Surah At-Tahrim Ayat 6 (66:6 Quran) With Tafsir

Ala-Maududi

(65:6) (During the waiting period) lodge them according to your means wherever you dwell, and do not harass them to make them miserable.^[16] And if they are pregnant, provide for them maintenance until they have delivered their burden.^[17] And if they suckle your offspring whom they bore you, then give them due recompense, and graciously settle the question of compensation between yourselves by mutual understanding.^[18] But if you experience difficulty (in determining the compensation for suckling) then let another woman suckle the child.^[19]

16. The jurists agree that if the woman has been divorced revocable, the husband is responsible for her lodging and maintenance. They also agree that if the woman is pregnant, the husband will bear the responsibility of her lodging and maintenance till child-birth whether she has been divorced revocable or irrevocably. However, the difference of opinion has arisen about whether the nonpregnant woman who has been divorced irrevocably is entitled to both lodging and maintenance, or only to lodging, or to neither.

One group says that she is entitled to both lodging and maintenance. This is the opinion of Umar, Abdullah bin Masud, Ali bin Husain (Imam Zain al-Abidin), Qadi Shuraih and Ibrahim Nakhai. The same has been adopted by the Hanafis, and the same is also the viewpoint of Imam Sufyan Thauri and Hasan bin Saleh. This is supported by the Hadith of Daraqutni in which Abdullah bin Jabir reports that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The woman who has been divorced thrice has a right to lodging and maintenance during the waiting-period. This is further supported by those traditions in which it has been reported that Umar had rejected the Hadith of Fatimah bint-Qais, saying: We cannot abandon the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of our Prophet (peace be upon him) on the word of a woman. This shows that the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the knowledge of Umar must be that such a woman is entitled to both maintenance and lodging. Furthermore in a tradition from Ibrahim Nakhai there is the explanation that Umar rejecting the Hadith of Fatimah bint-Qais, had said: I have heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say that such a woman has a right to lodging as well as to maintenance. The first argument that Imam Abu Bakr al Jassas has given in his discussion of this question in his Ahkam al-Quran is that Allah has explicitly said: Divorce them for their prescribed waiting periods. This divine command also applies to that person who might have taken his wife back after divorcing her twice in the first instance, and now he is left with only one divorce to pronounce. His second argument is: When the Prophet (peace be upon him) taught this method of pronouncing divorce that one should either pronounce divorce in such a period of purity in which one may not have had sexual intercourse, or in a state when the signs of a woman’s being pregnant might have appeared. In this he did not make any distinction between the first, second, or final divorce. Therefore, the divine command: Lodge them (in the waiting period) where you yourselves live, will be regarded as relevant to every form of divorce. His third argument is: The maintenance and lodging of the pregnant woman, whether divorced revocable or irrevocably, is binding on the husband, and in respective the non-pregnant revocably divorced woman also both these rights are binding. This shows that the maintenance and lodging have not been made incumbent on the basis of pregnancy but because both are legally bound to stay in the husband’s house. Now, if the same injunction be applicable to the irrevocably divorced non-pregnant woman also, there can be no reason why her lodging and maintenance should not be incumbent on the man divorcing her.

The second group says that the irrevocably divorce woman has a right to lodging but not to maintenance. This is the viewpoint of Saed bin al-Musayyab, Suleman bin Yasar, Ata, Shabi, Auzai, Laith and Abu Ubaid, and Imam Shafei and Imam Malik also have adopted the same. But in Mughni al-Muhtaj a different viewpoint of Imam Shafei has been stated as will be explained below.

