His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And those who have ceased menstruating among your women, if you are in doubt, their waiting period is three months. And those who have not menstruated and those who are pregnant, their term is that they give birth to their burden. And whoever fears Allah, He will make for him of his matter ease." This is the command of Allah that He has revealed to you. And whoever fears Allah, He will expiate for him his sins and will greatly reward him." "Lodge them where you lodge, according to your means, and do not harm them in order to restrict them. And if they are pregnant, then spend on them until they give birth to their burden. And if they nurse for you, then give them their wages, and consult together in a good manner. But if you disagree, then another woman may nurse for him." "Let him who has abundance spend from his abundance, and he whose provision is restricted, let him spend from what Allah has given him. Allah does not burden a soul except according to what He has given it. Allah will make, after hardship, ease." "Those who have ceased menstruating" is the plural of a feminine form, as reported by Abu Ubaidah, and it is weak. What is established among the people is that it is the plural of "the one who." It may also come as a plural for "the one who has." And those who have ceased menstruating from menstruation are of different levels. The first is the one who has just begun to cease; this one is raised to the Sunnah, and precaution keeps her under the ruling of one who is not in cessation, as she does not know, perhaps the blood will return. And the one who has ceased menstruating is one who has stopped menstruating due to age and has been divorced, and her cycle has passed with the cessation of blood, except that she is among those who fear that she may become pregnant rarely. This one mentioned in the verse (p-332) is based on one of the interpretations of His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "If you are in doubt," which is the saying of those who consider doubt regarding the matter of the year, and this is the most apparent. And the one who has ceased menstruating has aged until she is certain that she cannot conceive; this one is not included in the verse because she does not doubt her pregnancy. However, she is under the ruling of the three months, by consensus of what is known, and she is in the verse according to the interpretation of those who see His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "If you are in doubt" as meaning in the ruling of those who have ceased menstruating. This is because Ismail ibn Abu Khalid narrated that a group among them, including Ubayy ibn Ka'b, may Allah be pleased with him, and Khalad ibn al-Nu'man, when they heard the saying of Allah, exalted and majestic is He: "And the divorced women should wait for three menstrual periods," [Surah Al-Baqarah: 228] said: O Messenger of Allah, what is the waiting period of one who has no menstrual cycle due to youth or old age? Then this verse was revealed. And one of them said: What is the waiting period of the pregnant woman? Then the verse was revealed: "And those who are pregnant, their term is that they give birth to their burden." And the differences in the interpretation of "If you are in doubt" have been mentioned previously.

'And "Ulatu" is the plural of dhat. Most of the scholars agree that this verse encompasses the pregnant divorced women and the women in waiting due to death. The evidence is the hadith of Subai'ah al-Aslamiyyah. She said: "I was under the care of Sa'd ibn Khawlah, and he passed away during the Farewell Pilgrimage." She gave birth to her child before four months had passed. The Prophet ﷺ said to her: "You have become lawful (to remarry)." He ordered her to marry." Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The shorter Surah of An-Nisa was revealed after the longer one. This means that His saying, the Exalted, ﴿And those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth﴾ was revealed after His saying, the Exalted, ﴿And those who die among you and leave wives behind, they (the wives) shall wait for four months and ten days﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 234]. Ali ibn Abi Talib and Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said: This is concerning the divorced women. As for the women in mourning, the waiting period for the pregnant woman is the end of the two terms. If she gives birth before four months and ten days, her waiting period extends to its end. The first opinion is the months, and the jurists are in agreement on this. Al-Dahhak read: "Their pregnancies" in the plural form.

And Allah, the Exalted, commanded to house the divorced women. There is no disagreement about this for those who have not yet menstruated. As for the woman who has been irrevocably divorced, Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, sees that she should be housed for the purpose of preserving lineage, but he does not see that she should receive maintenance, as maintenance is in exchange for enjoyment. This is the view of Al-Awza'i, Al-Shafi'i, Ibn Abi Layla, Ibn Ubayd, Ibn Al-Musayyib, Ata, Al-Sha'bi, and Sulaiman ibn Yasar. The people of opinion and consultation said: She is entitled to housing and maintenance. A group of scholars said: She is not entitled to housing or maintenance.

And "al-wajd" refers to abundance in wealth. The pronunciation of the waw with a dammah, fatha, or kasrah all have the same meaning. The majority read: "Wujdikum" with a dammah on the waw, meaning abundance of condition. Al-A'raj read - as mentioned by 'Ismah -: "Wajadakum" with a fatha on the waw. Abu Amr mentioned it from Al-Hasan and Abu Haywah. Al-Fayyad ibn Ghazwan and Ya'qub read with a kasrah on the waw, as mentioned by Al-Mahdawi from Al-A'raj and Amr ibn Maymun.

As for the pregnant woman, there is no disagreement about the obligation of her housing and maintenance, whether she has been irrevocably divorced or not; because it is clearly stated in the verse. They disagreed about the maintenance of the pregnant woman whose husband has passed away, with two opinions among the scholars of the Ummah. Some prohibited it, while others made it obligatory from the inheritance. Likewise, the maintenance for the nursing woman is obligatory, which includes the wage along with clothing and other necessities that have been detailed in the books of jurisprudence.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And command one another with what is right﴾ means: Let each one of you command his companion with good. There is no doubt that whoever commands good is quicker to act upon that good. And let each one of you accept what he has been commanded of good. Acceptance and compliance is the act of commanding. Al-Kisai said: "Commanding" means: Consult one another. This is also the meaning of His saying, the Exalted: ﴿Indeed, the assembly conspired against you to kill you﴾ [Al-Qasas: 20]. And from the saying of Imru' al-Qais:

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And if you find it difficult" means: if the woman is excessive in the limit that would be the payment for breastfeeding, then the husband has the right to seek another woman to breastfeed with what is easy for him. Except if the newborn does not accept anyone other than his mother, then she is obliged at that time to breastfeed him for the payment of someone like her and someone like the husband in their condition or wealth. Then Allah, glorified and exalted is He, specified for the wealthy to spend and for the poor to be moderate, each according to his condition. This is justice among them so that she does not lose and he does not bear what he cannot endure.

The scholars differed regarding the one who is unable to provide for his wife. Malik, Al-Shafi'i, Ahmad, Ishaq, Abu Huraira, Ibn Al-Musayyib, and Al-Hasan said: they should be separated. The companions of opinion, and Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, may Allah be pleased with him, and a group said: they should not be separated. Then Allah, glorified and exalted is He, hoped for ease as a facilitation for souls and to bring them comfort.

The majority read: "And He magnifies" with a 'ya', while Al-Amash read: "And We magnify" with a 'noon', and there was disagreement about him.