces, then that is valid. And if they separate with one divorce, then that is valid. And if they adjudicate against him [the man] a compensation (jazāʾ) for this from his property, then that is valid. And if they reconcile, then that is valid. And if they cause something [of obligation] to lapse, then that is valid.
9423 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ḥabbān related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of al-Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, regarding His statement: "and if you fear discord between the two of them, then send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family," he said: whatever the two arbiters do, that is binding upon them [the spouses]. If they separate them three times, then that is binding upon them. And if they separate them one time and separate her for a compensation (juʿl), then that is valid, and whatever they do, that is valid.
9424 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr, on the authority of Abī Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, he said: if the two arbiters wish to separate, they separate. And if they wish to bring together, they bring together.
9425 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Hushaym related to me, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī: that a woman was disobedient toward her husband, and they brought their dispute before Shurayḥ. Shurayḥ said: send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family. The two arbiters investigated their case and deemed it right to separate the two, but the man detested that. Shurayḥ said: of what use were the two of them today then? And he gave effect to their judgment.
9426 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Ibn Ṭāwūs, on the authority of ʿIkrima ibn Khālid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: I and Muʿāwiya were sent as two arbiters — Maʿmar said: it reached me that ʿUthmān, may Allah be pleased with him, sent them, and said to them: if you deem it right to bring together, bring together, and if you deem it right to separate, separate.
9427 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Rawḥ ibn ʿUbāda related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Mulayka related to me: that ʿAqīl ibn Abī Ṭālib married Fāṭima the daughter of ʿUtba, and an altercation arose between the two of them. She came to ʿUthmān and mentioned that to him, and he sent Ibn ʿAbbās and Muʿāwiya [as arbiters]. Ibn ʿAbbās said: I shall surely separate them! And Muʿāwiya said: I would never separate two elders of the Banū ʿAbd Manāf! And they came to the two of them while they had already reconciled.
9428 — Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, regarding His statement: "and if you fear discord between the two of them, then send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family," [he said:] the two of them are impartial (just) concerning them [the two] and bear witness. And that is when the man and the woman quarrel and bring their dispute before the authority; [then] he appoints over the two of them two arbiters: an arbiter from the family of the man, and an arbiter from the family of the woman, who are both trustworthy over them together, and who investigate from which of the two the corruption issues. If it issues from the side of the woman, then she is compelled to obedience to her husband, and he is commanded to fear Allah, to deal well with her and to provide for her maintenance according to the measure of what Allah has granted him — retaining in a proper manner or releasing in a good manner. And if the bad treatment issues from the side of the man, then he is commanded to treat her well; and if he does not do so, he is told: "give her her right and let her go." And it is only the authority who attends to this on behalf of the two of them.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the most correct of the statements regarding His statement "then send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family," is that Allah addressed the Muslims with it and commanded them to send the two arbiters upon the fear of discord between the spouses to investigate their case, and He did not grant the command for that to some of them to the exclusion of others. And all are agreed that the sending of the two arbiters therein belongs only to the two spouses, and to the authority who is the administrator of the affairs of the Muslims, or to whomever he has appointed in his place therein.
They differed over the two spouses and the authority, [namely] who it is that is commanded with the dispatch therein: the two spouses, or the authority? And there is in the verse no indication that points to the command for that being granted to one of the two spouses [in particular], nor is there concerning it any narration from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the community is divided over it.
And since the matter is as we have described, the most correct of the statements regarding it is: that there is excepted from the verse that over which all are agreed that it is excepted from it. And since that is so, it is obligatory that the two spouses and the authority be among those whom the ruling of the verse encompasses, and the command in His statement "then send an arbiter from his family and an arbiter from her family," since there was disagreement over it: are the two of them intended by the command for that or not? — while the outward meaning of the verse encompassed the two of them. So the obligatory statement, since what we have described is correct, is that it is correct to say: that if the two spouses each of them sends an arbiter from his side to investigate their case, and each of the two has sent him from his side for that, for what he has against the other and what the other has against him, then the authorization for that by whoever authorizes is valid, for him and against him.
And if he authorizes him for a part and not for the whole, then what the arbiter does within that for which the one who appointed him has authorized him is carried out and valid according to the measure for which he has authorized him. And that is that one of the two authorizes him for what is in his favor and not for what is against him.
And if neither of the two spouses authorizes [anyone] for what is in his favor and against him, or for what is in his favor, or for what is against him, except the two arbiters together, [then nothing is valid] except that over which the two of them agree, and not that with which one of the two has singled himself out alone.
And if neither of the two authorizes them with anything, and they send them only to investigate their case, so that they may distinguish the wrongdoer from the wronged among them, to testify against them [the two] before the authority if the two of them require their testimony — then it is not permissible for them [the arbiters] to bring about between them [the two] anything other than that, of divorce, or the taking of property, or anything else, and neither of the two spouses, nor one of the two, is obligated to anything of it.