The third group say that the irrevocably divorced woman is neither entitled to lodging nor to maintenance. This is the viewpoint of Hasan Basri, Hammad Ibn Laila, Amr bin Dinar, Taus, Ishaq bin Rahawaih and Abu Thaw. Ibn Jarir has cited this very viewpoint as of Ibn Abbas, Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal and the Imamiah sect of the Shias also have adopted the same, and in Mughni al-Muhtaj the viewpoint of the Shafeis also has been stated to be this: The woman who is passing her waiting-period on the basis of divorce has an obligatory right to lodging, whether she is pregnant or not, but for the woman who has been irrevocably divorced, it is not obligatory. And for the nonpregnant irrevocably divorced woman there is neither maintenance nor clothing. This viewpoint in the first place is based on this verse of the Quran: You do not know: Allah may after this bring about a situation (of reconciliation). From this they conclude that this could be correct only about a revocably divorced woman, and not about an irrevocably divorced one. Therefore, the command of lodging the divorced woman in the house is specifically applicable only to the revocably divorced woman. Their second reasoning is from the Hadith of Fatimah bint-Qais, which has been reported in the collections of Hadith through many authentic channels.

This Fatimah bint-Qais al-Fihriyyah was one of the earliest emigrants. She was esteemed for her wisdom and sagacity, and the consultative body of the companions on the occasion of Umar’s martyrdom had met together at her house. She was first married to Abu Amr bin Hafs bin al- Mughirah al-Makhzumi. After she was separated by him by three divorces, the Prophet (peace be upon him) married her to Usamah bin Zaid. According to reports, her husband, Abu Amr had pronounced two divorces on her. Then, when he was sent to Yemen along with Ali, he also sent from there the third and final divorce. According to some, lodge her in the house during the waiting-period and maintain her. According to some others, she herself had laid claim to maintenance and lodging. Whatever be the case, the husband’s relatives refused to concede her claim. Thereupon she took her case to the Prophet (peace be upon him), and he gave the decision that she was neither entitled to maintenance nor to lodging. According to a tradition, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The husband is under obligation to provide maintenance and lodging to the woman only in case he had a right to return to her, but when he had no such right, she was neither entitled to maintenance nor to lodging. (Musnad Ahmad). Tabarani and Nasai have also related almost the same tradition, the concluding words of which are to the effect: But when she is not lawful for him until she marries another man than him, there is neither maintenance for her nor lodging. After giving this decision the Prophet (peace be upon him) first commanded her to pass her waiting period in the house of Umm Sharik and then told her to stay in the house of Ibn Umm Muktum.

However, the arguments of those who have not accepted this Hadith are as follows:

In the first place, she had been commanded to leave the house of her husband’s relatives because she was rude of tongue and they were fed up with her ill-temper. Saed bin al-Musayyab says: This lady by reporting her Hadith has misguided the people. The truth is that she was rude and impudent, that is why she was lodged in the house of Ibn Umm Maktum. (Abu Daud). In another tradition Saed bin al Musayyab is reported to have said: She had been impudent and rude to her husband’s relatives; that is why she was commanded to shift from that house. (Al-Jassas). Suleman bin Yasar says: Her expulsion from the house was because of her ill-temper. (Abu Daud).

Secondly, her tradition was repudiated by Umar at a time when many of the companions were still living, and the matter could be fully investigated. Ibrahim Nakhai says: When this Hadtih of Fatimah reached Umar, he said: We cannot abandon a verse of the Book of Allah and a saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) because of the saying of a woman who seems to be conjecturing. I have myself heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say that the woman who has been divorced irrevocably is entitled to both lodging and maintenance. (AI-Jassas). Abu Ishaq says: I was sitting with Aswad bin Yazid in the mosque of Kufah, when Shabi made mention of the Hadith of Fatimah bint-Qais. Aswad thereupon threw pebbles at Shabi and said: When in the time

Ibn-Kathir

6. O you who believe! Protect yourselves and your families against a Fire (Hell) whose fuel is men and stones, over which are (appointed) angels stern (and) severe, who disobey not the commands they receive from Allah, but do that which they are commanded. 7. (It will be said in the Hereafter) O you who disbelieve! Make no excuses this Day! You are being requited only for what you used to do. 8. O you who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance! It may be that your Lord will expiate from you your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow — the Day that Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believe with him. Their light will run forward before them and in their right hands. They will say: “Our Lord! Keep perfect our light for us and grant us forgiveness. Verily, You are Able to do all things.”

