Surah Al-Mumtahana (60) — Ayah 12

12. O Prophet! When believing women come to you to pledge allegiance [25] to you that they will not associate anything with Allah, nor steal, nor commit adultery, nor kill their children [26], nor bring any falsehood they have fabricated between their hands and feet [27], nor disobey you in what is right [28], then accept their pledge [29] and ask Allah to forgive them. Surely, Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.

[25]
On What Matters Are Women Given Bay‘ah:

That is, after examination, these emigrant women as well as the general Muslim women were commanded to give bay‘ah. And this bay‘ah would be taken only by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, because the addressee of this verse is you ﷺ alone. And the sins from which abstention is pledged in the bay‘ah are all major sins. The greatest of these is shirk, which especially relates to the right of Allah. The other sins are crimes liable to hadd, and relate to the rights of people. Of these five sins, apart from shirk, the remaining four are such that they incur hadd. These are the sins mentioned in the Quran. In addition to these, you would also take bay‘ah for abstention from other sinful acts mentioned in the hadiths. And all these are crimes that were commonly practiced in Arabia.
[26] As was the custom in the Age of Ignorance, due to formal shame and disgrace, girls would be buried alive. Or, out of fear of poverty and hunger, not only girls but boys would also be killed. This also includes abortion, whether it is the abortion of a legitimate or illegitimate pregnancy.
[27]
Types of Slander:

There are several forms of this slander. One is the well-known and common one, that is, a woman accuses another woman of having relations with a non-mahram man, which is generally called an accusation. The second is that she herself is an adulteress, bears a child by another man, and convinces her husband that the child is his. The third is that she takes another woman’s child and deceitfully attributes it to herself.
[28] Since the process of bay‘ah is not limited to the person of the Prophet ﷺ, but the leader of the Ummah and other respected elders can also take bay‘ah, therefore Allah Almighty has added the condition of “ma‘ruf” (good) along with obedience. Although it was impossible for you ﷺ to take bay‘ah on anything other than ma‘ruf or on a sinful act, in this regard you stated a clear law in these words:
﴿لا طاعة فى معصية انما الطاعة فى المعروف﴾ [متفق عليه]
That is, if it is an act of disobedience to Allah, then obedience to anyone is not necessary.
Obedience is only in good deeds. Another point derived from this verse is that every statement of yours is obligatory to follow, whether it is mentioned in the Quran or not.
[29]
The Method of Bay‘ah With Women:

When you took bay‘ah from men, the one giving bay‘ah would place his hand in your hand and make a pledge. But this was not the method for women. You ﷺ never touched the hand of any woman. Sometimes, after taking the pledge from women, you ﷺ would simply say that your bay‘ah is complete. And sometimes you would hold one end of a cloth and the woman taking bay‘ah would hold the other end and make the pledge. And sometimes you would put your hand in a bowl of water, and then the woman taking bay‘ah would put her hand in from the other side. For details of the matters on which you took bay‘ah from women or men, see the following hadiths:

Some Hadiths Related to Bay‘ah:

1. Sayyidah Aisha states that when women migrated and came to you ﷺ, you ﷺ would examine them according to this verse. Then, whoever accepted these conditions, you ﷺ would say verbally that I have taken your bay‘ah. By Allah! At the time of bay‘ah, your hand never touched the hand of any woman. [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير]
2.
Opposition to Lamenting Over the Deceased:

Sayyidah Umm ‘Atiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) says that when we gave bay‘ah to you ﷺ, you ﷺ recited this very verse to us. Then you forbade us from lamenting over the dead. So one woman (it was Umm ‘Atiyyah herself) withheld her hand and said: So-and-so woman helped me in lamenting, I will repay her. Hearing this, you remained silent. She left. Then (after lamenting) she returned, and you ﷺ took bay‘ah from her. [حواله ايضاً]
3. Sayyiduna Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) says: I performed the Eid prayer with the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr ؓ, ‘Umar ؓ, and ‘Uthman ؓ. You would perform the prayer before the sermon, then deliver the sermon. After the sermon, you would descend from the pulpit—as if I am seeing you—while you were signaling with your hand for the people to sit. Then, passing through their rows, you advanced to the women, and Bilal ؓ was with you. You recited to them this entire verse (of bay‘ah). After finishing, you asked the women: “Do you stand by these conditions?” Except for one woman, none replied (they were shy). That woman (Asma bint Yazid) said: Yes, O Messenger of Allah ﷺ. After that, you told them to give charity. Bilal ؓ spread out his cloth, and they began to put their their rings into Bilal’s ؓ cloth. [حواله ايضاً]
4. Sayyiduna ‘Ubadah bin Samit ؓ says that you ﷺ said to us (on the night of ‘Aqabah): You pledge to me on these matters: ﴿أنْ لاَ تُشْرِكُوْا باللّٰهِ شَيْئًا وَلاَ تَزْنُوْا وَلاََ تَسْرِقُوْا﴾ Then, whoever fulfills these conditions, his reward is with Allah, and whoever commits any of these acts and is punished with a hadd, that will be an expiation for his sin. And if someone commits a sin and Allah conceals it, then on the Day of Judgment, Allah may punish him if He wills, or forgive him if He wills. [حواله ايضاً]
After taking bay‘ah, you ﷺ were commanded to supplicate for forgiveness for those women who gave bay‘ah, so that whatever shortcomings they had in these matters previously, or if there is any deficiency in fulfilling this pledge in the future, Allah may forgive them.