Surah 66. At-Tahrim

O PROPHET! Why dost thou, out of a desire to please [one or another of] thy wives, impose [on thyself] a prohibition of something that God has made lawful to thee?¹ But God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace:

  - Mohammad Asad

There are several essentially conflicting - and, therefore, in their aggregate, not very trustworthy - reports as to the exact reason or reasons why, at some time during the second half of the Medina period, the Prophet declared on oath that for one month he would have no intercourse with any of his wives. Still, while the exact reason cannot be established with certainty, it is sufficiently clear from the above-mentioned ahadith that this emotional, temporary renunciation of marital life was caused by a display of mutual jealousy among some of the Prophet's wives. In any case, the purport of the above Qur'anic allusion to this incident is not biographical but, rather, intended to bring out a moral lesson applicable to all human situations: namely, the inadmissibility of regarding as forbidden (haram) anything that God has made lawful (halal), even if such an attitude happens to be motivated by the desire to please another person or other persons. Apart from this, it serves to illustrate the fact - repeatedly stressed in the Qur'an - that the Prophet was but a human being, and therefore subject to human emotions and even liable to commit an occasional mistake (which in his case, however, was invariably pointed out to him, and thus rectified, through divine revelation).

O Prophet! Why do you make something unlawful, which Allah has made lawful to you in seeking to please your wives? Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

O Prophet! Why bannest thou that which Allah hath made lawful for thee, seeking to please thy wives? And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

God has already enjoined upon you [O believers] the breaking and expiation of [such of] your oaths [as may run counter to what is right and just]:² for, God is your Lord Supreme, and He alone is all-knowing, truly wise.

  - Mohammad Asad

See 2:224 and the corresponding note [212], which shows that in certain circumstances an oath should be broken and then atoned for: hence the above phrase, "God has enjoined upon you the breaking and expiation" (with the term tahillah comprising both these concepts).

Allah has already given you absolution from such oaths. Allah is your Master and He is the Knowledgeable, the Wise.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Allah hath made lawful for you (Muslims) absolution from your oaths (of such a kind), and Allah is your Protector. He is the Knower, the Wise.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And lo!³ [It so happened that] the Prophet told something in confidence to one of his wives; and when she thereupon divulged it, and God made this known to him, he acquainted [others] with some of it and passed over some of it.⁴ And as soon as he let her know it, she asked, "Who has told thee this?"⁵ - [to which] he replied, "The All-Knowing, the All-Aware has told me."

  - Mohammad Asad

See surah {2}, note [21].

Lit., "he turned aside from [or "avoided"] some of it". There is no reliable Tradition as to the subject of that confidential information. Some of the early commentators, however, connect it with the Prophet's veiled prediction that Abu Bakr and 'Umar ibn al-Khattab would succeed him as leaders of the Muslim community; the recipient of the information is said to have been Hafsah, the daughter of 'Umar, and the one to whom she disclosed it, 'A'ishah, the daughter of Abu Bakr (Baghawi, on the authority of Ibn'Abbas and Al-Kalbi; also Zamakhshari). If this interpretation is correct, it would explain why the Prophet "acquainted [others] with some of it and passed over some of it": for, once his confidential prediction had been divulged, he saw no point in withholding it any longer from the community; nevertheless, he alluded to it in deliberately vague terms - possibly in order not to give to the succession of Abu Bakr and 'Umar the appearance of an "apostolic sanction" but to leave it, rather, to a free decision of the community in pursuance of the Qur'anic principle amruhum shura baynahum (see 42:38 ).

I.e., that she had broken the Prophet's confidence.

When the Prophet confined a secret to one of his wives, she disclosed this secret to another and Allah informed him about it, the Prophet made known to the said wife a part of it and avoided mentioning the rest. So when he told her about this disclosure, she asked: "Who told you this?" He replied: "I was informed by Him Who is All-Knowing, All-Aware."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

When the Prophet confided a fact unto one of his wives and when she afterward divulged it and Allah apprised him thereof, he made known (to her) part thereof and passed over part. And when he told it her she said: Who hath told thee? He said: The Knower, the Aware hath told me.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[Say, O Prophet:⁶] "Would that you two turn unto God in repentance, for the hearts of both of you have swerved [from what is right]!⁷ And if you uphold each other against him [who is God's message-bearer, know that] God Himself is his Protector, and [that,] therefore,⁸ Gabriel, and all the righteous among the believers, and all the [other] angels will come to his aid."

  - Mohammad Asad

Although in the sequence the Prophet is referred to in the third person, it is obvious that it is he who is commanded through revelation to speak thus to his wives Hafsah and 'A'ishah (see note [4]); hence my above interpolation.

Referring to Hafsah, who betrayed the Prophet's confidence, and to 'A'ishah, who by listening contributed to this betrayal (see note [4] above).

Lit., "after that", i.e., in consequence of the fact that God Himself protects him.

If you both (Hafsah and Aeysha) turn in repentance to Allah - for your hearts have sinned - you shall be pardoned; and if you back up each other against him (the Prophet), then you should know that his protectors are Allah, Gabriel and all righteous believers, furthermore the angels too are his supporters.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

If ye twain turn unto Allah repentant, (ye have cause to do so) for your hearts desired (the ban); and if ye aid one another against him (Muhammad) then lo! Allah, even He, is his protecting Friend, and Gabriel and the righteous among the believers; and furthermore the angels are his helpers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[O wives of the Prophet!] Were he to divorce [any of] you, God might well give him in your stead spouses better than you - women who surrender themselves unto God, who truly believe, devoutly obey His will, turn [unto Him] in repentance [whenever they have sinned], worship [Him alone], and go on and on [seeking His goodly acceptance]⁹ - be they women previously married or virgins.¹⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

For this rendering of the expression sa'ihat, see note [147] on 9:112 , where the same expression occurs in the masculine gender relating to both men and women.

I.e., like the actual wives of the Prophet, one of whom ('A'ishah) was a virgin when she married him, one (Zaynab bint Jahsh) had been divorced, while the others were widows. This allusion, together with the fact that the Prophet did not divorce any of his wives, as well as the purely hypothetical formulation of this passage, shows that it is meant to be an indirect admonition to the Prophet's wives, who, despite their occasional shortcomings - unavoidable in human beings - did possess the virtues referred to above. On a wider plane, it seems to be an admonition to all believers, men and women alike: and this explains the subsequent change in the discourse.

It may well be that, if he divorce you all, his Rabb will give him in your place better wives than yourselves, submissive, faithful, obedient, penitent, worshippers and keepers of fasting; be they previously married or virgins.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

It may happen that his Lord, if he divorce you, will give him in your stead wives better than you, submissive (to Allah), believing, pious, penitent, inclined to fasting, widows and maids.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall