2. Al-Baqara

When you divorce women, and they have, very nearly, reached, the end of, their term, then retain them, by returning to them, honourably, not harming them, or set them free honourably, or leave them until their term is completed; do not retain them, when reverting, in harm (dirāran is an object denoting reason), to transgress, that is, so as to force them to redemption, or to repudiate them or confine them indoors for a long time; whoever does that has wronged his soul, by exposing it to God’s chastisement; take not God’s verses in mockery, in jest by contravening them, and remember God’s grace upon you, that is, Islam, and the Book, the Qur’ān, and the wisdom, the rulings contained therein, He has revealed to you, to exhort you therewith, so that you should give thanks by acting in accordance with it; and fear God, and know that God has knowledge of all things, and nothing can be hidden from Him.

When you divorce women, and they have reached, completed, their term, of waiting, do not debar them — addressing the guardians here — from marrying their, divorced, husbands when they, the male spouses and their women, have agreed together honourably, in accordance with the Law. The occasion for the revelation [of this verse] was: Ma‘qil b. Yasār’s sister was divorced by her husband, who then wanted to restore her, but Ma‘qil refused, as reported by al-Hākim. That, the prohibition against debarring, is an admonition for whoever of you believe in God and the Last Day, because it is for the benefit of such a person; that, refraining from debarring, is purer for you, better, and cleaner, for you and for them, bearing in mind the suspicion that can be aroused by the couple on account of prior intimacy. God knows, what is in your interest, and you know not, any of this, so follow His commands.

Mothers, shall, suckle their children for two full years (kāmilayn, ‘two full ones’, is an adjective for emphasis); this is, for such as desire to fulfil the suckling, and this is the maximum length of time. It is for the father to provide, food for, them, the mothers, and clothe them, during the suckling if they be divorced, honourably, to the best of his ability. No soul is charged save to its capacity, its ability; a mother shall not be harmed by her child, that is, on account of the child, by being forced to suckle it, if she does not want to; neither, should, a father, be harmed, by his child, that is, on account of it, by being charged with more than he is able to bear. The mention of both parents here in relation to the child is intended to show sympathy [for both]. The heir, the one inheriting from his father, that is, the young man who is the trustee of his [father’s] property, has a similar duty, to that of the father in terms of providing sustenance and clothing for the [other] parent. But if the two, parents, desire by mutual consent, agreement, and consultation, so that the child’s best interests are clear, to wean, that is, to effect ablactation before the completion of the two-year period, then they would not be at fault, in this matter. And if you (addressing the parents) desire to seek nursing, from other than the mothers, for your children, you would not be at fault, in this respect, provided you hand over, to them, what you have given, what you intend to give them in the way of wages, honourably, in kindness and good nature; and fear God, and know that God sees what you do, and that nothing of it can be hidden from Him.

And those of you who pass away, die, leaving, behind, wives, they shall wait by themselves, after their death, refraining from marriage, for four months and ten, nights: this applies to women who are not pregnant. The waiting period in the case of pregnant women is for them to give birth — as stated by a verse in sūrat al-Talāq [Q. 65:4]. The slavegirl must wait for half this period [of four months] according to the Sunna; when they have reached, completed, their term, of waiting, then you would not be at fault, O guardians, regarding what they may do with themselves, in the way of adorning themselves and offering themselves before suitors, honourably, in accordance with the Law; God is aware of what you do, both secretly and openly.

You would not be at fault if you divorce women while you have not touched them (tamassūhunna: also read tumāssūhunna), that is, [while] you have not had sexual intercourse with them, nor appointed any obligation, dowry, for them (the particle mā, ‘while’, relates to the verbal action and is also adverbial) that is to say, there are no sinful consequences for divorcing them if you have not copulated with them or assigned them a dowry, so divorce them; yet make provision of comforts for them honourably, that is, in accordance with the Law (bi’l-ma‘rūf, ‘honourably’, is an adjectival qualification of matā‘an, ‘comforts’), giving them what they can enjoy, the one of ample means, the affluent among you, according to his means, and the needy man, of restricted income, according to his means — an obligation (haqqan, ‘obligation’, is either a second qualifier of matā‘an, ‘comforts’, or an emphatic verbal noun), on the virtuous, the obedient ones.

And if you divorce them before you have touched them, and you have already appointed for them an obligation, then one-half of what you have appointed, must be given to them and the other half returns to you; unless it be that they, the women, make remission, and forgo it, or he makes remission, by leaving her the entire amount, the one in whose hand is the knot of marriage, the husband to be, or as Ibn ‘Abbās is reported to have said, ‘The legal guardian, where the female is a minor’; in which case nobody would be at fault; yet that you should remit (wa-an ta‘fū is the subject) is nearer to piety (aqrabu li’l-taqwā is its predicate). Forget not kindness between you, that is, to be bountiful towards one another; surely God sees what you do, and will requite you accordingly.

Maintain the, five, prayers, by performing them at their appointed times, and the middle prayer, either that of the afternoon, or the morning, or the midday, or another prayer (there are many opinions on this matter); God has singled it out for mention because of its merit; and stand, in prayer, submissive to God, li Lllāhi qānitīn: some have said that this means ‘obedience’, on account of the Prophet (s) saying, ‘Wherever the [expression] qunūt [‘submission’], appears in the Qur’ān, it denotes obedience’, as reported by Ahmad [b. Hanbal] and others; it is also said to mean ‘in silence’ [sākitīn], on the basis of a hadīth of Zayd b. Arqam, in which he said, ‘We used to speak to each other sometimes during prayer, but when this was revealed, we were commanded to be silent and were forbidden to talk’, as reported by the two Shaykhs [Bukhārī and Muslim].

And if you are in fear, of an enemy, or a torrent, or a predatory animal, then standing (rijāl, plural of rājil), praying while walking, or mounted (rukbān, plural of rākib). In other words, in whichever way you can, facing the direction of the qibla or otherwise, making the gestures of genuflexion and prostration; but when you are secure, from any fear, then remember God, by performing prayer, as He taught you what you knew not, before He taught you its obligations and its proper ways (the particle kāf [of ka-mā, ‘as’] has the same meaning as mithl [‘like’], while the mā is related to the verbal action, or is relative).

And those of you who die, leaving wives, let them, make testament (wasiyyatan, or wasiyyatun) for their wives, as an obligation, and give them provision, what they can enjoy of property and clothes, for, until the completion of, a year (matā‘an ilā l-hawl, ‘provision for a year’, is a circumstantial qualifier), that is, without expelling them from their habitations; but if they go forth, of their own accord, you would not be at fault, [you] the guardians of the dead one, regarding what they may do with themselves honourably, in accordance with the Law, such as adorning themselves or abandoning the mourning, or that you should cut off their expenditure; God is Mighty, in His Kingdom, Wise, in His actions. The testament mentioned here was abrogated by the ‘inheritance’ verse [Q. 4:12], and the waiting of one year [without expulsion] was abrogated by the previous verse four months and ten [Q. 2:234] which was revealed later. In the opinion of al-Shāfi‘ī, may God have mercy on him, the habitation remains hers.