Book: Al-Mizan - An Exegesis Of The Qur'an; Author: al-'Allamah as-Sayyid Muhammad Husayn at-Tabataba'i; Translator: Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi; Publisher & Permission To Copy From: WOFIS - World Organization For Islamic Services, P.O. Box: 11365-1545, Tehran - Iran; Tel: 824111, 4409354 & 4409355, Fax: 0098 21 4409423, Tlx: 222226 GIG IR

Forbidden to you are your mothers and your daughters and your sisters and your paternal aunts and your maternal aunts and brother's daughters and sister's daughters and your mothers that have suckled you and your foster sisters and mothers of your wives and your step-daughters who are in your guardianship, (born) of your wives to whom you have gone in but if you have not gone in to them, there is no blame on you (in marrying them) and the wives of your sons who are of your own loins, and that you should have two sisters together, except what has already passed; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful (23).

And all married women except those whom your right hands possess; (this is) Allah's ordinance to you; and lawful for you is (all) besides that - that you seek (them) by means of your wealth taking (them) with chastity, not committing fornication. Then as such of them with whom you have Mutah, give them their dowries as appointed; and there is no blame on you about what you mutually agree after what is appointed; surely Allah is Knowing, Wise (24).

And whoever among you has not within his power ampleness of means to marry free believing women, then (he may marry) of those whom your right hands possess from among your believing maidens; and Allah knows best your faith: you are (sprung) the one from the other; so marry them with the permission of their people, and give them their dowries justly, they being chaste, not fornicating, nor receiving paramours; and when they are taken in marriage, then if they are guilty of indecency, they shall suffer half the punishment which is (inflicted) upon free women. This is for him among you who fears falling into evil; and that you abstain is better for you, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful (25).

Allah desires to explain to you, and to guide you into the ways of those before you, and to turn to you (mercifully), and Allah is Knowing, Wise (26).

And Allah desires that He should turn to you (mercifully), and those who follow (their) lusts desire that you should deviate (with) a great deviation (27).

Allah desires that He should make light your burdens, and man is created weak (28).

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AL-MIZAN: COMMENTARY

These are decisive verses which enumerate the women with whom marriage is prohibited – and those who are allowed. The preceding verse, which prohibited marriage with fathers' wives, is connected in theme with these verses; but its style was more in agreement with the preceding verses; that is why we included it in the preceding commentary, as it had some thematic relevance with those verses also.

The verses give a list of all those women with whom marriage is absolutely prohibited without any condition or exception. This is clear from the words immediately after enumeration of prohibited relatives: and lawful for you is (all) besides that. . . That is why all scholars unanimously say that the verse prohibits son's daughter and daughter's daughter as well as father's mother and mother's mother; and that the verse: do not marry women whom your fathers married, prohibits grandfather's wife too. From this, we may easily understand, the Qur’anic view about sons and daughters and that who are included in these terms according to the shariah, as will be explained later, Allah willing.

QUR’AN: Forbidden to you are your mothers and your daughters and your sisters and your paternal aunts and your maternal aunts and brother's daughters and sister's daughters: It is the list of those who are prohibited by blood-relation; they are seven in number. 'Mother' is a woman from whom man is born; either direct or through an intermediary, like father's mother or mother's mother, how high so ever. 'Daughter' is a woman who is born of the man, either direct or through an intermediary, like son's daughter or daughter's daughter, how low so ever. 'Sister' is a woman having affinity with the man by common birth from the same father and mother, or same father or same mother – without any intermediary. 'Paternal aunt' is father's sister, as well as paternal or maternal grandfather's sister. 'Maternal aunt' is mother's sister, as well as paternal or maternal grandmother's sister.

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Prohibition of mothers and the others described in the verse, means prohibition of marriage with them, as is understood from the subject and the order. It is not different from other such expressions; for example: Forbidden to you is that which dies of itself, and blood and flesh of swine ... (5:3), i.e., eating it; and the words: . . . So it shall surely be forbidden to them for forty years. (5:26), i.e., living in it. Such metaphorical expressions are very common in every language.

