The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 194
CH. 4 AN-NISA' PT. 4 وَكَيْفَ تَأْخُذُونَهُ وَقَدْ اَفْضَى بَعْضُكُمْ And how can you take it. 22 إلى بَعْضٍ وَاَخَذْنَ مِنْكُمْ مِّيْثَاقًا غَلِيظًا when one of you has been alone with the other, and they (the women) have taken from you a strong covenant?501 course; a false accusation of adultery against a woman (Lane & Aqrab). Commentary: The verse does not mean that man can divorce his wife at will. Anas, a Companion of the Holy Prophet, relates that once Abū Ayyub and Abū Talha wanted to divorce their wives (without valid reason) and asked the Holy Prophet about it. He counselled them not to do So, characterizing their act as an act of injustice. Thereupon, they abandoned their intention of divorcing their wives and retained them. This does not mean that a husband cannot divorce his wife without obtaining the permission of the authorities; he can do so, if he so desires; but he will certainly be accountable before God if he does so without valid reason. Elsewhere the Holy Prophet is reported to have said, "Surely of the things sanctioned by the Law of Islam the most hateful in the sight of God is divorce" (Dāwūd, ch. on, Talāq). If for some special reason a man wishes to divorce one wife and marry another, he is not allowed to take back from the former what he has already given her, no matter however big the sum may be. If he does so, he will be guilty of infidelity and sin. 634 501. Important Words: (has been alone) is formed from meaning, it was or became empty or vacant, or void; it was or became means, I افضيت الى الشيء ,wide or spacious came to or reached a thingol dal cażól means, he went in unto his wife; or he came in contact with his wife, skin to skin; he was with her alone in private (Lane). Commentary: The words, one of you has been alone with the other, do not necessarily imply sexual intercourse. They only mean living with each other and meeting each other in private on terms of extreme intimacy. According to this verse, a man cannot take back from his wife any property or sum of money he may have given her, even though he may not have gone in unto her. The expression, and they (the women) have taken from you a strong covenant, shows that women are not the slaves of the whim or caprice of men. Both are bound by a sacred contract and men owe to their wives obligations which they must respect and faithfully discharge, because, as regards social rights, both are on much the same level. Men are warned here not to treat light-heartedly the covenant they have made with their