The Debate (Al-Mujaadalah)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Allah hath heard the saying of her that disputeth with thee (Muhammad) concerning her husband, and complaineth unto Allah. And Allah heareth your colloquy. Lo! Allah is Hearer, Knower. 1 Those of you who divorce your wives by calling them 'mothers,' cannot (make them) their mothers. Their mothers are only those who gave birth to them. They surely utter what is unseemly and a lie. But God is forbearing and forgiving. 2 Those who call their wives their mothers then revoke what they had said, should free a slave before having physical contact (with them). This is to warn you, as God is aware of what you do. 3 However, he who does not have the wherewithal shall fast [instead] for two consecutive months before the couple may touch one another again; and he who is unable to do it shall feed sixty needy ones: this, so that you might prove your faith in God and His Apostle. Now these are the bounds set by God; and grievous suffering [in the life to come] awaits all who deny the truth. 4 Indeed those who oppose Allah and His Noble Messenger have been humiliated, like those before them who were humiliated, and We have indeed sent down clear verses; and for the disbelievers is a disgraceful punishment. 5 On the day God raises them all up from the dead, He will make them understand what they have done. God has taken everything into account, even though they have forgotten, for God is a witness to all things. 6