Nevertheless, it seems a bit difficult to say that it is 'marriage' which is implied by the word, 'forbidden', because of the exceptional clause coming later: except those whom your right hands possess. Sexual intercourse with one's slave women is lawful without marriage. Therefore, it would seem more appropriate if prohibition is taken to refer to sexual intercourse, and not to marriage alone, as will be explained later. The same is the implication of the words: that you seek (them) by means of your wealth . . . as will be described afterwards. Thus the fact emerges that the implied word after 'forbidden' is cohabitation, or another similar word, not marriage. Allah has avoided mentioning it explicitly, because the divine speech refrains from such words and maintains a high moral decorum.

The talk is addressed to men. It does not say: Forbidden to women are their sons, or, for example, there is no marriage between woman and her son. It is because by nature it is the man who seeks the woman and proposes marriage.

The verse addresses the men (in plural), and also the prohibited women are mentioned in plural, e.g., 'mothers' and 'daughters', etc. It implies comprehensive distribution. In other words, it means: Forbidden to each man among you is his mother and his daughter, etc. Obviously, it does not mean that the whole group of these women is forbidden to the whole group of men. Nor does it mean that every woman who happens to be a mother or a daughter is forbidden to every man. Otherwise, it would result in abrogation of the institution of marriage altogether. The verse, therefore, means that each man is forbidden to marry his mother, daughter and sister, etc.

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QUR’AN: and your mothers that have suckled you and your foster sisters: Now begins the list of the women prohibited by other than blood-relationship. They too are seven – six are mentioned in this verse and one in the preceding one: and marry not women whom your fathers married.

The style of the verse establishes motherhood and sonship between a woman and the child whom she suckles; likewise it creates brotherhood and sisterhood between man and his foster-sister; note how it uses the words 'mothers' and 'sisters' for them as an accepted reality. Therefore, according to the shariah, breast-feeding creates relationship parallel to blood-relationship; and as will be described later, it is a special feature of the Islamic laws.

Both sects have narrated a correct tradition from the Prophet that he said: “Verily Allah has prohibited through suckling what He has prohibited through blood-relationship.” It follows that suckling creates prohibition parallel to the prohibited blood-relationship, that is, foster-mother, foster-daughter, foster-sister, foster paternal aunt, foster maternal aunt, daughter of foster brother and daughter of foster-sister – a total of seven groups.

How the suckling relationship is established; what conditions are necessary concerning its quantity, quality and duration, to create the prohibition; and other relevant rules - these topics are explained in the Islamic jurisprudence, and are outside the scope of this book.

The words translated as, "and your foster-sisters", literally means, 'and your sisters from suckling', and the phrase refers to those sisters whom the man's mother had suckled with the milk flowing because of his father.

QUR’AN: and mothers of your wives: It makes no difference whether the man had established sexual relation with that wife or not. The word 'women', when used in genitive construction with ‘man’, means wives – unconditionally. This generality is clearly proved from the condition mentioned in the next sentence: . . . (born) of your wives [lit. 'women'] to whom you have gone in; but if you have not gone in to them. . .

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QUR’AN: and your step-daughters who are in your guardianship, (born) of your wives to whom you have gone in; but if you have not gone in to them, there is no blame on you (in marrying them): ar-Raba'ib is plural of ar-Rabibah; it means daughter of a man's wife from a previous husband; because it is the present husband who looks after the children whom his wife brings with her. It is he who in most, if not all, cases looks after them and brings them up.

The clause translated as, "who are in your guardianship", literally means, 'who are in your lap'. This too denotes majority of cases, although not all step-daughters grow up in laps of their stepfathers. That is why it is said that the words, "who are in your guardianship", merely denote general situation, because stepdaughter is forbidden whether she grows up in the lap of her mother's husband or not. The clause, therefore, is explanatory, not restrictive.

