What is the meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And if you fear that you will not act justly with the orphans, then marry those women who please you,” and what is the relationship between the orphans and the women in this verse?
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The questioner : The questioner says: What is the meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted: [An-Nisa 4:3] the verse, and what is the relationship between the orphans and the women in this verse? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : This verse was revealed when people were not being just with the orphan women. A man would keep an orphan girl, either for his son if she was not lawful for him, or for himself if she was lawful for him, and he would not marry her off to a suitable suitor who proposed to her. So Allah the Exalted said:[An-Nisa 4:3] meaning, if you fear not being just with the orphans, then there are many other women besides them. [An-Nisa 4:3] And by this, we know the connection between the end of the verse and its beginning.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
And if you fear that you will not deal justly with the orphan girls, then marry those that please you of [other] women
وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تُقْسِطُوا فِي الْيَتَامَى فَانكِحُوا مَا طَابَ لَكُمْ مِنَ النِّسَاءِThe Shaykh : This verse was revealed when people were not being just with the orphan women. A man would keep an orphan girl, either for his son if she was not lawful for him, or for himself if she was lawful for him, and he would not marry her off to a suitable suitor who proposed to her. So Allah the Exalted said:
And if you fear that you will not deal justly with the orphan girls
وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تُقْسِطُوا فِي الْيَتَامَىthen marry those that please you of [other] women, two or three or four
فَانكِحُوا مَا طَابَ لَكُمْ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ مَثْنَى وَثُلاثَ وَرُبَاعَThe questioner : May Allah reward you with good.