Indexed OCR Text

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widow with children (whose two earlier husbands had died) and went
on living with her for the next twenty five years. It was also during
this period that he used to leave home, sometimes for as long as a
month, and stay in seclusion at the Cave of Hira devoting his time to
the remembrance of his Lord. All his marriages came after his blessed
age was beyond fifty. The first fifty years of his life, specially his
younger years and, his youth, were all too visible to the people of
Makkah. Nobody, not even an enemy, ever found an occasion to point
an accusing finger at him about anything that could put his pristine
piety and purity in doubt. His enemies tried whatever arrows they had
in their quiver. They accused him of being a magician, a sorcerer, a
poet, madman, liar, fabricator. But, they never dared say anything,
not one word, about his innocent life, about whatever could refer to
any crookedness of extra-marital sex or passion.
Under these conditions, would it not be worth exploring as to why
someone who had spent fifty years of his life in such righteousness and
piety and in such peaceful abstinence from the good things of life,
would be compelled to marry more than once? What was the urge?
Anyone with the least fund of justice in him would not see any other
reason behind this plurality of such marriages as being stated here.
Now, let us go a little farther. Let us look at the very reality of these
marriages as to how they came to pass.
From age twenty five to the blessed age of fifty, Sayyidah Khadijah
Que Algo, lived with him as the only wife. When she died, the marriage
with Sayyidah Saudah and Sayyidah 'A'ishah Qu Ul .+, was solemn-
ized. But, it was Sayyidah Saudah who came to live with him while
Sayyidah 'A'ishah Lu Al », continued to live with her father in view of
her minority. It was after some years (in year 2 of the Hijrah) that
Sayyidah 'A'ishah came to live with him at Madinah Munawwarah.
This is the time when he was in his fifty fourth year. At this age he
had two wives. What is known as plurality of marriages starts from
this point. After one year, his marriage with Sayyidah Hafsah took
place. After some months, Sayyidah Zainab bint Khuzaymah Que dil,
came into his nikah but died only eighteen months later. According to
one report she lived only three months as his wife. Then, he was
married to Sayyidah Umm Salmah ae Algo, in 4 A.H. and to Sayyidah
.

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Zainab bint Jahsh رضى الله عنها in 5 A.H. This is the time when he was
fifty eight. At this fairly advanced age, he had four wives, although he
could have had four wives immediately after the Qur'anic permission
given to Muslims that they could, if need be, keep four wives. But, he
never did this. Later, he married Sayyidah Juwayriyyah ( Jis, in 6
A.H., Sayyidah Umm Habibahu Ul y», in 7 A.H., Sayyidah Şafiyyah
later on in the رضى الله عنها in 7 A.H. and Sayyidah Maymunah رضى الله عنها
same year.
To sum up, we see that he lived with only one wife upto the age of
fifty four years. In other words, he lived for twenty five years with
Sayyidah Khadijah and four to five years with Sayyidah Saudah. After
that, when he was fifty eight, he had four wives, the rest of the blessed
wives came to live with him within a period of 2-3 years.
It is worth mentioning here that, out of all the wives he had, there
was only one who was married to him as a virgin, that is, the Mother
of the Faithful, Sayyidah 'A'ishah al-Siddiqah Lu JI», . Other than
her, all wives, may Allah sanctify their honour, were widows (with the
exception of lady Zainab bint Jahsh) - some of them were the ones who
were already married twice and their husbands had died. This
plurality, incidentally, came to pass in his later years.
Let us not forget that his noble Companions, both men and women
who had seen him in the state of Islam, loved him dearly. They would
have laid down their lives at his command. If he was so inclined to do,
he would have married none but virgin wives. In fact, there was
nothing to stop him from keeping a wife for one or two months and
then take new ones in their place. But, he never did this.
There is yet another fact which needs to be mentioned here. Our
master, Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa صلى الله عليه وسلم was a true
prophet of Allah and a prophet is no man of the mundane. He never
follows his desires. What he does, he does with the leave and will of
Allah. Once his prophethood is accepted, all objections stand
eliminated. But, should there be one who not only refuses to accept a
prophet as a prophet but goes a step farther and accuses that he
allowed himself to take many wives to seek sexual gratification, then,
such a person will be told: If this was so, why would the noble prophet
proclaim the restriction against himself in matters relating to

