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
مِّنَ ٱلَّذِينَ هَادُوا۟ يُحَرِّفُونَ ٱلْكَلِمَ عَن مَّوَاضِعِهِۦ وَيَقُولُونَ سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا وَٱسْمَعْ غَيْرَ مُسْمَعٍ وَرَٰعِنَا لَيًّۢا بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ وَطَعْنًا فِى ٱلدِّينِ ۚ وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا۟ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا وَٱسْمَعْ وَٱنظُرْنَا لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَّهُمْ وَأَقْوَمَ وَلَـٰكِن لَّعَنَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِكُفْرِهِمْ فَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا
Among the Jews are those who distort words from their [proper] places [i.e., usages] and say, "We hear and disobey" and "Hear but be not heard" and "Rāʿinā," twisting their tongues and defaming the religion. And if they had said [instead], "We hear and obey" and "Wait for us [to understand]," it would have been better for them and more suitable. But Allāh has cursed them for their disbelief, so they believe not, except for a few.
وَإِن يَتَفَرَّقَا يُغْنِ ٱللَّهُ كُلًّا مِّن سَعَتِهِۦ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعًا حَكِيمًا
But if they separate [by divorce], Allāh will enrich each [of them] from His abundance. And ever is Allāh Encompassing and Wise.
تِلْكَ حُدُودُ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَمَن يُطِعِ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ يُدْخِلْهُ جَنَّـٰتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ وَذَٰلِكَ ٱلْفَوْزُ ٱلْعَظِيمُ
These are the limits [set by] Allāh, and whoever obeys Allāh and His Messenger will be admitted by Him to gardens [in Paradise] under which rivers flow, abiding eternally therein; and that is the great attainment.
وَلَهَدَيْنَـٰهُمْ صِرَٰطًا مُّسْتَقِيمًا
And We would have guided them to a straight path.