The Debate (Al-Mujaadalah)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Of a surety Allah hath heard the saying of her that disputed with thee concerning her husband and bewailed unto Allah; and Allah hath heard your mutual discourse. Verily Allah is Hearing, Beholding. 1 As for those of you who [henceforth] separate themselves from their wives by saying, "Thou art as unlawful to me as my mother", [let them bear in mind that] they can never be [as] their mothers: none are their mothers save those who gave them birth: and so, behold, they but utter a saying that runs counter to reason, and is [therefore] false. But, behold, God is indeed an absolver of sins, much-forgiving: 2 Those who say to their wives, 'Be as my mother's back' then retract their words thereafter shall set a person free before they touch each other again. By that you are admonished. Allah is Aware of all that you do. 3 But whoever has not the means, let him fast for two months successively before they touch each other; then as for him who is not able, let him feed sixty needy ones; that is in order that you may have faith in Allah and His Apostle, and these are Allah's limits, and the unbelievers shall have a painful punishment. 4 Verily, those who contend against God and His Apostle shall be brought low even as those [evildoers] who lived before them were brought low after We had bestowed [on them] clear messages from on high. And [so,] for those who deny the truth there will be shameful suffering in store 5 a chastisement that shall come upon them on the Day when Allah will raise them all to a new life and will inform them of their deeds. Allah has recorded it all while they have forgotten it. Allah is a witness over everything. 6