Tafsir of At-Tahreem 66:5

“It may be that his Lord, if he divorces you, will replace you with wives better than you.”

This verse was revealed, yet it does not imply that he (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) did not divorce Hafsa, nor that there are women better than his wives—despite the prevalent scholarly opinion that there is no one on earth better than them. The suspension of divorce for all does not negate the act of divorcing one, and a suspended condition that does not occur does not necessitate the occurrence of what is suspended. It is permitted that the address be directed to all by way of generalization (taghlīb), while the original address was for two of them—specifically those addressed earlier by the words of the Almighty: “If you two repent to Allah, then your hearts have indeed deviated,” and so on. It is as if it were said: “It may be that his Lord, if he divorces you [the two] and others, will replace you and them with wives better than you and them.”

The apparent interpretation remains that the verse does not denote that he (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) did not divorce Hafsa, nor that there are women better than the wives of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace); for the condition was suspended upon the divorce of the two, and since it did not occur, the suspended outcome is not required, nor does it negate the divorce of one. Al-Khafaji stated that there is a generalization in addressing all, even though only two were addressed first, and likewise in the conditional particle “in” (if), which denotes that the divorce did not happen. It has been narrated that he (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) did divorce Hafsa, so the non-occurrence of the divorce for the group was generalized over the occurrence [of the one]. According to the interpretation of universal application, there is no generalization in the address nor in the “if.” End quote. This is a subject of inquiry.

Furthermore, it is well known that “’asā” (it may be) in the speech of the Almighty denotes certainty. The certainty here is only after the fulfillment of the condition. It is said: It is so, except here, where the condition is interposed between the subject of “’asā” and its predicate, and the answer to the condition is elided—meaning: “If he divorces you, then it may be, etc.”

“Wives” (azwājan) is the second object of “yubdilahu” (replace him with), and “better” (khayran) is its adjective, as is what follows it. Abu ‘Amr, in the narration of ‘Ayyash, recited “tallaqakunna” with the assimilation of the Qaf into the Kaf. Nafi’, Abu ‘Amr, and Ibn Kathir recited “yubdilahu” with the tashdīd (doubling) to denote abundance.

“Muslimat” (submitting/Muslim women), “mu’minat” (believing women), “qanitat” (devoutly obedient)—meaning praying or consistently obedient in general; “ta’ibat” (repentant)—forsaking sin; “’abidat” (worshipping)—devoted or humbling themselves before the command of the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace); “sa’ihat” (fasting)—as stated by Ibn Abbas, Abu Hurayra, Qatada, Al-Dahhak, Al-Hasan, Ibn Jubayr, Zayd bin Aslam, and his son ‘Abd al-Rahman. It is also narrated from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Al-Farra’ said: The faster is called a sa’ih (traveler) because the traveler carries no provisions and only eats where he finds food. From Zayd bin Aslam, it is also narrated that it means those migrating. Ibn Zayd said: There is no siyaha (traveling/fasting) in Islam except migration. It is also said: Those who walk in the obedience of the Almighty.

“Thayibat” (formerly married) is the plural of thayyib, from thaba-yathubu-thawban—it is on the measure of sayyid. She is the one who thaba (returns) from a husband, after the loss of her virginity. “Abkaran” (virgins) is the plural of bikr, from bakara (to start early), as she emerges at the bukra (early part of the day). It carries a sense of precedence. The one who has not been deflowered is called by this name in contrast to the thayyib, due to her precedence over her regarding what women are desired for.

The conjunction was omitted in the previous attributes because they are attributes that gather in one object and possess a strong connection that requires the omission of the conjunction. The conjunction was placed here to indicate that the two attributes are distinct and do not gather in one essence. It was not brought as “aw” (or) so that the meaning might be that some of the wives are thayyibat and some are abkar.

Concerning this, it is mentioned in Al-Intisaf by Ibn al-Munir that Shaykh Ibn al-Hajib related to him that the judge and writer Abd al-Rahim al-Baysani believed that the waw (and) in the verse was the one some weak grammarians called the "Waw of Eight," because it was mentioned with the eighth attribute. The scholar prided himself on finding this as an addition to the three famous places known before him: first in Al-Tawbah (“The repentant, the worshippers...” up to “and those who enjoin the right”), second in His saying: “And the eighth of them is their dog,” and third in His saying: “And its doors are opened.” He mentioned this one day in the presence of the grammarian Abu al-Jūd, who explained to him that he was mistaken in counting it among that category. He referred him to the meaning mentioned by Al-Zamakhshari: that there was a compelling necessity to bring it here because of the impossibility of gathering two attributes in one described object. The "Waw of Eight," if it exists at all, only appears where there is no need for it except to signal the completion of the number seven. The judge conceded to him and praised this, saying, "You have guided us, O Abu al-Jūd." End quote.

Both types were mentioned because among the wives of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) were those he married as thayyib and those he married as bikr. It has come down that he (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) did not marry a virgin except for ‘A’isha (may Allah be pleased with her). She used to boast about this to her peers, until Al-Zahra’ refuted her on behalf of her father (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) by teaching her what the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had instructed her when she boasted to her mother Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her), saying: “My mother was married to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) while he was a virgin; no woman had seen him except her, and it is not the same for you all.” Upon this, she fell silent.