يُوصِيكُمُ ٱللَّهُ فِىٓ أَوْلَٰدِكُمْ ۖ لِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ ٱلْأُنثَيَيْنِ ۚ فَإِن كُنَّ نِسَآءًۭ فَوْقَ ٱثْنَتَيْنِ فَلَهُنَّ ثُلُثَا مَا تَرَكَ ۖ وَإِن كَانَتْ وَٰحِدَةًۭ فَلَهَا ٱلنِّصْفُ ۚ وَلِأَبَوَيْهِ لِكُلِّ وَٰحِدٍۢ مِّنْهُمَا ٱلسُّدُسُ مِمَّا تَرَكَ إِن كَانَ لَهُۥ وَلَدٌۭ ۚ فَإِن لَّمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ وَلَدٌۭ وَوَرِثَهُۥٓ أَبَوَاهُ فَلِأُمِّهِ ٱلثُّلُثُ ۚ فَإِن كَانَ لَهُۥٓ إِخْوَةٌۭ فَلِأُمِّهِ ٱلسُّدُسُ ۚ مِنۢ بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍۢ يُوصِى بِهَآ أَوْ دَيْنٍ ۗ ءَابَآؤُكُمْ وَأَبْنَآؤُكُمْ لَا تَدْرُونَ أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ لَكُمْ نَفْعًۭا ۚ فَرِيضَةًۭ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًۭا
Allah enjoins you concerning your children: for the male shall be the like of the share of two females, and if there be [two or] more than two females, then for them shall be two-thirds of what he leaves; but if she be alone, then for her shall be a half; and for each of his parents a sixth of what he leaves, if he has children; but if he has no children, and his parents are his [sole] heirs, then it shall be a third for his mother; but if he has brothers, then a sixth for his mother, after [paying off] any bequest he may have made or any debt [he may have incurred]. Your parents and your children—you do not know which of them is likelier to be beneficial for you. This is an ordinance from Allah. Indeed Allah is all-knowing, all-wise.
۞ وَلَكُمْ نِصْفُ مَا تَرَكَ أَزْوَٰجُكُمْ إِن لَّمْ يَكُن لَّهُنَّ وَلَدٌۭ ۚ فَإِن كَانَ لَهُنَّ وَلَدٌۭ فَلَكُمُ ٱلرُّبُعُ مِمَّا تَرَكْنَ ۚ مِنۢ بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍۢ يُوصِينَ بِهَآ أَوْ دَيْنٍۢ ۚ وَلَهُنَّ ٱلرُّبُعُ مِمَّا تَرَكْتُمْ إِن لَّمْ يَكُن لَّكُمْ وَلَدٌۭ ۚ فَإِن كَانَ لَكُمْ وَلَدٌۭ فَلَهُنَّ ٱلثُّمُنُ مِمَّا تَرَكْتُم ۚ مِّنۢ بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍۢ تُوصُونَ بِهَآ أَوْ دَيْنٍۢ ۗ وَإِن كَانَ رَجُلٌۭ يُورَثُ كَلَٰلَةً أَوِ ٱمْرَأَةٌۭ وَلَهُۥٓ أَخٌ أَوْ أُخْتٌۭ فَلِكُلِّ وَٰحِدٍۢ مِّنْهُمَا ٱلسُّدُسُ ۚ فَإِن كَانُوٓا۟ أَكْثَرَ مِن ذَٰلِكَ فَهُمْ شُرَكَآءُ فِى ٱلثُّلُثِ ۚ مِنۢ بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍۢ يُوصَىٰ بِهَآ أَوْ دَيْنٍ غَيْرَ مُضَآرٍّۢ ۚ وَصِيَّةًۭ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَلِيمٌۭ
For you shall be a half of what your wives leave, if they have no children; but if they have children, then for you shall be a fourth of what they leave, after [paying off] any bequest they may have made or any debt [they may have incurred]. And for them [it shall be] a fourth of what you leave, if you have no children; but if you have children, then for them shall be an eighth of what you leave, after [paying off] any bequest you may have made or any debt [you may have incurred]. If a man or woman is inherited by siblings and has a brother or a sister, then each of them shall receive a sixth; but if they are more than that, then they shall share in one third, after [paying off] any bequest he may have made or any debt [he may have incurred] without prejudice. [This is] an enjoinment from Allah, and Allah is all-knowing, all-forbearing.
تِلْكَ حُدُودُ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَمَن يُطِعِ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ يُدْخِلْهُ جَنَّٰتٍۢ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَٰرُ خَٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ وَذَٰلِكَ ٱلْفَوْزُ ٱلْعَظِيمُ
These are Allah’s bounds, and whoever obeys Allah and His Apostle, He shall admit him to gardens with streams running in them, to remain in them [forever]. That is the great success.
