The Debate (Al-Mujaadalah)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Allah hath heard the saying of her that disputeth with thee (Muhammad) concerning her husband, and complaineth unto Allah. And Allah heareth your colloquy. Lo! Allah is Hearer, Knower. 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 Those who renounce their wives by calling them mothers and then change their minds about what they have said will have to set free a slave as a ransom and only then will their carnal relations be lawful. This is what you have been commanded. God is Well Aware of whatever you do. 3 And he who does not find a slave (to free), shall fast for two months consecutively before they may touch each other; and he who is unable to do so shall feed sixty needy people. All this is in order that you may truly believe in Allah and His Messenger. These are the bounds set by Allah; and a grievous chastisement awaits the unbelievers. 4 Verily those who oppose Allah and His Messenger shall be brought low even as those before them were brought low. Surely We have sent down Clear Signs; and a humiliating chastisement awaits the unbelievers; 5 upon the day when God shall raise them up all together, then He shall tell them what they did. 6