وَإِنِ ٱمْرَأَةٌ خَافَتْ مِنۢ بَعْلِهَا نُشُوزًا أَوْ إِعْرَاضًۭا فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَآ أَن يُصْلِحَا بَيْنَهُمَا صُلْحًۭا ۚ وَٱلصُّلْحُ خَيْرٌۭ ۗ وَأُحْضِرَتِ ٱلْأَنفُسُ ٱلشُّحَّ ۚ وَإِن تُحْسِنُوا۟ وَتَتَّقُوا۟ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرًۭا
And if a woman fears from her husband contempt or evasion, there is no sin upon them if they make terms of settlement between them - and settlement is best. And present in [human] souls is stinginess. But if you do good and fear Allah - then indeed Allah is ever, with what you do, Acquainted.
Introduction
This is āyah 128 of Sūrat An-Nisaa (The Women), the 92nd sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 5. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Medinan
- Order revealed
- 92 of 114
- Surah
- An-Nisaa (4)
(If a woman feareth ill treatment�) [4:128]. Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn al-Harith informed us> 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ja'far> Abu Yahya> Sahl> 'Abd al-Rahim ibn Sulayman> Hisham> 'Urwah> 'A'ishah who said concerning the words of Allah, exalted is He, (If a woman feareth ill treatment from her husband�): �This was revealed regarding the case of a woman who does not bear children for her husband and, because of this, he wants to divorce her; or it could be about a women who has friends and children whom she does not like to be separated from and so she tells her husband who intends to divorce her: 'Do not divorce me; keep me with you and, in exchange, I forgo all the rights due to me'. And so this verse was revealed�. This was narrated by Bukhari> Muhammad ibn Muqatil> Ibn al-Mubarak, and also by Muslim from Abu Kurayb> Abu Usamah, and both Ibn al-Mubarak and Abu Usamah related it from Hisham. Abu Bakr al-Hiri informed us> Muhammad ibn Ya'qub>> al-Rabi'> al-Shafi'i> Ibn 'Uyaynah> al-Zuhri> Ibn al-Musayyab who related that the daughter of Muhammad ibn Maslamah was married to Rafi' ibn Khadij but he wanted to divorce her because of something he disliked in her, it was either arrogance or something else. She said to him: �Do not divorce me, and you are free to apportion for me whatever you like�. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse (If a woman feareth ill treatment from her husband�).
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
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