Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah 242

Ayah (2:240) was abrogated

The majority of the scholars said that this Ayah (2:240) was abrogated by the Ayah (2:234), what Allah said:

يَتَرَبَّصْنَ بِأَنفُسِهِنَّ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ وَعَشْرًا

(...they (the wives) shall wait (as regards their marriage) for four months and ten days.) (2:234)

For instance, Al-Bukhari reported that Ibn Az-Zubayr said: I said to `Uthman bin `Affan:

وَالَّذِينَ يُتَوَفَّوْنَ مِنكُمْ وَيَذَرُونَ أَزْوَجًا

(And those of you who die and leave wives behind them) was abrogated by the other Ayah (2:234). Therefore, why did you collect it (meaning, in the Qur'an)" He said, "O my nephew! I shall not change any part of the Qur'an from its place."

Verse 241: The divorced women deserve a benefit

Providing compensatory benefits (` mata متاع `) for divorced women has also been dealt with in verses earlier than this, but that was restricted to two types of divorced women who were divorced before privacy and consummation. The first case of providing compensatory benefits was the giving of a set of clothes. The second case was of providing compensatory benefit in the form of half of the dower. Now remains the case of divorcees who were divorced after privacy and con-summation. Here, providing compensatory benefits to one whose dower has already been fixed lies in giving her the full amount of dower or mahr. For one whose dower has not already been fixed, a post-consummation divorce will make it obligatory to give her mahr almithl مھر المثل or 'equivalent dower' (as customarily given in the immediate family circle of the woman). If the word 'benefit' used in this verse is taken to mean 'dower', its payment is obligatory according to these de-tails. However, if we take math' to mean a particular benefit, that is, the giving of a gift or set of clothes, then giving this to a particular type of divorced woman is obligatory which has been pointed out earlier. In the rest of the cases, this is mustahabb مستحب or desirable. And should math` be taken to mean maintenance or nafaqah, then it is obligatory until the expiry of ` iddah in the case of a divorce after which ` iddah has to be observed. The divorce may be revocable (رجعی) or irrevocable (باین) --it does not matter. To sum up, the verse, by using universally applicable words, covers all situations.

Setting forth injunctions regarding social matters, the Quran states, ‘This is an obligation binding on the righteous.’ This shows us an important aspect of Islamic law. In mutual matters there are certain rights on which the law has been laid down. But there are further mutual rights which go beyond fixed boundaries. These rights can be seen as such only by those who are God-fearing. The more one is God-fearing, the more sensitive one is in discharging one’s duties with regard to giving others their dues.