`Ali bin Abi Talhah reported from Ibn `Abbas;

(Protect yourselves and your families against a Fire (Hell)) He said, “Work in the obedience of Allah, avoid disobedience of Allah and order your families to remember Allah, then Allah will save you from the Fire.” Mujahid also commented on:

(Protect yourselves and your families against a Fire (Hell)) saying, “Have Taqwa of Allah and order your family to have Taqwa of Him.” Qatadah said, “He commands obedience to Allah, to not disobey Allah, he orders his family to obey His orders and helps them to act upon His orders. When one sees disobedience, he stops them and forbids them from doing it.” Similar was said by Ad-Dahhak and Muqatil; “It is an obligation for the Muslim to teach his near family members, and his male and female slaves what Allah has made obligatory for them and what Allah has forbidden for them.” There is a Hadith that confirms the meaning of this Ayah. Ahmad, Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi recorded that Ar-Rabi` bin Sabrah said that his father said that the Messenger of Allah said,

(Order the children to pray when they reach the age of seven and when they reach the age of ten, discipline them for (not performing) it.) This is the narration that Abu Dawud collected; At-Tirmidhi said, “This Hadith is Hasan.”

Allah said,

(whose fuel is men and stones,) indicating that the Children of Adam will be fuel for the Fire that will feed it,

(and stones) in reference to the idols that were worshipped, just as Allah said in another Ayah,

(Certainly you and that which you are worshipping now besides Allah, are (but) fuel for Hell!) (21:98) `Abdullah bin Mas`ud, Mujahid, Abu Ja`far Al-Baqir and As-Suddi said that these are sulfur stones that are more putrid than rotten corpses, according to Mujahid. Allah’s statement,

(over which are (appointed) angels stern (and) severe,) means, their nature of behavior is stern, because the mercy has been taken out of their hearts for those who disbelieve in Allah,

(severe) meaning, their structure is powerful, strong and frightening,

(who disobey not the commands they receive from Allah, but do that which they are commanded.) meaning, whatever Allah commands them, they rush to obey Him, without delay for even a twinkling of an eye. They are able to fulfill the command; they are called Az-Zabaniyah, meaning, the keepers and guards of Hell, may Allah give us shelter from them.

Allah said,

(O you who disbelieve! Make no excuses this Day! You are being requited only for what you used to do.) meaning, on the Day of Resurrection, the disbeliever will be told, “Do not offer any excuse this Day, because it will not be accepted from you; you will only be recompensed for what you used to do. Today, you will receive the punishment for your actions.”

Allah the Exalted said,

(O you who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance!) meaning, a true, firm repentance that erases the evil sins that preceded it and mend the shortcoming of the repenting person, encouraging and directing him to quit the evil that he used to do. Allah said,

(It may be that your Lord will expiate from you your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow) And when Allah says, “it may be,” it means He shall.

(the Day that Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believe with him) meaning, on the Day of Resurrection, Allah will not disgrace those who believed in the Prophet ,

(Their light will run forward before them and in their right hands.) as we explained in Surat Al-Hadid,

(They will say:”Our Lord! Keep perfect our light for us and grant us forgiveness. Verily, You are Able to do all things.”) Mujahid, Ad-Dahhak and Al-Hasan Al-Basri and other said, “This is the statement that the believers will say on the Day of Resurrection, when they witness the light of the hypocrites being extinguished.” Imam Ahmad recorded that a man from the tribe of Banu Kinanah said, “I prayed behind the Messenger of Allah during the year of the Conquest (of Makkah), and heard him say,

(O Allah! Please, do not disgrace me on the Day of Resurrection.)”