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plurality of marriages, something which finds mention in the verse
- It is not lawful for you to take (more) wives after this) لايحل لك النساء من بعد
33:52). That he proclaimed this restriction against his own self, openly
and conclusively proved that whatever he did, he did with the leave
and will of his Lord. As pointed out earlier, the educational benefits
because of this plurality of marriages that reached the Muslim
community, as well as the very injunctions of Islam, are really so
many and so detailed that they can just not be taken up here even at
their briefest. Those who study books of Ahadith would realize the
truth of this statement. However, we do present here brief notes to
serve as indicators.
The Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had married Sayyidah Umm
Salmah Le JI yo, after her husband, Sayyidna Abu Salmah had died.
When she came to live with him in his house alongwith her children
from her previous husband, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم took care of
her children and brought them up with love and concern. Thus he
demonstrated through his conduct the way of loving and caring one
must follow when bringing up step children. Of his blessed wives, she
was the only one who came with her children. If none of his wives was
like her, this aspect of the upbringing of step children would have
remained practically undemonstrated and the vast community of
Muslims would have remained deprived of any guidance in this
matter. Her son, 'Umar ibn Abi Salmah as Ul po, says: I was brought
up in the lap of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم .Once, while
eating with him, I was dunking my hand everywhere in the bowl. He
said: سم الله وكل بيمينك وكل مما يليك (Say the name of Allah and eat with your
right hand and eat from what is in front of you) - (Bukhari, Muslim, from
Mishkat, p. 363).
Sayyidah Juwayriyyah Que Ulu», came as a prisoner of Jihad. Like
other prisoners, she too became one of the distributed and found
herself in the share of Thabit ibn Qays or his cousin. But, she
succeeded in making a deal with her master. The deal was that she
would give him a certain amount of money against which he will
release her. After making this arrangement, she came to the Holy
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and sought financial assistance from him. He
said: 'Shall I not tell you something much better than this? That I pay

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on your behalf and marry you?' She agreed with pleasure. Thereupon,
he paid the amount due on her behalf and married her. This resulted
in something unusually benign. Hundreds of Sayyidah Juwayriyyah's
people had by that time passed into the ownership of the noble
Companions because all of them had come as prisoners. When the
Companions found out that the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had married
her, all of them released their respective slaves out of deference to the
Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم .Just imagine how elegant the propriety of
their behaviour was, how genuine, how sublime. It was in view of
their emotional realization that all these people have now become
connected with the family of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in bonds of
inlawship, that they simply could not have the audacity to keep them
as slaves. So, they set all of them free. Sayyidah 'A'ishah Que Ul yo, says
about this incident:
فلقد اعتق بتزويجه ايّاها مائة أهل بيت من بنى المصطلق فما اعلم امرأة
اعظم بركة على قومها منها
Because of his marriage with Juwayriyah, one hundred fami-
lies from Banu al-Mustaliq became free. I know no other
woman who proved to be greater in blessing for her people.
Sayyidah Umm Habibah 4 July», had become a Muslim in
Makkah during the early days of Islam alongwith her husband. Later
on, both husband and wife migrated to Ethiopia as members of a
caravan of several men and women. After reaching there, her husband
became a Christian and it so happened that a few days later, he died.
The Holy Prophet _ proposed to her through the good offices of
Najashi (Negus, Emperor of Ethiopia) which she accepted and it was in
Ethiopia that the same Najashi gave her in marriage to the Holy
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم . It is interesting to note that Sayyidah Umm
. رضى الله عنه was the daughter of Sayyidna Abu Sufyan رضى الله عنها Habibah
He was, at that time, the leader of the group which regarded hostility
to Islam as its main objective in life. They were always on the look-out
for excuses to hurt Muslims and torture the Prophet of God. If they
ever got the chance they would have not hesitated for a moment to
eliminate him once and for all. When he found out about this
هوالفحل لا يجدع انفه :marriage, he uttered the following words involuntarily
literally: 'He is a man of valour. His nose cannot be cut off. The sense

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was that the Holy Prophet y is a man of honour. It is not easy to
disgrace him. Here we are doing our best to disgrace him and there we
see, right under our noses, that our daughter has become his wife.
In short, this marriage proved to be a weapon of psychological
warfare. The ambitions of the leader of the kafirs against Muslims
were watered down. That this marriage brought in its wake political
gain for Islam and Muslims can hardly be denied in terms of the
importance and need for it. This gain is certainly something God's far-
sighted and wise Messenger had, in all likelihood, in sight.
Apart from the present summary view, those who have deeper
access to the Sirah would find many more elements of wisdom in his
plurality of marriages. The treatise entitled, Kathratul-Azwaj-li-
Şahibil-Mi'raj by my venerated master, Maulana Ashraf 'Ali Thanavi,
is useful.
The details we have provided here are there to remove the golden
trap laid out by atheists and orientalists. Though unfortunate, yet the
truth is that this trap sucks in a lot of educated but ignorant Muslims.
They go into the spider's web and do not return because they do not
know the sirah of the noble prophet and the history of Islam directly
from their authentic sources. Their knowledge of everything Islamic
comes from (anti-Islam) books written by the so-called orientalists.
Only one wife where injustice is likely
Let us now see what the Qur'an says after allowing upto four
wives. It says:
فَإِنْ خِقْتُمْ اَلَّ تَعْدِلُوا فَوَاحِدَةً أَوْ مَا مَلَّكَتْ آَيْمَانُكُمْ
But, if you fear that you will not maintain equity, then, (keep
to) one woman, or a bondwoman you own - 4:3.
From here we find out that having more than one wife is
permissible and appropriate only on condition that equality can be
maintained among all wives as required under the Shari'ah of Islam,
and that the rights of all can be duly fulfilled. If one does not have the
capability to discharge his obligations in this manner, the rule is to
keep to only one wife. As stated earlier, the injustice of multiple
marriages during Jahiliyyah without any considerations of rights of
wives had made a mockery of this field of human relationship. So, the

