Tafsir

The Reward of His Wives for choosing to stay with the Messenger

More than one of the scholars, such as Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah, Ibn Zayd, Ibn Jarir and others stated that this Ayah was revealed as a reward to the wives of the Prophet expressing Allah's pleasure with them for their excellent decision in choosing Allah and His Messenger and the Home of the Hereafter, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, gave them the choice, as we have stated above. When they chose the Messenger of Allah ﷺ their reward was that Allah restricted him to these wives, and forbade him to marry anyone else or to change them for other wives, even if he was attracted by their beauty -- apart from slave-girls and prisoners of war, with regard to whom there was no sin on him. Then Allah lifted the restriction stated in this Ayah and permitted him to marry more women, but he did not marry anyone else, so that the favor of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ towards them would be clear.

Imam Ahmad recorded that `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not die until Allah permitted (marriage to other) women for him." It was also recorded by At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa'i in their Sunans. On the other hand, others said that what was meant by the Ayah,لاَّ يَحِلُّ لَكَ النِّسَآءُ مِن بَعْدُ(It is not lawful for you (to marry other) women after this,) means, `after the description We have given of the women who are lawful for you, those to whom you have given their dowery, those whom your right hand possesses, and daughters of your paternal uncles and aunts, maternal uncles and aunts, and those who offer themselves to you in marriage -- other kinds of women are not lawful for you.' This view was narrated from Ubayy bin Ka`b, from Mujahid in one report which was transmitted from him, and others.

At-Tirmidhi recorded that Ibn `Abbas said: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was forbidden to marry certain kinds of women apart from believing women who had migrated with him, in the Ayah,لاَّ يَحِلُّ لَكَ النِّسَآءُ مِن بَعْدُ وَلاَ أَن تَبَدَّلَ بِهِنَّ مِنْ أَزْوَاجٍ وَلَوْ أَعْجَبَكَ حُسْنُهُنَّ إِلاَّ مَا مَلَكَتْ يَمِينُكَ(It is not lawful for you (to marry other) women after this, nor to change them for other wives even though their beauty attracts you, except those whom your right hand possesses.) Allah has made lawful believing women, and believing women who offered themselves to the Prophet for marriage, and He made unlawful every woman who followed a religion other than Islam, as Allah says:وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِالإِيمَـنِ فَقَدْ حَبِطَ عَمَلُهُ(And whosoever disbelieves in faith, then fruitless is his work) (5:5). Ibn Jarir, may Allah have mercy on him, stated that this Ayah is general in meaning and applies to all the kinds of women mentioned and the women to whom he was married, who were nine.

What he said is good, and may be what many of the Salaf meant, for many of them narrated both views from him, and there is no contradiction between the two. And Allah knows best.وَلاَ أَن تَبَدَّلَ بِهِنَّ مِنْ أَزْوَاجٍ وَلَوْ أَعْجَبَكَ حُسْنُهُنَّ(nor to change them for other wives even though their beauty attracts you, ) He was forbidden to marry more women, even if he were to divorce any of them and wanted replace her with another, except for those whom his right hand possessed (slave women).

The pious life of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the issue of polygamy

The enemies of Islam have always targeted the issue of polygamy, specially the number of the wives of the Holy Prophet ﷺ for their criticism. But if the whole life of the Holy Prophet ﷺ is kept in view, even the Satan cannot find scope to cast doubts on the character of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . It is a proved fact that his first marriage at the age of twenty-five was with Sayyidah Khadijah 4.

U1 who was an aged widow with children and had been married twice before. The Holy Prophet ﷺ spent his whole prime of life, upto the age of fifty, with that aged wife only. All these fifty years were spent right before the eyes of the people of Makkah who had started his opposition when he was of forty years and had announced his prophethood. His opponents did not leave any stone unturned in harassing and stigmatizing him. They called him a magician, a poet, a mad man, but no enemy could ever find a single chance to cast doubts in his piety, modesty or purity.

At the age of fifty, after the death of Sayyidah Khadijah ؓ ، he married Sayyidah Sawdah ؓ who was also a widow.

After migration to Madinah, at the age of fifty-four, in the second year of Hijrah, Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ came to the Holy Prophet's home as wife. He married Sayyidah Hafsah رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہا a year later and Sayyidah Zainab bint Khuzaymah ؓ a few days after that, who expired a few months later. He married Sayyidah Umm Salamah ؓ a widow with children, in the year 4 of Hijrah. In the year 5 when he was fifty eight years old, he married Sayyidah Zainab hint Jahsh ؓ in accordance with Allah's order, as detailed in the beginning of the present surah. The rest of the blessed wives entered his house in the last five years.

