Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (6/366)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

It was also said: You may accept whichever believing women who offer themselves to you that you wish, taking her into your household, and you may leave whomever you wish without accepting her.

Abd al-Wahid al-Mulayhi informed us; Ahmad ibn Abd Allah al-Na'imi informed us; Muhammad ibn Yusuf informed us; Muhammad ibn Isma'il informed us; Muhammad ibn Salam informed us; Ibn Fudayl informed us; Hisham informed us from his father, who said: Khawlah bint Hakim was among those women who offered themselves to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Aisha said, “Does a woman not feel ashamed to offer herself to a man?” Then, when the verse was revealed, “You may defer whomsoever of them you wish,” I said, “O Messenger of Allah, I see that your Lord hastens to fulfill your wishes.” (1)

His saying, Most High: “And whomever you wish to take back from those whom you had set aside”—that is, whomever among those whose allotted turns you had set aside you seek and wish to take back into your household—“there is no blame upon you”: there is no sin upon you. Thus Allah permitted him to forgo apportioning time among them, so that he might defer whichever of them he wished from her allotted turn, have intercourse with whichever of them he wished outside her allotted turn, and restore to his bed whomever he had set aside. This was a special privilege granted to him above all other men.

“That is more likely to comfort their eyes and prevent their grief”: that is, the discretion which I granted you concerning their companionship is more likely to please them, more agreeable to their hearts, and less likely to grieve them, when they know that this is from Allah, Most High. “And that they may all be content with what you have given them”—that is, what you have apportioned, deferred, set aside, or brought close. “And Allah knows what is in your hearts”—concerning women and the inclination toward some of them over others. “And Allah is All-Knowing, Most Forbearing.”

“It is not lawful for you to marry any women after this, nor to exchange them for other wives, even if their beauty pleases you, except those whom your right hand possesses. And Allah is ever Watchful over all things. (52)”

His saying, Most High: “It is not lawful for you to marry any women after this, nor to exchange them for other wives.” Abu Amr and Ya'qub read la tahillu (“women are not lawful”) with the feminine prefix, while the others read it la yahillu (“it is not lawful”) with the masculine prefix. “After this” means after these nine women to whom you gave the choice and who chose you. For when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, gave them the choice and they chose Allah and His Messenger, Allah rewarded them by making all other women unlawful to him, and forbade him from divorcing them or replacing them with other wives. This was the view of Ibn Abbas and Qatadah. (2)

They differed over whether other women were later made lawful for him.

Aisha said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, did not die until women other than them had been made lawful for him. (3)

(1) Reported by al-Bukhari, Book of Marriage, chapter: “May a woman offer herself in marriage to someone?” 9/164; and Muslim, Book of Suckling, chapter: “The permissibility of a wife giving her allotted turn to her co-wife,” no. 1464, 2/1085-1086. (2) See Fath al-Bari, 8/526. (3) Reported by al-Tirmidhi, Tafsir, 9/78-79, who said: “This hadith is hasan sahih (sound and authentic)”; al-Nasa'i, Book of Marriage, chapter: “What Allah prescribed for His Messenger and prohibited to His creation,” 6/56; al-Darimi, Book of Marriage, chapter on Allah’s statement, “Women are not lawful for you thereafter,” 2/153; and Ibn Hibban, Mawarid al-Zam'an, no. 2126, p. 523. It was authenticated by al-Hakim, 2/437, and al-Dhahabi concurred; also al-Bayhaqi, 7/54; and Imam Ahmad, al-Musnad, 6/41, 180. See also Fath al-Bari, 8/526; al-Talkhis al-Habir, 3/123.

