Surah 4: Al Nisa' (Day 2) | Original English Commentary | Project Illumine

Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl presents his Quranic commentary on Surah 4: Al Nisa’ (Day 2) as part of the ongoing Project Illumine: Light of the Quran series at The Usuli Institute (www.usuli.org). The verses covered in Day 2 are roughly, numbers thirteen to twenty-nine.
Project Illumine is a year-long intensive immersion into the unique moral messages in each of the 114 surahs (chapters) of the Quran, the fruit of this scholar's lifetime relationship with the Quran. This is the seventy-fourth chapter in the series. This is not the traditional line-by-line exegesis, but a chapter-by-chapter thematic approach that seeks to rediscover the original meaning received by the early Muslims that sparked their passion such that they transformed from desert dwellers to civilization builders. It is an investigation of the timeless moral and ethical lessons of the Quran then applied to our modern day. In the introduction, our Executive Director Grace Song expresses her gratitude to our donors and shares a sweet message from a supporter. Recorded at The Usuli Institute on 29 January 2022.
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[@stephenconnolly1830]

TIMESTAMPS Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem [Video suitable for viewing at increased Playback speed. Grace Song's preamble until 8:08] 9:43 Professor Abou el-Fadl recaps the exegesis of Surah al-Nisa', Day 1: a study into the way progressive ideas are pursued mindful of the practical needs and challenges confronted according to the realities of society. 14:53 a reminder of the pre-Islamic practice in Arab and other societies where women did not inherit, being inherited in turn. 17:52 the legally permitted custom of unrestricted polygamy in Near Eastern states pre-Qur'an ( en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygamy ). 28:35 Ayah #14: "waman ya's il-laaha warasoolahu wayata'adda hudoodahu yud'khil'hu naran khalidan feeha walahu adhabun muheen" (But whoever disobeys God and His Messenger, and oversteps His bounds, He will admit him into a Fire, wherein he abides forever, and he will have a shameful punishment). 30:34 Ayah #15: "wa-allatee yateen al-fahishata min nisa-ikum fas'tashhidoo alayhinna arba'atan minkum fa-in shahidoo fa-amsikoohunna fil-buyooti hatta yatawaffahunn al-mawtu aw yaj'al al-lahu lahunna sabeela" (Those of your women who commit lewdness, you must have four witnesses against them, from among you. If they testify, confine them to the homes until death claims them, or God makes a way for them). 30:51 Ayah #16: "wa-alladhani yatiyaniha minkum fa-adhoohuma fa-in taba wa-aslaha fa-a'ridoo anhuma inn al-laaha kana tawwaba raheema" (If two among you commit it, punish them both. But if they repent and reform, leave them alone. God is Redeemer, Full of Mercy). 31:05 Ayah #17: "innam at-tawbatu al al-lahi lilladheena ya'maloona as-sooa bijahalatin thumma yatooboona min qareebin fa-oola-ika yatoob ul-laahu alayhim wakan al-laahu aleeman hakeema" (Repentance is available from God for those who commit evil out of ignorance, and then repent soon after. These-God will relent towards them. God is Knowing and Wise). 32:15 the common but unfounded presumption about Ayah #15 that it refers to sexual acts between women - السحاق \ alsihaq \ lesbianism... 34:28 ...what the Qur'an is really addressing in Ayah #15: reforming the corrupt cultural practice of a husband accusing his wife of immoral sexual conduct which empowered the man to imprison the woman in his (or her family's) home paving the way for him to marry further wives... 36:34 ...the key focus being on the need for corroborating witnesses instead of the say-so of the husband not the punishment, as has been the case throughout history... 39:00 ...the Ayah (#15) resulting in a procedural reform to the pagan tradition requiring evidence followed by a post conviction reform: "...aw yaj'al al-laahu lahunna sabeela" (...or God makes a way for them)... 40:32 ...the corollary of a further reform not specifically mentioned in the Qur'an - but obviously necessary due to circumstances in the case of women guilty of the offence - dissolution of the marriage and other sanctions thereafter, per: "...fa-amsikoohunna fil-buyoot..." (...confine them to the homes...). 41:33 the Hadith eport of doubtful authenticity on the flogging of women in this position. 43:36 Ayah #15 put to the test - whether there are recorded incidents after its revelation of four witnesses testifying to sexual misconduct; there being none, thereby demonstrating the cessation of pagan practice. 45:35 the juristic discussion of a process of reviewing whether such a woman has achieved repentance to secure her release - but since no recorded examples (as the Professor states) exist these discussions are, for the most discernable part, theoretical. 47:24 Ayah #16: "wa-alladhani yatiyaniha minkum fa-adhoohuma..." (If two among you commit it, punish them both...) - in relation to pre-Islamic practice involving sexual misconduct, the woman received all the blame and punishment not the man. 50:45 the earliest reports in relation to Ayah #16 concerned with both the house arrest of the woman as well as the communally instigated physical punishment of the man - a first for Arab society. 54:19 Ayah #16: "...fa-in taba wa-aslaha fa-a'ridoo anhuma..." (...But if they repent and reform, leave them alone...). 