The rules pertaining to the private life of a prophet and his domestic affairs constitute a major portion of a religion. The contribution of these nine blessed wives ؓ to the propagation and education of Islam can be imagined from the fact that Sayyidah ` A'ishah رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہا ، alone narrated two thousand two hundred and ten ahadith and Sayyidah Umm Salamah ؓ narrated three hundred and sixty-eight ahadith which have been collected in reliable books. Hafiz Ibn al-Qayyim, in his I'lmul Muwaqqi'in, has commented that the rulings of Shari'ah (fatawa) disclosed by Sayyidah Umm Salamah ؓ would constitute a separate book. More than two hundred noble companions of the Holy Prophet ﷺ were disciples of Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ who learnt hadith, fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and fatawa from her.

Another wisdom of bringing a number of the blessed wives ؓ to the house of the Holy Prophet ﷺ was to attract their clans towards Islam. After keeping these facts in view and considering the general pattern of his pure life, can one find any scope for saying that the multiplicity of his wives was, Allah forbid, to fulfill selfish or sexual desires? If this was the case, why the last stage of life would have been selected for this purpose after spending the whole prime of life either in celibacy or with an aged widow. This subject along with the religious, intellectual, biological and economic issues of the polygamy has been thoroughly discussed with full details under the explanation of the third verse of Surah Nisa' in volume II of this book.

Seventh Injunction:لَّا يَحِلُّ لَكَ النِّسَاءُ مِن بَعْدُ وَلَا أَن تَبَدَّلَ بِهِنَّ مِنْ أَزْوَاجٍ وَلَوْ أَعْجَبَكَ حُسْنُهُنَّ(No women are lawful for you after this, nor is it lawful that you replace them (the present wives) with other wives, even though their goodness may attract you.- 52),The words مِن بَعْدُ ''after this" in this verse may be interpreted in two ways. One is that no women are lawful for you after the present wives. Some noble companions and leading commentators have adopted this meaning. Sayyidna Anas " has stated that when the blessed wives ؓ were given the choice by Allah Ta’ ala to either opt for the pleasure of the worldly life and its charms but separation from the Holy Prophet ﷺ or to remain with him and be content with every economic condition they may face, all of them gave up their demand for increase in maintenance and elected to remain with him. Allah Ta` ala, as a reward for their decision, restricted the Holy Prophet ﷺ to those nine wives and it was no more permissible for him to marry other women.

(Al-Baihaqi, as quoted by Ruh-ul- Ma’ ani)Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ has stated that Allah Ta’ ala has restricted the blessed wives ؓ exclusively to the Holy Prophet ﷺ in that they could not marry anybody after him. Similarly, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been restricted to the blessed wives in the sense that he could not marry any other women. Sayyidna ` Ikrimah ؓ has also given this explanation as per one narration.

The second interpretation of these words, as reported by different authorities, like Ibn ` Abbas, ` Ikrimah and Mujahid ؓ ، according to some narrations is that مِن بَعدِ "after this" means it is not lawful for the Holy Prophet ﷺ to marry any women beyond the categories mentioned in the earlier verse. For example, the earlier verse has allowed for him only those women of his parents' families who had migrated from Makkah to Madinah either with him or later, according to his command; similarly the restriction that his wife must be a Muslim has made the Christian or Jewish women unlawful for him. As such the meaning of the words, "after this" would be that he cannot marry those women who do not fall in the categories made lawful for him. Thus, according to this explanation, this is not a new injunction; it is rather an elaboration to highlight the consequential outcome of the rule already laid down in the preceding verse.

According to this interpretation, this verse does not prohibit marriage with other women after the nine blessed wives ؓ instead, it prohibits marriage with non-Muslims and with women of the parents families who did not migrate, as already known from the previous verse.

This second interpretation finds support from a narration of Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ to the effect that the permission of further marriages remained applicable for him (even after the revelation of the present verse)وَلَا أَن تَبَدَّلَ بِهِنَّ مِنْ أَزْوَاجٍ "Nor is it lawful that you replace them (the present wives) with other wives" - 52.

The clear meaning of these words in view of the second explanation of this verse is that although the Holy Prophet ﷺ is permitted to marry other women besides his present wives subject to the conditions mentioned, yet it is not lawful for him to divorce a wife and to marry another woman to replace her.

However, the meaning of these words in view of the first explanation of this verse would be that he can neither marry any woman in addition to the present wives, nor can he replace them by divorcing one and marrying another.

Towards the end of these verses it is clarified that a bond woman owned by the Holy Prophet ﷺ is exempt from fifth and seventh rules in the sense that she is lawful for him, even if she is a Christian or Jew, and it is also permitted for him to replace her with another bondwoman. Lastly it has been reminded that Allah Ta’ ala is watchful of everything's reality, appearance and underlying reasons. All these injunctions and rules are based on divine wisdom and expedience, even if the wisdom is not stated specifically, and hence no one has the right to question them or raise objections against them.

