“You may defer whom you will of them” (i.e., you may postpone the turn of whom you will among your wives and leave their beds), “and take to yourself whom you will” (i.e., you may bring close to you whom you will among them and sleep with her). This has been narrated from Qatadah, Ibn Abbas, and al-Hasan—meaning, you may divorce whom you will among them and keep whom you will. Some have said: The terms "deferment" and "taking to oneself" are broad enough to encompass what is mentioned in both interpretations, and what was mentioned in those interpretations is by way of illustration, which is not without merit. In a narration from al-Hasan, the pronoun "of them" refers to the women of the Ummah; the meaning being that you may leave (not marry) whom you will among the women of your Ummah, and you may marry whom you will.
He (al-Hasan) said: If the Prophet (peace be upon him) proposed to a woman, it was not for anyone else to propose to her until he left her. According to Zayd ibn Aslam and al-Tabari, it refers to those who gave themselves to him—meaning, you may accept whom you will of the believing women who offer themselves to you, and take her to yourself, and leave whom you will among them, and not accept her. Al-Sha'bi provided what supports this; for Ibn Sa'd, al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan, and others recorded from him that he said: "There were women who offered themselves to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). He entered upon some, and deferred others, so he did not approach them until he (peace be upon him) passed away, and they did not marry after him. Among them was Umm Sharik. That is the meaning of His saying: 'You may defer whom you will of them, and take to yourself whom you will.'"
What supports the view that it refers to his wives is what Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abi Hatim, and others recorded from Abu Razin, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) intended to divorce some of his wives. When they saw that, they came to him and said, "Do not release us; you are free to do as you please between us and you. Assign us from your time and wealth whatever you wish." Then Allah the Exalted revealed the verse. He deferred some of them—and among those he deferred were Maymunah, Juwayriyah, Umm Habibah, Safiyyah, and Sawdah—and among those he took to himself were Aisha, Hafsah, Umm Salamah, and Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with all of them).
Ibn Kathir, Abu 'Amr, Ibn 'Amir, and Abu Bakr read turji' with a hamza, which is, according to al-Zajjaj, the more excellent [reading], and the meaning is the same.
“And whomsoever you seek” (i.e., desire) “of those you have set aside” (i.e., avoided). This avoidance is construed as that which occurred by way of divorce. The "min" (from) is conditional, governed by what follows it, and His saying “no blame shall be upon you” is its answer; meaning, whoever you seek among those whom you have divorced, there is no sin upon you in seeking her. Alternatively, "man" is relative, and the clause is its predicate; meaning, "the one whom you seek, there is no blame upon you in seeking her." The intent is to negate any sin upon him (peace be upon him) in taking back a divorced woman. It is also said that "man" is relative and conjoined to the second "man" in "whom you will," and the intent is someone other than a divorced woman. The meaning of "no blame upon you" is that there is no sin upon you in any of what was mentioned—the deferment, the taking to oneself, and the seeking. The intent is to delegate this entirely to his will (peace be upon him).
Some have said: The intent here is what occurred by way of leaving the bed without divorce. The purpose of the verse is to clarify that he (peace be upon him) has the right to leave the bed of whom he wills among his wives, and to bed whom he wills among them—that is, those whom he had not deferred—and to return to the bed of the one he had abandoned and avoided. Thus, the one "set aside" is the one "deferred."
The author of al-Kashshaf stated that the verse contains an exhaustive classification of the matter: he (peace be upon him) would either divorce or retain. If he retained, he would either bed or abandon, and he would either distribute [time] or not. If he divorced and set aside, he would either leave the set-aside woman without seeking her, or he would seek her. The concept of divorce and retention is understood through the general terms "deferment" and "taking" in His saying, “You may defer whom you will of them and take [to yourself] whom you will.” The concept of seeking the one set aside is understood from His saying, “And whomsoever you seek...” When it is understood that there is no blame in seeking the woman set aside by divorce and returning her to the marriage, it is understood a fortiori that ending the marriage by not returning her is [also permitted]. He has excelled in what he has provided.