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Qur'anic command was: If you are unable to do perfect justice between
wives, then restrict yourself to no more than one, or make do with a
bondwoman you may own. At this point, please keep in mind that the
Qur'anic expression wi &u " which means 'a bondwoman one may
have', has very special conditions under which such possession
becomes possible, conditions which generally do not just exist these
days. Therefore, the act of starting to live with someone out of
wedlock, just by declaring that she was a 'bondwoman' owned by the
person involved, as something allowed by the Shari'ah of Islam, is non
sequitor and patently haram (unlawful). Any more details about it
would simply be out of place here.
The outcome (to be seen as a whole) is that the Qur'an has
permitted having four wives in marriage which means that marriages
entered into within this limit will be correct and permissible. But,
under such a contingency, that of having more than one wife, it will be
obligatory (wajib) to maintain justice and equality between them.
Doing otherwise is a grave sin. So, anyone who thinks of having more
than one wife should first think about all those factors and conditions
around him and, more importantly, look into himself, introspect,
weigh, deliberate and figure out realistically whether or not he has the
ability, or the capability or quality to treat all of them equally and
justly without causing the least infringement of their rights. If strong
likelihood exists that one will not be able to come up to the standard
and most probably will fail to maintain such justice and equality, then,
having the audacity to go ahead and step into the bonds of more than
one marriage is really a thoughtless plunge into a grave sin. One must
stay away from doing something like this and, human condition being
what it is, living with only one wife should be considered quite suffi-
cient.
Speaking legally, if a person marries more than four women in a
single offer and acceptance, the marriage shall be void ab initio
because nobody has the right to have more than four wives. As far as
marriages within the limit of four are concerned, they shall be deemed
as valid marriages all right, but any shortcoming in treating wives
equally and justly will be an act of grave sin. In addition to that, any
infringement of a wife's rights can be challenged in an Islamic Court
and the aggrieved wife can receive redress from there.

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The Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has laid great emphasis on main-
taining full equality and justice between all wives and he has given
stern warnings against those who do otherwise. Above all, he has
demonstrated the desirable ideal through his own conduct, reaching
the outer limits of treating his wives equally even in matters in which
equality is not mandatory.
In a hadith, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has said: 'Anyone who
has two wives and he cannot fulfill their rights equally and justly,
shall be raised on the Day of Doom in a condition that one of his shoul-
ders will be drooping down.' (Mishkat, p. 278)
We should, however, keep in mind that this equality of treatment
is necessary in things which are within the control of man. For
example, the coverage of personal expenses and parity in overnight
stays. As for things out of man's control, such as the natural inclina-
tion of his heart which might tilt towards one of them, there is no
accountability there for this is not a matter of choice. However, the
binding condition is that this tilt should not affect matters which are
within man's control. Our noble prophet, may Allah bless him for ever
and ever, treated his venerated wives with full equality in everything
within his control, yet he pleaded with his Lord:
اللَّهُمّ هُذَا قسمى فِيْمَا أَمْلِكُ فَلاَ تلمنى فِيُمَا تَمُكَ وَلَا أَهْلِكُ
O Allah, this is my 'equalization' in what I control. So, do not
hold me accountable in matters You control and I do not.
Obviously, something even an infallable Messenger of God is not
able to do, how can someone else claim to have the ability to do it?
Therefore, in another verse of the Holy Qur'an, this 'matter out of
man's control' has been mentioned in the following words:
وَلَنْ تَسْتَطِيُّهُوْا أَنْ تَعْدِلُوْا بَيْنَ النِّسَاءِ
And you shall be unable to maintain perfect equality between
the women - 4:129.
Here, it has been made clear that love and the tilt of the heart are
something out of man's control. It is beyond man's power to achieve
perfect equality of treatment in what comes from the territory of the
heart. But, even this involuntary conduct has not been left totally

