7 – “You will never be able to deal perfectly justly between wives, no matter how hard you try. So do not incline wholly toward one, leaving another like someone suspended. But if you set things right and remain mindful of Allah, then surely Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.” (al-Nisāʾ 4:129)
Allah here informs us that absolute justice among wives is beyond a husband’s capacity. Perfect justice would require that motive, affection, and the heart’s inclination be equal in every respect, coupled with genuine faith and a yearning for noble character that would turn such equality into practice—an impossibility for human beings. For this reason Allah has excused husbands and pardoned them for what they cannot control, yet He still commands the attainable form of justice, saying, “So do not incline completely, leaving her like one suspended.” In other words: do not favor one wife over another to such an extent that you fail to discharge their obligatory rights. Rather, do whatever justice lies within your power: maintenance, clothing, the fair division of nights and beds, and similar matters are within your control, so equality in them is required. As for love, desire, and intimate relations, a servant has no command over his own heart, and in this Allah has granted him a concession.
The phrase “leaving her like one suspended” means that when a husband turns away from his wife, loses interest in her, and neglects her obligatory rights while she remains bound to him, she becomes like a suspended woman—neither divorced, so that she might seek relief, nor properly married, so that her rights are fulfilled.
“If you reconcile,” that is, if you make amends between yourselves and your wives by any of the means of reconciliation mentioned earlier, striving against your own souls to do what the ego dislikes—seeking Allah’s reward and fulfilling the wife’s due; and likewise if you set matters right between yourselves and other people regarding disputed rights—and if you remain mindful of Allah by carrying out His commands and avoiding His prohibitions, then “surely Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.”
“And if the two separate, Allah will enrich each of them out of His abundance, and Allah is All-Embracing, All-Wise.” (al-Nisāʾ 4:130) That is, if agreement and harmony prove impossible there is no blame in separation, for He says: “And if they separate”—whether by annulment or