55:00 the grammar used in Ayat #15 & #16 invoking a collectively thereby invoking a public, judicial rather than a private process... 58:14 ...Ayat #17 & #18 talking about توبة \ Tawbah \ repentence; Ayah #17: "[innam at-tawbatu al al-lahi] lilladheena ya'maloona as-sooa bijahalatin..." ([Repentance is available from God] for those who commit evil out of ignorance...)... 59:55 ..."...yatooboona min qareebin..." (...and then repent soon after...)... 1:00:30 ...Ayah #18: (But repentance is not available for those who commit evils, until when death approaches one of them, he says, "Now I repent," nor for those who die as disbelievers. These-We have prepared for them a painful torment) - seemingly a stern warning against those individuals who are effectively gaming the system. 1:05:30 the meaning of Ayah #15 unlocked via its key, Ayah #19: "ya-ayyuh alladheena amanoo la yahilloo lakum an tarithoo an-nisa-a karha wala ta'duloohunna litadhhaboo biba'di ma ataytumoohunna illa ay yateena bifahishatin mubayyina wa'ashiroohunna bil-ma'roof fa-in karih'tumoohunna fa'asa an takrahoo shaya wayaj'al al-laahu feehi khayran katheera" (O you who believe! It is not permitted for you to inherit women against their will. And do not coerce them in order to take away some of what you had given them, unless they commit a proven adultery. And live with them in kindness. If you dislike them, it may be that you dislike something in which God has placed much good). 1:07:25 the predominant reason, pre-revelation, for accusing a wife of sexual misconduct being financial. 1:08:12 the connection with Ayah #15 being established via the assumed level of certitude which applies - four eye witnesses required. 1:11:45 the prohibition of coercion in Ayah #19: "ya-ayyuh alladheena amanoo la yahilloo lakum an tarithoo an-nisa-a karha..." (O you who believe! It is not permitted for you to inherit women against their will...)... 1:12:15 ...the additional prohibition on the pre-revelation pagan Arab practice of the male option of inheritance of their dead relative's widow to restrict how much the woman could inherit... 1:15:41...holding on to a wife for ulterior motives generally outlawed according to the same Ayah. 1:21:27 the ethics of divinity of the Qur'anic discourse here - while avoiding leaving matters involving the contracting of marriage and divorce to the power of the church etc. 1:25:55 Ayah #20: "wa-in aradttumu is'tib'dala zawjin makana zawji waataytum ih'dahunna qintaran fala takhudhoo min'hu shaya atakhudhoonahu buh'tana wa-ith'man mubeena" (If you wish to replace one wife with another, and you have given one of them a fortune, take nothing back from it. Would you take it back fraudulently and sinfully?). 1:26:08 Ayah #21: "wakayfa takhudhoonahu waqad afda ba'dukum ila ba'di wa-akhadhna minkum meethaqan ghaleetha" (And how can you take it back, when you have been intimate with one another, and they have received from you a solid commitment?). 1:27:49 yet another contextual reform - ending the practice of retrieving everything given to the wife (including clothes!) in the wake of divorcing her... 1:30:05 ...describing such as "...buh'tana wa-ith'man mubeena" (...[would you take it back] fraudulently and sinfully?). 1:32:40 stemming from the end of Ayah #21, the concept of a Mithaq Ghalith \ heavy covenant - the breaking of which is considered a grave sin - but the limits of its universal application, particularly under the influence of patriarchal impulses. 1:39:27 the pre-revelation custom of inheriting and marrying the stepmother to keep the wealth within the tribe and clan, which the Qur'an forbids in Ayat #22 & #23, Ayah #22: (Do not marry women whom your fathers married, except what is already past. That is improper, indecent, and a bad custom) 1:41:35 the more extensive prohibitions against the weird and widespread pagan practices prescribed in detail in Ayah #23: "[hurrimat alaykum ummahatukum wabanatukum wa-akhawatukum wa'ammatukum wakhalatukum wabanat ul-akhi wabanat ul-ukh'ti wa-ummahatukumu allatee arda'nakum] wa-akhawatukum mina ar-rada'ati wa-ummahatu nisa-ikum warabaibukumu allatee fi hujoorikum min nisa-ikumu allatee dakhaltum bihinna fa-in lam takoonoo dakhaltum bihinna fala junaha alaykum wahalailu abnaikumu alladheena min aslabikum wa-an tajma'oo bayna al-ukh'tayni illa ma qad salaf inna al-laaha kana ghafoora raheema" ([Forbidden for you are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal aunts, your maternal aunts, your brother's daughters, your sister's daughters, your foster-mothers who nursed you,] your sisters through nursing, your wives' mothers, and your stepdaughters in your guardianship-born of wives you have gone into-but if you have not gone into them, there is no blame on you. And the wives of your genetic sons, and marrying two sisters simultaneously. Except what is past. God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful). 1:45:31 the reason for the prohibition of these relationships being because they were of unequal power. 1:47:45 discussion of Ayah #3 clarifying that the Qur'an indicates a preference toward men marrying one wife with permission only given toward polygamy when it involves marriage to widows for the purpose of raising their orphan children, up to a maximum of four wives. [Surah al-Nisa', Day 2 timestamps continued - PART 2]

[@omarkawam9473]

Thanks for all these time stamps!!!

[@aiva729]

Thank you so much this is very helpful!