An-Nisa, 24

:"This is a sub-article to An-Nisa.An-Nisa ( _ar. النّساء) is the fourth chapter of the Qur'an, and this article is about its twenty-fourth verse, the controversial verse that has been called "the verse of Mut'ah" [http://www.answering-ansar.org/answers/mutah/en/chap3.php Answering-Ansar.org :: Mut'ah, a comprehensive guide ] ] , due to its reference to Nikah Mut‘ah, a temporary marriage form legalized during the era of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Overview

The verse can be broken into three parts:

QuoteQuran|4|24
#"And (also forbidden are) all married women except those whom your right hands possess (this is) Allah's ordinance to you,
#"and lawful for you are (all women) besides those, provided that you seek (them) with your property, taking (them) in marriage not committing fornication.
#"Then as to those whom you profit by, give them their dowries as appointed; and there is no blame on you about what you mutually agree after what is appointed; surely Allah is Knowing, Wise.
trans=Waalmuhsanatu mina alnnisa-i illa ma malakat aymanukum kitaba Allahi AAalaykum waohilla lakum ma waraa thalikum an tabtaghoo bi-amwalikum muhsineena ghayra musafiheena fama istamtaAAtum bihi minhunna faatoohunna ojoorahunna fareedatan wala junaha AAalaykum feema taradaytum bihi min baAAdi alfareedati inna Allaha kana AAaleeman hakeeman|arab=وَالْمُحْصَنَاتُ مِنَ النِّسَاء إِلاَّمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ كِتَابَ اللّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَأُحِلَّ لَكُم مَّا وَرَاء ذَلِكُمْ أَن تَبْتَغُواْ بِأَمْوَالِكُم مُّحْصِنِينَ غَيْرَ مُسَافِحِينَ فَمَا اسْتَمْتَعْتُم بِهِ مِنْهُنَّ فَآتُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً وَلاَ جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِيمَا تَرَاضَيْتُم بِهِ مِن بَعْدِ الْفَرِيضَةِ إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمً|701

The first part of the verse is a continuation from the previous verse. The middle part states that the non-mentioned woman are lawful, provided that the criteria for marriage is fulfilled. The last part of the verse addresses "Nikah Mut‘ah", and therefore is the entire verse known as "the verse of Mut'ah"

=Exegesis=

First part

Regarding the first part, presentScholar|Ibn Kathir|14th writes in his Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim [ [http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=4&tid=10803 site, offline as of 2006-09-29] [http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:pBBUYhiUz4wJ:www.tafsir.com/default.asp%3Fsid%3D4%26tid%3D10829+%22Ma%27bad+al-Juhani%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=21 Google Cache] ] :cquote|bgcolor=#F0FFF0|Allah said: "(Also (forbidden are) women already married, except those whom your right hands possess.) The Ayah means, you are prohibited from marrying women who are already married, (except those whom your right hands possess) except those whom you acquire through war, for you are allowed such women after making sure they are not pregnant. Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Sa`id al-­Khudri said, "We captured some women from the area of Awtas who were already married, and we disliked having sexual relations with them because they already had husbands. So, we asked the Prophet about this matter, and this Ayah was revealed: "(Also (forbidden are) women already married, except those whom your right hands possess). Consequently, we had sexual relations with these women."

This is the wording collected by At-Tirmidhi An-Nasa'i, Ibn Jarir and Muslim in his Sahih.

The tradition in Sahih Muslim dates the verse to the Battle of Hunayn in AH|8|629|+ [Muslim|8|3432]

econd part

This part is often referred to in the Muslim controversies related to Nikah Mut'ah by Salafi Sunnis to mean that Nikah Mut'ah is forbidden, since this verse demands chatiry, implying that Nikah Mut'ah is immoral [ [http://www.answering-ansar.org/answers/mutah/en/chap4.php Answering-Ansar.org :: Mut'ah, a comprehensive guide ] ] .

Third part

It is reported that several Sahaba including Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, Ubay ibn Ka'b, `Abd Allah ibn `Abbas and Jabir ibn Abd-Allah would read the verse as "Then as to those whom you profit by for a prescribed period (Ajol Masomee), give them their dowries as appointed", something that is included in numerous exegises [
# Tafseer Durre Manthur Volume2 P. 40 -
# Tafsir al-Tabari Volume 5 p. (14 & 15 ?) [http://www.answering-ansar.org/answers/mutah/tafseer_altabari_p14_15.jpg]
# Tafseer Kabeer Volume 3 p. 94
# Fathul Qadeer Volume 1 p. 14
# Tafseer Ibn Katheer Volume 1 p. 84
# Tafseer Ruh al Maani Volume 5 p.
# Tafseer Kashaf p. 20
# Tafseer Mazhari Volume2 p. 4
# Tafseer Ahkam al Quran Volume2 p. 47
# Tafseer Mu'alim al Tanzeel p. 63
# Mustadrak Al Hakim volume 2 p. 47
# Al Musahif by Abi Bakr Sijistani p. 3
# Tafseer Mawahib al Rahman page 4 part 5
# Tafseer Haqqani volume5 p.
# Tafseer Jama Al Bayan Volume1 p. 66
# Neel al Authar Volume2 p. 53 Kitab Nikah
# Tafseer Qurtabi Volume5 p. 30
# Dhurqani Sharh Muwatta Volume1 p. 54
# Kitab al Musahaf page 342
# Al Bahar al Maheet Volume 3 page 218
# Tafseer Maar Volume5 p. 5
# Tafseer Jama al Bayan Volume6 p. 9
# Tafseer Al Baghawi, Al Musami Mu'alim al Tanzeel, p. 414 [http://www.answering-ansar.org/answers/mutah/tafseer_albaghawi_p414.jpg]

Also, Imam of Ahl as-Sunnah Abu Hayyan Andalusi in his commentary of Sharh Afhaq 'al Bahar al Maheet' Volume 3 page 218 states it. [http://www.answering-ansar.org/answers/mutah/en/chap3.php]

]

presentScholar|Ibn Kathir|14th writes regarding the last part [ [http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=4&tid=10829 Tafsir.com Tafsir Ibn Kathir ] ] :

The first two lines of the above exegise is agree on by Shi'as, the rest is a Sunni only view. See Muslim controversies related to Nikah Mut'ah for the Shi'a-Sunni stance, or Hadiths regarding the legality of Nikah Mut'ah their view on the individual historical sources.

hi'a view

References