An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 19 of 176

An-Nisa 4:19

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا يَحِلُّ لَكُمْ أَن تَرِثُوا۟ ٱلنِّسَآءَ كَرْهًا ۖ وَلَا تَعْضُلُوهُنَّ لِتَذْهَبُوا۟ بِبَعْضِ مَآ ءَاتَيْتُمُوهُنَّ إِلَّآ أَن يَأْتِينَ بِفَـٰحِشَةٍ مُّبَيِّنَةٍ ۚ وَعَاشِرُوهُنَّ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ ۚ فَإِن كَرِهْتُمُوهُنَّ فَعَسَىٰٓ أَن تَكْرَهُوا۟ شَيْـًٔا وَيَجْعَلَ ٱللَّهُ فِيهِ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا

“O you who have believed, it is not lawful for you to inherit women by compulsion.[173] And do not make difficulties for them in order to take [back] part of what you gave them[174] unless they commit a clear immorality [i.e., adultery]. And live with them in kindness. For if you dislike them - perhaps you dislike a thing and Allāh makes therein much good.”

Saheeh International

Essence

A woman is not an inheritance, her will is not an obstacle, and a spouse you no longer like is still owed kindness.

A reflection

The cloth thrown over a widow

A widow of thirty-one is told by her late husband's family that she will marry his younger brother. The house, the children and she herself, they explain, will stay in the family. Nobody asks her.

Medina knew that scene, and worse. Sahih al-Bukhari records the custom from a Companion's report. When a man died, his relatives had more right to his wife than her own family did. One of them might marry her if he wished. Or they married her to whomever they chose. Or they kept her unmarried. Then this ayah came.

The commentaries add details that are hard to read. A relative would throw his garment over the widow, and that act made her his. If she reached her own family before the cloth fell, she was free. One report says that if she was beautiful he married her. If not, he kept her until she died, and inherited what she owned.

A widow named Kubaysha is reported to have come to the Prophet ﷺ with her case. Her late husband's son had laid claim to her. Her complaint was simple. I did not inherit from my husband, and I was not left free to marry.

The ayah's grammar answers her. 'It is not lawful for you to inherit women against their will'. Women had been the object of the verb 'inherit', listed with the camels and the date palms. The ayah takes them out of the estate and puts them back among the people.

And notice who is addressed: 'O you who believe.' Dignity for the widow is not a social nicety here. It is a matter of faith.

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.