Surah At-Tahrim (66) — Ayah 5

(Ayah 5) ➊ { عَسٰى رَبُّهٗۤ اِنْ طَلَّقَكُنَّ اَنْ يُّبْدِلَهٗۤ اَزْوَاجًا خَيْرًا مِّنْكُنَّ … :} In this verse, along with Aisha and Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with them), the other wives have also been included in the address, because some matters—especially the demand for an increase in expenses—caused them to trouble the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) so much that he swore not to go to them for a month. When this period was completed, Allah commanded him to give his wives the choice. For details, see the commentary of Surah Al-Ahzab (29, 28). Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: [ اِجْتَمَعَ نِسَاءَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي الْغَيْرَةِ عَلَيْهِ فَقُلْتُ لَهُنَّ عَسٰی رَبُّهُ إِنْ طَلَّقَكُنَّ أَنْ يُبَدِّلَهُ أَزْوَاجًا خَيْرًا مِّنْكُنَّ فَنَزَلَتْ هٰذِهِ الْآيَةُ ] [ بخاري، التفسیر، باب : «عسی ربہ إن طلقکن…» : ۴۹۱۶ ] “The wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) united against him out of jealousy (envy and rivalry), so I said to them: If the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) divorces you, your Lord is near to give him wives better than you. So this verse was revealed because of that.”

Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) narrated that Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) told me: “When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) separated himself from his wives, I entered the mosque and saw people (sitting worried) making marks on the ground with pebbles and saying that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has divorced his wives. This was before the command of hijab was revealed. So I said, today I will definitely find out the truth of this matter.” Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) then mentioned going to Aisha and Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with them) and advising them. After that, he said: “I entered and saw that the servant of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Rabah (may Allah be pleased with him), was at the threshold of the upper room (the room in which the Prophet spent a month separated from his wives). I called him and said, O Rabah! Ask the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for permission for me to enter.” In short, when Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was granted permission, he went inside and said some words to make the Prophet feel at ease. He said: “I said, O Messenger of Allah! What difficulty can you face regarding women? So if you have divorced them, Allah is with you, and His angels, and Jibreel, and I, and Abu Bakr, and all the believers are with you. And I have rarely said anything, and I praise Allah, except that I hoped Allah would make my words true. So this verse, that is, the verse of choice, was revealed: « عَسٰى رَبُّهٗۤ اِنْ طَلَّقَكُنَّ اَنْ يُّبْدِلَهٗۤ اَزْوَاجًا خَيْرًا مِّنْكُنَّ» [ التحریم : ۵ ] ‘His Lord is near, if he divorces you, to give him wives better than you in your place.’ And this verse was revealed: «وَ اِنْ تَظٰهَرَا عَلَيْهِ فَاِنَّ اللّٰهَ هُوَ مَوْلٰىهُ وَ جِبْرِيْلُ وَ صَالِحُ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ وَ الْمَلٰٓىِٕكَةُ بَعْدَ ذٰلِكَ ظَهِيْرٌ» [ التحریم : ۴ ] ‘And if you two help each other against him, then indeed Allah is his protector, and Jibreel, and the righteous believers, and after that all the angels are his helpers.’” [ مسلم، الطلاق، باب في الإیلاء و اعتزال النساء وتخییرھن… : ۱۴۷۹ ]

From this hadith, it is known that by {’’ صَالِحُ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ ‘‘} is meant first and foremost Abu Bakr and Umar (may Allah be pleased with them), then along with them all the believers are included. And this verse is also among the agreements with Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), i.e., those verses that were revealed in accordance with the statements of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). Among them are the matter of the captives of Badr, the matter of hijab, the matter of making the Maqam Ibrahim a place of prayer, and many other matters.

➋ In this verse, the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) are warned not to think that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) cannot get wives better than you, so you can keep pressuring the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as you wish. Rather, if he divorces you, your Lord is near to grant him wives far better than you.

➌ { مُسْلِمٰتٍ مُّؤْمِنٰتٍ قٰنِتٰتٍ :} The explanation of these qualities has already passed. (See Al-Ahzab: 35) For {’’ تٰٓىِٕبٰتٍ عٰبِدٰتٍ سٰٓىِٕحٰتٍ ‘‘ }, see Surah At-Tawbah (112).