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And if a speaker says: and what is the meaning of the two arbiters, since the matter is as you have described?
Then it is said: concerning that there is disagreement.
Some of them said: the meaning of "al-ḥakam" is the impartial, just investigation, as al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim said in the narration that we have mentioned, which:
9429 — Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to us, on the authority of Yazīd, on the authority of Juwaybir, on his authority: you are not two judges who adjudicate between them [the two] —
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— in the manner that we have clarified from his statement.
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And others said: the meaning of it is: that they are the two judges, who decide between them [the two] over what the two spouses have entrusted to them.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: whichever of the two cases it is, it is not permissible for them [the two], nor for one of the two, to adjudicate between them [the two] with separation, nor with the taking of property, except with the consent of the one against whom it is adjudicated, and except what is obligatory of a right for one of the spouses upon the other in the ruling of Allah, and that is what the man is obligated toward his wife of maintenance and retention in a proper manner, if he is the one who wrongs her.
As for other than that, that is not permissible for them [the two], nor for anyone of the people besides them, neither the authority nor anyone else. For if the husband is the one who wrongs the woman, then the leader (imām) has the means to compel him to what is her right upon him. And if the woman is the one who wrongs her husband and is disobedient toward him, then Allah has permitted him to take the ransom (al-fidya) from her, and He has placed her divorce in his hand, as we have clarified in "Surah al-Baqarah."
And since the matter is so, it does not belong to anyone to separate between a man and a woman without the consent of the husband, nor to take property of the woman without her consenting to giving it, except on the basis of a proof to which one must submit, [proceeding] from a textual source or analogy (qiyās).
And if the authority sends the two arbiters, then it is not permissible for them to adjudicate between the two spouses with separation except with authorization for that from the husband, nor is it permissible for them to adjudicate with the taking of property of the woman except with the consent of the woman. To this points what we have clarified earlier concerning the conduct of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah be pleased with him, therein, and of those who follow his statement. But it is permissible for the two of them to reconcile between the two spouses, and to ascertain which of the two is the wrongdoer and which is the wronged, to testify against him if the wronged of the two requires their testimony.
And we said only: "it is not permissible for them to separate," for the reason that we have just mentioned. And the authority sends the two arbiters only — when he sends them — when the two spouses turn to him, and each of the two complains about the other, and it is unclear to him which of the two is in the right and which is in the wrong. For if it is not unclear which is in the right and which is in the wrong, then there is no ground to send the two arbiters in a matter whose ruling is already known.
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The discourse on the explanation of His statement: إِنْ يُرِيدَا إِصْلاحًا يُوَفِّقِ اللَّهُ بَيْنَهُمَا (If the two of them desire reconciliation, Allah will bring about concord between them.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His statement, exalted is His praise: "if the two of them desire reconciliation" He means: if the two arbiters desire reconciliation between the man and the woman — I mean: between the two spouses whose discord is feared — He says: "Allah will bring about concord" between the two arbiters, so that they agree upon reconciliation between them [the two]. And that is when each of the two is honest in what is entrusted to him: whoever [of them] is sent to investigate the case of the two spouses.
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And in accordance with what we have said regarding that, the scholars of interpretation have said.
*Mention of who said that:
9430 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abī Hāshim, on the authority of Mujāhid, regarding His statement: "if the two of them desire reconciliation," he said: indeed, it does not concern the man and the woman, but they are the two arbiters.
9431 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: "if the two of them desire reconciliation, Allah will bring about concord between them," he said: they are the two arbiters; if the two of them desire reconciliation, Allah will bring about concord between them.
9432 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, [regarding] His statement: "if the two of them desire reconciliation, Allah will bring about concord between them," and those are the two arbiters, and likewise every reconciler whom Allah guides to the true and the right.
9433 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "if the two of them desire reconciliation, Allah will bring about concord between them," he means by it the two arbiters.
9434 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: "if the two of them desire reconciliation," he said: if the two arbiters desire reconciliation, they reconcile.
9435 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Abī Hāshim, on the authority of Mujāhid: "if the two of them desire reconciliation, Allah will bring about concord between them," [means] Allah will bring about concord between the two arbiters.
9436 — Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Juwaybir related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, [regarding] His statement: "if the two of them desire reconciliation," he said: they are the two arbiters, when they sincerely counsel the woman and the man together.
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The discourse on the explanation of His statement: إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلِيمًا خَبِيرًا (35) (Indeed, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware. (35))
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means: "indeed, Allah is All-Knowing" of what the two arbiters intended of reconciliation between the two spouses and otherwise — "All-Aware" of that and of the rest of the affairs of the two of them and the affairs of others, nothing of which remains hidden from Him; He watches over them, until He gives each of them his requital: for the good with goodness, and for the evil with forgiveness or punishment.
