Surah At-Tahrim (66) — Ayah 4

(Ayah 4) ➊ {اِنْ تَتُوْبَاۤ اِلَى اللّٰهِ …:} In this verse, the address is to Aisha and Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with them). Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) said: [ لَمْ أَزَلْ حَرِيْصًا أَنْ أَسْأَلَ عُمَرَ عَنِ الْمَرْأَتَيْنِ مِنْ أَزْوَاجِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ اللَّتَيْنِ قَالَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰی: « اِنْ تَتُوْبَاۤ اِلَى اللّٰهِ فَقَدْ صَغَتْ قُلُوْبُكُمَا» حَتّٰی حَجَّ عُمَرُ وَحَجَجْتُ مَعَهُ، فَلَمَّا كُنَّا بِبَعْضِ الطَّرِيْقِ عَدَلَ عُمَرُ وَعَدَلْتُ مَعَهُ بِالْإِدَاوَةِ فَتَبَرَّزَ ثُمَّ أَتَانِيْ فَسَكَبْتُ عَلٰی يَدَيْهِ فَتَوَضَّأَ فَقُلْتُ يَا أَمِيْرَ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ! مَنِ الْمَرْأَتَانِ مِنْ أَزْوَاجِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ اللَّتَانِ قَالَ اللّٰهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَهُمَا : « اِنْ تَتُوْبَاۤ اِلَى اللّٰهِ فَقَدْ صَغَتْ قُلُوْبُكُمَا » ؟ قَالَ عُمَرُ وَاعَجَبًا لَكَ يَا ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ ! هِيَ حَفْصَةُ وَ عَائِشَةُ ] [ مسلم، الطلاق، باب في الإیلاء … : ۳۴ /۱۴۷۹ ] "I always wished that I could ask Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) about those two women among the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) regarding whom Allah Almighty said: « اِنْ تَتُوْبَاۤ اِلَى اللّٰهِ فَقَدْ صَغَتْ قُلُوْبُكُمَا» Until he performed Hajj and I also performed Hajj with them, at one place he turned aside from the path (to relieve himself), so I also went with him carrying a water jug. Then when he finished, I poured water on his hands, he performed ablution, so I said: 'O Commander of the Faithful! Who are those two women among the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) about whom Allah Almighty said: « اِنْ تَتُوْبَاۤ اِلَى اللّٰهِ فَقَدْ صَغَتْ قُلُوْبُكُمَا » ?' He said: 'Ibn Abbas! I am surprised at you, they are Aisha and Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with them).'"

➋ {فَقَدْ صَغَتْ قُلُوْبُكُمَا : ’’صَغَا يَصْغُوْ صَغْوًا‘‘} (N) and {’’صَغِيَ يَصْغٰي صَغْيًا‘‘} (S) mean to incline, to lean to one side. Previously, the mention of these two wives of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was in the third person, due to whom he had sworn to abstain from honey and Maria (may Allah be pleased with her), now they are being addressed directly and urged to repent. Almost all early commentators have interpreted this verse to mean that if both of you repent to Allah, it is better for you and you must repent, because your hearts have inclined away from the right matter and you did not do the right thing by causing the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to swear to abstain from his beloved things, honey and Maria (may Allah be pleased with her). With slight differences in wording, this is the meaning of the verse as stated by Tabari, Qurtubi, Razi, Ibn Juzayy, Ibn Atiyyah, Abu al-Saud, Baghawi, Ibn al-Jawzi, Samarqandi, and other great commentators, and this is also apparent, because the heartfelt desire of these pure wives that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) should not drink honey at Zainab's (may Allah be pleased with her) place and should not go to his umm walad Maria (may Allah be pleased with her), cannot be considered correct in any way. Allah Himself lovingly reproached the Prophet (peace be upon him) for fulfilling their desire.

Some people of the present age have considered this meaning an insult to these pure wives and have denied it, thinking that it proves that the hearts of these pure wives were deviated from the truth, whereas if a person's heart inclines towards something incorrect in any one matter, he cannot be called completely deviated from the right path, nor has any commentator ever even remotely implied anything like this about the Mothers of the Believers, and here the Mothers of the Believers submitted to Allah's command and repented sincerely. Allah Almighty maintained for them the honor of being the wives of the Messenger in this world and the Hereafter, so who can say about them that their hearts were deviated from the right path!?

One meaning of the verse is this, and some have considered only this correct and every other meaning wrong, that "if you repent to Allah, it is not unlikely for you, because your hearts have already inclined towards repentance." The commentator Qurtubi has mentioned this meaning as well as the first, but it is not the way of the people of knowledge to declare only one meaning correct and the other wrong and a sign of ignorance of the Arabic language. The way of the people of knowledge is what Qurtubi adopted, that he mentioned both meanings, gave preference to the one he considered stronger, but did not deny the other. It is true that the words {’’صَغَا يَصْغُوْ‘‘} and {’’صَغِيَ يَصْغٰي‘‘} are used for inclining towards something, but how does this prove that they are only used for inclining towards the truth and not towards falsehood? What else can inclining towards falsehood mean except deviating from the truth? In Surah Al-An'am, verse (113): «وَ لِتَصْغٰۤى اِلَيْهِ اَفْـِٕدَةُ الَّذِيْنَ لَا يُؤْمِنُوْنَ بِالْاٰخِرَةِ », those mentioned are not inclined towards the truth but towards falsehood. Therefore, Shah Waliullah, Shah Abdul Qadir, Shah Rafiuddin, Ahmad Ali Lahori, Fateh Muhammad Jalandhari, and other translators have translated according to the first meaning, even a translator who claims great love for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and never tires of calling the people of Tawheed disrespectful and insolent, he too has translated: "O two wives of the Prophet! If you turn to Allah, surely your hearts have deviated somewhat from the right path." So can it be said that according to him, the hearts of the pure wives were deviated from the right path?

