عَسىٰ رَبُّهُ إِن طَلَّقَكُنَّ أَن يُبدِلَهُ أَزواجًا خَيرًا مِنكُنَّ مُسلِماتٍ مُؤمِناتٍ قانِتاتٍ تائِباتٍ عابِداتٍ سائِحاتٍ ثَيِّباتٍ وَأَبكارًا
It may be that if he divorces you his Lord will give him, in [your] stead, wives better than you: [such as are] muslim, faithful, obedient, penitent, devout, and given to fasting, virgins and non-virgins.
EXEGESIS
Even though the word ʿasā (it may be) seems conditional, according to many exegetes when it is utilised for God, it is in fact a promise. In other words: if he divorces you, certainly God will give him better wives in exchange. However, even though it is quite clearly the case here (as the verse is a warning from God to the wives), it is not clear that this usage is always so, such as in the verse, It may be that Allah will bring about between you and those with whom you are at enmity affection (60:7).
Qānitāt (obedient) comes from qunūt. It has different meanings, including to refrain from speaking, or to stand lengthily. In a narration from Zayd ibn Arqam, he reportedly said: ‘We used to speak in prayers (ṣalāh) until it was revealed, and stand in obedience (qānitīn) to Allah [2:238].’ This is why the qunūt in prayer is called that, because it is done whilst standing. In the verses of the Quran and narrations it is used in different meanings, including: obedience, reverence (khushūʿ), prayer, supplication, worship, standing, standing lengthily, and silence. It could be considered that all these various meanings are then encompassed in the general meaning of ‘uphold obedience whilst maintaining humility’. Perhaps this meaning is derived because the servant who is obedient stands silently in front of his master, awaiting command.
It has also been suggested that in the context of the surah, qānitāt means those women who are silent. In other words, they do not speak of the secrets that the Prophet has entrusted to them. Although what we have already mentioned is a more suitable meaning.
Rāzī has proposed another interpretation, namely that qānitāt refers to standing up in the night prayer (ṣalāt al-layl). He justifies this by saying that later in the verse the goodly wives are described as fasting, and the fast during the day should be accompanied by prayer in the night.
Sāʾiḥāt (given to fasting) comes from the word siyāḥah, which in turn derives from the word sāḥah, literally meaning a wide, open space. The root of the word is from sayḥ, which is water that flows on the surface of the earth. As water flowing on a flat surface will spread in different directions, so too the sāʾiḥ is the one who traverses these wide, open spaces, as we have in the verse, Travel (sīḥū) in the land for four months (9:2).
There is disagreement amongst the scholars as to the meaning of siyāḥah (travelling) in verses such as the one in question, where they describe a quality of the faithful. Some have said it means the one who travels the land whilst actively observing his surroundings, gaining knowledge and understanding: Have they not travelled over the land so that they may have hearts by which they may apply reason, or ears by which they may hear? (22:46). Closely related to this, it is narrated from ʿIkramah that it means the ‘seekers of knowledge who travel the land in search of it’.
It is said that in the dialect of the Hudhayl, sāʾiḥ meant the ṣāʾim (one who fasts). It is narrated from the Prophet in a marfūʿ tradition: ‘The travel (siyāḥah) of my nation is fasting (ṣiyām).’ In another tradition he is quoted as saying: ‘The sāʾiḥūn are those who fast.’ This is the opinion attributed to Ibn Abbas, Ibn Masʿūd, Hasan al-Baṣrī, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, Mujāhid, and others.
Some have been of the opinion that it means traveling from one place of worship to another. It is reported from the Prophet: ‘The travel (siyāḥah) of my nation is in the mosques.’ In this way it could also mean those who are pilgrims, visiting the holy places to worship God.
Similar to this, some have understood it in a more general sense to mean those who travel for the sake of obeying God. Zayd ibn Aslam was reportedly of the opinion that it meant those who emigrate for the sake of God.
Others have said it is to struggle in the path of God, quoting a tradition from the Prophet where he reportedly said: ‘The travel (siyāḥah) of my nation is battle and jihad.’ Or perhaps meaning those who travel to the battlefronts.