➍ {ثَيِّبٰتٍ وَّ اَبْكَارًا : ’’ ثَيِّبٰتٍ ‘‘ ’’ ثَيِّبٌ ‘‘} is the plural of "thayyib", a divorced or widowed woman. This is derived from {’’ثَابَ يَثُوْبُ ثَوْبًا‘‘} (n), and it is called “thayyib” because she returns from her husband and then remains without a husband as she was before. {’’ اَبْكَارًا ‘‘ ’’بِكْرٌ‘‘} is the plural of "bikr," a virgin. It is called “bikr” because she is still in her original state as she was created, and in every species, the first thing is called “bikr.” There is no conjunction (waw) between the previous qualities because all of them can be combined at one time, but in a woman, only one of these two qualities can be present at a time, so the conjunction waw is used. Indeed, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged marriage with virgins, but sometimes thayyibat have such qualities of knowledge, intellect, and experience that make them preferable to virgins. Therefore, Allah granted His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wives of both types.

➎ In this verse, the hope of granting the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wives better than his current wives was given on the condition that he divorces his present wives. But neither did he divorce them, nor did Allah give him wives better than them. Rather, these same wives were honored to be better and to remain the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in this world and the Hereafter.

➏ From this verse, it is known that a man should give preference, when choosing a wife, to a woman who possesses the qualities mentioned in this verse. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ تُنْكَحُ الْمَرْأَةُ لِأَرْبَعٍ : لِمَالِهَا وَ لِحَسَبِهَا وَجَمَالِهَا وَ لِدِيْنِهَا، فَاظْفَرْ بِذَاتِ الدِّيْنِ تَرِبَتْ يَدَاكَ ] [ بخاري، النکاح، باب الأکفاء في الدین : ۵۰۹۰، عن أبي ہریرۃ رضی اللہ عنہ ] “A woman is married for four things: for her wealth, for her lineage, for her beauty, and for her religion. So attain success by marrying a religious woman, may your hands be dusted.”

➐ At this point, some commentators have written that by “thayyib” is meant Asiya, the wife of Pharaoh, and by “bikr” is meant Maryam bint Imran. Both of them will be married to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Paradise. However, firstly, this has no connection with this verse, because it mentions granting better thayyibat and abkar wives in place of the first wives if they are divorced, and since the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not divorce his first wives, the question of other wives in their place does not arise. Secondly, it is not impossible that Allah marries these two great women to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Paradise, but it is necessary for this to be proven, and this is not established by any authentic evidence.

5. 1. This is being said to the noble wives as a warning that Allah Almighty can grant His Prophet even better wives than you.

5. 2. Thayyibaat: Thayyibaat is the plural of thayyib (one who returns). A widow is called thayyib because she returns from her husband and then remains without a husband as she was before. Abkaar is the plural of bikr (virgin). A virgin is called bikr because she remains in her original state as she was created. (Fath al-Qadeer) In some narrations, it is mentioned that by thayyib, the wife of Pharaoh, Asiyah, is meant, and by bikr, Maryam, the mother of Isa (عليه السلام), is meant, i.e., in Paradise, both of them will be made the wives of the Prophet ﷺ. It is possible that this may happen, but to hold or state such a belief based on these narrations is not correct because, in terms of chain, these narrations are not reliable.

5. It is not unlikely that if the Prophet divorces you [7], his Lord will give him in your place better wives [8]—submissive, faithful, obedient [9], repentant, worshipful, and fasting [10], whether previously married [11] or virgins.

[7]
Rebuke to Sayyidah Aisha and Hafsah:

While warning these two pure wives, it was said that if you repent, that is better for you, and stop causing distress to the Prophet. Sometimes, the domestic matters between spouses seem very trivial at first, but if the reins are loosened even a little, they can take on a very dangerous and destructive form. Especially, if a woman belongs to a noble family, she naturally takes pride in her father, brother, and family. Sayyiduna Umarؓ understood this nature of women very well. Thus, during those days, Sayyiduna Umarؓ went to his daughter Hafsahؓ and said: Daughter! What is the matter that you keep questioning and answering the Messenger of Allah to the extent that he remains angry the whole day? Sayyidah Hafsahؓ said: By Allah! We do keep questioning and answering. Sayyiduna Umarؓ said: Understand well, and I warn you of Allah’s punishment and the anger of His Messengerﷺ. Daughter! Do not be deceived by that woman who is proud of her beauty and the love of the Messenger of Allahﷺ, and by this he meant Sayyidah Aishaؓ. [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير۔ تفسير سورة تحريم]
That is why Allah Almighty, while warning both of them, said that if you continue to act together and display such behavior, nothing will harm the Messengerﷺ of Allah. Because Allah Himself, His angel Jibreelؑ, and the righteous believers, all in their respective ranks, are his helpers, and none of your schemes can succeed before them.

