Tafsir of At-Tahreem 66:11

"And the wife of Pharaoh": She is Asiya bint Muzahim. It is also said she was the paternal aunt of Moses, peace be upon him. She believed when she heard of Moses’ staff swallowing the falsehood, so Pharaoh tortured her.

Regarding her torture: Abu Hurayra narrated that Pharaoh staked his wife with four pegs, exposed her to the sun, laid her on her back, and placed a millstone upon her chest. It is said he ordered a great rock to be cast upon her, but she prayed to God, so He raised her soul, and the rock was cast upon a body that had no soul.

Regarding her status: Al-Hasan said: God saved her with the most honorable salvation, raising her to Paradise where she eats, drinks, and enjoys herself. It is said that when she prayed, "My Lord, build for me a house near You in Paradise," her house in Paradise was shown to her being built. Some say it is made of a single pearl. It is also said that when she was tortured in the sun, the angels would shade her.

If you ask: What is the meaning of combining "near You" and "in Paradise"? I say: She sought proximity to God’s mercy and distance from the torment of His enemies. Then she clarified the location of that proximity by saying, "in Paradise." Or, she desired a high rank in Paradise, specifically the gardens closest to the Throne—the Gardens of Refuge—expressing this proximity to the Throne by saying, "near You."

"From Pharaoh and his work": From the work of Pharaoh, or from Pharaoh himself—his malicious self and his tyrannical authority—especially his work: disbelief, idol worship, injustice, and torture without cause.

"And save me from the wrongdoing people": From all the Copts. This contains evidence that seeking refuge in God, turning to Him, and asking for deliverance during trials and calamities is the way of the righteous and the tradition of the prophets and messengers, as in: "Judge between me and them with a clear judgment, and save me and those with me of the believers" (Ash-Shu'ara: 118), and "Our Lord, do not make us a trial for the wrongdoing people, and save us by Your mercy from the disbelieving people" (Yunus: 86).

"In it": Referring to the private part (the farj). Ibn Mas'ud read it as "in her" (fiha), as it is read in Surah Al-Anbiya, where the pronoun refers to the whole [body]. I have previously discussed this prepositional phrase. Among the strange interpretations is that the farj refers to the opening of a garment, and that "We breathed into it" means Gabriel protected it. It is also said that the parable combines the one who has a husband and the one who does not, to console widows and comfort them.

"And she believed": Read with both tashdid (emphasis) and takhfif (lightness), meaning she deemed the words and scriptures to be true—that is, she described them as truthful, which is the very meaning of tasdiq (belief/verification).

If you ask: What are the words of God and His scriptures? I say: It is permissible that "His words" refers to the scrolls He sent down to Idris and others, called "words" due to their brevity, and "His scriptures" refers to the four books. It may also mean everything God spoke to His angels and others, and everything He wrote on the Preserved Tablet and elsewhere. It was also read as "in the word of God and His book," meaning Jesus and the book revealed to him, the Gospel.

If you ask: Why is "from the obedient" (al-qanitin) used in the masculine form? I say: Because obedience is a quality that encompasses those who obey from both groups (men and women), so the masculine form dominates the feminine. "From" (min) denotes partitivity, or it may denote the beginning of an origin, meaning she was born from the obedient, as she was from the descendants of Aaron, the brother of Moses, peace be upon them both.

From the Prophet, peace be upon him: "Many men have attained perfection, but among women, none have attained it except four: Asiya bint Muzahim, the wife of Pharaoh; Maryam bint Imran; Khadija bint Khuwaylid; and Fatima bint Muhammad. And the superiority of Aisha over women is like the superiority of tharid over all other food."

As for what is narrated—that Aisha asked the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, why God named the Muslim woman (meaning Maryam) but did not name the disbelieving woman—he replied, "Out of hatred for her." She asked, "What are their names?" He said, "The name of Noah’s wife was Wa'ila, and the name of Lot’s wife was Wahila." This hadith clearly shows the marks of fabrication. God has named many disbelievers and given them kunyas. If naming were for love and omitting it for hatred, He would have named Asiya. Yet, He paired her with Maryam in the parable for the believers. God refuses to allow the fabricated to be anything but a sign pointing to its own falsehood; the speech of the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, is wiser and sounder than that.

From the Messenger of God, peace be upon him: "Whoever recites Surah At-Tahrim, God will grant him sincere repentance."