It is possible to maintain that the clause, “who are in your guardianship”, points to the underlying reason of the law prohibiting women of blood and other relations, as will be described later. There is continuous and constant mingling between men and these women; they are almost always together in the homes. Consequently, it would have been impossible to avoid incest (merely with prohibition of fornication) if they were not prohibited forever – as will be explained later.

Accordingly, the clause, "who are in your guardianship", indicates that the criterion and underlying reason of prohibition is applicable to your step-daughters as validly as it is to other groups of prohibited women, because mostly these daughters grow up in your laps and live with you together.

In any case, the clause, "who are in your guardianship", is not a restrictive proviso to limit the prohibition. In other words, it does not mean that a step-daughter is lawful to her step-father if she is not in his guardianship; let us say, if there is an adult daughter whose mother has married another husband. Note for proof the clear wordings of the next clause, "but if you have not gone in to them, there is no blame on you (in marrying them)". Obviously, establishing sexual relation with her mother has a bearing on the law of prohibition, and, therefore, its absence negates the prohibition. If the daughter's being in the step-father's guardianship had any bearing on the prohibition, it was necessary to describe it in the same way.

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There is a phrase, that is, ‘in marrying them’, implied after the words, "there is no blame on you". It was deleted for brevity's sake as the context had made the meaning clear.

QUR’AN: and the wives of your sons who are of your own loins: al-Hala'il is a plural of al-halilah. It is written in Majma ‘u ‘l-bayan: “al-Hala’il is plural of al-halilah which is a synonym of al-muhallalah (= lawful); it is derived from al-halal (= legal, lawful); its masculine gender is al-halil (= lawful) and its plural is ahillah on the paradigm of 'aziz and a'izzah (= powerful). Husband and wife were given this name because each of them is lawful to his/her spouse. There is another view that it is derived from al-hulul (= to enter into something), because each spouse enters into bed with his/her partner.”

The word, 'sons', denotes male child begotten by a human being through birth, either direct or through a son or daughter, [how low so ever]. The, conditional clause, "who are of your loins", excludes wives of the so-called sons of adoption.

QUR’AN: and that you should have two sisters together . . . It ordains prohibition of marrying sister of a wife as long as the wife is alive and is married to the man. It is the best and the shortest construction to express this idea. The expression makes it clear that man is forbidden to have both sisters together in his marriage at the same time. There is no hindrance if a man marries a woman and then, after her divorce or death, marries her sister. The proof may be seen in the well-established conduct of the Muslims going back to the Prophet's time.

The exceptional clause: except what has already passed, has the same implication here as it had in the preceding verse: And marry not women whom your fathers married, except what has already passed. It looks at the custom, prevalent among the Arabs of [the era of] ignorance, of having two sisters in marriage together. This clause proclaims pardon to what they had done in the past – before this verse was revealed. It does not mean that such marriages – if they were contracted earlier – could continue even after the revelation. The verse clearly shows that from now such marriages, being prohibited and unlawful cannot continue. We have quoted in the "Traditions", under the verse: And marry not women whom your fathers married, except what has already passed, how the Prophet had separated between the sons and the wives of their fathers, at once after that verse was revealed, although the marriages had been contracted before its revelation.

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Question: What is the use of pardoning a previous marriage which was dissolved soon after revelation of the verse, and did not continue? What was the benefit of saying that that past union was not prohibited – was lawful – when it had already ceased to exist?

Reply: It had great benefits, because the effects of that marriage were continuing even after the marriage was dissolved, like legitimacy of children, recognition of various relationships and other related matters.

In other words, there is no use in saying that a past marriage, which had joined two sisters together, was lawful or unlawful – when both or one of them had died, or both or one of them had been divorced. But it is quite meaningful to declare that that past conjunction was not unlawful at that time. It was necessary for the welfare of the offspring of such marriages, as it gave them legitimacy and established relationship between the children and their natural fathers and other relatives, which in its turn had bearing on inheritance, marriage and other so many family affairs.

Accordingly, the clause: "except what has already passed", regularize the resulting legal aspects of that marriage – not the marriage itself which had anyhow ceased before this legislation. It shows that both sides of this exception are inter-related, are not of two different categories, as many exegetes, have written.