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unchecked and unbalanced. In order to correct it, it was said: " pie
J'ai (So, do not tilt, the full tilt). It means: If you love one of your wives
more than the other, there is nothing you can do about it. But, total
indifference and heedlessness towards the other wife is not permis-
sible even under this situation. The justice and equality mentioned in
the sentence ◌ٌفَإِنْ خِفُهُمْ اَلا تَعُدِلُوا فَوَاحِدَة (If you fear that you will not maintain
equity, then {keep to) one woman) refers to the same justice in matters
of choice and volition, any discrepancy in which is a great sin. So much
so, that a person who sees the danger of his getting involved with this
sin has been instructed not to marry more than one woman.
A doubt and its answer
Because some people have lost sight of details given above, they
have fallen into a strange error. When they compare the verse under
discussion, 4:3, and the verse quoted just a little earlier, 4:129, they are
confused. They think: Here is this verse from Surah al-Nisa' which
carries the command: 'If you fear that you will not maintain equity,
then (keep to) one woman. Then, there is this second verse which says
categorically that justice and equality (among wives) is just not
possible. As a result, they doubt, having more than one wife should not
be permissible. But, such people should ask themselves: If, through
these verses, Allah Almighty aimed at putting a cap over more than
one marriage, what need was there to go into all these details? Why
would the Qur'an say :َفَانْكِحُوا مَا طَابَ لَكُمْ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ مَنْنَى وَ ثُلاَتَ وَرِيع that is, 'marry
women you like, in twos and threes and fours?' And then, what would
be the meaning of saying: PRE 9121, 34 that is, if you fear that you will
not do justice' - for, in this situation, injustice is certain. How can we
then explain the element of fear which would become meaningless?
In addition to this, the words and deeds of the Holy Prophet and
the noble Companions رضى الله عنهم أجمعين and their consistent practice
prove the fact that having more than one wife (upto four) was never
prevented in Islam. The truth of the matter is what has been stated
earlier, that is, the first verse of Surah al-Nisa' talks about justice and
equality in what man can do by choice while the second verse points
out to man's inability to control lack of equal treatment when it comes
to love and emotional inclination. Therefore, these two verses have no
contradiction, nor does it prove that plurality of marriages is abso-

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lutely forbidden.
Towards the end of the verse, it was said: p sicus (It will be
closer to your not doing injustice). In this verse, the word jší ('adna')
has been derived from us(dunuwun) which means nearness and the
other word weiss (la ta ulu) is from 'jas Ju.'Jex Ju which means inclina-
tion or tilt. Here it has been used in the sense of impermissible inclina-
tion culminating in injustice and wrong-doing.
It means 'what you have been told in this verse (that is, in absence
of being unable to do justice, having only one wife or making do with
one's bondwoman) is something which, if you elect to follow it, will
help you in staying safe from doing any injustice and the chances of
any additional oppression and transgression will be eliminated.
There is a doubt here: When a man has one wife, there will be just
no chance of injustice. Why then, it was said, by adding the word,
'adna' that 'it will be closer to your not doing injustice', instead, the
statement should have been something to the effect that it will make
you totally safe from this injustice.
The answer is: The addition of the word, 'adna (closer) in the text is
there to point out to all those people who would not hesitate in
inflicting all sorts of injustices on even one wife. So, to block this
source of injustice, the absence of more than one wife is not enough. In
this situation, however, the likelihood does exist that the danger of
injustice will decrease and you will come closer to justice. But, the
complete deliverance from injustice and oppression will only be
possible when the rights of one wife are totally and fully given and she
is treated fairly and generously, forgiving her shortcomings and being
patient with her crooked ways.
Verse 4
وَأُتُوا النِّسَآءَ صَدُقْتِهِنَّ نِعْلَةً، فَإِنُ طِبْنَ لَكُمُ عَنْ شَىءٍ مِّنُهُ
نَفْسًا فَكُلُّهُ هَنِيْئًا مَّرِيَُّ﴿٤﴾
And give the women their dower in good cheer. Then, if
they give up some of it out of their own sweet will, you
may have it to your advantage and pleasure. [4]
In the previous verse, the objective was to remove the injustice

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done to women through the multiplicity of marriages. This verse
takes up a particular right of women and aims to remove the injustice
practiced in this matter. This is the right of mahr (dower).
Commentary
In pre-Islam Arabia, injustices in the payment of dower took many
forms:
1. To begin with, the dower which was the right of the girl being
given in marriage, was not given to her. Instead, the dower was taken
by the guardians of the girl directly from the husband - rank injustice
indeed. To get rid of this practice, the Holy Qur'an said: Existentes
(and give the women their dower). This command is addressed to the
husbands so that they themselves give their wives their dowers and
not give these to others. Also addressed here are the guardians of the
girls with the instruction that they should, in case they happen to
receive the dower meant for the girls, give it straight to the girls and
make sure that they themselves do nothing to put the money in
personal use without the permission of the girls.
2. Another injustice related to the attitude of the giver of the
dower. If someone had to pay it and realised that there was no way
out, he would be very sour and unhappy and do it unwillingly as if he
was paying a penalty. This injustice was removed through the use of
the word, A's : nihlah, since nihlah in Arabic usage means 'giving some-
thing cheerfully'.
So, the verse here teaches that the dower of women is their right
which must be fulfilled as a matter of obligation. Since, as a rule, all
obligatory rights must be discharged cheerfully, so it should be in the
case of dower, that is, 'give in good cheer'.
3. Yet another injustice regarding the payment of dower was that
many husbands, taking advantage of the powerlessness of the wife,
would use pressure and make them forgo and forgive their dower. This
act of theirs hardly brought forth real forgiving of the standing right,
but they, on their part, went about free of the concern for dower which,
according to their thinking, was 'forgiven'.
فَإِنُ طِبْنَ لَكُمُ عَنْ شَىءٍ مِنْهُ:To eradicate this injustice, it was said in the verse
et & h. It means: 'if these women give up some of it out of their

