An adult guide · Dignity, responsibility, mercy, justice and safety
Family roles in Islam are responsibilities held inside shared human dignity and accountability to the Creator. The Qur’an speaks of tranquillity, affection, mercy, provision, care, consultation and justice. It does not turn a role into ownership of another person. Some principles are clear for every family; detailed rulings about marriage, maintenance, custody and divorce require qualified school-specific and jurisdiction-specific advice.
Family begins with shared dignity before roles
Family discussions often begin with a chart: the husband does this, the wife does that, and children obey. The Qur’an begins deeper. Every family member is created, morally accountable and connected through kinship. Roles matter, but they do not create a person’s basic worth.
Qur’an study · An-Nisa’
Ayah 4:1
A full learner transliteration is not displayed here. Listen to the complete ayah and use the Arabic with a capable teacher rather than guessing its sounds from English letters.
Transliteration can help you begin, but it cannot reproduce every Arabic sound or replace listening, tajwid study, or correction from a capable teacher.Read from right to left. Each column keeps one Arabic word, its reading aid and its contextual gloss together. Select a word to hear it.
Each word card: Arabic · reading aid · contextual gloss
Saheeh International is the primary reading. The two named comparisons make translation choices visible; none is presented as the Arabic Qur’an itself.
O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allāh, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allāh is ever, over you, an Observer.
O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women. Be careful of your duty toward Allah in Whom ye claim (your rights) of one another, and toward the wombs (that bore you). Lo! Allah hath been a watcher over you.
O mankind! reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, His mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;- reverence Allah, through whom ye demand your mutual (rights), and (reverence) the wombs (That bore you): for Allah ever watches over you.
Sources used for this ayah panelOpen the Arabic, audio and translation notes
- Arabic and word segmentation
- Quran Foundation Quran.com Content API snapshot for Qur’an 4:1. The selected riwayah and Mushaf text field are recorded with the source data.
- Reading aids
- A full learner transliteration is not displayed; use the recitation and Arabic with a capable teacher. Transliteration is not Qur’an.
- Word audio and contextual glosses
- Quran Foundation word data. Glosses help align words; they are not presented as a complete translation.
- Named translations
- Saheeh International (resource 20), M. Pickthall (resource 19), and A. Yusuf Ali (resource 22).
- Complete recitation
- Mishari Rashid al-‘Afasy, Quran Foundation recitation resource 7.
This ayah calls humanity to be mindful of its Lord, remembers a shared created origin and treats family ties as a matter of accountability. No spouse, parent or elder becomes the source of another person’s dignity. No younger, disabled, financially dependent or unmarried relative becomes less human because they hold less household power.
Qur’an study · Al-Isra
Ayah 17:70
A full learner transliteration is not displayed here. Listen to the complete ayah and use the Arabic with a capable teacher rather than guessing its sounds from English letters.
Transliteration can help you begin, but it cannot reproduce every Arabic sound or replace listening, tajwid study, or correction from a capable teacher.Read from right to left. Each column keeps one Arabic word, its reading aid and its contextual gloss together. Select a word to hear it.
Each word card: Arabic · reading aid · contextual gloss
Saheeh International is the primary reading. The two named comparisons make translation choices visible; none is presented as the Arabic Qur’an itself.
And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference.
Verily we have honoured the Children of Adam. We carry them on the land and the sea, and have made provision of good things for them, and have preferred them above many of those whom We created with a marked preferment.
We have honoured the sons of Adam; provided them with transport on land and sea; given them for sustenance things good and pure; and conferred on them special favours, above a great part of our creation.
Sources used for this ayah panelOpen the Arabic, audio and translation notes
- Arabic and word segmentation
- Quran Foundation Quran.com Content API snapshot for Qur’an 17:70. The selected riwayah and Mushaf text field are recorded with the source data.
- Reading aids
- A full learner transliteration is not displayed; use the recitation and Arabic with a capable teacher. Transliteration is not Qur’an.
- Word audio and contextual glosses
- Quran Foundation word data. Glosses help align words; they are not presented as a complete translation.
- Named translations
- Saheeh International (resource 20), M. Pickthall (resource 19), and A. Yusuf Ali (resource 22).
- Complete recitation
- Mishari Rashid al-‘Afasy, Quran Foundation recitation resource 7.
The children of Adam are honoured. The ayah’s full theological scope requires tafsir review, but its baseline matters here: human dignity comes before job title, income, fertility, health, marital status and family position. A role can carry different duties without turning difference into contempt.
