in one day and part of another; and you say, ‘I have not seen so-and-so for two days,’ when you mean one day and part of another. He said ‘full’ to make clear that the period must not fall short of two years. This is like His words, ‘That makes ten complete,’ for the word ‘ten’ can refer to nine days and part of the tenth. Thus one says, ‘I stayed for ten days,’ even without completing them. The word ‘complete’ there serves the same purpose as ‘full’ here.”

In the two Sahīh collections, the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is reported to have said:

“The trustworthy treasurer who willingly gives what he has been instructed to give, fully and undiminished, is one of those who give charity.”

“Full” means that nothing is missing, since completeness is the opposite of deficiency. As for “made plentiful,” the expression used is “their reward made plentiful.” It can refer to something increased, or to something that has not been injured—that is, wounded. Thus, in the report narrated by Imām Ahmad in Kitāb al-Zuhd (The Book of Asceticism), Wahb ibn Munabbih relates that Allah Most High said to Moses:

“This is not because they are of little worth to Me, but so that they may receive their full share of My gracious favor, intact and undiminished, wounded neither by worldly life nor by the nat‘a of desire.”

This concerns a change in quality, whereas the earlier point concerns a reduction in quantity.

Abū al-Faraj mentioned two views on whether the verse applies generally to all mothers or specifically to divorced mothers. The latter is the view of Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr, Mujāhid, al-Dahhāk, al-Suddī, Muqātil and others. The general application is the view of Abū Sulaymān al-Dimashqī, al-Qādī Abū Ya‘lā and others. Al-Qādī said: “For this reason, we hold that she may hire herself out to breastfeed her own child, whether she is still with her husband or divorced.”

I say: The verse is evidence against them, for it requires that nursing mothers be provided with food and clothing according to what is reasonable, but nothing beyond that. Yet he says that she may hire herself out