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own sweet will, you may have it to your advantage and pleasure.'
The point is that exacting forgiveness by pressure or compulsion
from an unwilling wife is an exercise in futility. Nothing gets forgiven
in this manner. But, should it be that they themselves elect, out of
their free choice and will, in its most genuine sense, to forgo or forgive
a part of the dower, or return it to you after they had already taken it,
then, this is permissible for the husbands, and correct as well.
Surely, these injustices which the Holy Qur'an aims to remove in
this verse prevailed at peak during Jahiliyyah. But, very regretably,
some of these practices of pre-Islam days still survive among Muslims.
There are tribes and geographical areas where one or the other such
injustice is not difficult to find. All Muslims must stay away from
being a party to such injustices.
The restriction of "out of their own sweet will" placed in this verse,
has a secret of its own. The truth of the matter is that, according to the
standard rule of Islamic Shari'ah, even the smallest portion of what
belongs to someone is not lawful for someone else unless permitted
صلى الله عليه وسلم gladly. The standard rule was set by the Holy Prophet
when he said:
اَلَاَ لَا تَظْلِيُوًا، أَلَاَ لَا يَحِلَّ مَالُ امْرَءٍ إِلَّ بِطِيُبٍ نَفْسٍ وِّنُّهُ (مشكوة شريف ص ٢٥٥)
Beware, do no injustice. Remember, a person's property is not
lawful (for the other) unless it be through his sweet, will.
(Mishkat, p. 255)
This is a great principle from which many details issue forth.
Even in our own times, there are women who very much doubt that
they are going to get their dower. They think asking for it is not going
to please anybody, nor the refusal to forgive will make anyone any
happier. So, like it or not, they just forget and forgo. This kind of
forgiveness is not trustworthy. My respected teacher, Maulana Ashraf
'Ali Thanavi used to say that the real touchstone of forgiving gladly is
to first hand over the amount of the dower in the hands of the wife, as
its owner, who may later give it to the husband out of her own sweet
will without any pressure. This attitude of giving gladly should also be
practiced as the operating principle in the inheritance of sisters and
wives. It is not too uncommon that, following the death of the mother

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.or father, sons take over the whole property and do not give the girls
their share. If the usurpers were bothered by moral or religious consid-
erations in some degree, the most they would do is to go and excuse
themselves before their sisters. Since they know that they are not
going to get their share under this situation anyway, they simply go
along and forgive against their will. In addition to this, the share
belonging to the surviving wife is not given to her after the death of
the father. Particularly, a step mother just does not get hers. All this
amounts to open usurping of rights. The only exception is that, should
anyone forgive gladly, that forgiveness is possible, and valid.
Hadrat Thanavi also pointed out that the text is talking about the
willingness of the whole human self and not simply the happiness of
the heart which alone is not enough to make someone's property
lawful for the other. People who give money in bribes, or interest, do so
after a good deal of calculations, and many apparent gains, but this is
not giving gladly, and not trustworthy either. If such people were to
probe their conscience and come out with the truth, the truth would be
that their self would flatly refuse to agree to such giving. This is why
good cheer and sweet will have been given the deciding role.
If donations are sought for mosques, religious schools or for any
other need, there too it is necessary to see that the giver is doing it
freely and gladly. If a donation is given under pressure from anyone
having tribal, social or legal authority or influence, without the free
choice and will and pleasure of the giver, then, it is not lawful to
accept and use this donation. Instead, it would be returned to the
giver.
As for the word ouls : saduqat appearing in the verse, it is the
plural form of saduqah. The words, saduqah and sudaq signify the
dower of women. In Mirgat Sharh Mishkat, Mulla 'Ali Qari writes: 45
It means that dower is referred to as . به لآلّ يطهر به صدق ميل الرجل الى المرأة
saduqah or sudaq because its root, sadaqa (51) signifies truth. Since
dower too shows the true attitude of the husband towards his wife, the
congruity was good enough to let dower be called sudaq or saduqah.
The words, by : hanian and 34 : marian appearing at the end of
the verse are attributive modifiers. The word, hanlan (from han'a and
hanu'a and hania) means something received without having to go

