Dealing Justly with Wives and Orphans (Qur'an 4:3): Difference between revisions

This article will examine a common [[Misinterpreted Verses|misinterpretation]] of [[Qur'an]] 4:3, and evidence provided in the [[sahih]] [[hadith|ahadith]] as to the true meaning of this verse.  

{{ quote || ''' And you have it not in your power to do justice between wives, even though you may wish (it)..." ''' }}

After a war where a lot of men are killed, there are usually much higher numbers of women alive than men. In this case,  men are permitted to take more than one wife, in order to reproduce at a faster rate than normal in order to repopulate the region. Women are more prevalent in some areas of the world, and men are also allowed to marry multiple wives when this is the situation, in order to ensure that every woman has a male partner and doesn't have to fend for herself. Some women also prefer to be a second, third or fourth wife; thus polygamy is also allowed in order to accommodate the desires of these women.

The reasoning continues that a man can '' never '' treat his wives equally, thus 4:3 means: Don't treat orphans unfairly, by marrying their mothers in order to gain access to the wealth that the orphans will inherit when they come of age. Then 4:3 changes the topic, mid ayat and tells men that they can marry up to four free (believing) women, but if they cannot treat them fairly, then they can marry only one. Then 4:3 goes back to who they are allowed to marry, and says they may also marry captives (from their right hands), but that the injunction from the previous part of the verse still applies.

== Evidence as to the real meaning of 4:3 ==

Most apologists, because of this,  will avoid answering any questions as to the meaning of the whole verse(s) in order to stick to their own interpretation.

==== Evidence From sahih ahadith as to the meaning of 4:3 ====

{{ quote |{{Bukhari|7|62|2}}|that he asked 'Aisha about 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; but if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (the captives) that your right hands possess. That will be nearer to prevent you from doing injustice.' (4.3) 'Aisha said, "O my nephew! (This Verse has been revealed in connection with) an orphan girl under the guardianship of her guardian who is attracted by her wealth and beauty and intends to marry her with a Mahr less than what other women of her standard deserve. So they (such guardians) have been forbidden to marry them unless they do justice to them and give them their full Mahr, and they are ordered to marry other women instead of them."  }}

==== Evidence from tafsir's regarding 4:3 ====

== Conclusion ==

{{quote | {{Quran|4|25}} |

{{ quote || ''' "If you are going to pay Orphans Less of a Mahr, or are just marrying them to get their property/wealth (or preventing them from marrying), then marry other women, 2 or 3 or 4, but if you cannot afford them (mahr, or support) then marry only one or a captive that your right hand possesses (as the Mahr is half that of a free woman or even nothing). This is better for you, than being financially unjust with your women." ''' }}

== Alternative Views ==

Dividing the ayah into several pieces will make it easier to get a grip on an alternative view, which is not related to the mahr story in any way.

#Father is dead

Free orphans can be protected by other males whether they are related or not to the child. If a woman marries another man after her husband dies or somehow becomes untraceable, her orphans (underage children) will also be under the protection of the new father. Orphans of slaves are also slaves. But if a maid gives birth to a child of her owner, then the child is free.

So, the orphans that are subject to marriage are ''underage girls''. Of course Islam does not have strict rules limiting the age of marriage, and as seen with Muhammad's marriage to Aisha, marriage to very young girls were also a common practice among early Muslims.  

[[Purpose_of_the_Mahr|Mahr]] is by definition {{ quote || the amount of money to be paid by the groom to the bride, at the time of marriage }} In fact it can be any goods of certain value that both the groom and the bride or bride's protector (her father, brothers, owner etc.) agree on. In this scenario, where a man wants to marry the child under his protection, both sides of the agreement are either the protector, or the protector and an underage child which is still at the early stages of mental development with no prior experience of marriage or mahr agreement. Therefore not paying mahr "justly" is definitely not an issue here.

"Women" in numbers beginning from two, going up to four. In fact, four is not a limit here, considering the language of the Qur'an, it's just a way of saying "as many as you need". Number 4 would have strictly been put in that way, if it was a limitation. Therefore, here it means "have as many women as you need to feed your desires". This definitely shows that the ayah is in no way related to paying mahr justly, for the mahr of many women will definitely cost more than that of an underage child with low judgmental and valuation skills. It is irrational for one that does not want to pay the child's mahr accordingly, to pay more mahr as an alternative. Approaching from the other side, knowing the uncontrollable [[Qur'an,_Hadith_and_Scholars:Sexuality|sexual desires of early Muslims]], marrying 2, 3, 4 or more women (of any age) is always preferable than marrying to one, so an ayah ordering the obvious is unnecessary.

Only in this part, the mahr is one of the possible reasons for the injustice. Marriage requires paying mahr, and paying different amount of mahr to several women may cause problems between the wives. Also it is possible that problems similar to those between Muhammad and his wives may occur. Therefore, here it means {{ quote || if you fear that you will not be able to act justly between your wives (economically and socially), then content yourself with only one}}  

Many times in the Qur'an, maids and slaves are referred to as "what your right hand possess".

In {{Quran|24|33}} it is seen that the maids were also forced into prostitution by their owners. Maids or slaves were considered property, owners had the right to use them in any way they wanted. Maids were used for prostitution, as treats to the owners' friends, for paying owners' debts etc.  

As stated above, the child would be considered "free" if the father was the maid's owner. But if not, then the child would also be a slave or maid and used by the master.

==== Conclusion ====

{{quote ||If you fear from acting unjustly in the eye of Allah by using your own child as a sex toy (without knowing it), marry other women as many as you need (because they are definitely not your close relatives), but if you can not marry other women due to economical or other reasons, then content yourself with the maids you already have}}

== See Also ==