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Ayah
Word by Word
وَإِنۡ
And if
خِفۡتُمۡ
you fear
أَلَّا
that not
تُقۡسِطُواْ
you will be able to do justice
فِي
with
ٱلۡيَتَٰمَىٰ
the orphans
فَٱنكِحُواْ
then marry
مَا
what
طَابَ
seems suitable
لَكُم
to you
مِّنَ
from
ٱلنِّسَآءِ
the women
مَثۡنَىٰ
two
وَثُلَٰثَ
or three
وَرُبَٰعَۖ
or four
فَإِنۡ
But if
خِفۡتُمۡ
you fear
أَلَّا
that not
تَعۡدِلُواْ
you can do justice
فَوَٰحِدَةً
then (marry) one
أَوۡ
or
مَا
what
مَلَكَتۡ
possesses
أَيۡمَٰنُكُمۡۚ
your right hand
ذَٰلِكَ
That
أَدۡنَىٰٓ
(is) more appropriate
أَلَّا
that (may) not
تَعُولُواْ
you oppress
وَإِنۡ
And if
خِفۡتُمۡ
you fear
أَلَّا
that not
تُقۡسِطُواْ
you will be able to do justice
فِي
with
ٱلۡيَتَٰمَىٰ
the orphans
فَٱنكِحُواْ
then marry
مَا
what
طَابَ
seems suitable
لَكُم
to you
مِّنَ
from
ٱلنِّسَآءِ
the women
مَثۡنَىٰ
two
وَثُلَٰثَ
or three
وَرُبَٰعَۖ
or four
فَإِنۡ
But if
خِفۡتُمۡ
you fear
أَلَّا
that not
تَعۡدِلُواْ
you can do justice
فَوَٰحِدَةً
then (marry) one
أَوۡ
or
مَا
what
مَلَكَتۡ
possesses
أَيۡمَٰنُكُمۡۚ
your right hand
ذَٰلِكَ
That
أَدۡنَىٰٓ
(is) more appropriate
أَلَّا
that (may) not
تَعُولُواْ
you oppress
Translation
And if you fear that you will not deal justly with the orphan girls, then marry those that please you of [other] women, two or three or four. But if you fear that you will not be just, then [marry only] one or those your right hands possess [i.e., slaves]. That is more suitable that you may not incline [to injustice].
Tafsir
If you fear that you will not act justly, [that] you will [not] be equitable, towards the orphans, and are thus distressed in this matter, then also fear lest you be unjust towards women when you marry them; marry such (maa means man) women as seem good to you, two or three or four, that is, [each man may marry] two, or three, or four, but do not exceed this; but if you fear you will not be equitable, towards them in terms of [their] expenses and [individual] share; then, marry, only one, or, restrict yourself to, what your right hands own, of slavegirls, since these do not have the same rights as wives; thus, by that marrying of only four, or only one, or resorting to slavegirls, it is likelier, it is nearer [in outcome], that you will not be unjust, [that] you will [not] be inequitable.
"Protecting the Property of the Orphans
Allah says;
وَاتُواْ الْيَتَامَى أَمْوَالَهُمْ
And give unto orphans their property
Allah commands that the property of the orphans be surrendered to them in full when they reach the age of adolescence, and He forbids using or confiscating any part of it.
So He said;
وَلَا تَتَبَدَّلُواْ الْخَبِيثَ بِالطَّيِّبِ
and do not exchange (your) bad things for (their) good ones;
Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib and Az-Zuhri commented,
""Do not substitute a weak animal of yours for a fat animal (of the orphans).""
Ibrahim An-Nakhai and Ad-Dahhak commented,
""Do not give something of bad quality for something of good quality.""
As-Suddi said,
""One of them (caretakers of orphans) would take a fat sheep from the orphan's property and put in its place, a weak sheep of his, saying, `A sheep for a sheep.' He would also take a good Dirham and exchange it for a fake Dirham, saying, `A Dirham for a Dirham.""'