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through labour and pain. When this refers to food, it means good food
which is eaten and digested easily and becomes a healthy part of the
human body.
The word, marian (from mara'a: to be wholesome) is also used in
the same sense and is very close to each other. For this reason, some
translators have made one word, in the sense of 'wholesome', stand for
both.
Verses 5 - 6
وَلَا تُؤْتُوا الُّفَهَآءَ آَمْوَالَكُمُ الَّتِىُ جَعَلَ اللّهْ لَكُمْ قِيْمًا
وَارْزُقُوُهُمُ فِيْهَا وَإِكْسُهُمْ وَقُوُلُؤْا لَهُمْ قَوِّلاً مَّعُرُوْفًّا﴿٥﴾
وَابْتَلُوا الْيَتْمَى حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغُوا النِّكَاحَ فَإِنْ انْسُهُمْ مِّنْهُمُ
وُدَا فَادُفَعُوًّا إِلَيْهِمْ آَمُوَالَهُمْ وَلَا تَأْكُلُؤُهَا إِسْرَافًا ◌َبِدَارًا آَنْ
◌َّكْبَرُوا، وَمَنْ كَانَ غَنِيًّا فُلُيَسْتَعُفِفُ وَمَنْ كَانَ فَقِيْرًا فَلْيَأْكُلُ
بِالْعُرُوُفِ، فَإِذَا دَفَعْتُمْ إِلَيُهِمْ آَمْوَالَهُمْ فَكَتْهِدُوا عَلَيْهِمْ﴾
وَكَفِى بِاللَّهِ حَسِيْبًا(٦)
And do not give the feeble-minded your property which
Allah has made a means of support for you, and do feed
them out of it, and clothe them, and speak to them in
fair words as due. [5]
And test the orphans until they reach a marriageable
age then, if you perceive in them proper under-
standing, hand over to them their property. And do not
consume it extravagantly and hastily lest they should
grow up. And whoever is rich he should abstain and
whoever is poor he should consume in fairness. So,
when you hand over to them their property, have
witnesses upon them. And Allah is sufficient for reck-
oning. [6]
Sequence
The injunction to give orphans their property, and the women,
their dower, has appeared in previous verses. This may lead one to
think that the property of the orphans and women should under all

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Surah Al-Nisa' 4 : 5-6
conditions, be given to them, even if they cannot handle relevant
transactions and are incapable of protecting their property interests.
To remove this misunderstanding, it has been said in these verses that
properties should not be handed over to the feeble-minded. Instead,
they should be watched and tested to determine the age and time
when they exhibit the ability to protect their property and the discern-
ment of spending out of it, it is then that their property should be
handed over to them.
Commentary
Do protect what you own
These verses affirm the role of property in man's economic effort
which gives him the desire to protect it. Then, at the same time, the
general weakness shown in the protection of properties has been
corrected. There are people who, giving in to natural love, hand over
properties to inexperienced minor children and ill-informed women
which usually results in the wastage of the property and the quick
poverty which follows in its wake.
Do not hand over properties to the feeble-minded
The most revered exegete of the Holy Qur'an, Sayyidna 'Abdullah
ibn 'Abbas as Ul >, says: "The guidance the Holy Qur'an gives in this
verse is: Do not, by handing over all your property to feeble-minded
children and women, become dependent on them. Since Allah
Almighty has made you the guardian and the manager, you should,
rather, hold the property in your safe custody and keep spending from
it as necessary in order to feed and clothe them. And should they, even
then, demand to take possession of the property, explain to them
honestly, fairly and reasonably in a way which neither breaks their
heart nor causes the property to be wasted. For instance, say some-
thing like:' All this is there for you. Just grow up a little more and you
will have it all.'
Based on this tafsir of Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas as Ul_», , the
sense of the verse covers all women, children and others who are
feeble-minded and inexperienced, to whom it is dangerous to hand
over properties since it may result in their loss, irrespective of the fact
that they may be one's own children, or orphans, or the fact be that the
property may belong to such children and orphans themselves, or to

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Surah Al-Nisa' 4 : 5-6
the guardians. The same tafsir has been reported from Sayyidna Abu
Musa al-Ash'ari us Ulu», and the renowned mufassir, al-Țabari has
also adopted the same view.
The context of the earlier and later verses may, though, lead one to
particularize this injunction too with orphaned children, yet, the
generality of words remains there as such and which includes all chil-
dren, orphans and non-orphans. And perhaps, the form of address in
'amwalukum' (your properties) may have the special wisdom that it is
inclusive of the properties of the guardians as well as that of the
orphans. The suggestion is that the properties of the orphans, until
such time that they become mature and discerning, remain under the
guardian's safe custody and responsibility as if these properties, so to
say, were like their own. It will be recalled that the fact of the matter -
that the properties of the orphans have to be given only to them - has
been made very clear in verse 2 :ْوَاتُوا الْيَنْنَى أَمٌوَالَهُم (And give the orphans
their property). After this, there remains no reason for any doubt.
Protecting property is necessary. Wasting it is a sin. A person
killed while defending his property is a shahid (martyr). This is similar
to being killed in defence of one's life which makes one deserving of the
صلى الله عليه وسلم great reward of shahadah (martyrdom). The Holy Prophet
has said:
مَنْ قُتِلَ دُوْنَ مَالِهٍ فَهُوَ شَهِيٌُّ
Whosoever is killed while protecting his property is a shahid
(that is, he is counted among Muslim martyrs in terms of
Divine reward). (Bukhari, v.1, p. 337 - Muslim, v.1, p.81)
He has also said:
نعما بالمال الصالح للرجل الصالح
For a good man, his good and clean property is the best asset
of his life. (Mishkat, p. 326)
Yet another saying of his is:
لَبَأْسَ بِالْغِنِى ◌ِنَّ أَنَّغَىَ الله عَنَّوَجَلَّ
Being rich is not harmful for one who fears Allah, the Mighty,
the Exalted. (Mishkat, p. 491)

