Al-Ṭalāq
Madīnan Period
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate
[1] O Prophet, when you divorce women, divorce them for their waiting-period,1 and compute the waiting period accurately, and hold Allah, your Lord, in awe.2 Do not turn them out of their homes (during the waiting period) – nor should they go away (from their homes)3 – unless they have committed a manifestly evil deed.4 Such are the bounds set by Allah; and he who transgresses the bounds set by Allah commits a wrong against himself. You do not know: maybe Allah will cause something to happen to pave the way (for reconciliation). [2] And when they reach the end of their term (of waiting), then either honourably retain them (in the bond of wedlock) or honourably part with them, and call two persons of known probity as witnesses from among yourselves,5 and (let these witnesses) give upright testimony for the sake of Allah.
That is to what all those that believe in Allah and the Last Day are exhorted.6 Allah will find a way out for him who fears Allah, [3] and will provide him sustenance from whence he never even imagined. Whoever puts his trust in Allah, He shall suffice him. Surely Allah brings about what He decrees; Allah has set a measure for everything.
[4] The waiting period of those of your women who have lost all expectation of menstruation shall be three months in case you entertain any doubt; and the same shall apply to those who have not yet menstruated.7 As for pregnant women, their waiting period shall be until the delivery of their burden.8 Allah will create ease for him who fears Allah. [5] This is the commandment of Allah that He has revealed to you. Whoever fears Allah, He will expunge his evil deeds and will richly reward him.
[6] (During the waiting period) lodge them according to your means wherever you dwell, and do not harass them to make them miserable.
And if they are pregnant, provide for them maintenance until they have delivered their burden. And if they suckle your offspring whom they bore you, then give them due recompense, and graciously settle the question of compensation between yourselves by mutual understanding. But if you experience difficulty (in determining the compensation for suckling) then let another woman suckle the child. [7] Whoever has abundant means, let him spend according to his means; and he whose means are straitened, let him spend out of what Allah has given him. Allah does not burden any human being beyond the means that He has bestowed upon him. Possibly Allah will grant ease after hardship.
[8] How many9 towns rebelled against the commandment of their Lord and His Messengers. Then We called them to a stern accounting, and subjected them to a harrowing chastisement. [9] So they tasted the evil fruit of their deeds; and the fruit of their deeds was utter loss. [10] Allah has laid in store for them a grievous chastisement. So fear Allah, O people of understanding who have attained to faith. Allah has sent down to you an Exhortation, [11] a Messenger10 who rehearses to you Allah’s verses that clearly expound the Guidance so that He may bring out those that believe and act righteously, from every kind of darkness into light. He will admit whosoever believes in Allah and acts righteously to Gardens beneath which rivers flow. They shall abide in them forever. For such has Allah made an excellent provision.
[12] Allah it is He Who created seven heavens, and, like them, the earth.11 His commandment descends among them. (All this is being stated so that you know) that Allah has power over everything, and that Allah encompasses all things in His knowledge.
1. The injunction “to divorce them for their waiting-period” means two things, and both are meant here. First, it means that a person should not divorce his wife during her menstrual period; he should rather pronounce his divorce at a time when her ʿddah (waiting-period) might commence. (That is, the divorce should be pronounced in the clear period.) Second, the divorce should be of a kind wherein it would be possible for the husband and the wife to reconcile themselves during the waiting-period. According to the traditions which explain this injunction, whenever a person decides to pronounce divorce he should adopt the following procedure: (i) that he should pronounce the divorce during his wife’s clear period wherein he did not have sexual intercourse with her; (ii) that he should not pronounce it if it is known that the wife is pregnant; and (iii) that he should not pronounce the three divorces together.
2. The directive to “compute the waiting-period accurately” means that divorce should not be treated lightly, and that the people concerned should be exactly aware of when the divorce was pronounced, when the waiting-period commenced, and when it came to an end. In other words, due care should be taken to remember the date and time and the state of the woman upon whom the divorce was pronounced.
3. In those circumstances the husband should not allow his anger to make him expel his wife from the house nor should the wife leave the house in a state of annoyance and disgust. The house in which she had been living is hers during the waiting-period. Both the spouses should stay in that house during the waiting-period for this might bring about reconciliation between them. It is obvious that if they stay in the same house for a duration of three months, or three menstrual cycles, or until child-birth in the case of pregnancy, many an occasion for reconciliation is likely to arise.
4. “… have committed a manifestly evil deed” refers either to an act of sexual immorality, excessively quarrelsome behaviour, or recourse to abusive language by the divorced woman during the waiting-period.
5. That is, to call two persons of known probity as witnesses to the pronouncement of divorce or to its revocation.
6. These words clearly indicate that the instructions given above were by way of good counsel and moral exhortation rather than as mandatory legal commands. Now it is possible that someone might pronounce divorce in disregard of the procedure prescribed above, or he might not compute the waiting-period accurately, or might expel his divorced wife from the house without justification, or revoke his divorce and return to his wife with the intent to vex her, or part company with her after an acrimonious quarrel rather than in a graceful manner, or fail to call anyone to witness his pronunciation of divorce. Even though all these acts constitute violations of the instructions given above, this fact still does not nullify his divorce or its revocation. However, the fact that a person acts in contravention of God’s directive will indicate that his heart is devoid of true faith in God and the Last Day. It is primarily for this reason that he had acted in a manner that does not behove a good believer.
7. Those women may not have experienced menstruation either because they are too young, or because their menstrual cycle was delayed (as does happen in the case of some women), or because they never experienced menstruation at all (which happens rarely). In any event, the waiting-period of such women is the same as for the women who are divorced after menopause; namely, three months from the time of the pronouncement of divorce.
8. The waiting-period of a widow comes to an end with the delivery of the child in her womb. This is regardless of the time lapse between the death of her husband and the child’s birth. If she happens to deliver the child immediately after her husband’s death, the time of delivery still marks the end of her waiting-period. However, her waiting-period will not end even after the lapse of four months and ten days if she has not yet given birth to the child in her womb.
9. Here the Muslims are being warned of dire consequences both in this world and in the Next if they disobey the commands conveyed to them through God’s Messenger and His Book. On the other hand, they are also being apprised of the great rewards that will be theirs if they obey God and His Messenger.
10. Some commentators on the Qur’ān are of the opinion that “Exhortation” here signifies the Qur’ān, and the word “Messenger” (see v. 11) signifies the Prophet Muḥammad (peace be on him). Some other commentators believe that “Exhortation” here refers to the Prophet (peace be on him) because he was the personification of “exhortation”. We are inclined to this second view.
11. The expression “like them” does not mean that God has created the same number of earths as He has created the heavens. What it really means is that in the same way that God has created several heavens, He has also created several earths. Here the words “like them, the earth” are used with a purpose. God has made the earth to serve as a bed and a cradle for the creatures living on it. In like manner, God has also made the other earths in the Universe to serve the same purpose – to provide a bed and a cradle to the creatures living on them. In other words, the innumerable stars and planets that we see in the sky are not empty and desolate; a great many of them are as vibrant with life as the earth is.