Allah's statement,
وَلَا تَأْكُلُواْ أَمْوَالَهُمْ إِلَى أَمْوَالِكُمْ
and devour not their substance to your substance.
Mujahid, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Muqatil bin Hayyan, As-Suddi and Sufyan bin Hassin stated,
means, do not mix them together so that you eat up both.
Allah said,
إِنَّهُ كَانَ حُوبًا كَبِيرًا
Surely, this is a great sin.
According to Ibn Abbas,
a major and substantial sin.
This was also reported from Mujahid, Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Al-Hasan, Ibn Sirin, Qatadah, Muqatil bin Hayyan, Ad-Dahhak, Abu Malik, Zayd bin Aslam and Abu Sinan.
The meaning above is:
adding their property to your property is a grave sin and a major mistake, so avoid it.
The Prohibition of Marrying Female Orphans Without Giving a Dowry
Allah said
وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلاَّ تُقْسِطُواْ فِي الْيَتَامَى فَانكِحُواْ مَا طَابَ لَكُم مِّنَ النِّسَاء
And if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphan girls, then marry (other) women of your choice,
Allah commands, when one of you is the caretaker of a female orphan and he fears that he might not give her a dowry that is suitable for women of her status, he should marry other women, who are plenty as Allah has not restricted him.
Al-Bukhari recorded that Aishah said,
""A man was taking care of a female orphan and he married her, although he did not desire to marry her. That girl's money was mixed with his, and he was keeping her portion from her. Afterwards, this Ayah was revealed about his case;
وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلاَّ تُقْسِطُواْ
If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly...""
Al-Bukhari recorded that Urwah bin Az-Zubayr said that;
he asked Aishah about the meaning of the statement of Allah,
وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلاَّ تُقْسِطُواْ فِي الْيَتَامَى
(If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphan girls).
She said, ""O my nephew! This is about the orphan girl who lives with her guardian and shares his property. Her wealth and beauty may tempt him to marry her without giving her an adequate dowry which might have been given by another suitor. So, such guardians were forbidden to marry such orphan girls unless they treated them justly and gave them the most suitable dowry; otherwise they were ordered to marry woman besides them.""
Aishah further said,
""After that verse, the people again asked the Messenger of Allah (about marriage with orphan girls), so Allah revealed the Ayah,
وَيَسْتَفْتُونَكَ فِي النِّسَاء
(They ask your instruction concerning the women..)."" (4:127)
She said,
""Allah's statement in this Ayah,
وَتَرْغَبُونَ أَن تَنكِحُوهُنَّ
(yet whom you desire to marry) (4:127) refers to the guardian who does not desire to marry an orphan girl under his supervision because she is neither wealthy nor beautiful. The guardians were forbidden to marry their orphan girls possessing property and beauty without being just to them, as they generally refrain from marrying them (when they are neither beautiful nor wealthy).""
The Permission to Marry Four Women
Allah's statement,
مَثْنَى
وَثُلَثَ وَرُبَاعَ
two or three, or four,
means, marry as many women as you like, other than the orphan girls, two, three or four.
We should mention that Allah's statement in another Ayah,
جَاعِلِ الْمَلَايِكَةِ رُسُلًا أُولِي أَجْنِحَةٍ مَّثْنَى وَثُلَاثَ وَرُبَاعَ
(Who made the angels messengers with wings, - two or three or four), (35:1), does not mean that other angels do not have more than four wings, as there are proofs that some angels do have more wings. Yet, men are prohibited from marrying more than four wives, as the Ayah decrees, since the Ayah specifies what men are allowed of wives, as Ibn Abbas and the majority of scholars stated. If it were allowed for them to have more than four wives, the Ayah would have mentioned it.
Imam Ahmad recorded that Salim said that his father said that;
Ghilan bin Salamah Ath-Thaqafi had ten wives when he became Muslim, and the Prophet said to him, ""Choose any four of them (and divorce the rest).""
During the reign of Umar, Ghilan divorced his remaining wives and divided his money between his children.
