The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 5) — Page 211
CHAPTER 58 AL-MUJĀDALAH (Revealed after Hijrah) Title, Date of Revelation, and Context The Surah takes its title from the words occurring in its opening verse. It is the second of the last seven Medinite chapters of the Quran and appears to have been revealed sometime before Surah Al-Aḥzāb (chapter 33), in which only a cursory reference was made to the evil custom of Zihār, i. e. calling one's wife one's "mother. " This subject has been dealt with in some detail in the present Surah. Khaulah, wife of Aus bin Ṣāmit, complained to the Holy Prophet that her husband had called her "mother," which rendered her a "suspended" woman neither divorced nor enjoying the status of a wife. The Holy Prophet pleaded his inability to do anything to help her in the absence of a revealed ordinance. This somewhat detailed reference to Zihār in this Surah shows that it was revealed before Surah Al-Aḥzāb. But as Surah Al-Aḥzāb was revealed between 5th and 7th year of the Hijrah, the present Surah therefore must have been revealed earlier, very likely between the 3rd and the 4th year. Moreover, in the immediately preceding Surah Al-Ḥadīd―the "People of the Book" were sternly told that Divine grace was not their monopoly and since they had repeatedly defied and had opposed and persecuted God's Messengers, God's favour would be transferred for all time to come to the House of Ishmael, and so Muslims are warned in the Surah under comment that their material prosperity would excite the enmity of their external and internal foes. They should, therefore, be on their guard against their machinations. And, it is an invariable practice of the Quran that whenever it deals with the enemies of Islam, it also makes a pointed reference to some social evil which may be regarded as the enemy of Islamic social system. This method was adopted in Surah Nūr and Aḥzāb and it has been adopted in the present Surah as well. Subject Matter The Surah opens with a sharp disapproval of the evil custom of Zihār and by citing the case of Khaulah lays down the ordinance that if anyone calls his wife "mother" he has to atone for this heinous moral lapse by either freeing a slave, if he has one, or by fasting for two successive months, or by feeding sixty needy persons. The punishment is commensurate with the offence as the evil practice is tantamount to "opposing God and His Messenger". After dealing a death blow to the custom of Zihār, the Sūrah proceeds to deal with the plots and conspiracies of the internal enemies of 3107