Certainly, in the context of the verse and the wives of the Prophet, it cannot have the meaning of jihad, nor does it make much sense that it should refer to those who travel the land. Therefore, we are left with the option of fasting, which seems the most appropriate given the context of worship and piety present in the verse.
Thayyibāt (non-virgins) is the plural for thayyibah, which comes from the word thawb, meaning clothing. The word literally means to ‘return something to the original state in which it was, or to a specified state that was expressly intended’. Thus, when one clothes oneself, one is going to a state that one intended. A woman who has divorced her husband returns to her family, and is thus called the ‘returning woman’, or thayyibah.
EXPOSITION
This verse is known as the ‘verse of choice’ (āyat al-takhyīr), as it offers the Prophet a choice to divorce his wives in exchange for more pious ones. Here the addressee changes once again from the feminine dual of the previous verse to the feminine plural; in other words, the verse is now addressing all the wives of the Prophet and not just two of them. This is because the advice and warning given in the verse is a general one. From a literary perspective, the impact of the verse is heightened by the fact that it deviates from the rhyme scheme followed in the rest of the surah and has no rhyming pair. This makes the verse stand out more and causes the reader to pay more attention to it. In this sense the verse can be considered climactic or leading up to the climax of the surah. The lack of a rhyming pair is also a thematically significant choice. The rhymes in the surah otherwise go in pairs (aside from the last three verses, which form a rhyming triplet). It should not be coincidental that the verse speaking of divorce breaks from the pattern in a jarring fashion, upsetting the harmony of the rhyming pairs. It is like divorce itself, that splits one from one’s partner and creates disharmony in one’s life. The expression his Lord instead of ‘your Lord’ is also deliberately chosen, probably to strengthen the impact. It places a distance between God and the wives of the Prophet, indicating displeasure on His part. It also implies that the Prophet is God’s beloved and closer to God than the women who had upset him.
The verse promises that if the Prophet decides to divorce his wives he will be given better wives. It then proceeds to describe what is meant by that by listing six qualities.
The first attribute is islām. This applies to anyone who has professed Islam and given the two testimonies of faith. Any such woman was lawful for the Prophet to marry; consider, for example, the Prophet’s marriage to Ṣafiyyah bint Ḥuyay.
The second attribute is that of faith (īmān). Faith is a higher station than simply saying the two testimonies of faith that makes one a Muslim. Probably because of this, the attribute of muslim precedes faithful, as muslim is wider in scope than faithful. As is reported from Imam al-Ṣādiq (a): ‘Faith (īmān) accompanies islām, but islām does not [always] accompany faith.’ One can outwardly be a muslim and not have faith, however the faithful one is always a muslim as well.
More than just outwardly professing Islam, the wives of the Prophet should have been truly faithful as well. To have faith is to truly believe in the oneness of God and to have sincerity in worship. The faithful believers would submit in their hearts to the command of God and truly understand the station of the Prophet and the respect owed to him.
The third attribute is that of obedience (qunūt). Anyone who truly believes in something feels compelled to act on that faith. A believer who has accepted that God is his master is obedient to those commands, and all believing men and all believing women should obey the Messenger of God as well. This attribute is arguably the most significant one mentioned here, as it seems some of the wives were lacking in this quality. In effect it is a reminder for them that they should be obedient to the Prophet, not only because he is their husband, but rather because he is the Messenger of God. Perhaps this is why it is highlighted again at the end of the surah when God describes Mary, and she was one of the obedient (verse 12).
The fourth attribute is that of penitence (tawbah). Sometimes the faithful may lapse in their obedience, however if they truly have faith they would regret that lapse and attempt to make amends for their wrongdoing. Repentance is essential for the development of a believer. Only by learning from their mistakes and correcting their course can one continue their path towards God. Refusing to admit mistakes and insisting on wrongdoing is a sure path to perdition. As the verse is addressed to the wives who had wronged the Prophet, this attribute is of central importance, and that is why it is revisited later in verse 8 and expounded upon.
