Al-Mumtahanah: (10) O you who believe...
(O you who believe) is an elucidation of the ruling concerning those who manifest belief, following the explanation of the ruling regarding the groups of disbelievers.
(When the believing women come to you)—meaning, according to their outward state—(as emigrants) from among the disbelievers. It is also recited as muhajirat (in the nominative case) as an appositive to al-mu'minat (the believing women); as if it were said: "When they come to you as emigrants."
(Then examine them)—test them with that which leads your conjecture to favor the agreement of their hearts with their tongues in faith. Ibn al-Mundhir, al-Tabarani in al-Kabir, Ibn Marduyah with a hasan chain, and a group of others narrated from Ibn Abbas regarding the manner of their examination: When a woman came to the Prophet (may Allah exalt and grant him peace), Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) would make her swear by Allah that she did not leave out of a desire for one land over another, nor out of hatred for a husband, nor to seek worldly gain, and that she left only out of love for Allah and His Messenger. In another narration from him: The examination of women was that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah exalt and grant him peace) commanded Umar ibn al-Khattab, saying: "Tell them that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah exalt and grant him peace) pledges allegiance to you on the condition that you do not associate anything with Allah..."
(Allah knows best)—better than anyone else, or better than you—(their faith), for He, the Glorified, is the One who is aware of what is in their hearts; the sentence is a parenthetical clause.
(Then if you know them)—meaning, if you judge them with a strong belief that resembles knowledge after the examination—(to be believers) in the truth of the matter, (do not send them back to the disbelievers)—that is, to their disbelieving husbands.
(They are not lawful for them, nor are they lawful for them) is an explanation for the prohibition of returning them. The first clause denotes the established separation and the realization of the dissolution of the previous marriage, while the second denotes the prevention of any marriage initiated or established thereafter. The use of the noun in the first and the verb in the second signifies this. Al-Tayyibi said regarding the variation in the two expressions: The active participle (in the first) is attributed to the pronoun of the believing women to announce that this ruling—the negation of lawfulness—is fixed regardless of any disruption or change on their part. The verb (in the second) is attributed to the pronoun of the disbelievers to signal that this ruling of prohibition remains ongoing in future times, yet it is susceptible to change by replacing disbelief with guidance. It is permitted that this is repetition for emphasis and hyperbole in sanctity and severing the relationship. It contains types of literary artifice that some call al-'aks (inversion) and al-tabdil (substitution), similar to the saying of the Almighty: "They are a garment for you, and you are a garment for them." Perhaps the first is more appropriate.
The verse is used as evidence that the disbelievers are addressed by the branches of the law, as in al-Intisaf. The view that the one addressed regarding the believing woman is she herself, and regarding the disbeliever is the leadership—meaning they are addressed to prevent that act from occurring—is known. Talha recited: la hunna yahlulna lahum.
(And give them what they have spent)—that is, give their husbands the equivalent of what they paid to them as dowries. Some say this is mandatory, others say it is recommended.
It is narrated that the Prophet (may Allah exalt and grant him peace), in the year of al-Hudaybiyyah, commanded Ali (may Allah honor his face) to write the peace treaty. He wrote: "In Your name, O Allah. This is what Muhammad ibn Abdullah and Suhayl ibn Amr have agreed upon: they have agreed to cease war against the people for ten years, in which the people will be secure and refrain from one another, on the condition that whoever comes to Muhammad from Quraysh without the permission of his guardian, he will return him; and whoever comes to Quraysh from Muhammad, they will not return him; and that between us is an untrustworthy chest (a pact of hidden enmity), and there shall be no treachery or dishonesty; and that whoever wishes to enter the covenant of Muhammad and his treaty may do so, and whoever wishes to enter the covenant of Quraysh and their treaty may do so." Then the Messenger of Allah (may Allah exalt and grant him peace) returned Abu Jandal ibn Suhayl, and no man came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah exalt and grant him peace) during the duration of the treaty except that he returned him, even if he was a Muslim.
Then the believing women came as emigrants. Umm Kulthum bint Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt was among those who went to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah exalt and grant him peace), and she was the first of the female emigrants. Her brothers, Ammar and al-Walid, went until they reached the Messenger of Allah (may Allah exalt and grant him peace) and spoke to him regarding her, that he should return her to Quraysh, so this verse was revealed. He (may Allah exalt and grant him peace) did not return her, and then the Prophet (may Allah exalt and grant him peace) married her to Zayd ibn Harithah (may Allah be pleased with him).
Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from Muqatil that a woman called Subay'ah bint al-Harith al-Aslamiyyah came, a believer, and she was under Sayfi ibn al-Rahib, who was a polytheist from the people of Mecca. They demanded her return, so Allah the Almighty revealed the verse. It is also narrated that she was under Musafir al-Makhzumi, that he was given what he had spent, and Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) married her. In another narration, it was revealed regarding Umaymah bint Bishr, a woman from the tribe of Banu Amr ibn 'Awn, who was under Abu Hassan ibn al-Dahdahah; she migrated as a believer to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah exalt and grant him peace), they demanded her return, so the verse was revealed and he (may Allah exalt and grant him peace) did not return her, and Suhayl ibn Sayfi married her, and she bore him Abdullah ibn Suhayl.
Perhaps the cause of revelation is multiple. In any case, the verse, as it is said, was revealed as an explanation that the condition in the peace treaty was only for men, not women. The delay of a specifying text (mukhassis) after a general one ('amm) is permissible according to al-Jubba'i and those who agree with him. Al-Zamakhshari attributes this to the delaying of the explanation of the ambiguous (mujmal), as he does not subscribe to the generality of those terms but considers them absolute (mutlaq), with the interpretation of generality and specificity depending on the context. The Hanafis permit this. One should not say: "This is akin to delaying after the time of need," which is not permissible according to all, because the time of need—that is, acting upon the command—was after the arrival of the female emigrants and the demand for their return, not when the truce with Quraysh was made. Some Shafi'is also subscribed to this. Among them are those who claimed that the generalization was specified based on an ijtihad (independent reasoning) for which he was rewarded with one reward, and he was not approved upon it. Others agreed with the majority of Hanafis on abrogation, not specification. Those who permit the abrogation of the Sunnah by the Book said: "It was abrogated by the verse," and those who did not permit it said: "By the Sunnah," meaning his (may Allah exalt and grant him peace) refusal to return them, and the verse came to confirm his action.
From al-Dahhak: There was a treaty between the Messenger of Allah (may Allah exalt and grant him peace) and the polytheists that "no woman who is not of your religion shall come to you from us, but that you shall return her to us; and if she enters your religion and has a husband, that you shall return the one who spent on her to her husband." The Prophet (may Allah exalt and grant him peace) had the same condition. On this, the verse agrees with what the treaty stipulated. However, Abu Dawud in his Nasikh and Ibn Jarir and others narrated from Qatadah that this treaty was abrogated. As for the abrogation of the treaty, it is because he was commanded to renounce it; and as for the abrogation of the ruling, it is because the ruling is a branch of the treaty, so when it is abrogated, it is abrogated. Most Shafi'is hold that the compensation to their husbands is not established.
(And there is no blame upon you to marry them)—that is, in marrying them, since their Islam stood between them and their disbelieving husbands—(when you have given them their dowries)—that is, at the time you give them their dowries. "When" (idha) is merely for indicating the temporal circumstance, or it may be conditional, with its response implied by the evidence of what preceded. Based on this, the requirement of giving dowries for the lack of blame in marrying them is understood. Giving dowries does not mean giving them in actuality, but committing to them and guaranteeing them.
The appearance of this, along with what preceded of the Almighty’s saying: "And give them what they have spent," is that there is an giving to the husbands and an giving to the women themselves. Thus, what was given to the husbands does not stand in place of their dowries; rather, it is necessary alongside that to provide them with their dowries. It is said: Either the "dowries" refers to what used to be given to them so that they might give it to their husbands, in which case its performance is a condition for the permissibility of marrying them; or it means that if it was given to them as a loan and then they were married on that basis, there would be no harm in it; or it indicates that what was given to their husbands does not stand in place of the dowry. This is what we mentioned first as the apparent meaning, and it is the most correct in jurisprudence; the other two views are weak in both jurisprudence and language.
Abu Hanifah (may Allah be pleased with him) used the verse as evidence that if one of the spouses exits the Abode of War as a Muslim or under a treaty, while the other remains a combatant, separation occurs. He does not see the 'iddah (waiting period) for the emigrant woman and permits her marriage without an 'iddah, unless she is pregnant. This is due to the famous hadith which allows, like the text, an addition to the text: "Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not water his crops with the water of another." The school of al-Shafi'i, as it is said, holds that separation does not occur except by her becoming a Muslim. As for merely exiting, it does not; if she becomes a Muslim before the consummation, the separation is finalized, and after the consummation, it is suspended until the expiration of the 'iddah. The argument was challenged on the basis that the verse does not prove the totality of what was mentioned. Indeed, it has been used as evidence for the absence of 'iddah in the separation caused by the woman exiting to us from the Abode of War as a Muslim. It was argued that He, the Glorified, negated the blame in every aspect regarding marrying the female emigrants after giving the dowry, and He, the Exalted in Majesty, did not restrict it by the passage of the 'iddah. If it were not that the separation was by merely reaching the Abode of Islam, the blame would have been fixed. Despite this, it has been said: The response according to the Shafi'i principle is that the lifting of the unrestricted (itlaq) is not an explicit abrogation, because the lack of mention is not a mention of lack. As for the Hanafi principle, it is like other impediments, and her being pregnant is by consensus; so reflect.
