The Debate (Al-Mujaadalah)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Allah indeed knows the plea of her who pleads with you about her husband and complains to Allah, and Allah knows the contentions of both of you; surely Allah is Hearing, Seeing. 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 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 He who is unable shall fast for two successive months before they touch one another. If he is unable to do this, let him feed sixty needy people, so that you believe in Allah and His Messenger. Such are the bounds of Allah. There is a painful punishment awaiting the unbelievers. 4 Those who oppose Allah and His Messenger shall be frustrated just as those before them were frustrated. We have sent down proofs and clear verses, and for the unbelievers, there is a humiliating punishment. 5 On the day when everyone will be resurrected, God will tell them about their deeds which He has recorded in their entirety - while they themselves have forgotten them. God is the witness over all things. 6