Equal dignity does not mean identical duties
People can share moral worth while carrying different responsibilities. A parent has duties that a young child does not. A spouse who has undertaken financial maintenance has obligations connected to that role. A person providing daily care holds a real trust even if no salary appears. Difference must be explained through evidence and responsibility, not by calling one person naturally more valuable.
Not every family arrangement is a religious rule
Families inherit customs about paid work, cooking, money, elder care and who speaks in meetings. Some arrangements are lawful and helpful. Others are unfair or harmful. A custom does not become revelation because it is old or common. Ask: what is stated in the Qur’an, what is juristic interpretation, what is civil law, what is local culture and what has this family actually agreed?
This is especially important for adult learners living in blended, single-parent, widowed, divorced, foster, adoptive, extended-family or kinship-care homes. These relationships are not legally identical, but none should be mocked as though only one household shape can contain mercy and responsibility.
Marriage is a covenant shaped by tranquillity, affection and mercy
Qur’an study · Ar-Rum
Ayah 30:21
A full learner transliteration is not displayed here. Listen to the complete ayah and use the Arabic with a capable teacher rather than guessing its sounds from English letters.
Transliteration can help you begin, but it cannot reproduce every Arabic sound or replace listening, tajwid study, or correction from a capable teacher.Read from right to left. Each column keeps one Arabic word, its reading aid and its contextual gloss together. Select a word to hear it.
Each word card: Arabic · reading aid · contextual gloss
Saheeh International is the primary reading. The two named comparisons make translation choices visible; none is presented as the Arabic Qur’an itself.
And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquility in them; and He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought.
And of His signs is this: He created for you helpmeets from yourselves that ye might find rest in them, and He ordained between you love and mercy. Lo! herein indeed are portents for folk who reflect.
And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquillity with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are Signs for those who reflect.
Sources used for this ayah panelOpen the Arabic, audio and translation notes
- Arabic and word segmentation
- Quran Foundation Quran.com Content API snapshot for Qur’an 30:21. The selected riwayah and Mushaf text field are recorded with the source data.
- Reading aids
- A full learner transliteration is not displayed; use the recitation and Arabic with a capable teacher. Transliteration is not Qur’an.
- Word audio and contextual glosses
- Quran Foundation word data. Glosses help align words; they are not presented as a complete translation.
- Named translations
- Saheeh International (resource 20), M. Pickthall (resource 19), and A. Yusuf Ali (resource 22).
- Complete recitation
- Mishari Rashid al-‘Afasy, Quran Foundation recitation resource 7.
The Qur’an describes spouses, tranquillity, affection and mercy among signs for people who reflect. This gives marriage a moral direction. It does not promise that every marriage will always feel calm, or prove that a relationship is healthy simply because it continues.
Affection is more than public romance. It appears in attention, gratitude, sexual respect, kind speech and protecting privacy without using secrecy to conceal harm. Mercy matters when a spouse is ill, disabled, grieving, exhausted or ageing. Tranquillity requires more than an attractive home; a person who lives under threat, surveillance or humiliation does not experience the safety suggested by the word.
Qur’an study · An-Nisa
Ayah 4:19
A full learner transliteration is not displayed here. Listen to the complete ayah and use the Arabic with a capable teacher rather than guessing its sounds from English letters.
Transliteration can help you begin, but it cannot reproduce every Arabic sound or replace listening, tajwid study, or correction from a capable teacher.Read from right to left. Each column keeps one Arabic word, its reading aid and its contextual gloss together. Select a word to hear it.
Each word card: Arabic · reading aid · contextual gloss
Saheeh International is the primary reading. The two named comparisons make translation choices visible; none is presented as the Arabic Qur’an itself.
O you who have believed, it is not lawful for you to inherit women by compulsion. And do not make difficulties for them in order to take [back] part of what you gave them unless they commit a clear immorality [i.e., adultery]. And live with them in kindness. For if you dislike them – perhaps you dislike a thing and Allāh makes therein much good.
O ye who believe! It is not lawful for you forcibly to inherit the women (of your deceased kinsmen), nor (that) ye should put constraint upon them that ye may take away a part of that which ye have given them, unless they be guilty of flagrant lewdness. But consort with them in kindness, for if ye hate them it may happen that ye hate a thing wherein Allah hath placed much good.
O ye who believe! Ye are forbidden to inherit women against their will. Nor should ye treat them with harshness, that ye may Take away part of the dower ye have given them,-except where they have been guilty of open lewdness; on the contrary live with them on a footing of kindness and equity. If ye take a dislike to them it may be that ye dislike a thing, and Allah brings about through it a great deal of good.