Also it is possible to apply this exception to all the clauses mentioned in the verse - without restricting it to the last clause, "and that you should have two sisters together". It is true that the Arabs did not marry any of the women mentioned in the verse except having two sisters together; they did not marry their mothers, daughters or other prohibited relatives. But, at the time of the revelation of these verses, there were many societies, like the Persians, the Romans and several other civilized and uncivilized nations, which married various prohibited women, each society following its own custom. Islam recognizes the validity of the prevalent marriage-systems of non-Muslim societies – provided it was considered lawful by their religion or tradition. Thus, the exception confirms the legitimacy of their children and recognizes the validity of their relationships even when they enter into the fold of Islam.

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Even so, the first explanation is more obvious.

QUR’AN: surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful: It explains the reason of the above-mentioned exception. It is one of those places where divine forgiveness refers to the external effects of a deed, and not to the sins and disobedience.

QUR’AN: And all married women except those whom your right hands possess: al-Muhsanat is the nomen patientis (passive participle) of al-ihsan (= to make inaccessible); they say: al-hisn al-hasin (= invulnerable fortress). When this verb is ascribed to woman as, for example, ahsanati‘l mar'ah it gives one of the following three connotations: i) The woman, being chaste, protected herself and abstained from illicit sexual relations, as Allah says: . . . who guarded her chastity (66:12); ii) The woman married, so her husband, or her marriage, protected her from others; in this sense, the verb may be used in passive voice; also iii) She is a free woman and it keeps her away from illicit sexual relations – because fornication was common among slave women.

Obviously, the word, al-Muhsanat, in this verse, has the second connotation, i.e., married women. It cannot have the first or the third meaning, because apart from the fourteen groups (mentioned in the preceding two verses), the only thing prohibited is marriage with a married woman; there is no snag at all in marrying other women, whether they be chaste or unchaste, free or slave. There is, therefore, no reason for interpreting the word, al-Muhsanat here as chaste women (because the prohibition is not confined to the chaste women) and then attaching to the verse a condition that they should not be in other's marriage. Nor is there any justification for explaining the said word as free women (because the rules about slave women are the same as those for free ones) and then attaching to the verse a condition of their being un-married. Such interpretations are not agreeable to good literary taste.

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Al-Muhsanat, therefore, means married women, i.e., those who are presently married to a husband. The word is in conjunction with your mothers and your daughters . . . The meaning: Forbidden to you are all married women as long as their present marriage continues.

Consequently, the exceptional clause, "except those whom your right hands possess" will exclude one's married slave girl from this prohibition. It has been narrated in traditions that the master of a married slave woman may take away that woman from her husband, keep her untouched for the prescribed term, then have sexual relation with her, and thereafter return her to her husband.

Some exegetes have opined: The exception, "except those whom your right hands possess", means, except those chaste women whom you possess by marriage or as slave. Possession thus implies the right of having sexual pleasure.

But this opinion is not correct, because:

First: It interprets the word, al-Muhsanat (= married women) as chaste women, and you have already seen how wrong that interpretation is.

Second: The Qur’an always uses the phrase, "those whom your right hands possess", for slaves; not for any other right of benefiting from something.

Likewise, someone has said: The phrase refers to unbeliever married women imprisoned in jihad. A tradition from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri is offered in support, in which he says: "This verse was revealed about the captives of Awtas, where the Muslims had captured some women of the polytheists, whose husbands were in (their) non-Muslim region. When this verse was revealed, an announcer announced on behalf of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) 'Be careful! The pregnant ones should not be approached for sexual intercourse until they deliver, nor the non-pregnant ones until they complete (their) waiting period.’”

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But apart from weakness of this tradition, it amounts to particularization of the verse without a particularizer.

Therefore, only the meaning given by us is to the point.

QUR’AN: (this is) Allah's ordinance to you: The phrase, "Allah's ordinance to you", means: Adhere to Allah's command which is ordained and prescribed for you. The exegetes have said: "Allah's ordinance to you"' is a cognate accusative of an implied verb. The original sentence is supposed to be: Allah has ordained an ordinance for you; the verb was then deleted and the accusative – ordinance – attached to the subject – Allah – in a genitive construction, taking the place of the subject. They have not taken the phrase, "to you", as verbal-noun [in the meaning of, 'It is incumbent on you']; because the grammarians say that this phrase, as a verbal-noun, is weak in effect and its object cannot precede it [as it does in this verse].

QUR’AN: and lawful for you is (all) besides that: [The construction, ma wara'a dhalikum (= what is besides that) requires careful consideration.] It uses, ma (= what) which is obviously used for 'un-rational' things; the demonstrative pronoun, dhalikum, is used for masculine singular object. Also the phrase is followed by the words: that you seek by means of your wealth. All these factors together make it clear that the relative and demonstrative pronouns refer to the same thing which was implied by the beginning word, "Forbidden " ' i.e., sexual intercourse, or words like that. Meaning: It is lawful for you to have it with other than what has been described above, that is, to have sexual intercourse after marriage with other than the fifteen prohibited groups – or after obtaining in slavery some other women. In this way the appositional substantive (that you seek them by means of your wealth . . .) will perfectly enmesh with the rest of the sentence.

Many exegetes have explained this exceptional clause in very amusing ways. One says that the clause, "and lawful for you is (all) besides that ", means that all other relatives are lawful to you.

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According to another, it means that it is lawful for you to have less than five – i.e., four or less – women that you seek them for marriage by means of your wealth. A third one opines that, it is lawful for you to have slave women outside the mentioned fifteen groups. Still another says that it means: Lawful for you is all besides the prohibited relatives – provided the number does not exceed four – that you seek by means of your wealth to marry them or purchase them in slavery.

All these interpretations are simply absurd, because none is supported by the wordings of the verse. Moreover, all of them apply the relative pronoun, 'what', to rational beings, without any justification, as you have seen above. Apart from that, the verse aims only at explaining with whom conjugal relations cannot be established. In this context, it enumerates the prohibited groups of women – without looking at their number. There is no reason why the exceptional clause should be explained in term of numbers. The fact is that the verse aims at describing permission for the acquisition of women – other than those mentioned in the preceding two verses – by marriage or by possession.

QUR’AN: that you seek (them) by means of your wealth, taking (them) with chastity, not committing fornication: The clause is neither an appositional substantive standing for the preceding clauses, (all) besides that; or is in explicative apposition with that. In any case, it explains the lawful way of approaching women and having sexual intercourse with them. The preceding exceptional clause: and lawful for you is (all) besides that, if left at that, could be applied to three things: Marriage, possession by slavery and fornication. This clause, "that you seek . . .” forbids fornication and restricts permission to the remaining two: marriage and possession by slavery. Then it attaches importance to seeking them by means of one's wealth: In marriage, it is dowry, which is one of its chief elements; in possession, it is price, which is the main procedure of acquiring slaves. The meaning now will be as follows: Apart from the above-mentioned prohibited categories, you are allowed to seek other women by spending your wealth on dowry of those whom you marry, or on price of slave girls – in all this you have to remain chaste and avoid illicit sexual relations.

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It is now clear that the word, muhsinin in this clause denotes chastity; it cannot imply being married or free. The phrase "seek (them) by means of your wealth” covers marriage and possession both; there is no reason to restrict it to marriage: therefore, the word, muhsinin, should not be restricted here to married ones. Also chastity does not mean celibacy; otherwise, the word would be irrelevant here. The word, chastity, as used here is opposite of illicit sexual relations of all types. It tells men to restrain themselves from unlawful sexual activities and restrict themselves to what Allah has allowed of the sexual enjoyment – to which man is attracted by natural instinct.

Someone has said that the clause, "that you seek (them)", means 'in order that you may seek them'. But this view is not correct. This clause explains the same thing which was said by the preceding one: and lawful for you is (all) besides that. Therefore, it is appositional substantive standing for the preceding clause; it does not mention anything that springs from the preceding one, or which is the effect of that.