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Surah Al-Nisa' 4 : 5-6
The last two ahadith quoted above tell us that the wealth possessed
by a righteous and God-fearing person is not harmful for him because
such a person, by virtue of being God-fearing, will abstain from
spending it in what is sinful. The anti-wealth teachings of many
Muslim saints and mystics apply to none but those who spend their
lustily-earned wealth for sinful purposes and thus go on to make it the
cause of their punishment in the Hereafter. Also, since man is natu-
rally inclined to abandon, once he is rich, all concerns of moderation in
his spendings, as well as the very anxiety to see that he stays safe
against other sins - that is why staying away from wealth has been
considered desirable. God bless our earlier people; they would earn,
more or less, as needed, were grateful to Allah and ended up being
happy that they have succeeded in saving their skins from being ulti-
mately 'audited' for the whats and hows and whereas of spending their
wealth, if they had it. But, in our time, people do not care much about
matters of faith; they are more attracted to material things; they are
all too ready to abandon their faith at the slightest provocation, not
because there is some discomfort involved. Rather, they would do that
lest they go against fragile fashion, or trend, or some borrowed norm of
contemporary society. Therefore, it is important that people earn
lawfully and conserve their earnings. For such people, the Holy
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has said:
كَاَالْفَقُرْ آنُ ◌َّكُوْنَ كُفْرًّا
Poverty can take one to the point of being a disbeliever.
(Mishkat, p. 439)
Sayyidna Sufyan al-Thawri & dl +, elaborates this by saying:
كان المال فيما مضى يكره، فاما اليوم فهو ترس المؤمن
Previously, owning and keeping wealth was not considered
good, but today, this wealth is a shield of the true Muslim.
He has also said:
مَنْ كَانَ فِىٌ يَدِهٍ مِنْ هَذِهِ شَيْئًا فَلْيُصُلِحُهُ، فَإِنَّهْ زَمَانٌ إِنِ احْتَاجَ كَانَ آَوَّلَ من
يبذل دِيُنَهُ
Whoever has any of this (wealth) in his hands should make it
serve him well for these are times when, in the event of some

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need, one is likely to first 'spend' his faith in order to take care
of that need. (i.e. the desire to fulfill one's need has become
more important than the obligation to follow one's faith)
(Mishkat, p.491)
The injunction to test the ability and understanding of minors
Once we know from verse 5 that minors should not be entrusted
with properties until such time that their ability to discern and decide
stands proved, the injunctions to educate and test such children to
determine their ability follow in the next verse (6).
Verse 6:َوَابُتَلُوا الْبَطِى حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغُوا الزَّكَام translated as 'and test the orphans
until they reach marriageable age;' means that children, well before
they become pubert and marriageable, should be tested through small
assignments of buying and selling in order to determine their ability to
conduct themselves in transactions on their own. This process of prac-
tical experimentation should continue right through upto the age of
marriageability, that is, when they become pubert and mature. This is
the time of special assessment. Now it should be determined if they
have become smart and self-reliant in their affairs. Once this is sensed
as 'dependable', it is time to hand over their property to them.
In short, given the nature of children and the factors involved in
the growth of reason and intelligence among them, they have been
divided in three stages. One: minority (before puberty). Two: After
puberty. Three: After self-reliance, and discretion in conducting
personal affairs (Rushd as opposed to Safahah). During the first stage,
the guardians of children have been instructed to educate and train
them by providing for them hands-on experience, that is, let them
become smarter by conducting small dealings in buying and selling on
their own. The expression: Ju Ggy (and test the orphans) in this
verse means exactly this. It is from here that Imam Abu Hanifah Ali,
ule has deduced the ruling that the transactions of buying and selling
entered into by minor children with the permission of their guardian
are sound, valid and operative.
In accordance with the other injunction, when children become
mature, pubert and marriageable, the guardian should check up their
state of growth at that stage in terms of experience, intelligence and
dealings, and once it becomes clear that they understand their profit