The fifth attribute is that of worship (ʿibādah). Although obedience manifests itself in all aspects of a believer’s life, it is nowhere more apparent than in the acts of worship. The worship of God helps nurture, grow, and strengthen faith. One who has sinned should cleanse himself from that sin through worship.
The sixth attribute is that of siyāḥah, or voyaging. As we discussed earlier this has many possible meanings and aspects. What is common to all of these is that the believer is not static. A human being is always in motion, not only physically, but also spiritually. He is either on the path to God, or on the path to perdition. And We have shown him the two paths (90:10). The one who is on a path is a voyager. Every human is thus travelling, it is up to him to choose his destination. This final attribute ties in closely to the choice presented to the wives of the Prophet about which way they wish to move, and is revisited in the final three verses of this chapter. Voyaging ties in to the previous two attributes as well. The destination can be changed. The one who has sinned may repent and choose to return to the righteous path.
The final two qualities mentioned are certainly not like the rest, as they are not attributes that wives must have; in any case, they are contradictory, and one cannot have both qualities. Most likely they are a reminder aimed at ʿĀʾishah specifically, and the rest of the wives in general. This is because it is mentioned in narrations that ʿĀʾishah would boast to her co-wives that she was the only virgin that the Prophet had married. When Lady Fatimah (a) heard about ʿĀʾishah claiming superiority over Khadijah because of this, she reportedly told ʿĀʾishah: ‘My mother married the Messenger of God (s) when he was a virgin and no other woman had seen him other than her. It was not so with the lot of you.’ This silenced ʿĀʾishah.
In another narration it is mentioned that the Prophet used to praise Khadijah often and this annoyed ʿĀʾishah, who one day in a fit of jealousy retorted: ‘Why do you mention that toothless old woman so often? God – the mighty and glorious – has given you better than her in exchange.’ The Prophet then replied: ‘God has not given me better than her; she believed in me when the people disbelieved, and she affirmed my honesty when people called me a liar, and she aided me with her wealth when people denied me theirs, and God – the mighty and glorious – let her bear my child whilst denying me children from other women.’
The point is that the six listed qualities are those which a good spouse should have, but being virgin or divorced were not qualities that would have made one wife superior to another’s. As Rāzī also points out, the Prophet did not marry for the sake of lust, hence the quality of virginity was not of importance to him.
This verse is a stern reminder to the wives of the Prophet that they are not the only women capable of being the wives of the Prophet. Indeed, this raises one of the major themes of the surah. Simply being married to the Prophet does not grant one special spiritual station; the spiritual station is achieved through acts of obedience, penitence, devoutness, and worship. In effect it was a warning to his wives to treat the Messenger of God in a better fashion.
In conclusion, this verse raises important moral lessons about the qualities a good spouse should have. Even though the address is to the wives of the Prophet, the advices are general ones and relevant to husbands as well. It ties into the central theme of family life prevalent throughout the surah. Additionally, it is a good advice for those who have not yet married, as it highlights the important qualities that one should look for in a future spouse.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Rāzī brings up a question which he then attempts to answer. He asks: if the Prophet divorces his wives, how could he be given better wives instead of them even though the wives of the Prophet are the Mothers of the Believers (ummahāt al-muʾminīn), and should be the best of all women? He attempts to answer this by saying that if they are divorced because they bother the Prophet and disobey God they will cease to be the Mothers of the Believers, and thus no longer the best of all women. This is a very strange argument indeed as the central theme of the surah (and indeed the point of this very verse) is that simply being married to a prophet does not automatically make a woman righteous; rather, she must strive to instil in herself those righteous qualities in order to be a pious believer and an exemplar to others. The examples given of the wives of Prophet Noah (a) and Prophet Lot (a) later in the surah are exactly meant to illustrate this point. As Ālūsī correctly points out, the apparent meaning of the verse is in fact that there were women at that time who were better than the women the Prophet was married to.
Related to this is what Tabatabai mentions in that some have claimed that the best wives of the Prophet are the ones he never divorced, and if he divorced one she would cease to have the honour of being his wife and so is lesser in merit than those he never divorced. He then refutes this by saying that the verse in question would be meaningless if that was so, since the listed qualities would not be of significance, but rather the only important quality would be being married to the Prophet.
