Ohilla lakum laylata alssiyami alrrafathu ila nisaikum hunna libasun lakum waantum libasun lahunna AAalima Allahu annakum kuntum takhtanoona anfusakum fataba AAalaykum waAAafa AAankum faalana bashiroohunna waibtaghoo ma kataba Allahu lakum wakuloo waishraboo hatta yatabayyana lakumu alkhaytu alabyadu mina alkhayti alaswadi mina alfajri thumma atimmoo alssiyama ila allayli wala tubashiroohunna waantum AAakifoona fee almasajidi tilka hudoodu Allahi fala taqrabooha kathalika yubayyinu Allahu ayatihi lilnnasi laAAallahum yattaqoona
English
Ahmed Ali
You are allowed to sleep with your wives on the nights of the fast: They are your dress as you are theirs. God is aware you were cheating yourselves, so He turned to you and pardoned you. So now you may have intercourse with them, and seek what God has ordained for you. Eat and drink until the white thread of dawn appears clear from the dark line, then fast until the night falls; and abstain from your wives (when you have decided) to stay in the mosques for assiduous devotion. These are the bounds fixed by God, so keep well within them. So does God make His signs clear to men that they may take heed for themselves.
187
Tafseer
'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : (it is made lawful for you to go unto your wives on the night of the fast) for sexual intercourse. (they are raiment for you) a repose for you (and you are raiment for them) a repose for them. (allah is aware that ye were deceiving yourselves in this respect) by having sexual intercourse with them at night (and he hath turned in mercy towards you) he forgave you (and relieved you) from your deception and did not punish you. (so) now that it is made lawful, (hold intercourse with them and seek that which allah hath ordained for you) to have a righteous child; this verse was revealed about 'umar ibn al-khattab, (and eat and drink) from the time the night falls (until the white thread becometh distinct to you from the black thread of the dawn) i.e. until the light of day becomes distinct to you from the darkness of night. (then strictly observe the fast till nightfall) the beginning of nightfall; this verse was revealed about sirmah ibn malik ibn 'adiyy (and touch them not) do not have sexual intercourse with them, (while you are at your devotions) in pious retreat (in the mosques) whether this is during the day or the night. (these are the limits imposed by allah) such sexual intercourse is a transgression against allah, (so approach them not) abstain from having sexual intercourse with your wives, during the day and at night, while you are in such retreats. (thus allah expoundeth his revelations) his commands and prohibitions (to mankind) as he has exposited this matter (that they may ward off (evil)) they may ward off transgressing against him. this verse was revealed about a group of companions of allah's messenger (pbuh) among whom were 'ali ibn abi talib and 'ammar ibn yasir, who were in retreat in the mosque and used to go to their wives whenever they needed them, and then take a ritual bath and return to the mosque. henceforth but they were forbidden to do so.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : permitted to you, upon the night of the fast, is to go in to your wives, in sexual intercourse: this was revealed as an abrogation of its unlawfulness during the earliest phase of islam, as well as [an abrogation of] the unlawfulness of eating and drinking after the night prayer; they are a vestment for you, and you are a vestment for them (a metaphor for their embraces or their need for one another); god knows that you have been betraying yourselves, by having sexual intercourse on the eve of the fast: this happened with ‘umar [b. al-khattāb] and others, and they apologised to the prophet (s), and so he has turned to you [relenting], before you even turned in repentance, and he has pardoned you. so now, when it is permitted to you, lie with them, in sexual intercourse, and seek what god has prescribed for you, of sexual intercourse or what it produces of offspring; and eat and drink, [at any time] during the night, until the white thread is distinct, to you, from the black thread at daybreak, that is, the true [moment of daybreak], which explains the white thread, while the explanation of the black thread, namely, the night, has been left out. the whiteness and the darkness of the dawn [twilight] are likened to two black and white threads in the way they stretch out; then complete the fast, from daybreak, to the night, that is, until it arrives, after the setting of the sun; and do not lie with them, your women, while you cleave to the mosques in devotion [to god], while you are residing [therein] with the intention of [performing] i‘tikāf (‘spiritual retreat’). this was a prohibition pertaining to one who used to leave [the mosque], whilst in a state of i‘tikāf, have sexual intercourse with his wife, and then return. those, rulings mentioned, are god’s bounds, delimited by god for his servants so that they do not overstep them; do not approach them (lā taqrabūhā, is more intense than lā ta‘taddūhā, ‘do not overstep’, used in verses elsewhere). so, just as he makes clear to you what has been mentioned, god makes clear his signs to people so that they might fear [disobeying] his prohibitions.
Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi
تفسير : (it is made lawful for you to go in unto your wives on the night of the fast...) [2:187].
according to the report of al-walibi, ibn ‘abbas said: “this is because after the nightfall (‘isha’) prayer during ramadan, the muslims were forbidden to have food or sex until the following night. but some muslims, among whom were ‘umar ibn al-khattab, complained to allah’s messenger, allah bless him and give him peace, about this. and so allah, exalted is he, revealed this verse”.
abu bakr al-asfahani informed us> abu’l-shaykh al-hafiz> ‘abd al-rahman ibn muhammad al-razi> sahl ibn ‘uthman al-‘askari> yahya ibn abi za’idah> his father and others> abu ishaq> al-bara’ ibn ‘azib who said: “after breaking their fast, the muslims used to be allowed to eat, drink and have sexual intercourse for as long as they did not sleep. once they went to sleep, they were forbidden to do all these things until the following day when they broke their fast. qays ibn sirma al-ansari went to his wife at the time of breaking the fast. his wife went out to get something [to eat]. while he was waiting, he fell asleep [and therefore could not eat until the following night]. the following day he fainted in the middle of the day. ‘umar ibn al-khattab also had sexual intercourse with his wife after he found her sleeping. he mentioned what had happened to the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, and the verse was (is made lawful for you to go in unto your wives on the night of the fast…) was revealed, up to allah’s saying (…of the dawn.). the muslims were very happy with this”.
abu ‘abd al-rahman ibn abi hamid> muhammad ibn ‘abd allah ibn muhammad al-shaybani> muhammad ibn ‘abd al-rahman al-daghuli> al-za‘farani> shababah> isra’il> abu ishaq> al-bara’ who said: “the companions of muhammad, allah bless him and give him peace, when one of them was fasting and was still sleeping at the advent of the time of breaking the fast, he was not allowed to eat that night or the following day until the advent of the time of breaking the fast of the following day. qays ibn sirma al-ansari was fasting. when the time of breaking fast came, he went to his wife and asked her: ‘do you have any food?’ she said: ‘no! but i will go and find something for you’. as he was working all day, he fell asleep. when his wife came back and saw that he had slept, she said: ‘what a disappointment!’ and so he had to carry on his fast. at midday on the following day, he fainted. he mentioned what had happened to the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace. then the verse (it is made lawful for you to go in unto your wives on the night of the fast…), and they were overjoyed”. narrated by bukhari from ‘ubayd allah ibn musa from isra’il.
al-hasan ibn muhammad al-farisi informed us> muhammad ibn al-fadl> ahmad ibn muhammad ibn al-hasan al-hafiz> muhammad ibn yahya> hisham ibn ‘ammar> yahya ibn hamzah> ishaq ibn abi farwah> al-zuhri> al-qasim ibn muhammad who said: “at the beginning of the prescription of fasting, one used to fast from the night to the following night. once one went to sleep, one could not touch one’s wife or eat or sleep. that is until ‘umar went to his wife and seeing that he wanted to sleep with her, she told him that she had slept. ‘umar slept with her anyhow. sirma ibn anas also was fasting and slept before he broke his fast—that is because once they slept they could not eat or drink — and had, therefore to fast until the following day. fasting was so hard on them that it nearly killed them, and so allah, glorified and exalted is he, sent down this dispensation and revealed (and he hath turned in mercy toward you and relieved you…)”.
sa‘id ibn muhammad al-zahid> his grandfather> abu ‘amr al-hiri> muhammad ibn yahya> ibn abi maryam> abu ghassan> abu hazim> sahl ibn sa‘d who said: “the verse (… and eat and drink until the white thread becometh distinct to you from the black thread…) but (of the dawn) was not revealed yet. as a result, when one of them wanted to fast, he tied one white thread and another black thread to his legs and ate and drank until he could distinguish between the two threads. allah then revealed (… of the dawn), and understood from the verse that allah meant by the black and white threads the night and day”. narrated by bukhari from the report of ibn abi maryam, and also by muslim from the report of muhammad ibn sahl from ibn abi maryam.