وَمَن يَعْصِ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ وَيَتَعَدَّ حُدُودَهُۥ يُدْخِلْهُ نَارًا خَٰلِدًۭا فِيهَا وَلَهُۥ عَذَابٌۭ مُّهِينٌۭ
But whoever disobeys Allah and His Apostle and transgresses the bounds set by Allah, He shall make him enter a Fire, to remain in it [forever], and there will be a humiliating punishment for him.
وَٱلَّٰتِى يَأْتِينَ ٱلْفَٰحِشَةَ مِن نِّسَآئِكُمْ فَٱسْتَشْهِدُوا۟ عَلَيْهِنَّ أَرْبَعَةًۭ مِّنكُمْ ۖ فَإِن شَهِدُوا۟ فَأَمْسِكُوهُنَّ فِى ٱلْبُيُوتِ حَتَّىٰ يَتَوَفَّىٰهُنَّ ٱلْمَوْتُ أَوْ يَجْعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلًۭا
Should any of your women commit an indecent act, produce against them four witnesses from yourselves, and if they testify, detain them in [their] houses until death finishes them, or Allah decrees a course for them.
وَٱلَّذَانِ يَأْتِيَٰنِهَا مِنكُمْ فَـَٔاذُوهُمَا ۖ فَإِن تَابَا وَأَصْلَحَا فَأَعْرِضُوا۟ عَنْهُمَآ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ تَوَّابًۭا رَّحِيمًا
Should two among you commit it, chastise them both; but if they repent and reform, let them alone. Indeed Allah is all-clement, all-merciful.
إِنَّمَا ٱلتَّوْبَةُ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ ٱلسُّوٓءَ بِجَهَٰلَةٍۢ ثُمَّ يَتُوبُونَ مِن قَرِيبٍۢ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ يَتُوبُ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ ۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًۭا
[Acceptance of] repentance by Allah is only for those who commit evil out of ignorance and then repent promptly. It is such whose repentance Allah will accept, and Allah is all-knowing, all-wise.
وَلَيْسَتِ ٱلتَّوْبَةُ لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ ٱلسَّيِّـَٔاتِ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَهُمُ ٱلْمَوْتُ قَالَ إِنِّى تُبْتُ ٱلْـَٰٔنَ وَلَا ٱلَّذِينَ يَمُوتُونَ وَهُمْ كُفَّارٌ ۚ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ أَعْتَدْنَا لَهُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًۭا
But [acceptance of] repentance is not for those who go on committing misdeeds: when death approaches any of them, he says, ‘I repent now.’ Nor is it for those who die while they are faithless. For such We have prepared a painful punishment.
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا يَحِلُّ لَكُمْ أَن تَرِثُوا۟ ٱلنِّسَآءَ كَرْهًۭا ۖ وَلَا تَعْضُلُوهُنَّ لِتَذْهَبُوا۟ بِبَعْضِ مَآ ءَاتَيْتُمُوهُنَّ إِلَّآ أَن يَأْتِينَ بِفَٰحِشَةٍۢ مُّبَيِّنَةٍۢ ۚ وَعَاشِرُوهُنَّ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ ۚ فَإِن كَرِهْتُمُوهُنَّ فَعَسَىٰٓ أَن تَكْرَهُوا۟ شَيْـًۭٔا وَيَجْعَلَ ٱللَّهُ فِيهِ خَيْرًۭا كَثِيرًۭا
O you who have faith! It is not lawful for you to inherit women forcibly, and do not press them to take away part of what you have given them, unless they commit a gross indecency. Consort with them in an honourable manner; and should you dislike them, maybe you dislike something while Allah invests it with an abundant good.
وَإِنْ أَرَدتُّمُ ٱسْتِبْدَالَ زَوْجٍۢ مَّكَانَ زَوْجٍۢ وَءَاتَيْتُمْ إِحْدَىٰهُنَّ قِنطَارًۭا فَلَا تَأْخُذُوا۟ مِنْهُ شَيْـًٔا ۚ أَتَأْخُذُونَهُۥ بُهْتَٰنًۭا وَإِثْمًۭا مُّبِينًۭا
If you desire to take a wife in place of another, and you have given one of them a quintal [of gold], do not take anything away from it. Would you take it by way of calumny and flagrant sin?!
وَكَيْفَ تَأْخُذُونَهُۥ وَقَدْ أَفْضَىٰ بَعْضُكُمْ إِلَىٰ بَعْضٍۢ وَأَخَذْنَ مِنكُم مِّيثَٰقًا غَلِيظًۭا
How could you take it back, when you have known each other, and they have taken from you a solemn covenant?
