ﱗ ﱘ ﱙ ﱚ ﱛ ﱜ ﱝ ﱞ ﱟ ﱠ ﱡ ﱢ ﱣ ﱤ ﱥ ﱦ ﱧ ﱨ ﱩ ﱪ ﱫ ﱬ ﱭ ﱮ ﱯ
And women of post-menstrual age who have no desire for marriage - there is no blame upon them for putting aside their outer garments [but] not displaying adornment. But to modestly refrain [from that] is better for them. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.
Tafsir
Verse range: 24:60
Thus, the statement of the Exalted: { اللَّاتِي لَا يَرْجُونَ نِكَاحًا } (Those who do not hope for marriage) — meaning they do not desire it due to their advanced age — is an explanatory attribute.
{ فَلَيْسَ عَلَيْهِنَّ جُنَاحٌ أَنْ يَضَعْنَ ثِيَابَهُنَّ } (There is no blame upon them if they lay aside their outer garments): Meaning the outer garments whose removal does not lead to the exposure of the private parts, such as the jilbāb, the ridā’ (cloak), and the qinā‘ (head covering) that is over the khimār.
Ibn al-Mundhir recorded from Maymūn ibn Mihrān that he said: In the codex of Ubayy ibn Ka‘b and the codex of Ibn Mas‘ūd, it reads: "{ فَلَيْسَ عَلَيْهِنَّ جُنَاحٌ أَنْ يَضَعْنَ جَلَابِيبَهُنَّ }" (There is no blame upon them if they lay aside their jalābīb). Ibn Abī Ḥātim recorded from Ibn Mas‘ūd and Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with them both) that they used to recite it in this manner. Perhaps it is for this reason that some have restricted the interpretation of "garments" to the jilbāb. The sentence is the predicate for "the qawā‘id," and the fa’ (in fala junāḥ) is used because the alif-lām in al-qawā‘id is either relative, meaning "those who," or because it is qualified by the relative clause.
The statement of the Exalted: { غَيْرَ مُتَبَرِّجَاتٍ بِزِينَةٍ } (Without displaying ornament): It is a state (ḥāl). The original meaning of tabarruj is affectation in revealing what should be hidden, derived from their saying: "A bārij ship," meaning one with no cover. Raj is the width of the eye such that its white is seen surrounding the black completely, with none of it missing. It is also said that its origin is "visibility" from burj, meaning a palace/tower. Then, it became specifically used for a woman revealing herself to men by showing her ornaments and displaying her charms. Ornaments are not essentially part of its definition, such that one might say mentioning "ornaments" is a form of abstraction (tajrīd). The apparent meaning is that the bā’ is for transitiveness. It is also said that it is extra (pleonastic) for the object, because they interpret tabarruj with a transitive verb. In al-Qāmūs: "She tabarrajat," meaning she showed her ornaments to men. This requires scrutiny. The intention behind "ornaments" is the hidden ornaments, due to the prior knowledge that the ruling is restricted to these, and due to the implication inherent in the word tabarruj. The use of the indefinite form is to signify generality—that any ornament, however slight, is included in the ruling. That is, they are not to display ornaments of the type that were commanded to be hidden in the statement of the Exalted: { وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ } (And let them not display their ornaments).
{ وَأَنْ يَسْتَعْفِفْنَ } (But to maintain modesty/refrain): By leaving off the laying aside of garments and remaining covered, just like young women, { خَيْرٌ لَهُنَّ } (is better for them) than laying them aside, because it is further from suspicion; for every "fallen" woman, there is a "picker-up." Ibn al-Munīr mentioned for the verse a meaning that al-Ṭībī deemed excellent, saying: It appears to me—and Allah the Exalted knows best—that the statement of the Exalted { غَيْرَ مُتَبَرِّجَاتٍ بِزِينَةٍ } is in the category of:
On a path that has no lighthouse for one to be guided by.
Meaning, there is no lighthouse in it to be guided by. Similarly, the intention is: The qawā‘id among women have no ornaments that they should display, because the discourse is about those who are of this standing. It is as if the purpose of this is that for these women, refraining from laying aside their garments is better for them—so what is your opinion regarding young women who possess ornaments? The most eloquent point in this is that He made the non-laying aside of garments for the qawā‘id a form of isti‘fāf (seeking modesty/chastity), signifying that laying aside garments has no place in chastity. This is for the qawā‘id, so how then for the blooming young women?
{ وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ } (And Allah is Hearing): Exaggerated in hearing all that is heard, so He hears what passes between them and men in terms of conversation. { عَلِيمٌ } (Knowing): So the Exalted knows their intentions; therein is a warning that is not hidden.