Because some scholars were of the opinion that the Prophet divorced Ḥafṣah (and then later took her back) they have held a slightly different understanding of this verse. Al-Bayḍāwī argues that the statement if he divorces you does not necessarily mean that he had not divorced one, since it is addressed to the group, and he did not divorce all of them. What is more commonly understood though is that he did not divorce even Ḥafṣah, but rather withdrew from all his wives.
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.
- Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.
- It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.
- Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
- Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
- Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
- Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
[1] Tabrisi, 10/475; Tantawi, 14/473; Nemuneh, 24/283; Razi, 30/571; Qurtubi, 18/193. [2] Lisan, 2/73. [3] Tibyan, 1/427. [4] Lisan, 2/73; Tibyan, 1/427. [5] Lisan, 2/73. See also 33:31. [6] Raghib, p. 648. [7] Tabrisi, 10/475. [8] Razi, 30/571. [9] Lisan, 2/492. [10] Raghib, p. 431. [11] Tabrisi, 5/114. Somewhat similarly Qutb argues that siyāḥah here means ‘pondering, contemplating, and thinking about the attributes of God and travelling with the heart in the metaphysical realm (malakūt)’ (Qutb, 6/3616). [12] Tibyan, 5/307. [13] Tabrisi, 5/114. [14] Tabari, 11/28. [15] Tabrisi, 5/114. Tabari, 28/106, mentions that some linguists have said that fasting is called siyāḥah because the traveller has no provisions with him, so he eats whatever he finds. [16] Al-Maghribī, Daʿāʾim al-Islām, 2/190. [17] This was also the opinion chosen by Ṭūsī, see Tibyan, 10/49. Somewhat related to this is the claim of Thalabi, 9/349, who claims it means they travel with the Prophet wherever he might travel, although this is a somewhat strange opinion as the Prophet was not known for taking all his wives along on his travels. Furthermore, the term sāʾiḥ is used to describe the qualities of the believers in general elsewhere in the Quran (see 9:112), hence this opinion would make little sense. [18] Tahdhib, 6/122; very similarly in Abu Dawud, 1/577; Bayhaqi, 9/161; Haythami, 5/278; Tibyan, 4/8. [19] Nemuneh, 8/152. [20] Raghib, p. 179. [21] Tibyan, 10/49; Qurtubi, 18/194. [22] The rhyme scheme is as follows: 1-2: īm, 3-4: īr, 5: ārā, 6-7: ūn, 8-9: īr, 10-12: īn. We may also note how each rhyming pair (or the final group of three) is topically connected. 1-2: the oath of the Prophet, 3-4: the betrayal of the secret, 5: divorce, 6-7: a warning, 8-9: the difference between the faithful and faithless, 10-12: examples of different women. [23] For more on the difference between Islam and faith see the commentary on verse 49:14. [24] Kafi, 2/26. [25] Tibyan, 10/48. [26] Mizan, 19/333. See also verse 4:34. [27] Razi, 30/571. [28] Alusi, 14/351. [29] Ḥamrāʾ al-shadq. [30] Ahmad, 6/117-118. See also Bukhari, 6/158, for a similar tradition. [31] Nemuneh, 24/280. [32] Razi, 30/571. [33] Razi, 30/571. [34] Note also the verse, then Allah has indeed prepared for the virtuous among you a great reward (33:29), which addresses the wives of the Prophet. The conditional virtuous among you clarifies that simply being married to the Prophet does not guarantee a reward; rather, that is solely for the virtuous among the wives of the Prophet, who are no exception to the general rule. See also verses 33:30-31. [35] Alusi, 14/350. [36] Mizan, 19/333. [37] Baydawi, 5/225. [38] Proverbs 12:4. [39] Proverbs 18:22. [40] Proverbs 21:9. [41] Proverbs 31:10-12. [42] Proverbs 31:30. [43] Ephesians 5:22-24. [44] Ephesians 5:33.