ذكر غير واحد من العلماء - كابن عباس ، ومجاهد ، والضحاك ، وقتادة ، وابن زيد ، وابن جرير ، وغيرهم - أن هذه الآية نزلت مجازاة لأزواج النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ورضا عنهن ، على حسن صنيعهن في اختيارهن الله ورسوله والدار الآخرة ، لما خيرهن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ، كما تقدم في الآية . فلما اخترن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ، كان جزاؤهن أن [ الله ] قصره عليهن ، وحرم عليه أن يتزوج بغيرهن ، أو يستبدل بهن أزواجا غيرهن ، ولو أعجبه حسنهن إلا الإماء والسراري فلا حجر عليه فيهن . ثم إنه تعالى رفع عنه الحجر في ذلك ونسخ حكم هذه الآية ، وأباح له التزوج ، ولكن لم يقع منه بعد ذلك تزوج لتكون المنة للرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم عليهن .قال الإمام أحمد : حدثنا سفيان ، عن عمرو ، عن عطاء ، عن عائشة ، رضي الله عنها ، قالت : ما مات رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم حتى أحل الله له النساء .ورواه أيضا من حديث ابن جريج ، عن عطاء ، عن عبيد بن عمير ، عن عائشة .

ورواه الترمذي والنسائي في سننيهما .وقال ابن أبي حاتم : حدثنا أبو زرعة ، حدثنا عبد الرحمن بن عبد الملك بن شيبة ، حدثني عمر بن أبي بكر ، حدثني المغيرة بن عبد الرحمن الحزامي ، عن أبي النضر مولى عمر بن عبيد الله ، عن عبد الله بن وهب بن زمعة ، عن أم سلمة أنها قالت : لم يمت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم حتى أحل الله له أن يتزوج من النساء ما شاء ، إلا ذات محرم ، وذلك قول الله عز وجل : ( ترجي من تشاء منهن وتؤوي إليك من تشاء ) .فجعلت هذه ناسخة للتي بعدها في التلاوة ، كآيتي عدة الوفاة في البقرة ، الأولى ناسخة للتي بعدها ، والله أعلم .وقال آخرون : بل معنى الآية : ( لا يحل لك النساء من بعد ) أي : من بعد ما ذكرنا لك من صفة النساء اللاتي أحللنا لك من نسائك اللاتي آتيت أجورهن وما ملكت يمينك ، وبنات العم والعمات والخال والخالات والواهبة وما سوى ذلك من أصناف النساء فلا يحل لك .

هذا مروي عن أبي بن كعب ، ومجاهد ، وعكرمة ، والضحاك - في رواية - وأبي رزين - في رواية عنه - وأبي صالح ، والحسن ، وقتادة - في رواية - والسدي ، وغيرهم .قال ابن جرير : حدثنا يعقوب ، حدثنا ابن علية ، عن داود بن أبي هند ، حدثني محمد بن أبي موسى ، عن زياد - رجل من الأنصار - قال : قلت لأبي بن كعب : أرأيت لو أن أزواج النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم توفين ، أما كان له أن يتزوج ؟ فقال : وما يمنعه من ذلك ؟ قال : قلت : قوله : ( لا يحل لك النساء من بعد ) . فقال : إنما أحل الله له ضربا من النساء ، فقال : ( يا أيها النبي إنا أحللنا لك أزواجك ) إلى قوله : ( إن وهبت نفسها للنبي ) ثم قيل له : ( لا يحل لك النساء من بعد ) .ورواه عبد الله بن أحمد من طرق ، عن داود ، به .

وروى الترمذي ، عن ابن عباس ، رضي الله عنهما ، قال : نهي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عن أصناف النساء ، إلا ما كان من المؤمنات المهاجرات بقوله : ( لا يحل لك النساء من بعد ولا أن تبدل بهن من أزواج ولو أعجبك حسنهن إلا ما ملكت يمينك ) ، فأحل الله فتياتكم المؤمنات ( وامرأة مؤمنة إن وهبت نفسها للنبي ) ، وحرم كل ذات دين غير الإسلام ، ثم قال : ( ومن يكفر بالإيمان فقد حبط عمله وهو في الآخرة من الخاسرين ) وقال ( يا أيها النبي إنا أحللنا لك أزواجك اللاتي آتيت أجورهن وما ملكت يمينك ) إلى قوله : ( خالصة لك من دون المؤمنين ) ، وحرم ما سوى ذلك من أصناف النساء .وقال مجاهد : ( لا يحل لك النساء من بعد ) أي : من بعد ما سمى لك ، لا مسلمة ولا يهودية ولا نصرانية ولا كافرة .وقال أبو صالح : ( لا يحل لك النساء من بعد ) : أمر ألا يتزوج أعرابية ولا غربية ، ويتزوج بعد من نساء تهامة ، وما شاء من بنات العم والعمة ، والخال والخالة ، إن شاء ثلاثمائة .وقال عكرمة : ( لا يحل لك النساء من بعد ) أي : التي سمى الله .واختار ابن جرير ، رحمه الله ، أن الآية عامة فيمن ذكر من أصناف النساء ، وفي النساء اللواتي في عصمته وكن تسعا .

