Al-Muqaddimāt al-Mumahhidāt - Ibn Rush al-Jadd - (1/586)

Al-Muqaddimāt al-MumahhidātIbn Rush al-Jadd

‘Ā’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, in favour of Allah and His Messenger and the Hereafter. He then went to each of his other wives, reciting the Quran to them, giving them the choice, and telling them what ‘Ā’ishah, may Allah Most High be pleased with her, had done. They all followed her example. Allah then restricted him to them as a reward for their conduct, saying:

‘No other women are lawful for you after this, nor may you replace them with other wives, even if their beauty pleases you, except those your right hand possesses. And Allah is ever Watchful over all things.’ [al-Ahzāb: 52]”

They were the nine wives, the Mothers of the Believers, whom the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, left at his death: ‘Ā’ishah, Hafsah, Zaynab, Maymūnah, Safiyyah, Umm Habībah, Umm Salamah, Sawdah, and Juwayriyyah. One of them chose to leave him: the daughter of al-Dahhāk al-‘Āmirī. This is how it appears in al-Mudawwanah. It has also been said that, when the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave his wives the choice, he had only the nine wives whom he left at his death. This is the correct view, and Allah knows best. This will be explained in al-Jāmi‘. Success comes from Allah, glorified and exalted is He.

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The choice that Allah commanded His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to offer his wives neither delegated to them the power of divorce nor placed the decision to separate in their hands. Rather, he gave them a choice between choosing him and the Hereafter, in which case he would keep them as his wives, and choosing the life of this world, in which case he would give them a parting provision and release them. This is like a man saying to his wife, “If you are content to remain with me in your present circumstances, then stay. If you are not content with that, tell me and I will divorce you.” In the Prophet’s words to his wives, however, this was a declaration involving no oath, because Allah, blessed and exalted is He, had commanded him to do so. It therefore resembled granting a choice in that, if the wife offered the choice chose to leave, she had to be divorced. When such words come from someone other than the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, however, they constitute neither delegation of divorce nor granting a choice, nor do they resemble either. They are merely a promise to divorce her if she chooses it.

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The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, and those who came after them among the Successors and Muslim jurists differed greatly concerning a man who delegates the power of divorce to his wife or grants her a choice. There is no explicit Quranic text on this matter to which reference may be made, nor any report from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on which reliance may be placed. Some of them regarded

عائشة ﵂ الله ورسوله والدار الآخرة، ثم تتبع سائر نسائه فجعل يقرأ عليهن من القرآن ويخيرهن ويخبرهن بما فعلت عائشة - رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهَا - فتتابعن على ذلك، فقصره الله عليهن جزاء على فعلهن، فقال: ﴿لا يَحِلُّ لَكَ النِّسَاءُ مِنْ بَعْدُ وَلا أَنْ تَبَدَّلَ بِهِنَّ مِنْ أَزْوَاجٍ وَلَوْ أَعْجَبَكَ حُسْنُهُنَّ إِلا مَا مَلَكَتْ يَمِينُكَ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ رَقِيبًا﴾ [الأحزاب: ٥٢]»، وهن التسع نسوة أمهات المؤمنين التي توفي عنهن رسول الله ﷺ: عائشة، وحفصة، وزينب، وميمونة، وصفية، وأم حبيبة، وأم سلمة، وسودة، وجويرية؛ واختارت واحدة منهن نفسها وهي بنت الضحاك العامري، كذا وقع في المدونة. وقيل: إنه لم يكن عند النبي ﷺ حين خير أزواجه إلا التسع نسوة التي توفي عنهن، وهو الصحيح والله أعلم. وسيأتي في الجامع بيان هذا، وبالله ﷾ التوفيق. فصل وهذا التخيير الذي أمر الله به نبيه ﷺ وخير به أزواجه ليس فيه تمليكهن الطلاق ولا جعله الأمر إليهن في الفراق، وإنما خيرهن بين أن يخترنه والدار الآخرة ويمسكهن أو يخترن الحياة الدنيا فيمتعهن ويسرحهن، كمن قال لامرأته: إن كنت راضية بالمقام معي على ما أنت عليه فابقي، وإن كنت لا ترضين بذلك فأعلميني أطلقك، إلا أنه من النبي ﷺ لأزواجه إخبار لا حلف فيه؛ لأن الله ﵎ أمره به، فأشبه التخيير في وجوب الطلاق للمخيرة باختيارها نفسها. وأما من غير النبي ﷺ فليس ذلك بتمليك ولا تخيير ولا فيه شبه منه، وإنما هو عدة بالطلاق إن اختارته. فصل وقد اختلف الصحابة ﵃ ومن بعدهم من التابعين وفقهاء المسلمين فيمن ملك امرأته أو خيرها اختلافا كثيرا؛ إذ لم يرد في ذلك نص في القرآن يرجع إليه، ولا روي عن النبي ﷺ في ذلك أثر يعول عليه. فمنهم من جعل