Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām - Abd Allah al-Bassam - (5/391)

Tawḍīḥ al-AḥkāmAbd Allah al-Bassam

the division of nights among his wives was not obligatory for him. Allah the Exalted says, “You may defer whichever of them you wish and bring near to yourself whichever you wish; and should you desire any whom you had set aside, there is no blame on you” (33:51).

Ibn Saʿd transmits from Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Qurazī: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was given latitude regarding the apportionment among his wives; he could distribute as he pleased. This is the meaning of His words, ‘That is likelier to gladden their eyes’ (33:51) once they know that the matter rests with him ﷺ.”

Ibn al-Jawzī remarked, “Apportionment was not obligatory for him ﷺ.” Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn likewise said, “He was permitted to leave off the division.”

Ibn Kathīr, while commenting on the verse “You may defer whichever of them you wish…,” writes: “Concerning your wives, there is no sin upon you if you abandon the division for them. You may advance whomever you wish, postpone whomever you wish, be intimate with whomever you wish, and leave whomever you wish.” This, he says, is the view related from Ibn ʿAbbās, Mujāhid, al-Ḥasan, Qatādah, Abū Razīn, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd, and others.

Despite this license, the Prophet ﷺ would in fact apportion his time among them. For that reason a number of Shāfiʿī jurists and others held that the division was not incumbent upon him ﷺ, citing the noble verse above. Ibn Jarīr preferred the opinion that the verse applies both to the women who offered themselves to him and to his existing wives, giving him the choice: if he wished he could apportion, and if he wished he could refrain. This, he says, is a fine, sound, and strong reconciliation of the various reports.

Al-Suyūṭī stated that among his ﷺ distinct privileges was the permissibility of not dividing his nights between his wives—according to one of the two legal opinions—and this is the preferred view, endorsed by al-Ghazālī.

Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Saʿdī added: “Allah allowed him to forgo the obligatory division among his wives; if he did carry it out, it was an act of generosity on his part. Nevertheless, the Prophet ﷺ strove to apportion equally in all matters and would say, ‘O Allah, this is my division with respect to what I control, so do not reproach me for what I do not control.’”

القَسْم بين زوجاته ليس واجبًا عليه، قال تعالى: ﴿تُرْجِي مَنْ تَشَاءُ مِنْهُنَّ وَتُؤْوِي إِلَيْكَ مَنْ تَشَاءُ وَمَنِ ابْتَغَيْتَ مِمَّنْ عَزَلْتَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكَ﴾ [الأحزاب: ٥١]. فقد أخرج ابن سعد، عن محمَّد بن كعب القرظي قال: كان رسول الله ﷺ موسَّعًا عليه في قَسْم أزواجه، يقسم بينهن كيف يشاء؛ وذلك قوله تعالى: ﴿ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَنْ تَقَرَّ أَعْيُنُهُنَّ﴾ [الأحزاب: ٥١] إذا علمن أنَّ ذلك عليه ﷺ. قال ابن الجوزي: القسم غير واجب عليه ﷺ. وقال الشيخ تقي الدين: أبيح له ترك القَسم. وقال ابن كثير عند تفسير قوله تعالى: ﴿تُرْجِي مَنْ تَشَاءُ مِنْهُنَّ﴾ [الأحزاب: ١٥] أي: من أزواجك لا حرج عليك أن تترك القَسم لهن، فتُقدِّم من شئت، وتؤخر من شئت، وتجامع من شئت، وتترك من شئت، هكذا يروى عن ابن عباس، ومجاهد، والحسن، وقتادة، وأبي رزين، وعبد الرحمن بن زيد، وغيرهم. ومع هذا كان ﷺ يقسم لهن، ولهذا ذهب طائفة من فقهاء الشافعية وغيرهم: إلى أنَّه لم يكن القسم واجبًا عليه ﷺ، واحتجوا بهذه الآية الكريمة، واختار ابن جرير: أنَّ هذا الآية عامة في الواهبات، وفي النساء اللائي عنده أنَّه مخيَّر، إن شاء قَسَم، وإن شاء لم يقسم؛ وهذا الذي اختاره حسنٌ جيِّدٌ قويٌّ يجمع بين الأحاديث. وقال السيوطي: اختصَّ ﷺ بإباحة عدم القَسم لأزواجه في أحد الوجهين، وهو المختار، وصحَّحه الغزالي. وقال الشيخ عبد الرحمن السعدي: أباح الله له ترك القسم بين زوجاته على وجه الوجوب، وأنه إن فعل ذلك فهو تبرُّع منه، ومع ذلك كان ﷺ يجتهد في القسم بينهنَّ في كل شيء، ويقول: "اللَّهمَّ هَذا قَسْمِي فيما أملكُ، فلا تلُمْنِي فيما لا أملك".