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.