Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And it is not for a believer, male or female, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should have a choice in their affair.”

This is a negation, and is a defective past tense verb, and its predicate is the preposition and the noun in the genitive case, and this is its subject, placed at the end. Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: This means that this is a matter that cannot happen; it is a negation of possibility, but it refers to legal possibility, not natural possibility. This is because a believer, male or female, may have a choice in their affair regarding what Allah and His Messenger have decided, but legally, it is not possible. He says: with the taa and the yaa, meaning the choice, contrary to the command of Allah and His Messenger. And his saying:

a believing man or a believing woman

لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلا مُؤْمِنَةٍ

[Al-Ahzab 33:36]

As mentioned previously, it includes both males and females.

a believing man or a believing woman

لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلا مُؤْمِنَةٍ

[Al-Ahzab 33:36]

And his saying

when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter

إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا

[Al-Ahzab 33:36]

The intended meaning of "decided" here is legal decree, because no one can choose to go against the cosmic decree, neither a believer nor a disbeliever, is that not so? Because the cosmic decree must inevitably occur. So the intended meaning here is

It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should [thereafter] have any choice about their affair. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly strayed into clear error.

إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ

[Al-Ahzab 33:36]

meaning a legal decree. And his saying:

when Allah and His Messenger have decided

إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

[Al-Ahzab 33:36]

The conjunction of "His Messenger" with the waw is because the legal decree of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is part of the decree of Allah. And his saying

when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter

إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا

[Al-Ahzab 33:36]

a matter

أمراً

here is the singular of "matters" or the singular of "commands." It is the singular of "matters" because if He decides an affair, whether that affair is a command or a prohibition,

when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter

إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا

[Al-Ahzab 33:36]

that they have the choice

أن تكون لهم الخيرة

and

that they should [thereafter] have any choice

أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ

[Al-Ahzab 33:36]

As for the reading with the taa, the command is apparent in it, because its subject is what? Feminine, so the verb was made feminine for its sake.

that it be

أن تكون

As for the reading with the yaa, the verb is masculine even though the subject is feminine, but here feminization is not required for two reasons:
The first reason is the separation between the verb and its doer, and here between the verb and its subject.
The second is that the feminization in "al-khiyarah" (the choice) is figurative, and Ibn Malik says:
" And only a connected or implied verb that signifies a person of honor ."
And his saying:

the choice

الخيرة

meaning the choice. The author informed us that "al-khiyarah" here is a verbal noun meaning choice, or meaning the act of choosing, like "al-tayyarah" (omen) meaning the act of taking omens. So it is a verbal noun meaning choice, or if you wish, say meaning the act of choosing. And his saying:

from their matter

من أمرهم

One might say that the immediate implication is to say:

from his matter

من أمره

because "a believer" and "a female believer" are singular, and the immediate implication is to say, "And it is not for a believer or a female believer when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter that he should have a choice in his affair." But he used the plural because "a believer" and "a female believer" came in the indefinite form in a context of negation, which indicates generality, so the pronoun returned to it based on the meaning, not the wording. And his saying:

from their matter

من أمرهم

means its meaning is "from their affair." It is also permissible that it be

of their command

من أمرهم

meaning "from the command of Allah to them." So in the first case, the addition is of the type where a thing is added to its doer, and in the second case, it is of the type where it is added to its object. The author's saying " contrary to " is in the accusative case as the object of "al-khiyarah" meaning choice, meaning it was not for them to choose contrary to the command of Allah and His Messenger. So now the meaning of the verse is clear. The meaning of the verse is that Allah says it is not possible for a believer, male or female, it is not legally possible, or rather, legally, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should go against the command of Allah and His Messenger, or that they should choose contrary to the command of Allah and His Messenger. Why is it not possible? Because the faith in their hearts prevents them from going against it. Do you not see the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):

When (a person) an adulterer commits illegal sexual intercourse then he is not a believer

لا يزني الزاني حين وهو مؤمن

Sahih al-Bukhari 6782

Because if there had been faith in his heart at the time of the fornication, he would not have committed fornication. The thief does not steal while he is a believer. So when faith settles in the heart, it is not possible for its owner to go against the command of Allah and His Messenger. The author said: " It was revealed regarding Abdullah ibn Jahsh and his sister Zaynab. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) proposed her to Zayd ibn Harithah, but they disliked that when they thought he had proposed her to himself, before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) proposed her to himself, then they accepted. The verse " The author mentioned that it was revealed regarding this story, and this story is weak because it is a muddil (confusing) and munqati' (disconnected) narration, so it is weak. And in reality, we do not care about the occasion of revelation. The occasion of revelation, if it is authentic, has a benefit in that it sometimes reveals the meaning to clarify and explain it. But the important thing is the ruling, which is that it is not possible for a believer, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, to choose contrary to the command of Allah and His Messenger, or to have a choice in their affair, because they must necessarily agree with the command of Allah and His Messenger due to the faith in their hearts. For this reason, whenever a believer intends to commit a sin, his faith in Allah reminds him, so he refrains. Do you not see the saying of the Prophet (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) regarding the seven whom Allah will shade in His shade? He said:

a man who is called by a charming lady of noble birth

ورجل دعته امرأة ذات منصب وجمال

Sahih al-Bukhari 6806

And this call was in a secluded place where no one could see them except Allah. So he said:

I fear Allah.

إني أخاف الله

So his faith prevented him from what? From committing the indecency, despite the ease of its means. And likewise, one of the three men who the cave collapsed on, when his cousin's daughter made herself available to him, and he sat with her in the position of a man with his wife, and he believed that in this state the desire would be strong and intense, and that only strong faith could break it, when he sat with her in the position of a man with his wife, she said to him, " O this one, fear Allah and do not open the seal except with its right." So he rose from her, and she was the most beloved of people to him. This is from faith, without a doubt. So we do not care whether it was revealed regarding Zaynab bint Jahsh and her brother Abdullah, or regarding others. The important thing is that the state of the believer prevents him from going against the command of Allah and His Messenger. As for what the author mentioned, he says, " The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) proposed Zaynab bint Jahsh." And she had been proposed to, as others mentioned, by noble men of high status and influence. So the Prophet (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) proposed her, and they thought he had proposed her to himself. Then afterwards, he clarified to them that he had proposed her to Zayd ibn Harithah. Who is he? The freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And according to what the biographers mentioned, he was a slave of Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her), and she gifted him to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so he freed him. When he learned that he had proposed her to Zayd, he refused. When the verse was revealed, he accepted it. And this is not strange for the Companions, if the hadith is authentic. It is not strange that they would prioritize the command of Allah and His Messenger over what their souls desire.
The student: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) proposed her, and what does "intended" mean? What is the meaning of "intended"?

The Shaykh : I do not know what "intended" means. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) proposed her to Zayd ibn Harithah, they disliked that... cross it out.