O PROPHET! When you
1 [intend to] divorce women, divorce them with a view to the waiting-period appointed for them,
2 and reckon the period [carefully], and be conscious of God, your Sustainer. Do not expel them from their homes;
3 and neither shall they [be made to] leave
4 unless they become openly guilty of immoral conduct.
5 These, then, are the bounds set by God - and he who transgresses the bounds set by God does indeed sin against himself: [for, O man, although] thou knowest it not, after that [first breach] God may well cause something new to come about.
6
Asad Translation Note Number :
See 2:228 and the corresponding notes, especially note [215]. - Most of the great jurists hold the view that the required three pronouncements of divorce, which make it final and irrevocable (cf. first paragraph of 2:229 , must be made singly, i.e., spaced over the waiting-period of three months, so as to give the husband time to reconsider his intention, and thus to prevent a hasty act which might be subsequently regretted. This provision is in tune with the well-authenticated saying of the Prophet, "In the sight of God, the most hateful of all things allowed (abghad al-halali) is divorce" (Abu Da'ud, on the authority of 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar). In other words, divorce is just barely permissible, and must not be resorted to unless it is absolutely evident that nothing can save the marriage from utter hopelessness.
I.e. during the waiting-period. As shown in verse {6} below, during that period the husband is fully responsible for the maintenance of the wife whom he is divorcing in accordance with the standard of living observed during their married life.
E.g., by their husbands' failure to provide for their maintenance. (This particular injunction does not imply a prohibition of a divorced woman's leaving her home of her own free will.)
Implying that in such a case she may be lawfully turned out of her marital home. Regarding the term fahishah ("immoral conduct"), see surah {4}, note [14].
According to Ibn 'Abbas (as quoted by Razi) and several other authorities (see Ibn Kathir), this is an allusion to the possibility of reconciliation and, hence, a resumption of marital relations before the divorce becomes final (see surah {2}, second part of verse {228} and first paragraph of {229}).