(And do not hold onto the ties of disbelieving women)—al-kawafir is the plural of kafirah. The plural of fa'ilah as fawa'il is standard, and it is a description for a group of females. Al-Karkhi said: "Al-kawafir" includes females and males. Al-Farisi said to him: "Grammarians do not see this except for females, as the plural of kafirah." He said: "Is it not said: ta'ifah kafirah (a disbelieving group), firqah kafirah (a disbelieving faction)?" Al-Farisi said: "He was silenced." It is said that kafirah is not used to describe males unless it is subordinate to the described, or the described is omitted and intended. Otherwise, fa'ilah is not pluralized as fawa'il unless it is for the feminine. Abu Hayyan stated this. Isam (ties) is the plural of ismah, which is that by which one holds fast: a contract and a cause. The intent is to forbid the believers from having, among their marital ties, disbelieving wives remaining in the Abode of War, even to the point that one of them does not prevent marrying a fifth or marrying her sister during the 'iddah, based on the fact that they have no 'iddah. Ibn Abbas said: "Whoever had a disbelieving wife in Mecca, let him not count her among his wives, for the difference between the two abodes severed her tie to him." Sa'id ibn Mansur and Ibn al-Mundhir narrated from Ibrahim al-Nakha'i that he said: "The Almighty’s saying, 'And do not hold onto...' was revealed regarding the woman from the Muslims who joins the polytheists; her husband does not hold onto her ties, for he has been absolved of her."
Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated from Mujahid and Sa'id ibn Jubayr the same. In another narration from Mujahid, he said: "He, the Glorified, commanded them to divorce those remaining with the disbelievers and to separate from them." It is narrated that Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) divorced his wife Fatimah, the sister of Umm Salamah bint Abi Umayyah ibn al-Mughirah al-Makhzumi, because of this, and Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan married her; and his wife Kulthum bint Jarwal al-Khuza'i, and Abu Jahm ibn Hudhayfah al-'Adawi married her. Similarly, Talha divorced his wife Arwa bint Rabi'ah. This is challenged because its appearance is contrary to the school of the Hanafis and the Shafi'is. As for the Hanafis, it is because separation occurs by merely reaching the Abode of Islam. As for the Shafi'is, it is because the divorce is suspended; if the 'iddah gathers them, the occurrence is clarified from the time of the pronouncement, otherwise the finality is by means of the woman remaining in disbelief. Thus, the appearance of the verse does not indicate what is in this narration.
Abu Amr, Mujahid (with a contrary report), Ibn Jubayr, al-Hasan, and al-A'raj read tumsiku (as a present tense of massaka with a doubled letter). Al-Hasan, Ibn Abi Layla, and 'Amir (in a narration by Abd al-Hamid), Abu Amr (in a narration by Mu'adh) read tamsaku as a present tense of tamassaka with one of the tas deleted, the original being tatamassaku. Al-Hasan also read tamsiku with the sin kasra, as a present tense of masaka (triliteral).
(And ask what you have spent)—that is, ask the disbelievers for the dowries of your wives who have joined them—(and let them ask what they have spent)—that is, let the disbelievers ask you for the dowries of their wives who have emigrated to you. Its appearance is a command to the disbelievers, and it is of the category of "And let them find in you hardness," so it is a command to the believers to perform the payment, metaphorically. It is also said that the intent is equity.
(That is the judgment of Allah)—which has been mentioned—(He judges between you); it is a new sentence, or a state of "judgment," with the omission of the pronoun returning to it; it is a cognate accusative, meaning: Allah the Almighty judges it between you. Or, the returning pronoun is the implied one in "He judges," making the judgment a judge as hyperbole, as if the judgment, due to its strength and manifestation, is not in need of another judge. (And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise), legislating that which is necessitated by profound wisdom. It is narrated that when this ruling was established, the believers paid from the dowries of the female emigrants to their husbands what they were commanded to pay, but the polytheists refused to pay any of the dowries of the disbelieving women to their believing husbands, so the Almighty’s saying was revealed: (And if you have missed...)—meaning, if it has passed you by and escaped from you...
