وَإِنْ أَرَدتُّمُ ٱسْتِبْدَالَ زَوْجٍ مَّكَانَ زَوْجٍ وَءَاتَيْتُمْ إِحْدَىٰهُنَّ قِنطَارًا فَلَا تَأْخُذُوا۟ مِنْهُ شَيْـًٔا ۚ أَتَأْخُذُونَهُۥ بُهْتَـٰنًا وَإِثْمًا مُّبِينًا 20
Translations
But if you want to replace one wife with another and you have given one of them a great amount [in gifts], do not take [back] from it anything. Would you take it in injustice and manifest sin?
Transliteration
Wa-in aradtum istibdāla zawjin makāna zawjin wa-ātaytum iḥdāhunna qinṭāran falā ta-akhdhū minhu shay-an. A-ta-akhdhūnahū buhtānan wa-ithmam mubīnā.
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah addresses the permissibility of divorce and remarriage in Islam while establishing a crucial ethical principle: if a man divorces his wife to marry another and has given the first wife a dower (mahr), he is forbidden from taking back any part of it as compensation or settlement. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Qurtubi emphasize that this protects women's financial rights and dignity, treating the mahr as an irrevocable gift. The verse condemns such reclamation as both 'buhtān' (manifest falsehood/slander) and 'ithm' (grave sin), highlighting the moral turpitude of wrongfully depriving women of their due.
Revelation Context
This ayah is part of the comprehensive Medinan legislation on marriage, divorce, and women's rights revealed in Surah An-Nisa. It addresses a pre-Islamic Arabian practice where men would sometimes demand return of the dower upon divorcing a wife or coerce women into 'ransoming' themselves. The Quranic context (verses 19-25) establishes women's financial autonomy and protection of their rights as central principles of Islamic law.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet ﷺ said: 'The best of you are those who are best to their wives' (Jami' at-Tirmidhi). Additionally, Aisha (RA) reported cases where the Prophet ﷺ ruled in favor of women's mahr rights, demonstrating the practical application of this principle (Sunan Abu Dawud).
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah reminds believers that respecting financial commitments to spouses—especially those made upon marriage—is a matter of both legal obligation and moral conscience. In modern contexts, it underscores the importance of honoring contractual agreements and protecting the vulnerable from exploitation, reflecting Islam's concern for social justice and dignified treatment of all individuals.
Related Ayahs
۞ فَمَا لَكُمْ فِى ٱلْمُنَـٰفِقِينَ فِئَتَيْنِ وَٱللَّهُ أَرْكَسَهُم بِمَا كَسَبُوٓا۟ ۚ أَتُرِيدُونَ أَن تَهْدُوا۟ مَنْ أَضَلَّ ٱللَّهُ ۖ وَمَن يُضْلِلِ ٱللَّهُ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُۥ سَبِيلًا
What is [the matter] with you [that you are] two groups concerning the hypocrites, while Allāh has made them fall back [into error and disbelief] for what they earned. Do you wish to guide those whom Allāh has sent astray? And he whom Allāh sends astray - never will you find for him a way [of guidance].
لِّلرِّجَالِ نَصِيبٌ مِّمَّا تَرَكَ ٱلْوَٰلِدَانِ وَٱلْأَقْرَبُونَ وَلِلنِّسَآءِ نَصِيبٌ مِّمَّا تَرَكَ ٱلْوَٰلِدَانِ وَٱلْأَقْرَبُونَ مِمَّا قَلَّ مِنْهُ أَوْ كَثُرَ ۚ نَصِيبًا مَّفْرُوضًا
For men is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, and for women is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, be it little or much - an obligatory share.
أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى ٱلَّذِينَ يُزَكُّونَ أَنفُسَهُم ۚ بَلِ ٱللَّهُ يُزَكِّى مَن يَشَآءُ وَلَا يُظْلَمُونَ فَتِيلًا
Have you not seen those who claim themselves to be pure? Rather, Allāh purifies whom He wills, and injustice is not done to them, [even] as much as a thread [inside a date seed].
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱتَّقُوا۟ رَبَّكُمُ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَٰحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالًا كَثِيرًا وَنِسَآءً ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ٱلَّذِى تَسَآءَلُونَ بِهِۦ وَٱلْأَرْحَامَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا
O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allāh, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allāh is ever, over you, an Observer.