The Debate (Al-Mujaadalah)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Indeed Allah has heard the statement of her (Khaulah bint Tha'labah) that disputes with you (O Muhammad SAW) concerning her husband (Aus bin As-Samit), and complains to Allah. And Allah hears the argument between you both. Verily, Allah is All-Hearer, All-Seer. 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 declare their wives to be their mothers and thereafter go back on what they have said shall free a slave before they may touch each other. That is what you are exhorted to do. Allah is fully aware of all your deeds. 3 However, he who does not have the wherewithal shall fast [instead] for two consecutive months before the couple may touch one another again; and he who is unable to do it shall feed sixty needy ones: this, so that you might prove your faith in God and His Apostle. Now these are the bounds set by God; and grievous suffering [in the life to come] awaits all who deny the truth. 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 Allah will raise them up all together, then inform them of what they did: Allah has recorded it while they have forgotten it; and Allah is a witness of all things. 6