Sources used for this ayah panelOpen the Arabic, audio and translation notes
- Arabic and word segmentation
- Quran Foundation Quran.com Content API snapshot for Qur’an 4:19. The selected riwayah and Mushaf text field are recorded with the source data.
- Reading aids
- A full learner transliteration is not displayed; use the recitation and Arabic with a capable teacher. Transliteration is not Qur’an.
- Word audio and contextual glosses
- Quran Foundation word data. Glosses help align words; they are not presented as a complete translation.
- Named translations
- Saheeh International (resource 20), M. Pickthall (resource 19), and A. Yusuf Ali (resource 22).
- Complete recitation
- Mishari Rashid al-‘Afasy, Quran Foundation recitation resource 7.
This ayah addresses practices including treating women as inheritable property, obstruction and the command to live together according to recognised goodness. Its legal details need context and qualified guidance. Its direction is unmistakably relevant: a spouse is not property, and dislike does not license degrading treatment or extortion.
Marriage is not immunity from accountability
A wedding contract does not make physical injury, sexual coercion, economic deprivation, stalking, confinement or threats morally invisible. Privacy protects ordinary family life; it is not a curtain behind which crime or abuse becomes acceptable. A spouse remains answerable to the Creator and subject to the law.
Mercy is not limitless access
Mercy may include a sincere apology, time to change and proportionate forgiveness. It can also include boundaries, external help and protection. A person responsible for harm cannot demand renewed access by saying that forgiveness is religiously required. Repentance language does not cancel accountability, restitution, treatment, safeguarding or a lawful order.
Do not measure a marriage by performance
Income, house size, children, social media photographs and public piety cannot reveal the complete health of a relationship. Infertility does not make a spouse a failed family member. Disability does not erase intimacy or agency. Unpaid care is not valueless because a bank statement does not record it.
Roles are responsibilities, not rank or ownership
The Qur’an contains sex-specific family responsibilities. A truthful article cannot erase them, and a careful article cannot turn one translation into a universal command chart without Arabic, tafsir and fiqh.
Qur’an study · An-Nisa’
Ayah 4:34
A full learner transliteration is not displayed here. Listen to the complete ayah and use the Arabic with a capable teacher rather than guessing its sounds from English letters.
Transliteration can help you begin, but it cannot reproduce every Arabic sound or replace listening, tajwid study, or correction from a capable teacher.Read from right to left. Each column keeps one Arabic word, its reading aid and its contextual gloss together. Select a word to hear it.
Each word card: Arabic · reading aid · contextual gloss
Saheeh International is the primary reading. The two named comparisons make translation choices visible; none is presented as the Arabic Qur’an itself.
Men are in charge of women by [right of] what Allāh has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the husband's] absence what Allāh would have them guard. But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance – [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them [lightly]. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them. Indeed, Allāh is ever Exalted and Grand.
Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Lo! Allah is ever High, Exalted, Great.
Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband's) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (Next), refuse to share their beds, (And last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against them Means (of annoyance): For Allah is Most High, great (above you all).
Sources used for this ayah panelOpen the Arabic, audio and translation notes
- Arabic and word segmentation
- Quran Foundation Quran.com Content API snapshot for Qur’an 4:34. The selected riwayah and Mushaf text field are recorded with the source data.
- Reading aids
- A full learner transliteration is not displayed; use the recitation and Arabic with a capable teacher. Transliteration is not Qur’an.
- Word audio and contextual glosses
- Quran Foundation word data. Glosses help align words; they are not presented as a complete translation.
- Named translations
- Saheeh International (resource 20), M. Pickthall (resource 19), and A. Yusuf Ali (resource 22).
- Complete recitation
- Mishari Rashid al-‘Afasy, Quran Foundation recitation resource 7.
This is one of the most debated passages in contemporary discussions of Muslim family life. The term often rendered through ideas of maintenance or responsibility, and the later conflict sequence, have substantial linguistic, exegetical and legal discussion. Translations differ materially. A dictionary gloss alone cannot settle the passage.
The ayah connects the named responsibility with spending. It must be studied with the wider surah, the next ayah’s arbitration route, authenticated Prophetic practice, juristic restrictions, legal principles concerning harm and the binding law where a family lives. This page does not issue a self-executing instruction to spouses.
What qiwama cannot honestly mean on this page
It cannot be presented as ownership of a wife, proof of greater worth, freedom from consultation or immunity from legal and moral accountability. No one may use the verse to justify injury, terror, sexual coercion, deprivation, surveillance, confinement, threats or criminal conduct. This is a safeguarding boundary, not a detailed school-specific ruling on the verse. Individual family-law questions require qualified advice. Sahih Muslim 2328a records Aisha’s account that the Prophet did not strike a woman or servant; read the report’s full wording alongside the Qur’anic context.