[8]
The Wives Distressing the Prophet Regarding Household Expenses:

Previously, the discussion was about the two wives (Sayyidah Aishaؓ and Sayyidah Hafsahؓ), but in this verse, all the wives are addressed and rebuked. In the matter of declaring a lawful thing unlawful, indeed only Sayyidah Aishaؓ and Sayyidah Hafsahؓ were involved. But there was another matter that concerned all the wives. That was, after the victories of Khaybar and the spoils of war, the economic condition of the Muslims improved. So all the pure wives of the Prophetﷺ demanded an increase in household expenses from himﷺ. And if they were not the Prophet’s wives but ordinary women, there would have been nothing wrong in such a demand, and if the Prophet wished, he could have given them more from the spoils of war, and Allah had given him such authority. But since the Prophetﷺ naturally preferred poverty, this demand from the wives was burdensome for him. Then the wives did not keep this matter to just a demand, but would unite and argue and quarrel with him. And often, a whole day would pass in such mutual discord. When Sayyiduna Umarؓ learned of this situation, he went to his daughter’s house and advised her, saying: Look, stop arguing with the Messenger of Allah, and do not try to compete with Sayyidah Aishaؓ by thinking yourself equal to her, nor support others in this matter. And if you need anything, such as expenses, then ask me for it. Then Sayyiduna Umarؓ went to Sayyidah Umm Salamahؓ and gave her the same advice, because she was also related to Sayyiduna Umarؓ. But she gave Sayyiduna Umarؓ a blunt reply, saying: Who are you to interfere in our matters? Then when Umarؓ told the Messenger of Allahﷺ about this, heﷺ smiled. During those days, Sayyiduna Umarؓ, after assessing the situation, expressed the thought mentioned in the following hadith, and this is the reason for the revelation of this verse: Sayyiduna Umarؓ says that the wives of the Messenger of Allahﷺ gathered together and began to quarrel with him, so I said to them: “It is not unlikely that the Prophet may divorce all of you, and his Lord will give him better wives in your place.” At that time (just as I had said), this verse was revealed. [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير]
But even after that, when the pure wives did not withdraw from their demand, it became so difficult for the Messenger of Allahﷺ that he separated himself from all his wives for a month and went to reside in an upper room. This incident is called the incident of Ilaa, which has already been discussed in detail in the footnotes of Surah Ahzab, verses 28 and 29.

[9] ﴿قَانِتَاتٌ﴾ ﴿قنوت﴾ refers to such obedience that is performed with complete humility, full attention, and heartfelt willingness. And this obedience can be to Allah, to His Messenger [33: 31], and for women, to their husbands [4: 34], and in this verse, all three types of obedience are meant.

[10]
The Difference Between ﴿سائح﴾ and ﴿صائم﴾:

﴿سَائِحَاتٌ﴾ means the wandering of water, and ﴿ساحة﴾ means a spacious place, and ﴿ساحة الدار﴾ means the courtyard of a house, and saah means to travel or wander, whether for recreation or any other purpose, and in these meanings, this word has also been used in the Quran. [9: 2]
In this sense, ﴿سائح﴾ means merely a traveler. But later, this word began to be used for such dervishes who used to wander, fast, and observe all the prescribed restrictions. Then this word also began to be used for such fasting people who, besides abstaining from food and drink, also tried to protect their limbs, i.e., eyes, ears, and tongue, etc., from sins, and according to Sahib Munjid, it refers to such a fasting person who stays mostly in the mosque, whereas sa’im can be said for every fasting person.

[11] That is, the pure wives are being addressed and told not to fall into the delusion that after all, a man needs wives, and where can he find better women than us, so if we put pressure, all our demands will be accepted. Remember, if Allah wills, He can provide His Prophet with better wives than you and dismiss you. This does not mean that the mentioned qualities were not present in the pure wives, but that these qualities should be present in the wives of the Prophet to the highest degree, and the demand of the pure wives was due to a shortcoming in the quality of obedience.