Read the Quran
- Prophet, why in your desire to please your wives, do you impose a ban on what God has made lawful to you? God is forgiving and merciful.
- God has already ordained that you be absolved of such oaths. God is your patron. He is the All Knowing, the Wise One.
- The Prophet once told one of his wives something in confidence. She did not keep it secret and God informed him of this; he made known a part of it, and avoided [mentioning] part of it. When he spoke to his wife of this, she asked him who had told him about it. He replied, ‘The All Knowing, the All Aware One.’
- If only both of you would turn to God in repentance—and your hearts are already so inclined. But if you uphold each other against him, then surely God is his protector, and Gabriel and the righteous among the believers; and the angels too are his helpers.
- Were he to divorce you, his Lord might well replace you with better wives—submissive [to God], believing, pious, penitent, devout in worship, given to fasting—previously married and virgins.
- Believers, safeguard yourselves and your families from a Fire fuelled by people and stones, and watched over by angels, stern and strong: angels who never disobey God’s commands to them, but promptly do as they are commanded.
- You who are bent on denying the truth, make no excuses today: you are only being rewarded according to your deeds.
- Believers, turn to God in sincere repentance. Your Lord may well forgive your bad deeds and admit you into gardens watered by running streams, on a Day when God will not abase the Prophet and those who have believed with him. Their light will shine out ahead of them and on their right, and they will say: ‘Lord perfect our light for us, and forgive us; You have power over all things.’
- Prophet, exert yourself to the utmost against those who deny the truth and the hypocrites. Deal severely with them. Hell will be their abode—a vile destination.
- As an example to those who are bent on denying the truth, God cited the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot, who were married to two of Our righteous servants, but who betrayed them. So they could not help them against God, and they were told, ‘Enter the Fire along with all the others.’
- To the believers God has given the example of Pharaoh’s wife who said: ‘My Lord, build me a house in nearness to You in Paradise and save me from Pharaoh and his misdeeds. Save me from all evil-doers.’
- [God gave another example in the story of] Mary, ‘Imran’s daughter, who preserved her chastity and We breathed Our spirit into her; she testified to the words of her Lord and His Scriptures, and was truly devout.
66:1-2
Due to some domestic problems created by his wives, the Prophet vowed that he would not take honey. But, a prophet’s actions become examples for his followers. Therefore, God commanded the Prophet to pay expiation, the penalty prescribed by the Islamic law, and free himself from the his vow not to take honey, so that in future, his followers should not take it as a symbol of piety and stop taking honey.
66:3-5
In the above-mentioned affair, some wives of the Prophet Muhammad had created complications in his house. By way of warning, his consorts have been addressed here in the manner of an ultimatum. This shows the importance of women in the affairs of life. The fact is that if a woman co-operates with her husband in the real sense, she becomes the husband’s ‘best half’, and if she does not prove to be a true comrade, she may ruin the life’s work of a purposeful man.
66:6-7
In the present world it often happens that a man knows that something is right, but excessive attachment to his wife and children compels him to shun the right path and do only that which his wife and children desire. But this is a terrible lapse on his part. Man should know that the children for whose sake he forgets to act with rectitude today, will be handed over tomorrow to fierce agents of Hell, who will be as heartless as robots and who will not make any concessions to them.
66:8
In the present world man has been kept in trial conditions and as such he is liable to commit errors. In compensation for this, he must turn towards God in repentance. In essence, true repentance comes from a sense of shame. If a man fully realises his mistake, he will feel ashamed, and this sense of shame will compel him not to indulge in such action in future. That is why a hadith says, ‘Being ashamed is repentance.’ A companion of the Prophet Muhammad said, ‘True repentance is a man turning towards God and then not repeating that action.’ Repentance has to be borne out by actions. It is not just the repetition of some words. ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib saw an individual who, after making a mistake, was simply repeating the words ‘tawbah, tawbah’. ‘Ali said that this was repentance of liars. True tawbah is the light of the Hereafter and false tawbah is the darkness of the Hereafter.
66:9-10
This means, ‘Take hypocrites severely to task.’ This is a regular permanent command. Elders and other responsible people should keep a watchful eye on all members of society, and if any Muslim adopts a wrong path, all possible efforts should be made to prevent him from doing so. Only such deeds as are performed by a man himself will have meaning in the eyes of God. Even having connections with saints or being related to pious people will be of no avail. Noah and Lot were prophets of God, but their wives had nevertheless formed strong ties with the enemies of Truth. Consequently, in spite of being the wives of prophets, they were held liable to be sent to hell.
66:11-12
Pharaoh was an unbeliever and a tyrant. But his wife Asiyah, daughter of Muzahim was a woman of Faith and a doer of pious deeds. So when she kept herself on the right path, her husband’s wrong behaviour did not harm her. The husband was sent to hell and the wife found her place in the gardens of paradise. From childhood till her youth, Mary kept herself pure and she preserved her chastity. Therefore, God chose her to give birth as a virgin to a miraculous prophet. According to some traditions, the angel Gabriel blew on the front of her shirt, which made her pregnant and the Messiah was born.
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