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
وَمَن يَكْسِبْ إِثْمًا فَإِنَّمَا يَكْسِبُهُۥ عَلَىٰ نَفْسِهِۦ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا
And whoever earns [i.e., commits] a sin only earns it against himself. And Allāh is ever Knowing and Wise.
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ تَوَفَّىٰهُمُ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ ظَالِمِىٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ قَالُوا۟ فِيمَ كُنتُمْ ۖ قَالُوا۟ كُنَّا مُسْتَضْعَفِينَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ قَالُوٓا۟ أَلَمْ تَكُنْ أَرْضُ ٱللَّهِ وَٰسِعَةً فَتُهَاجِرُوا۟ فِيهَا ۚ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ مَأْوَىٰهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ ۖ وَسَآءَتْ مَصِيرًا
Indeed, those whom the angels take [in death] while wronging themselves - [the angels] will say, "In what [condition] were you?" They will say, "We were oppressed in the land." They [the angels] will say, "Was not the earth of Allāh spacious [enough] for you to emigrate therein?" For those, their refuge is Hell - and evil it is as a destination.
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ وَظَلَمُوا۟ لَمْ يَكُنِ ٱللَّهُ لِيَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ وَلَا لِيَهْدِيَهُمْ طَرِيقًا
Indeed, those who disbelieve and commit wrong [or injustice] - never will Allāh forgive them, nor will He guide them to a path,
وَقَدْ نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِى ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ أَنْ إِذَا سَمِعْتُمْ ءَايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ يُكْفَرُ بِهَا وَيُسْتَهْزَأُ بِهَا فَلَا تَقْعُدُوا۟ مَعَهُمْ حَتَّىٰ يَخُوضُوا۟ فِى حَدِيثٍ غَيْرِهِۦٓ ۚ إِنَّكُمْ إِذًا مِّثْلُهُمْ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ جَامِعُ ٱلْمُنَـٰفِقِينَ وَٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ فِى جَهَنَّمَ جَمِيعًا
And it has already come down to you in the Book [i.e., the Qur’ān] that when you hear the verses of Allāh [recited], they are denied [by them] and ridiculed; so do not sit with them until they enter into another conversation. Indeed, you would then be like them. Indeed, Allāh will gather the hypocrites and disbelievers in Hell all together -