The Debate (Al-Mujaadalah)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ God has certainly heard the words of the woman who disputed with you about her husband and who (after not having received a favorable response from you) complained to God. God was listening to your argument. He is All-hearing and All-aware. 1 Those of you who say to their wives, 'Be as my mother's back' indeed, they are not their mothers. Their mothers are only those who gave birth to them. Indeed they speak dishonorably and falsely. But Allah is the Pardoning, the Forgiving. 2 And those who say, regarding their wives, 'Be as my mother's back,' and then retract what they have said, they shall set free a slave, before the two of them touch one another. By that you are admonished; and God is aware of the things you do. 3 and anyone who does not have the means must fast for two consecutive months before they touch each other, and who is not able to do that must feed sixty needy people. That is to affirm your faith in God and His messenger. These are the limits set by God. Those who deny the truth shall have a painful punishment. 4 Surely those who oppose God and His Messenger shall be frustrated as those before them were frustrated. Now We have sent down signs, clear signs; and for the unbelievers awaits a humbling chastisement, 5 On the Day when Allah will resurrect them all and inform them of what they did. Allah had enumerated it, while they forgot it; and Allah is, over all things, Witness. 6