Tafsir of An-Nisa' 4:4

{صَدُقَاتِهِنَّ} Their dowries (muhūr). In a report from Shurayḥ, Ibn Abbas ruled in favor of a woman regarding her ṣadaq (dowry). It is also recited as ṣadaqātihinna (with a fatḥa on the ṣād and a sukūn on the dāl), as a lightened form. It is also recited as ṣuduqātihinna (with a ḍamma on the ṣād and sukūn on the dāl), which is the plural of ṣudaqa, like ghurfa. It is also recited as ṣudaqatuhunna (with a ḍamma on the ṣād and dāl), in the singular, as a heavy form of ṣadaqa, similar to saying ẓulma for ẓuluma.

{نِحْلَةً} Derived from naḥalahu kadhā (he gifted him such-and-such), meaning he gave it to him and bestowed it upon him out of the goodness of his own soul. From this is the hadith of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him): "I had gifted (naḥaltuka) you the harvest of twenty wasaqs in the highlands."

Its grammatical position as an accusative (naṣb) is as a verbal noun (maṣdar), because niḥla and ītā’ (giving) both carry the meaning of i‘ṭā’ (bestowing). It is as if it were said: "Bestow upon the women their dowries as a gift (niḥlatan)," meaning: give them their dowries out of the goodness of your souls. It may also be a state (ḥāl) from the addressees, meaning: "Give them their dowries while you are givers, with good souls," or a state from the dowries themselves, meaning: "gifted and bestowed out of the goodness of souls."

It is said that niḥla is from Allah, meaning a gift and favor from Him to them. Others say niḥla means religion (milla), and the religion of Islam is the best of religions. A person is said to yantaḥil something, meaning he adopts it as his religion. The meaning would be: "Give them their dowries as a religious duty." It may also be a state from the dowries, meaning: "as a law from Allah, which He has legislated and ordained."

The address is to the husbands. It is also said to be to the guardians, for they used to take the dowries of their daughters, saying: "Congratulations to you, the nāfija (the one who increases wealth) for the one who has a daughter born to him," meaning: you take her dowry and increase your wealth with it.

The pronoun in {مِنْهُ} (from it) functions like a demonstrative pronoun, as if it were said: "from any of that," just as Allah the Exalted said: {Say, "Shall I inform you of [something] better than that?"} (Al-Imran: 15), after mentioning desires. Among the recognized arguments from the speech of the Arabs is what is narrated about Ru’ba regarding his saying: "As if it were in the skin, the spotting of vitiligo," to which he said: "I meant 'as if that were'..." Or, it refers to what is in the meaning of ṣadaqāt (dowries), which is ṣadāq, for if you said "Give the women their ṣadāq," the meaning would not be lost. It is like His saying: {...so I may be among the righteous} (Al-Munafiqun: 10), as if it were said: "I will give charity."

{نَفْسًا} A specification (tamyīz). It is in the singular because the intent is to clarify the genus, and the singular indicates that. The meaning is: if they gift you anything of the dowry, and their souls are willing to let it go—being content, not coerced by your bad character or poor treatment into giving it away.

{فَكُلُوهُ} Meaning: spend it. It is said: if she gifts it to him, then asks for it back after the gift, it is known that her soul was not truly content. From Al-Sha‘bi: A man came with his wife to Shurayḥ regarding a gift she had given him, and she was asking to take it back. Shurayḥ said: "Return it to her." The man said: "Did Allah not say: {...if they are content for you...}?" Shurayḥ replied: "If her soul were truly content with it, she would not have asked for it back." He also said: "I release her from what she gifted, but I do not release him, for women are easily deceived."

It is recounted that a man from the family of Mu‘ayṭ was given a thousand dinars by his wife, which was a dowry he owed her. He stayed with her for a month, then divorced her. She disputed with him before ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The man said: "She gave it to me with a willing soul." ‘Abd al-Malik said: "Where is the verse that follows? {...do not take from it anything}—return it to her."

From ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): He wrote to his judges that women give out of desire or fear; so whichever woman gives and then wishes to take it back, that is her right. From Ibn Abbas: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was asked about this verse and said: "If she gives it to her husband willingly, not coerced, no authority shall judge against you for it, and Allah will not hold you accountable for it in the Hereafter."

It is narrated that people used to feel sinful about taking back anything they had given their wives. So Allah the Exalted said: If one soul is content without coercion or deception, then eat it as something wholesome and pleasant.

The verse contains evidence of the narrow path in this matter and the necessity of caution, as the condition was built upon "contentment of the soul." It was said {fa-in ṭibna} (if they are content) and not "if they gift" or "if they permit," to signal that what is observed is the soul's willingness to let go of the gifted item.

It is said {fa-in ṭibna lakum ‘an shay’in minhu} (if they are content for you regarding something of it), and not "if they are content for you regarding it (the whole)," to encourage them to give only a small portion. From Al-Layth ibn Sa‘d: It is not permissible for her to donate except a small amount. From Al-Awza‘i: It is not permissible for her to donate until she has given birth or stayed in her husband's house for a year.

It is permissible for the pronoun to be masculine to refer to the ṣadāq (dowry) as a singular unit, thus covering a portion of it. If it were feminine, it would cover the gifting of the entire dowry, because "some of the dowries" is one or more.

{هَنِيئًا مَرِيئًا} These are two descriptions from hana’a (food being wholesome) and mara’a (being digestible), meaning it is palatable with no distress. It is said hani’ is what the eater finds delicious, and mari’ is what has a praiseworthy outcome. It is also said that mari’ is what goes down the throat to the stomach, named for the ease of passage. They are descriptions of the verbal noun, meaning: "eat it in a wholesome, digestible manner," or a state of the pronoun, meaning: "eat it while it is wholesome and digestible." It is sometimes permissible to pause at fakulūhu and begin hani’an mari’an as a supplication, or as two adjectives standing in place of two verbal nouns, as if saying: "May it be wholesome and digestible." This is an expression of permissibility, emphasis on the lawfulness, and the removal of any liability.