Marry Not the Women Whom Your Fathers Married

LESSON # 488 FROM HOLY QUR’AN

Marry Not the Women Whom Your Fathers Married

Surah NISAAA’  (WOMEN) - Chapter - 4)

Verses –22 of 176, Section –3/24 (Part – 4)

And marry not those women whom your fathers married, except what hath already happened (of that nature) in the past. Lo! it was ever lewdness and abomination. And an evil way.

Wa  laa  tankihuu  maa  nakaha  ‘aabaaa- ‘ukum-minan-nisaaa-‘i  ‘illaa  maa qad  salaf.  ‘Innahuu  kaana  faahishatanw-wa  maqtaa.  Wa  saaa-‘a  sabii-laa.

Lesson

laa  tankihuu – ( do not marry), the word “Nikaah” is used in the meanings of relationship between husband and wife in Arabic. Here it can be inferred in the both meanings (the marriage knot and the matrimonial relationship).

‘aabaaa- ‘ukum  - (your fathers), its singular is ‘abun. Besides the actual father, here grandfathers (paternal and maternal grandfather both) are included in its meaning.

maa  nakaha  ‘aabaaa- ‘ukum – (whom your fathers married), it signifies towards that unlawful tradition of the period of ignorance, by which the step-mothers were also used to be married and they did not use to consider it improper or opprobrious.

The people used to marry their stepmothers during the times of ignorance. In this verse, it has been forbidden that the women whom your fathers have married, it is unlawful to marry them, although the father has divorced her before intercourse. Moreover, if marriage means copulation, then it is known that the father keeps company with whom woman, whether after marriage or in the form of fornication or as bondwoman, in each condition she is unlawful for the son because she is like a mother for the son. It is a matter of disgusting, lewdness, an evil way and abomination. There is no doubt in it that even during the period of ignorance, some wise people used to comprehend it despised. Allah Almighty commands, “Refrain from such marriages in future. However, there will be no accountability, what has already happened (of that nature) in the past.

maa qad  salaf – (what has already happened), it means that there is no sin on you for the nuptial knots which were fixed during the times of ignorance, and now may be those women would have died also, because that sin was before this law. Keep a matter in your mind here that if any Zoroastrian embraces Islam, and he has already married his mother or sister, then it is his duty to leave her, but those women whom he married during the time of infidelity, children from them will be lawful, because these kinds of Divine Laws are not for the disbelievers.    

Holy Qur’an has used three words to prohibit from this type of marriage and those three words indicate apart from each other:

1.     faahishatun – (the lewdness) because this type of marriage is a big lewdness it self, in addition to considering it prudently bad. 

2.     maqtan – (abomination), besides abomination and rage, this word is used for each that thing, observing which one feels an aversion in one’s nature. Therefore, for the nice people, it is a very bad thing. 

3.     saaa-‘a  sabii-laa – (an evil way), saaa-‘a means bad. Suuu’ is also used in these meanings. sabii-laa (conduct, character), literally it means ‘the way, path’. Due to such suitableness, this word has been used here in the meaning of ‘the character’. 

Transliterated Holy Qur’an in Roman Script & Translated from Arabic to English by Marmaduke Pickthall, Published by Paak Company, 17-Urdu Bazar, Lahore, Lesson collected from Dars e Qur’an published By Idara Islah wa Tableegh, Lahore (translated Urdu to English  by Muhammad Sharif).