without an alif, because sexual intercourse is an act performed by the man. Evidence for this is Allah’s saying: “No human being has touched me” (47, Al ʿImran).

Allah’s saying, “or assigning them a dower,” means: or making a dower obligatory for them. If it is asked, “Why is blame negated from the one who divorces?” the answer is that divorce severs the bond of union, and it is related in the hadith: “The most detestable of lawful things to Allah, exalted is He, is divorce.” (1)

Thus, blame is negated from him when separation is more conducive to well-being than remaining together. It has also been said that it means: the women have no claim against you if you divorce them before consummation and before assigning a dower—neither for a dower nor for maintenance. It has also been said: There is no blame upon you for divorcing them before consummation whenever you wish, whether the woman is menstruating or in a state of purity, for before consummation such a divorce is classified neither as Sunna-compliant nor as an innovated form of divorce. This is unlike a woman whose marriage has been consummated, for it is not lawful to divorce her while she is menstruating.

“And provide for them” means: give them from your wealth that with which they may benefit. A compensatory gift, or provision, is that by which one sustains oneself from supplies. “The affluent according to his means,” that is, according to the means of the wealthy man; “and the straitened according to his means,” that is, according to the possibility and capacity of the poor man.

Abu Jaʿfar, Ibn ʿAmir, Hamzah, al-Kisaʾi, and Hafs recited qadaruhu in both instances, with the dal carrying a fathah; the others recited it with the dal unvowelled. Both are dialectal forms. It has also been said that qadr, with an unvowelled dal, is the verbal noun, while qadar, with a fathah, is the noun. The word “provision” is in the accusative as a verbal noun; that is: provide for them “a fitting provision,” meaning, in the manner Allah has commanded you, without injustice—“a duty upon those who do good.”

The explanation of the ruling of the verse is that whoever marries a woman without stipulating a dower for her, then divorces her before consummation, must give her a compensatory gift by scholarly agreement. If he divorces her after having stipulated the dower but before consummation, then, according to the majority, she is not entitled to a compensatory gift; rather, she is entitled to half of the stipulated dower.

They differed concerning a woman divorced after consummation. One group held that she is not entitled to a compensatory gift, because she is entitled to the dower. This is the view of the proponents of legal reasoning. Another group held that she is entitled to a compensatory gift, because of Allah’s saying: “For divorced women there is a fitting provision” (241, al-Baqarah). This was the view of ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar, and it was also held by ʿAtaʾ, Mujahid, and al-Qasim ibn Muhammad. Al-Shafiʿi likewise adopted this view, because her entitlement to the dower is in consideration for the marital intimacy that has been taken from her; therefore, she is entitled to a compensatory gift as consolation for the anguish of separation.

According to the first view, only one category of woman is entitled to a compensatory gift: the woman divorced before the dower is stipulated and before consummation. According to the second view, every divorced woman is entitled to a compensatory gift except one: the woman divorced after the dower has been stipulated but before consummation. ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar said: “Every divorced woman is entitled to a compensatory gift, except the one whose dower was stipulated and whom her husband did not consummate the marriage with; half of the dower suffices her.”

Al-Zuhri said: “There are two compensatory gifts: the authority adjudicates one of them, but does not adjudicate the other; rather, it remains binding upon the husband as a matter between him and Allah, exalted is He.”