When Umar heard news of this, he said to Ghilan, ""I think that the devil has conveyed to your heart the news of your imminent death, from what the devil hears during his eavesdropping. It may as well be that you will not remain alive but for a little longer. By Allah! You will take back your wives and your money, or I will take possession of this all and will order that your grave be stoned as is the case with the grave of Abu Righal (from Thamud, who was saved from their fate because he was in the Sacred Area. But, when he left it, he was tormented like they were).""
Ash-Shafi`i, At-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Ad-Daraqutni and Al-Bayhaqi collected this Hadith up to the Prophet's statement, ""Choose any four of them.""
Only Ahmad collected the full version of this Hadith.
Therefore, had it been allowed for men to marry more than four women at the same time, the Prophet would have allowed Ghilan to keep more than four of his wives since they all embraced Islam with him. When the Prophet commanded him to keep just four of them and divorce the rest, this indicated that men are not allowed to keep more than four wives at a time under any circumstances. If this is the case concerning those who already had more than four wives upon embracing Islam, then this ruling applies even more so to marrying more than four.
Marrying Only One Wife When One Fears He Might not Do Justice to His Wives
Allah's statement,
فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلاَّ تَعْدِلُواْ فَوَاحِدَةً أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ
But if you fear that you will not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one or what your right hands possess.
The Ayah commands, if you fear that you will not be able to do justice between your wives by marrying more than one, then marry only one wife, or satisfy yourself with only female captives, for it is not obligatory to treat them equally, rather it is recommended. So if one does so, that is good, and if not, there is no harm on him.
In another Ayah, Allah said,
وَلَن تَسْتَطِيعُواْ أَن تَعْدِلُواْ بَيْنَ النِّسَأءِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتُمْ
You will never be able to do perfect justice between wives even if it is your ardent desire. (4:129)
Allah said,
ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَلاَّ تَعُولُواْ
That is nearer to prevent you from Ta`ulu,
meaning, from doing injustice.
Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Marduwyah and Abu Hatim Ibn Hibban, in his Sahih, recorded that Aishah said that,
the Prophet said that the Ayah,
ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَلاَّ تَعُولُواْ
(That is nearer to prevent you from Ta`ulu, means, from doing injustice.
However, Ibn Abi Hatim said that his father said that this Hadith to the Prophet is a mistake, for it should be attributed to Aishah not the Prophet.
Ibn Abi Hatim reported from Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Ikrimah, Al-Hasan, Abu Malik, Abu Razin, An-Nakhai, Ash-Sha`bi, Ad-Dahhak, Ata Al-Khurasani, Qatadah, As-Suddi and Muqatil bin Hayyan that;
Ta`ulu means to deviate (from justice).
Giving the Dowry is Obligatory
Allah says;
وَاتُواْ النَّسَاء صَدُقَاتِهِنَّ نِحْلَةً
And give to the women (whom you marry) their Saduqat Nihlah,
Ali bin Abi Talhah reported Ibn Abbas saying,
Nihlah, in Allah's statement, refers to the dowry.
Muhammad bin Ishaq narrated from Az-Zuhri that Urwah said that Aishah said that;
`Nihlah' means `obligatory'.
Muqatil, Qatadah and Ibn Jurayj said,
`Nihlah' means `obligatory'
Ibn Jurayj added:`specified.'
Ibn Zayd said,
""In Arabic, Nihlah, refers to what is necessary. So Allah is commanding:Do not marry unless you give your wife something that is her right. No person after the Prophet is allowed to marry a woman except with the required dowry, nor by giving false promises about the dowry (intended).""
Therefore, the man is required to pay a dowry to his wife with a good heart, just as he gives a gift with a good heart. If the wife gives him part or all of that dowry with a good heart, her husband is allowed to take it, as it is lawful for him in this case. This is why Allah said afterwards,
فَإِن طِبْنَ لَكُمْ عَن شَيْءٍ مِّنْهُ نَفْسًا فَكُلُوهُ هَنِييًا مَّرِييًا
But if they, of their own pleasure, remit any part of it to you, take it, and enjoy it without fear of any harm."
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