➌ {وَ اِنْ تَظٰهَرَا عَلَيْهِ : ’’ تَظٰهَرَا ‘‘} is a present tense verb from the form "tafaa'ul," which was originally {’’تَتَظَاهَرَانِ‘‘}, one "taa" was omitted for lightness and the inflectional "noon" was dropped due to the conditional particle {’’ اِنْ ‘‘ }. Its root is {’’ظَهْرٌ‘‘} (back). In the form "tafaa'ul," it means mutual participation, to support each other's back, to help each other. After {’’ تَظٰهَرَا ‘‘}, the meaning of {’’ عَلَيْهِ ‘‘} is to help each other against him.

➍ { فَاِنَّ اللّٰهَ هُوَ مَوْلٰىهُ : ’’ مَوْلٰي‘‘} means both owner and helper. If taken to mean owner, then this sentence is complete at {’’ مَوْلٰىهُ ‘‘} and from {’’ جِبْرِيْلُ ‘‘} to {’’ ظَهِيْرٌ ‘‘} is a separate sentence, because only Allah is the owner and no one else, whereas help comes from Allah as well as from His servants, as He said: « هُوَ الَّذِيْۤ اَيَّدَكَ بِنَصْرِهٖ وَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ » [ الأنفال : ۶۲ ] "He it is Who strengthened you with His help and with the believers." And He said: « اِلَّا تَنْصُرُوْهُ فَقَدْ نَصَرَهُ اللّٰهُ» [ التوبۃ : ۴۰ ] "If you do not help him, then surely Allah has helped him." And He said: « وَ يَنْصُرُوْنَ اللّٰهَ وَ رَسُوْلَهٗ» [ الحشر : ۸ ] "And they help Allah and His Messenger." And He said: « مَنْ اَنْصَارِيْۤ اِلَى اللّٰهِ » [ آل عمران : ۵۲ ] "Who are my helpers towards Allah?" That is, if both of you repent to Allah, it is better, and if both of you help each other against the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), then our Messenger has no concern for you, because Allah is his owner, and Jibreel and the righteous believers and after that all the angels are his helpers and supporters. And if {’’مَوْلٰي‘‘} is taken to mean helper, then the first sentence is complete at {’’ صَالِحُ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ ‘‘} and the second sentence starts from {’’ وَ الْمَلٰٓىِٕكَةُ ‘‘} (subject) and ends at {’’ ظَهِيْرٌ ‘‘}, that is, if both of you help each other against him, then surely Allah and Jibreel and the righteous believers are his helpers, and after that all the angels are his supporters and helpers. This second meaning is preferred, because Allah is the owner of everyone, not just the Prophet (peace be upon him), but special help is for His Messengers and the believers, not for the disbelievers, as He said: «اِنَّا لَنَنْصُرُ رُسُلَنَا وَ الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا فِي الْحَيٰوةِ الدُّنْيَا وَ يَوْمَ يَقُوْمُ الْاَشْهَادُ» [ المؤمن : ۵۱ ] "Indeed, We will surely help Our Messengers and those who believe in the life of this world and on the Day when the witnesses will stand."

➎ {صَالِحُ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ : ’’ صَالِحُ ‘‘} is a generic noun that is used for both singular and plural, so there was no need to use the plural word {’’صَالِحُوا الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ‘‘}.

➏ { وَ الْمَلٰٓىِٕكَةُ بَعْدَ ذٰلِكَ ظَهِيْرٌ:} Here is a famous question: why is the predicate {’’ ظَهِيْرٌ ‘‘} singular for the plural subject {’’ الْمَلٰٓىِٕكَةُ ‘‘}? The answer is that the form of {’’فَعِيْلٌ‘‘} is used equally for singular, dual, plural, masculine, and feminine.

4. 1 Or your repentance will be accepted — this is the omitted answer to the condition "ان تتوبا".
4. 2 That is, you have deviated from the truth, and that is your liking of something which was displeasing to the Prophet ﷺ (Fath al-Qadeer).
4. 3 That is, if you form a group against the Prophet ﷺ, you will not be able to harm the Prophet in any way, because Allah is the Helper of the Prophet, as well as the believers and the angels.

4. If you two (wives) repent to Allah, (it is better for you, for) your hearts have certainly deviated. But if you support each other against the Prophet, then surely Allah is his Protector, and Gabriel, and the righteous believers, and, in addition, the angels are also his helpers.

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The Error of Sayyidah Aishaؓ and Hafsahؓ:

1. Agreement on declaring lawful and unlawful for the Prophet. 2. Disclosure of a secret: Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, says that I asked Sayyiduna Umarؓ: O Leader of the Believers! Who were those two women who had agreed to trouble the Messenger of Allah? I had not even finished my question when he said: "They were Aishaؓ and Hafsahؓ." [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير۔ تفسير سورة تحريم]
The reason for the reproach from Allah upon them and the statement that they had deviated from the right path was twofold: first, that due to mutual rivalry, they compelled the Messenger of Allah to do something that was not befitting his status, and for this, reproach from Allah was revealed, and both of them were the cause of it; and second, that they showed irresponsibility by disclosing the Prophet's secret. For they were not the wives of an ordinary man, but the wives of the one whom Allah had appointed to a position of utmost responsibility, and who was constantly engaged in a continuous struggle with the disbelievers, polytheists, and hypocrites. There were countless confidential matters in his household, which, if disclosed prematurely, could have severely harmed the great mission entrusted to him. And they were admonished for this mistake so that the Pure Wives, and indeed the wives of all responsible members of society, may be trained to safeguard secrets.