Page 40 - The Mercy of Believers

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THE MERCY OF BELIEVERS

sufficient means"; he fulfils this responsibility in the best
way he can.

Not taking back the properties given to women
after divorce

If you desire to exchange one wife for another and
have given your original wife a large amount, do not
take any of it. Would you take it by means of slander
and outright crime? How could you take it when you
have been intimate with one another and they have
made a binding contract with you? (Surat an-Nisa':
20-21)

In compliance with the command implicit in the above
verses, upon the decision to divorce, a man of faith makes
no request whatsoever to take back the properties he for-
merly gave to his wife. That is because these properties
were meant to be a safeguard for the woman and their loss
may put her in difficulty. To prevent such an undesirable
situation, Allah imposes this condition upon male believ-
ers, thereby securing the social well-being of women.
Besides, the extent of this property does not lessen the
obligation this verse imposes upon a man. Even if a be-
lieving man has given all his possessions to his spouse, he
does not request the return of anything after separation.
As is evident, these commands of the Qur'an make
manifest the superiority of the understanding of mercy
the Qur'an offers to believers. At the cost of placing them-
selves in difficulties, believers never depart from the
Qur'anic notion of mercy conveyed in these verses, and
fully comply with it.