Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 241 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:241

وَلِلْمُطَلَّقَـٰتِ مَتَـٰعٌۢ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ ۖ حَقًّا عَلَى ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ

“And for divorced women is a provision according to what is acceptable - a duty upon the righteous.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Every divorced woman is owed a fair parting provision to ease a broken heart: not an optional kindness, but a duty on the mindful.

A reflection

The man who tried to opt out

Several classical commentators preserve a revealing story about this ayah. When the earlier ayah came, calling the parting gift 'a duty upon those who do good', one man reasoned aloud. If I want to do good, I will do it, he said. If I do not, I will not.

He had found what looked like a loophole. The duty was on the muḥsinīn, the people of excellence. Very well: he would simply not be one of them.

Then this ayah came: 'For divorced women is a provision according to what is right, a duty upon the muttaqīn'. Those who are mindful of Allah. No believer can opt out of that category without opting out of faith.

The story is almost comic, but it describes something we all do. We treat generosity as an optional extra, for saints and enthusiasts. We keep a mental list of things that are 'nice but not required'. Then we live by the minimum.

The ayah closes the gap. A classical commentator notes that it generalises the provision to all divorced women, after the earlier ayah had named only one case. The detailed rulings belong to the scholars of law. The character lesson is plain: the kindness you were tempted to treat as optional has been named a right.

The word ḥaqq, duty or right, comes from a root of what is really there and holds firm. A kindness that is ḥaqq is no longer a mood. It is something solid that someone else can rely on.

Where have you been looking for a loophole in kindness?

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.