Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 231 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:231

وَإِذَا طَلَّقْتُمُ ٱلنِّسَآءَ فَبَلَغْنَ أَجَلَهُنَّ فَأَمْسِكُوهُنَّ بِمَعْرُوفٍ أَوْ سَرِّحُوهُنَّ بِمَعْرُوفٍ ۚ وَلَا تُمْسِكُوهُنَّ ضِرَارًا لِّتَعْتَدُوا۟ ۚ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ فَقَدْ ظَلَمَ نَفْسَهُۥ ۚ وَلَا تَتَّخِذُوٓا۟ ءَايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ هُزُوًا ۚ وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَمَآ أَنزَلَ عَلَيْكُم مِّنَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ وَٱلْحِكْمَةِ يَعِظُكُم بِهِۦ ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌ

“And when you divorce women and they have [nearly] fulfilled their term, either retain them according to acceptable terms or release them according to acceptable terms, and do not keep them, intending harm, to transgress [against them]. And whoever does that has certainly wronged himself. And do not take the verses of Allāh in jest. And remember the favor of Allāh upon you and what has been revealed to you of the Book [i.e., the Qur’ān] and wisdom [i.e., the Prophet's sunnah] by which He instructs you. And fear Allāh and know that Allāh is Knowing of all things.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Never use a lawful return as a weapon: the one who harms that way wrongs himself, and Allah, who counsels you, knows every motive.

A reflection

A return that fools everyone but One

At a family gathering, a husband announces that he and his wife are back together, for the children's sake. Both families are relieved. What none of them know is that he has said privately he will make her pay for leaving.

The early commentators describe exactly this. A man would divorce his wife, wait until her term had nearly ended, and then take her back. He did it not out of love, but so that she could not marry anyone else. Then he would divorce her again, to stretch out her waiting. On paper, every step was a lawful 'return'.

The ayah does not argue with the paperwork. It ends: 'and know that Allah has knowledge of all things'. A classical commentator explains: nothing of your affairs, secret or open, is hidden from Him.

This is majesty aimed straight at the ego's favourite hiding place. The ego is clever with appearances. It can make cruelty look like reconciliation and spite look like duty. It trusts that if the form is correct, no one will look inside. The ayah says Someone always looks inside.

It also reveals something remarkable about Him. In the middle of a law about divorce, He pauses to remind us of His favours and to counsel us. A king who needed nothing from his subjects would simply command. He chooses to counsel.

Does He need us to know that He knows? He is free of all need (35:15). We need to know it, because the mask is always most tempting when the family is relieved.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.