Some allowed that "man" be an initial, with a coordinate and a predicate omitted; meaning: "And whomever you seek, among those you set aside or those you did not set aside, it is all the same," and His saying, “no blame shall be upon you,” is an emphasis of that. Its remoteness and strained interpretation are obvious.
Al-Hasan said: The meaning of “And whomsoever you seek…” is those of your wives who have died or whom you have released; there is no blame upon you in replacing them with those whom I have made lawful for you, so do not exceed the number of wives you have. This is [found] in al-Bahr; it is as if he made "min" a replacement, like the "min" in the saying of the Almighty: "Are you pleased with the life of this world instead of the Hereafter?" And he made "those you set aside" include both the deceased and the divorced. Both are far-fetched, and the latter is much further from the truth than the former, as is his consideration of the constraints he proposed. In short, it is a statement whose attribution to al-Hasan is remote, and its attribution to the "Interpreter of the Quran," Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), is even more remote, as mentioned in al-Durr al-Manthur.
“That is more likely to comfort their eyes and that they should not grieve, and that they should be satisfied with what you have given them, all of them” (i.e., delegating the matter to your will is more likely to comfort their eyes, bring them joy, and satisfy them all, because it is a ruling in which they are all equal). If you then treat them equally, they find that to be a favor from you; and if you favor some, they know it is by the decree of Allah, and their hearts are calmed by it. This is narrated from Qatadah. The "what you have given them" refers to what you have done with them, thus encompassing the leaving of the bed and the distribution of time.
According to Ibn Abbas and Mujahid, the meaning is that when they know you have the right to return them to your bed after you have set them aside, their eyes are comforted and they do not grieve, and they are satisfied with what you do regarding equality or favoring, because they know you did not divorce them. Its apparent sense makes the "that" refer to the knowledge that he (peace be upon him) has the right to "take to himself." More explicit in this is the statement of al-Jubba'i: "That knowledge of theirs—that if you set one aside, you have the right to take her back afterward—is more likely to cause them joy and comfort their eyes."
Some eminent scholars said: The indication referring to the "delegation" [of the matter] is more appropriate linguistically, because "that" (dhalika) is for something distant. Its reference to the "taking" is more appropriate in terms of meaning, because the comfort of their eyes essentially comes from the "taking to oneself." So, do not overlook this.
"Eyes" (a'yun) is a plural of paucity, but it is intended here as a plural of abundance; it seems he chose it because it is more suitable to the number of wives. Ibn Muhaysin read taqurra from aqarra, its agent being his pronoun (peace be upon him), and a'yunahunna in the accusative as the object. It was also read tuqarra in the passive voice, with a'yunuhunna in the nominative as the deputy agent. Kulluhunna is in the nominative in all these cases, acting as an emphasis for the pronoun in yardayna.
Abu Ayas Juwayyah ibn 'A'idh read kullahunna in the accusative as an emphasis for the pronoun in ataytuhunna. Ibn Jinni said: This reading returns to the meaning of the common reading (kulluhunna with the damma), which is that their satisfaction, all of them, with what they were given, is in their individuality and collectivity. Thus, the two meanings are one, except that the nominative has a meaning: it explicitly states that they all are satisfied. The explicitness in the irregular reading is in the giving to them, even if the outcome of the situation in both is the same under interpretation.
Al-Tayyibi said: Emphasizing the agent rather than the object shows the perfection of their satisfaction, even if the giving was not perfectly equal. Emphasizing the object shows that, even with perfect giving, they are not perfect in satisfaction. The former is more eloquent in praise because it contains the meaning of "completion," as the emphasizer removes the illusion of metaphor from the emphasized.
“And Allah knows what is in your hearts”—an address to him (peace be upon him) and his purified wives, by way of generalization. The "what is in the hearts" is general, and it includes what is in their hearts of satisfaction with what Allah the Exalted has ordained for them in delegating the matter to him (peace be upon him), and the opposite of that, and what is in his noble heart (peace be upon him) of inclination toward some rather than others. The speech serves as an incentive to strive toward improving what is in the hearts. Perhaps his consideration (peace be upon him) in the address is to soothe their hearts.