Likewise, another writer has opined that the verb, al-musafahah (= to spill or shed something; metaphorically used in meaning of fornication) used here in the form of ghayra musafihin (= translated here as, not committing fornication) has actually been used in its literal sense, and the verse forbids merely ejaculating semen in womb, without intending to achieve the goal for which Allah has created the natural sexual urge in man, i.e., without wanting to establish a family and procreate. Conversely, al-ihsan implies permanent marriage which aims at producing children.

Reply: The only thing that can be said about the writer is that he is confused. Generally, there are two ways of discussing a law: Sometimes one looks at its underlying reason and benefit; at other times, talk is focused at the law itself. That writer has muddled the two together, inadvertently putting himself in a corner.

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Discussion about underlying reason of a law is rational in nature, based on intellect; while discussion of the law itself - together with its subject, concomitants, conditions and impediments – is based on its wordings, and its expansion or constriction depends entirely on that of the phraseology chosen by the Law-giver. Of course, there is no doubt that, all the divinely ordained laws are based on genuine reasons and benefits. The ordainment of marriage laws too is based on real benefit, genuine underlying reason, and that is procreation. We also know that the system of creation wants human species to continue through successive existence of its individual members – as long as Allah wished. To achieve that goal, human body has been equipped with procreative organs; which take a minute part of human bodies, nurture and develop it until it becomes a new human being, ready to take the place of the preceding generation. In this way the species continues without interruption. At the same time, sexual urge was ingrained in human beings in order that they should not neglect using the said organs. It is because of this urge that each group – male and female – is attracted to the other and establishes sexual relations. All this was perfected with the power of understanding, which prevents human beings from subverting this process to which the system of creation invites.

Even so, although the natural system has achieved its goal, that is, continuation of human species, we know that not every sexual intercourse between man and woman achieves that goal. Cohabitation is the initial step on that path. But not every union is blessed with child, nor every sexual intercourse results in pregnancy, nor every lust brings about that effect. Not every man or woman, nor every marriage, is inexorably pushed to cohabitation and procreation. These things happen in many, but not in all, cases.

The natural faculty exhorts man to marry, seeking procreation through sexual urge; and the reason ingrained in him restrains him from indecency, from unlawful carnal activities, as such deviation spoils felicity of life, demolishes foundation of family and disrupts procreation.

This composite benefit – procreation and prevention of indecency – is the underlying reason (which takes place in most of the cases), on which the institution of marriage is based in Islam. But this 'appearance in most of the cases', this generality, governs the underlying reason only. So far as the related ordained laws are concerned, they are not for 'most', but for all, human beings and for all times.

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Therefore, it is not correct to say that marriage or cohabitation should be lawful or unlawful depending on whether or not the afore-said benefit can be obtained from it. It will be absurd to claim that marriage is not lawful without intention of procreation. Otherwise, such people will have to say that: marriage of an infertile man or woman is unlawful; marriage of a woman in menopause is unlawful; marriage of a minor girl is unlawful; marriage of a fornicator is unlawful; intercourse with a pregnant wife is unlawful; intercourse without ejaculation is unlawful; marriage, before establishing a household is unlawful; and so on and so forth. [i]

The fact is that marriage between male and female is a lawful institution, and it has its own permanent rules and regulations [which apply to the whole mankind for all times to come - without any exception]. This institution was established for protection of common benefits which are obtained from it in most cases, as you have seen. But it is meaningless to make this ordained institution dependent on that benefit for its existence [or lawfulness], or to say that every marriage or its every rule or aspect that did not lead to procreation was unlawful.

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QUR’AN: Then as to such of them with whom you have Mutah give them their dowries as appointed; . . . Probably, the word, ma (= translated here as 'such') is relative pronoun; the verb, "you have Mutah" is its antecedent; the pronoun in bihi (= with whom) refers to the relative pronoun, and the words, "of them" to the antecedent. Meaning: Then as to such of the women with whom you have Mutah.