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Surah Al-Nisa' 4 : 5-6
and loss and handle their affairs and dealings in a satisfactory
manner, their property should be handed over to them.
The Age of Maturity
Along with the injunction of maturity (bulugh) in this verse, the
Holy Qur'an has also answered the question as to the 'age' when a
child would be taken as mature (baligh) by saying: & is trans-
lated as 'until they reach marriageability'. Here, it has been indicated
that real maturity is not tied up with any particular count of years.
Rather, it depends on particular indicators and signs experienced by
adults entering the threshold of adulthood. When, in terms of these
indicators and signs, they would be regarded fit to marry, they would
be considered mature, even if their age does not exceed thirteen or
fourteen years. But, should it be that such signs of maturity just do
not show up in some child, he shall be considered mature in terms of
age, a position in which Muslim jurists vary. Some fix eighteen years
for boys and seventeen for girls; some others have fixed fifteen years
for both. With the Hanafiyyah, the fatwa is on the position that the boy
and the girl shall both be considered mature under the Islamic law
after they have completed their fifteenth year, irrespective of whether
or not signs of maturity are found.
The Perception of Proper Understanding : How to find it? An
انَسْتُمُ مِّنْهُمُ رُهُدًا Explanation of
The injunction of the Qur'an is: 'then, if you perceive in them
proper understanding, hand over to them their property.' Now, what is
the time of this 'proper understanding' (rushd)? The Holy Qur'an has
not elaborated on this final limit of time. Therefore, some Muslim
jurists leaned towards favouring the view that the properties of chil-
dren should not be handed over to them until it has been determined
that they do have full and proper understanding. Instead, these will
stay under the safe custody of the guardian as usual, even if this state
of affairs continues for the rest of life.
But, in accordance with the verification of the issue by Imam Abu
Hanifah Jul , , at this point the absence of 'proper understanding'
refers to the state affected by childhood. Within ten years after
maturity, the effect of childhood is gone. So, there are fifteen years as
the age of maturity (bulugh) and ten years as the age of proper under-

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standing (rushd). Once these 25 years are reached, such proper under-
standing is most likely to be achieved; something which was not
possible due to the barriers of childhood, and later, younger years.
Then, it should be noted that the Holy Qur'an uses the word, 'rushdan'
in its indefinite form whereby it is suggesting that full understanding
and perfect sense are not absolute conditions. A reasonable measure of
understanding is also sufficient for this purpose on the basis of which
their properties could be given to them. Therefore, even if perfect
understanding has not been achieved despite the long wait of twenty
five years, even then, their properties will be handed over to them. As
far as perfect understanding and wisdom is concerned, there are
people who do not get to achieve these throughout their entire lives.
They always remain simple, innocent and rather shy and slow in
conducting their practical dealings. They will not be deprived of their
properties because of this. However, should there be someone totally
insane, he will be governed by a separate rule since such a person
always remains in the category of immature children. His property
will never be handed over to him until his insanity disappears, even if
his entire life were to pass in insanity.
The Prohibition of Undue Spending from the Property of
Orphans
As we know, the verse instructs that the property of the orphans
should not be handed over to them until a certain degree of under-
standing and experience is perceived in them. Naturally, for this
purpose, one will have to wait for some more time. In that case, it was
probable that the guardian of the orphan could commit an excess
against the interests of the orphan. So, the verse goes on to say:
وَلاَ تَأْكُلُؤُهَا إِسْرَافًا قَبِدَارًا آَنْ يَكْبَرُوا
And do not consume it extravagantly and hastily lest they
should grow up.
Here, the guardians of the orphans have been prevented from two
things: Firstly, from spending out of their property extravagantly, that
is, from spending over and above normal needs; and secondly, from
starting to spend out from their property way before the need to do so,
as if in a hurry, thinking of the near future when their wards would
grow up and their property would have to be given to them and the

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guardian's control will be all over.
The orphan's guardian, if needy, can take out some of his
expenses from the orphan's property
Does a person, who spends his time and labour in the upbringing of
an orphan and is devoted to the protection of his property, have the
right to take an honorarium for his services from the property of the
orphan? The rule is given towards the later part of the verse when it is
said: ZAREZZU CK 56 34; (And whoever is rich he should abstain). It means
that a person who is need-free as he can take care of his needs through
some other means, then, he should not take any payment for his
services from the property of the orphan, because this service is an
obligation on him. Receiving payment for it is not permissible. Then, it
was said : ◌ِوَمَن كَانَ فَقِيْرًا فَلْيَأْكُلُ بِالْمَعَرُوُف (and whoever is poor he should consume
in fairness). It means that the guardian of an orphan who is poor and
needy and has no other source of earning his livelihood, he can
consume a reasonable amount from the property of the orphans for his
sustenance in a measure that is just about right to cover his basic
needs.
Having witnesses while handing over property
The verse concludes with : فَإِذَا دَفَعُهُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ آَهُوَالَهُمْ فَاتُهِدُوا عَلَيْهِمْ، وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ حَسِبُبًا .It
means: 'when you hand over to them their property (after having gone
through the period of test and trial), have (some reliable and pious
people as) witnesses upon them (so that there is no dispute later). And
(remember that) Allah is sufficient for reckoning (for He has a count of
everything within His sight).
Payment for services rendered to country, community and
Awq af
The contextual extension of the verse yields an important juristic
rule and principle. It concerns people who supervise Awq af (religious
endowments, trusts and estates) or manage mosques and religious
schools or head institutions of Muslim states or hold charge of similar
other services rendered for the country and community, services the
rendering of which is known in Islamic terminology as fard 'ala
l'kifayah (an obligation which, if discharged by some, will absolve
others). For these gentlemen too, the superior and more meritorious
conduct is - of course, if they have sufficient assets to take care of the