An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 128 of 176

An-Nisa 4:128

وَإِنِ ٱمْرَأَةٌ خَافَتْ مِنۢ بَعْلِهَا نُشُوزًا أَوْ إِعْرَاضًا فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَآ أَن يُصْلِحَا بَيْنَهُمَا صُلْحًا ۚ وَٱلصُّلْحُ خَيْرٌ ۗ وَأُحْضِرَتِ ٱلْأَنفُسُ ٱلشُّحَّ ۚ وَإِن تُحْسِنُوا۟ وَتَتَّقُوا۟ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرًا

“And if a woman fears from her husband contempt or evasion, there is no sin upon them if they make terms of settlement between them - and settlement is best. And present in [human] souls is stinginess.[220] But if you do good and fear Allāh - then indeed Allāh is ever, of what you do, Aware.”

Saheeh International

Essence

When a wife senses her husband turning away, the two may mend it between themselves; repair is better, though every soul grips what it owns.

A reflection

Known by what you prove to be

The ayah closes with a turn. It began by describing a wife's fear. It ends by speaking straight to husbands: if you do good and guard yourselves, Allah is ever Aware of what you do. One commentator notes the gentleness of that shift. Care for her rights is called iḥsān, excellence, and a promise is laid on top of it.

The name is Khabīr. Its root separates two things the Arabs knew well. A person's manẓar is how he looks. His makhbar is what he proves to be when tested. Khubr is knowledge of the inside, the kind earned by trial.

A marriage in its later years can have a very good manẓar. The same house, the same photographs on the stairs, the same couple at every wedding. The makhbar is another matter. Does he still speak to her when nobody is watching? Does she still matter when she no longer flatters his pride?

This is where the ego must shrink. A husband's nushūz, the commentators explain, is a rising: lifting himself above her, towards someone or something else. It is pride in its domestic form. He feels he has outgrown her.

The ayah answers that rising with a name. The One truly above everything knows the inside of each marriage, tested and proved. No man rises above his wife without first forgetting the One above them both.

Does Allah need to tell us He is aware? He needs nothing. He is the Rich, and people are the poor ones before Him (35:15). The reminder is for the husband who thinks a cold silence leaves no record. And it is for the wife who fears no one has noticed.

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.