Another possible grammatical explanation: The pronoun in bihi (with whom) refers to cohabitation (which was implied in the clause: and lawful for you is (all) besides that; 'ma' then would denote time and mean 'whenever'; and the words, 'of them', would be connected to the verb, istamta'tum which may literally be translated as, 'you seek to enjoy'. In this case, the translation would be as follows: Then whenever you seek to enjoy (sexually) with any of them, give them their dowries as appointed.

This sentence, “Then as to such of them . . .”, undoubtedly branches out from the preceding talk – as the letter, fa (= then) shows – as a component is described after the whole, or a particular is explained after the general. As was explained, the preceding sentence: that you seek (them) by means of your wealth . . ., is certainly a branching of a component or particular from a whole or general concept.

Such branching is very common in the divine book. For example: For a counted number of days; then whoever among you is sick or on a journey. . . (2:184); . . . when you are secure, then whosoever enjoys by the 'umrah until the hajj . . . (2:196); There is no compulsion in religion; truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error; therefore, whoever disbelieves in the rebels (false deities) and believes in Allah . . . (2:256); there are many such examples.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the word, al-istimta’ (= lit., to enjoy) used in this verse means Mutah marriage. The verse is Medinite, and a part of the chapter of 'The Women', that was revealed in the first half of the Prophet's life at Medina, as the majority of its verses indicate; and in that period this type of marriage, i.e., Mutah, was, without any doubt, a common practice, a prevalent custom among the Muslims – and the traditions unanimously accept this fact. It makes no difference whether or not it was Islam which had originated this system; what is important is the fact that this marriage was in vogue within the sight and hearing of the Prophet; and it had this very name, Mutah; no other word was used to denote this type of marriage.

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Accordingly, there is no escape from applying the clause, fa-masta'tum bihi minhunna to the Mutah marriage. There were so many customs, practices and cohabits prevalent among the Arabs at the period of the revelation, which had their own well-known and well-understood names; and whenever a verse was revealed concerning them using their names – whether it was confirmation or rejection, order or prohibition – there was no other way but to apply that nomenclature to their usual meanings – i.e., to the customs concerned; nobody ever thought of interpreting those names in their literal sense. For example, Qur’an has used the words, hajj, trade, interest, profit, booty, and many similar names, but no one could ever think that, for instance, hajj of the House meant planning to go to the Ka'bah; nor were other such names ever explained in their literal meanings. Likewise, the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) brought many items of the shariah, and they spread with their given religious names, like salaat, sawm (fast), zakat, hajju't-tamattu' etc. After the establishment of these names, nobody would think of applying these words, when they appear in the Qur’an, to their original literal meanings – once the words have been established for their terminological meanings – in the usage of the religion or the people of religion.

Therefore, the only possible way is to apply the word, al-istimta', of this verse, on the Mutah marriage, because it was known with this very name when this verse was revealed. It is quite irrelevant whether or not the Mutah marriage was later abrogated by the Qur’an or tradition.

In short, the verse speaks about an aspect of the Mutah marriage; and it is the explanation which is narrated from the ancient exegetes among the Companions and their disciples, like Ibn 'Abbas, Ibn Mas'ud, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, Qatadah, Mujahid, as-Suddi, Ibn Jubayr, al-Hasan and others. The same is the madhhab of the Imams of the Ahlu 'l-bayt (a.s.).

This shows the incorrectness of the following two interpretations:

Some exegetes have written that al-istimta' (lit., to seek enjoyment) means marriage, because marriage-tie is established in order to get enjoyment from it.

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Someone else has said that istamta'tum actually means tamatta'tum (= you enjoy); and 's' and 't' have been added only for emphasis, [not to indicate seeking of something].

But both opinions are wrong, because prevalence and currency of Mutah marriage (with this very name) among them does not leave any room to its literal meaning to enter the hearers' minds.