وهذا الذي قاله جيد ، ولعله مراد كثير ممن حكينا عنه من السلف; فإن كثيرا منهم روي عنه هذا وهذا ، ولا منافاة ، والله أعلم .ثم أورد ابن جرير على نفسه ما روي أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم طلق حفصة ثم راجعها ، وعزم على فراق سودة حتى وهبته يومها لعائشة ، ثم أجاب بأن هذا كان قبل نزول قوله : ( لا يحل لك النساء من بعد ولا أن تبدل بهن من أزواج ولو أعجبك حسنهن ) ، وهذا الذي قاله من أن هذا كان قبل نزول الآية صحيح ، ولكن لا يحتاج إلى ذلك; فإن الآية إنما دلت على أنه لا يتزوج بمن عدا اللواتي في عصمته ، وأنه لا يستبدل بهن غيرهن ، ولا يدل ذلك على أنه لا يطلق واحدة منهن من غير استبدال ، والله أعلم .فأما قضية سودة ففي الصحيح عن عائشة ، رضي الله عنها ، وهي سبب نزول قوله تعالى : ( وإن امرأة خافت من بعلها نشوزا أو إعراضا فلا جناح عليهما أن يصلحا بينهما صلحا [ والصلح خير ] ) الآية [ النساء : 128 ] .وأما قضية حفصة فروى أبو داود والنسائي وابن ماجه وابن حبان في صحيحه ، من طرق عن يحيى بن زكريا بن أبي زائدة ، عن صالح بن صالح بن حي عن سلمة أن ابن كهيل ، عن سعيد بن جبير ، عن ابن عباس ، عن عمر; أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم طلق حفصة ثم راجعها .

وهذا إسناد قوي .وقال الحافظ أبو يعلى : حدثنا أبو كريب ، حدثنا يونس بن بكير ، عن الأعمش ، عن أبي صالح ، عن ابن عمر قال : دخل عمر على حفصة وهي تبكي ، فقال : ما يبكيك ؟ لعل رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم طلقك ؟ إنه قد كان طلقك مرة ثم راجعك من أجلي; والله لئن كان طلقك مرة أخرى لا أكلمك أبدا . ورجاله على شرط الصحيحين .وقوله : ( ولا أن تبدل بهن من أزواج ولو أعجبك حسنهن ) ، فنهاه عن الزيادة عليهن ، أو طلاق واحدة منهن واستبدال غيرها بها إلا ما ملكت يمينه .وقد روى الحافظ أبو بكر البزار حديثا مناسبا ذكره هاهنا ، فقال :حدثنا إبراهيم بن نصر ، حدثنا مالك بن إسماعيل ، حدثنا عبد السلام بن حرب ، عن إسحاق بن عبد الله القرشي ، عن زيد بن أسلم ، عن عطاء بن يسار عن أبي هريرة ، رضي الله عنه ، قال : كان البدل في الجاهلية أن يقول الرجل للرجل : بادلني امرأتك وأبادلك بامرأتي : أي : تنزل لي عن امرأتك ، وأنزل لك عن امرأتي . فأنزل الله : ( ولا أن تبدل بهن من أزواج ولو أعجبك حسنهن ) قال : فدخل عيينة بن حصن على النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ، وعنده عائشة ، فدخل بغير إذن ، فقال له رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : " فأين الاستئذان ؟ " فقال يا رسول الله ، ما استأذنت على رجل من مضر منذ أدركت .

ثم قال : من هذه الحميراء إلى جنبك ؟ فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : " هذه عائشة أم المؤمنين " . قال : أفلا أنزل لك عن أحسن الخلق ؟ قال : " يا عيينة إن الله قد حرم ذلك " . فلما أن خرج قالت عائشة : من هذا ؟ قال : هذا أحمق مطاع ، وإنه على ما ترين لسيد قومه " .ثم قال البزار إسحاق بن عبد الله : لين الحديث جدا ، وإنما ذكرناه لأنا لم نحفظه إلا من هذا الوجه ، وبينا العلة فيه .