وَقِيلَ: تَقْبَلُ مَنْ تَشَاءُ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ اللَّاتِي يَهَبْنَ أَنْفُسَهُنَّ لَكَ فَتُؤْوِيهَا إِلَيْكَ وَتَتْرُكُ مَنْ تَشَاءُ فَلَا تَقْبَلُهَا. أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَاحِدِ الْمَلِيحِيُّ، أَخْبَرَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ النَّعِيمِيُّ، أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يُوسُفَ، أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ سَلَامٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا ابْنُ فُضَيْلٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا هِشَامٌ عَنْ أَبِيهِ قَالَ: كَانَتْ خَوْلَةُ بِنْتُ حَكِيمٍ مِنَ اللَّائِي وَهَبْنَ أَنْفُسَهُنَّ لِلنَّبِيِّ ﷺ فَقَالَتْ عَائِشَةُ: أَمَا تَسْتَحِي الْمَرْأَةُ أَنْ تَهَبَ نَفْسَهَا لِلرَّجُلِ؟ فَلَمَّا نَزَلَتْ: ﴿تُرْجِي مَنْ تَشَاءُ مِنْهُنَّ﴾ قُلْتُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَا أَرَى رَبَّكَ إِلَّا يُسَارِعُ فِي هَوَاكَ (١) . قَوْلُهُ ﷿: ﴿وَمَنِ ابْتَغَيْتَ مِمَّنْ عَزَلْتَ﴾ أَيْ: طَلَبْتَ وَأَرَدْتَ أَنْ تُؤْوِيَ إِلَيْكَ امْرَأَةً مِمَّنْ عَزَلْتَهُنَّ عَنِ الْقَسْمِ، ﴿فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكَ﴾ لَا إِثْمَ عَلَيْكَ، فَأَبَاحَ اللَّهُ لَهُ تَرْكَ الْقَسْمِ لَهُنَّ حَتَّى إِنَّهُ لَيُؤَخِّرُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْهُنَّ فِي نَوْبَتِهَا وَيَطَأُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْهُنَّ فِي غَيْرِ نَوْبَتِهَا، وَيَرُدُّ إِلَى فِرَاشِهِ مَنْ عَزَلَهَا تَفْضِيلًا لَهُ عَلَى سَائِرِ الرِّجَالِ، ﴿ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَنْ تَقَرَّ أَعْيُنُهُنَّ وَلَا يَحْزَنَّ﴾ أَيِ: التَّخْيِيرُ الَّذِي خَيَّرْتُكَ فِي صُحْبَتِهِنَّ أَقْرَبُ إِلَى رِضَاهُنَّ وَأَطْيَبُ لِأَنْفُسِهِنَّ وَأَقَلُّ لِحُزْنِهِنَّ إِذَا عَلِمْنَ أَنَّ ذَلِكَ مِنَ اللَّهِ ﷿، ﴿وَيَرْضَيْنَ بِمَا آتَيْتَهُنَّ﴾ أَعْطَيْتَهُنَّ، ﴿كُلُّهُنَّ﴾ مِنْ تَقْرِيرٍ وَإِرْجَاءٍ وَعَزْلٍ وَإِيوَاءٍ، ﴿وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ﴾ مِنْ أَمْرِ النِّسَاءِ وَالْمَيْلِ إِلَى بَعْضِهِنَّ، ﴿وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلِيمًا حَلِيمًا﴾ ﴿لَا يَحِلُّ لَكَ النِّسَاءُ مِنْ بَعْدُ وَلَا أَنْ تَبَدَّلَ بِهِنَّ مِنْ أَزْوَاجٍ وَلَوْ أَعْجَبَكَ حُسْنُهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا مَلَكَتْ يَمِينُكَ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ رَقِيبًا (٥٢) ﴾ قَوْلُهُ ﷿: ﴿لَا يَحِلُّ لَكَ النِّسَاءُ، مِنْ بَعْدُ وَلَا أَنْ تَبَدَّلَ بِهِنَّ مِنْ أَزْوَاجٍ﴾ قَرَأَ أَبُو عَمْرٍو وَيَعْقُوبُ: "لَا تَحِلُّ" بِالتَّاءِ، وَقَرَأَ الْآخَرُونَ بِالْيَاءِ، "مِنْ بَعْدُ": يَعْنِي مِنْ بَعْدِ هَؤُلَاءِ التِّسْعِ اللَّاتِي خَيَّرْتَهُنَّ فَاخْتَرْنَكَ، وَذَلِكَ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ لَمَّا خَيَّرَهُنَّ فَاخْتَرْنَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ شَكَرَ اللَّهُ لَهُنَّ وَحَرَّمَ عَلَيْهِ النِّسَاءَ سِوَاهُنَّ وَنَهَاهُ عَنْ تَطْلِيقِهِنَّ وَعَنِ الِاسْتِبْدَالِ بِهِنَّ، هَذَا قَوْلُ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ وَقَتَادَةَ (٢) . وَاخْتَلَفُوا فِي أَنَّهُ هَلْ أُبِيحَ لَهُ النِّسَاءُ مِنْ بَعْدُ؟ قَالَتْ عَائِشَةُ: مَا مَاتَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ حَتَّى أُحِلَّ لَهُ النِّسَاءُ سِوَاهُنَّ (٣) .

(١) أخرجه البخاري في النكاح، باب: هل للمرأة أن تهب نفسها لأحد ٩ / ١٦٤، ومسلم في الرضاع، باب: جواز هبتها نوبتها لضرتها برقم: (١٤٦٤) ٢ / ١٠٨٥-١٠٨٦. (٢) راجع فتح الباري: ٨ / ٥٢٦. (٣) أخرجه الترمذي في تفسير: ٩ / ٧٨-٧٩ وقال: (هذا حديث حسن صحيح) ، والنسائي في النكاح، باب: ما افترض الله ﷿ على رسوله وحرمه على خلقه: ٦ / ٥٦، والدارمي في النكاح، باب قول الله تعالى: (لا يحل لك النساء من بعد) ٢ / ١٥٣ وابن حبان في موارد الظمآن برقم: (٢١٢٦) ص (٥٢٣) ، وصححه الحاكم: ٢ / ٤٣٧ ووافقه الذهبي، والبيهقي: ٧ / ٥٤، والإمام أحمد في المسند: ٦ / ٤١،١٨٠، وانظر: فتح الباري ٨ / ٥٢٦، التلخيص الحبير: ٣ / ١٢٣.