Moreover, if we accept [for the sake of argument] that the verse means seeking enjoyment, or enjoying, then this conditional clause would not agree with the resulting clause. It will be wrong to say that when you enjoy (sexually with) or seek to enjoy with, a woman, then give her dowry to her. The wife becomes entitled to dowry just on recitation of the formula of marriage; it does not depend on sexual relation, nor on the pursuit of the same (a term which may apply even to proposal of marriage, recitation of marriage formula, foreplay and sexual intercourse, etc.). Of course, half of the dowry is payable on recitation of the formula and the balance on coition.

Apart from that, many verses, which were revealed before it, had fully established the obligation of paying dowry, with all its various propositions. Accordingly, there was no reason to repeat the order of its obligation here. Vide, for example:

And give women their dowries as a free gift (4:4).

And if you wish to have (one) wife in place of another and you have given one of them a heap of gold, then take not from it anything. . . (4:20-21).

There is no blame on you if you divorce women while yet you have not touched them or appointed for them a dowry, and make provision for them, on the wealthy according to his means and on the straitened in circumstances according to his means, . . . And if you divorce them before you have touched them and you have appointed for them a dowry, then (pay to them) half of what you have appointed, unless they remit or he remits in whose hand is the marriage-tie; and it is nearer to piety that you should remit;. . . (2:236-7).

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Someone has proposed that this sentence may be aiming at putting emphasis on the law of dowry. But the above-mentioned verses, and especially the ending clauses of the verses: And if you wish to have (one) wife in place of another. . . are much more forceful and stronger than the verse under discussion. Therefore, how can this verse be supposed to put emphasis on those verses?

Now, a look at the question of abrogation:

It has been said that this verse was abrogated by the following verses of the chapter of 'The Believers': . . . And who guard their private parts, except before their mates or those whom their right hands possess, for they surely are not blameable; but whoever seeks to go beyond that, these are they that exceed the limits (23:5-7).

Another suggestion: It was abrogated by the verse of al-‘iddah (= waiting period after divorce or death of husband): O Prophet! When you divorce women, divorce them for their prescribed time, and calculate the number of the days prescribed (65: 1); And the divorced women should keep themselves in waiting for three monthly courses. . . (2:228). Their argument: The marriage is dissolved by means of divorce and waiting period, but Mutah marriage has neither.

A third suggestion: It was abrogated by the verse of inheritance: And you shall have half of what your wives leave. . . (4:12). There is no inheritance in Mutah marriage.

Fourth suggestion: It is abrogated by the verse of prohibition: Forbidden to you are your mothers and your daughters. . . (4:23), as this verse is about marriage.

Fifth: It is abrogated by the verse of number: then marry such (other) women as seem good to you, two and three and four (4:3).

Others have said that the verse of Mutah is abrogated by tradition. [But they seem unable to agree on its details:]

It is said that the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) abrogated the Mutah marriage in the year of Khaybar [i.e., 7 AH].

Others say: It was abrogated in the year of the Conquest [of Mecca, i.e., 8 AH].

Third claim: It was abolished in the Last Hajj [i.e., 10 AH].

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A fourth claim is that Mutah was allowed, then forbidden; and this alternate permission and prohibition happened twice or thrice, and the last order was of prohibition.

Let us look at the claims of abrogation by the Qur’an:

1. As for the verse of the chapter of 'The Believers', first of all it cannot abrogate the verse of Mutah, because it is of Meccan period while the verse of Mutah is of Medinite period, and a Meccan verse cannot abrogate a Medinite one.

Second: The claim that Mutah is not a marriage, or a woman married in Mutah is not a wife, is totally unacceptable. You will see the truth if you just look at the sayings of the Prophet and wordings of the early Muslims, including the Companions and their disciples, who always called it Mutah marriage. [ii]

2. As for the claim of abrogation by the verses of inheritance, divorce or number, the relation between these and the verse of Mutah is not that of

From pp. 91-162

Mutah In The Qur'an

Holy Qur'an: Surah an-Nisa (Chapter The Women):

Verses 23-28

Table Of Contents

CHAPTER 4, VERSES 23 - 28

AL-MIZAN: COMMENTARY