In al-Kashshaf, it is mentioned that this is a warning to those among them who are not satisfied with what Allah the Exalted has ordained in that regard and has delegated to the will of His Messenger (peace be upon him), and an incentive for their hearts to agree, to be pure toward one another, and to concur in seeking the pleasure of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and to appease his noble soul. The outward sense is that he is not included in the address. In that case, it is either general for them and all believers, or specific to them, which is perhaps the apparent sense of his statement. However, on that view, the reason for the masculine [plural] is not apparent. It might be said regarding the first [view] that the context does not appear to require the inclusion of all believers. Ibn 'Atiyyah said: The reference there is to what is in the heart of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) of love for one person over another, and the believers are included in the meaning.
It may be imagined that the address is to all who are under religious obligation, and the speech is an incentive to improve what is in the hearts regarding what Allah has ordained for His Messenger (peace be upon him) concerning his wives, and to negate evil thoughts—to think that this is what wisdom requires and that it is evidence of the perfection of being beloved—and not to imagine otherwise. For some heretics, like the Christians, have attacked the multiplicity of his marriages (peace be upon him) and his condition regarding women in a way that was not permitted for his Ummah—such as the permissibility of having more than four and the lack of a requirement for equality among them—claiming that this is evidence of the dominance of the carnal force in him (peace be upon him). That is contrary to the sanctification of the soul, which is the hallmark of the prophets (peace be upon them). They concluded—and I seek refuge in Allah—by denying his prophethood, claiming that what he (peace be upon him) did was not from Allah, but from himself.
It is not hidden that those who say this, despite their disbelief, are ignorant of the ranks of perfection, deaf to the hearing of his accounts (peace be upon him). Whoever examines the reports knows that he (peace be upon him) was the most perfect of all prophets, absolutely, due to the ultimate perfection of his humanity and spirituality. The signs of the first perfection are marrying more than four and visiting them all in a single night. The signs of the second perfection are that he (peace be upon him) would often spend the night and wake up not eating or drinking, while he was at the peak of strength and indifference to the omission of that. None of the prophets (peace be upon them) had the combination of these two perfections as they were combined in him (peace be upon him).
There is also a noble religious wisdom in his having many wives: the spreading of legal rulings that would hardly be known except through them, along with strengthening the matter of his prophethood. For women can hardly keep a secret, and they are the people who know most about the secrets of their husbands. If the wives of the Messenger (peace be upon him) had stood upon a hidden matter of his that violated the position of prophethood, they would have exposed it. How could its concealment be imagined among them, given their number? "Every secret that passes two people spreads." In the lack of obligation of [equal] division upon him (peace be upon him), there is an emphasis on that, as is not hidden to the fair-minded.
“And Allah is Knowing” (ever-abundant in knowledge, so He knows all that is revealed and hidden), “Forbearing” (ever-abundant in forbearance, so He does not hasten in responding to whoever acts contrary to what He loves—according to what his action necessitates of blame or punishment—or He overlooks what overcomes the heart of inclinations and the like).
This being said, in al-Bahr, it is agreed upon in the narrations that he (peace be upon him) used to be equal among his purified wives in distribution until he died, and he did not utilize anything of what was permitted to him, as a way of controlling his soul and taking the best course—other than what happened with Sawdah, for she gifted her night to Aisha and said, "Do not divorce me, so that I may be raised in the company of your wives." Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from Ibn Shihab that he said: "It was not known that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) deferred anything among them, nor did he isolate himself after they were given the choice and chose him."
The two Sheikhs [al-Bukhari and Muslim], Abu Dawud, al-Nasa'i, and others recorded from Aisha that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to ask permission for the day of the woman among us after this verse was revealed: “You may defer whom you will of them...” It was said to her: "What did you used to say?" She said: "I used to say to him: 'If that is up to me, then I do not wish to prefer anyone over you.'" So contemplate this in conjunction with the aforementioned account of consensus. And Allah the Exalted is the Granter of success.