وَلَا تَنكِحُوا۟ مَا نَكَحَ ءَابَآؤُكُم مِّنَ ٱلنِّسَآءِ إِلَّا مَا قَدْ سَلَفَ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ فَٰحِشَةًۭ وَمَقْتًۭا وَسَآءَ سَبِيلًا
Do not marry any of the women whom your fathers had married, excluding what is already past. That is indeed an indecency, an outrage and an evil course.
English translation: Ali Quli Qarai
Sources triangulated: Ṭabarsī [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan]; Ṭūsī [tusi_al_tibyan]; Baḥrānī, al-Burhān [bahrani_al_burhan]; al-Qummī [qummi]; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān [tabatabai_al_mizan]; An Enlightening Commentary [enlightening_commentary]. All six are present (non-silent).
This passage legislates the core of Islamic family law: the fixed inheritance shares of children, parents and spouses, and the maternal kalāla (vv.11–12); the sanction on those who keep or overstep God's 'limits' (vv.13–14); the (later-abrogated) confinement of the adulteress and the rebuke of 'the two who commit it' (vv.15–16); the conditions of accepted repentance (vv.17–18); the ban on inheriting or coercing women and the duty of honourable consortship (v.19); the inviolability of the dower (vv.20–21); and the prohibition of marrying a father's widow (v.22).
1. The shares, read identically. All four Arabic sources and the two English ones agree on the arithmetic of vv.11–12 — son = two daughters; daughters two-thirds, one daughter a half; each parent a sixth with a child; mother a third (or a sixth when screened by siblings); spouses' half/quarter and quarter/eighth; debt before bequest before inheritance. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] [qummi] [bahrani_al_burhan] al-Qummī and al-Burhān supply the worked fractions; the Enlightening Commentary and al-Mīzān give the same shares with the social rationale that the man's double share answers to his burdens of dower, maintenance and jihād. [enlightening_commentary] [tabatabai_al_mizan]
2. The maternal kalāla. Ṭabarsī, Ṭūsī and al-Qummī agree that the siblings of v.12 are the MATERNAL siblings (each a sixth, more sharing a third equally, male and female alike), distinct from the full/paternal siblings of the closing verse 4:176. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] [qummi]
3. The adulteress-verse is abrogated. All sources read v.15's house-confinement as the provisional early ruling, abrogated by the flogging and stoning announced when 24:2 came down ('God has appointed a way'). [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] [qummi] Ṭabarsī and Ṭūsī both reject the Iraqi (Abū Muslim) attempt to keep the verses unabrogated by reading them as same-sex acts.
4. Repentance has a window. The sources concur that 'in ignorance' covers every deliberate sin (the sinner being 'ignorant' in preferring the fleeting), and 'soon' means before the death-throes — with the graded tradition (a year… an hour… 'until he gargles'). [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] al-Qummī fixes v.18 on the figure whose deathbed repentance was refused. [qummi]
5. Women are not property. All sources tie vv.19–22 to abolishing the Jāhilī 'inheriting' of widows (the Abū Qays b. al-Aslat / Kubaysha occasion in al-Qummī, Ṭabarsī and al-Mīzān), forbid extorting back the dower however large ('a qinṭār'), and forbid marriage to a father's widow. [qummi] [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tabatabai_al_mizan] [enlightening_commentary]
The Imāmī inheritance system (the decisive fault-line). Where the English sources expound the shares as such, Ṭabarsī, Ṭūsī and al-Burhān build the distinctively Imāmī edifice on top of them: the surplus is RETURNED (radd) to the daughter(s) and parents by their shares rather than passing to the agnatic ʿaṣaba; ʿawl (proportional reduction) is REJECTED, the deficiency instead falling only on the daughters/sisters and never on the parents or spouse; and only full or paternal (never maternal) siblings, and at least two, screen the mother. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] [bahrani_al_burhan] al-Burhān grounds every step in the Ṣaḥīfat al-Farāʾiḍ ascribed to ʿAlī and in Zurāra's reports ('this is how you avoid ʿawl'). [bahrani_al_burhan]
Prophets ARE inherited from (v.11). Ṭūsī turns 'if she be one, hers is the half' into a direct proof that Fāṭima was entitled to inherit the Prophet, and al-Burhān frames the whole verse through Fāṭima's confrontation with Abū Bakr — 'have you disbelieved in God's Book?' [tusi_al_tibyan] [bahrani_al_burhan] The two English sources read the inheritance verses without this polemic. [tabatabai_al_mizan] [enlightening_commentary]
The grave sinner and the Fire (vv.13–14). Ṭabarsī and Ṭūsī read 'transgresses His limits → abiding in the Fire' restrictively, against the Muʿtazilī inference of eternal Hell for any grave-sinning believer, holding that the wording targets one who oversteps ALL bounds (i.e. a disbeliever). [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan]