ﳗ ﳘ ﳙ ﳚ ﳛ ﳜ ﳝ ﳞ ﳟ ﳠ ﳡ ﳢ ﳣ ﳤ ﳥ ﳦ ﳧ ﳨ ﳩ ﳪ ﳫ ﳬ
And if you have lost any of your wives to the disbelievers and you subsequently obtain [something], then give those whose wives have gone the equivalent of what they had spent. And fear Allah, in whom you are believers.
Tafsir
Verse range: 60:11
It is narrated from Al-Zuhri and Masruq that it is a ruling of Allah Almighty that Muslims should demand from the disbelievers the dowry (mahr) of a Muslim woman who joins them, and disbelievers should demand from Muslims the dowry of their women who become Muslim and join the Muslims. The Muslims affirmed the ruling of Allah, but the polytheists refused. Then this verse was revealed:
{And if any of your wives escape from you} (i.e., slip away or flee from you).
Al-Hasan and Muqatil said: It was revealed concerning Umm Hakim bint Abi Sufyan, who apostatized and left her husband, Abbas ibn Tamim al-Qurashi. No woman from outside Quraysh apostatized except her. Then she returned to Islam.
And His saying, the Exalted: {then you have inflicted} (or {fa-ʿāqabtum}).
According to Ibn Abbas, Masruq, and Muqatil, this means: then you have gained spoils (ghanīmtum).
Abu Ubaydah said: you have obtained a consequence (ʿuqbā) from them.
Al-Mubarrid said: {fa-ʿāqabtum} means: you did what you did to everyone, meaning you prevailed. It is derived from the saying: Al-ʿuqbā is for so-and-so, meaning the consequence or the final turn.
The meaning of {fa-ʿāqabtum} is: you raided in succession, one raid after another.
It is also said that the consequence/victory (al-ʿuqbā) was yours and the dominance was yours. So, the husbands were given back from the head of the spoils what they had spent on their wives as dowry. This is His saying: {And give those whose wives have gone, the equivalent of what they spent}.
It has also been recited as {fa-aʿqabtum} (with the shaddah on the qāf) and {fa-ʿaqabtum} (with the takhfīf [lightening], with fatḥ [vowel 'a'] on the qāf and kasr [vowel 'i']).
