ٱلَّذِينَ يُظَـٰهِرُونَ مِنكُم مِّن نِّسَآئِهِم مَّا هُنَّ أُمَّهَـٰتِهِمْ ۖ إِنْ أُمَّهَـٰتُهُمْ إِلَّا ٱلَّـٰٓـِٔى وَلَدْنَهُمْ ۚ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَيَقُولُونَ مُنكَرًا مِّنَ ٱلْقَوْلِ وَزُورًا ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَعَفُوٌّ غَفُورٌ 2
Translations
Those who pronounce ẓihār among you [to separate] from their wives - they are not [consequently] their mothers. Their mothers are none but those who gave birth to them. And indeed, they are saying an objectionable statement and a falsehood. But indeed, Allāh is Pardoning and Forgiving.
Transliteration
Al-ladhīna yuzāhirūna minkum min nisā'ihim mā hunna ummāhatihim. In ummāhatuhum illā allā'ī waladn ahum. Wa innahum layaqūlūna munkaran min al-qawl wa zūr. Wa inna Allāha la'afuwwun ghafūr.
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah addresses the pre-Islamic practice of ẓihār (saying to one's wife 'you are to me like the back of my mother'), which was a form of divorce used in Jahiliyyah. The ayah clarifies that wives are not literally mothers, and that such words constitute prohibited, abusive speech. Classical scholars like Al-Qurtubi and Ibn Kathir emphasize that Allah condemned this practice while offering hope through His attributes of forgiveness (al-'afuww and al-ghafūr) for those who repent.
Revelation Context
This surah was revealed in Medina in response to the case of Khawlah bint Tha'labah, whose husband Aws ibn al-Sāmit pronounced ẓihār against her. She complained to the Prophet (peace be upon him), leading to this legislation that abolished the practice. The entire surah addresses the injustice of ẓihār and provides remedies for those affected by it.
Related Hadiths
Sunan Abu Dawud and Sunan Ibn Majah report the hadith of Khawlah bint Tha'labah complaining to the Prophet about her husband's ẓihār. Additionally, Sahih Bukhari contains hadiths regarding the prohibition of ẓihār and the expiation required (freeing a slave or fasting).
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that Islam elevates women's status by protecting them from harmful treatment and degrading speech, while also emphasizing that repentance and reformation are always possible through Allah's infinite mercy. Believers must guard their tongues from prohibited and hurtful words, particularly within family relationships.
Related Ayahs
أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ مَا يَكُونُ مِن نَّجْوَىٰ ثَلَـٰثَةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ رَابِعُهُمْ وَلَا خَمْسَةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ سَادِسُهُمْ وَلَآ أَدْنَىٰ مِن ذَٰلِكَ وَلَآ أَكْثَرَ إِلَّا هُوَ مَعَهُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كَانُوا۟ ۖ ثُمَّ يُنَبِّئُهُم بِمَا عَمِلُوا۟ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌ
Have you not considered that Allāh knows what is in the heavens and what is on the earth? There are not three in a private conversation but that He is the fourth of them, nor are there five but that He is the sixth of them - and no less than that and no more except that He is with them [in knowledge] wherever they are. Then He will inform them of what they did, on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed Allāh is, of all things, Knowing.
ٱتَّخَذُوٓا۟ أَيْمَـٰنَهُمْ جُنَّةً فَصَدُّوا۟ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ فَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُّهِينٌ
They took their [false] oaths as a cover, so they averted [people] from the way of Allāh, and for them is a humiliating punishment.
أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى ٱلَّذِينَ نُهُوا۟ عَنِ ٱلنَّجْوَىٰ ثُمَّ يَعُودُونَ لِمَا نُهُوا۟ عَنْهُ وَيَتَنَـٰجَوْنَ بِٱلْإِثْمِ وَٱلْعُدْوَٰنِ وَمَعْصِيَتِ ٱلرَّسُولِ وَإِذَا جَآءُوكَ حَيَّوْكَ بِمَا لَمْ يُحَيِّكَ بِهِ ٱللَّهُ وَيَقُولُونَ فِىٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَوْلَا يُعَذِّبُنَا ٱللَّهُ بِمَا نَقُولُ ۚ حَسْبُهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ يَصْلَوْنَهَا ۖ فَبِئْسَ ٱلْمَصِيرُ
Have you not considered those who were forbidden from private conversation [i.e., ridicule and conspiracy] and then return to that which they were forbidden and converse among themselves about sin and aggression and disobedience to the Messenger? And when they come to you, they greet you with that [word] by which Allāh does not greet you and say among themselves, "Why does Allāh not punish us for what we say?" Sufficient for them is Hell, which they will [enter to] burn, and wretched is the destination.
أَعَدَّ ٱللَّهُ لَهُمْ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا ۖ إِنَّهُمْ سَآءَ مَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ
Allāh has prepared for them a severe punishment. Indeed, it was evil that they were doing.