Sahih al-Bukhari 5131

That he had asked `Aisha about the meaning of the Statement of Allah: "If you fear that you shall not Be able to deal justly With the orphan girls, then Marry (Other) women of your choice Two or three or four." (4:3) She said, "O my nephew! This is about the orphan girl who lives with her guardian and shares his property. Her wealth and beauty may tempt him to marry her without giving her an adequate Mahr (bridal-money) which might have been given by another suitor. So, such guardians were forbidden to marry such orphan girls unless they treated them justly and gave them the most suitable Mahr; otherwise they were ordered to marry any other woman." `Aisha further said, "After that verse the people again asked the Prophet (about the marriage with orphan 'girls), so Allah revealed the following verses:-- 'They ask your instruction Concerning the women. Say: Allah Instructs you about them And about what is Recited unto you In the Book, concerning The orphan girls to whom You give not the prescribed portions and yet whom you Desire to marry..." (4:127) What is meant by Allah's Saying:-- 'And about what is Recited unto you is the former verse which goes:-- 'If you fear that you shall not Be able to deal justly With the orphan girls, then Marry (other) women of your choice.' (4:3) `Aisha said, "Allah's saying in the other verse:--'Yet whom you desire to marry' (4:127) means the desire of the guardian to marry an orphan girl under his supervision when she has not much property or beauty (in which case he should treat her justly). The guardians were forbidden to marry their orphan girls possessing property and beauty without being just to them, as they generally refrain from marrying them (when they are neither beautiful nor wealthy).

`Urwa bin Az-Zubair said that he asked `Aisha about the meaning of the Qur'anic Verse:-- "And if you fear that you will not deal fairly with the orphan girls then marry (other) women of your choice." (4:2-3) Aisha said, "It is about a female orphan under the guardianship of her guardian who is inclined towards her because of her beauty and wealth, and likes to marry her with a Mahr less than what is given to women of her standard. So they (i.e. guardians) were forbidden to marry the orphans unless they paid them a full appropriate Mahr (otherwise) they were ordered to marry other women instead of them. Later on the people asked Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) about it. So Allah revealed the following Verse:-- "They ask your instruction (O Muhammad!) regarding women. Say: Allah instructs you regarding them..." (4:127) and in this Verse Allah indicated that if the orphan girl was beautiful and wealthy, her guardian would have the desire to marry her without giving her an appropriate Mahr equal to what her peers could get, but if she was undesirable for lack of beauty or wealth, then he would not marry her, but seek to marry some other woman instead of her. So, since he did not marry her when he had no inclination towards her, he had not the right to marry her when he had an interest in her, unless he treated her justly by giving her a full Mahr and securing all her rights.

that he asked `Aisha regarding the Verse: 'If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans (4:3) She said, "O my nephew! This Verse refers to the orphan girl who is under the guardianship of her guardian who likes her beauty and wealth and wishes to (marry her and) curtails her Mahr. Such guardians have been forbidden to marry them unless they do justice by giving them their full Mahr, and they have been ordered to marry other than them. The people asked for the verdict of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) after that, so Allah revealed: 'They ask your instruction concerning the women . . . whom you desire to marry.' (4:127) So Allah revealed to them that if the orphan girl had beauty and wealth, they desired to marry her and for her family status. They can only marry them if they give them their full Mahr. And if they had no desire to marry them because of their lack of wealth and beauty, they would leave them and marry other women. So, as they used to leave them, when they had no interest, in them, they were forbidden to marry them when they had such interest, unless they treated them justly and gave them their full Mahr.

That he asked `Aisha regarding the Statement of Allah: "If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphan girls..." (4:3) She said, "O son of my sister! An Orphan girl used to be under the care of a guardian with whom she shared property. Her guardian, being attracted by her wealth and beauty, would intend to marry her without giving her a just Mahr, i.e. the same Mahr as any other person might give her (in case he married her). So such guardians were forbidden to do that unless they did justice to their female wards and gave them the highest Mahr their peers might get. They were ordered (by Allah, to marry women of their choice other than those orphan girls." `Aisha added," The people asked Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) his instructions after the revelation of this Divine Verse whereupon Allah revealed: "They ask your instruction regarding women " (4:127) `Aisha further said, "And the Statement of Allah: "And yet whom you desire to marry." (4:127) as anyone of you refrains from marrying an orphan girl (under his guardianship) when she is lacking in property and beauty." `Aisha added, "So they were forbidden to marry those orphan girls for whose wealth and beauty they had a desire unless with justice, and that was because they would refrain from marrying them if they were lacking in property and beauty."

Regarding the Verse:--"They ask your instruction concerning the women. Say: Allah instructs you about them and yet whom you desire to marry." (4:127) (has been revealed regarding the case of) a man who has an orphan girl, and he is her guardian and her heir. The girl shares with him all his property, even a date-palm (garden), but he dislikes to marry her and dislikes to give her in marriage to somebody else who would share with him the property she is sharing with him, and for this reason that guardian prevents that orphan girl from marrying. So, this Verse was revealed: (And Allah's statement:) "If a woman fears cruelty or desertion on her husband's part." (4:128)

" They ask you the religious verdict about women, say: Allah gives you the verdict about them" (iv. 126), that these relate to an orphan girl who is in charge of the person and she shares with him in his property (as a heir) even in the date-palm trees and he is reluctant to give her hand in marriage to any other person lest he (her husband) should partake of his property, and thus keep her in a lingering state.