Use five questions before calling something a role
- Revelation: what exact text and context support the claim?
- Jurisprudence: which school, conditions and disagreements apply?
- Civil law: what does the jurisdiction and any court order require?
- Custom: is this simply how one culture divided work?
- Capacity and safety: what do health, disability, income, care load and risk require?
A family may decide by consultation that one spouse handles more cooking and another more paid work. Illness, job loss, study, pregnancy or elder care may change the arrangement. A practical change is not automatically a theological rebellion. Non-transferable duties and individual cases still require qualified advice.
Make invisible responsibilities visible
Review access to money, domestic work, planning, emotional labour, childcare, elder care, sleep and rest. “I provide” should not erase the labour that makes provision usable. “I care for everyone” should not erase financial duties or another person’s right to participate in decisions. Responsibility should produce service and accountability, not entitlement.
Parenting and care require consultation and protection from harm
Family roles extend beyond marriage. Children need provision, affection, teaching, healthcare, boundaries and protection. Older and disabled relatives may need support that preserves agency rather than treating dependence as permission for control.
Qur’an study · Al-Baqarah
Ayah 2:233
A full learner transliteration is not displayed here. Listen to the complete ayah and use the Arabic with a capable teacher rather than guessing its sounds from English letters.
Transliteration can help you begin, but it cannot reproduce every Arabic sound or replace listening, tajwid study, or correction from a capable teacher.Read from right to left. Each column keeps one Arabic word, its reading aid and its contextual gloss together. Select a word to hear it.
Each word card: Arabic · reading aid · contextual gloss
Saheeh International is the primary reading. The two named comparisons make translation choices visible; none is presented as the Arabic Qur’an itself.
Mothers may nurse [i.e., breastfeed] their children two complete years for whoever wishes to complete the nursing [period]. Upon the father is their [i.e., the mothers'] provision and their clothing according to what is acceptable. No person is charged with more than his capacity. No mother should be harmed through her child, and no father through his child. And upon the [father's] heir is [a duty] like that [of the father]. And if they both desire weaning through mutual consent from both of them and consultation, there is no blame upon either of them. And if you wish to have your children nursed by a substitute, there is no blame upon you as long as you give payment according to what is acceptable. And fear Allāh and know that Allāh is Seeing of what you do.
Mothers shall suckle their children for two whole years; (that is) for those who wish to complete the suckling. The duty of feeding and clothing nursing mothers in a seemly manner is upon the father of the child. No-one should be charged beyond his capacity. A mother should not be made to suffer because of her child, nor should he to whom the child is born (be made to suffer) because of his child. And on the (father's) heir is incumbent the like of that (which was incumbent on the father). If they desire to wean the child by mutual consent and (after) consultation, it is no sin for them; and if ye wish to give your children out to nurse, it is no sin for you, provide that ye pay what is due from you in kindness. Observe your duty to Allah, and know that Allah is Seer of what ye do.
The mothers shall give such to their offspring for two whole years, if the father desires to complete the term. But he shall bear the cost of their food and clothing on equitable terms. No soul shall have a burden laid on it greater than it can bear. No mother shall be Treated unfairly on account of her child. Nor father on account of his child, an heir shall be chargeable in the same way. If they both decide on weaning, by mutual consent, and after due consultation, there is no blame on them. If ye decide on a foster-mother for your offspring, there is no blame on you, provided ye pay (the mother) what ye offered, on equitable terms. But fear Allah and know that Allah sees well what ye do.
Sources used for this ayah panelOpen the Arabic, audio and translation notes
- Arabic and word segmentation
- Quran Foundation Quran.com Content API snapshot for Qur’an 2:233. The selected riwayah and Mushaf text field are recorded with the source data.
- Reading aids
- A full learner transliteration is not displayed; use the recitation and Arabic with a capable teacher. Transliteration is not Qur’an.
- Word audio and contextual glosses
- Quran Foundation word data. Glosses help align words; they are not presented as a complete translation.
- Named translations
- Saheeh International (resource 20), M. Pickthall (resource 19), and A. Yusuf Ali (resource 22).
- Complete recitation
- Mishari Rashid al-‘Afasy, Quran Foundation recitation resource 7.
This ayah addresses nursing, paternal provision, non-harm, mutual consent and consultation, including the possibility of another nursing arrangement. It is a legal-context passage, not a slogan that one parent must carry every feeding or care task in all circumstances. Its structure shows responsibilities considered together: the child, the mother’s wellbeing, provision, consultation and workable alternatives.
Consultation is more than announcing a decision
Real consultation gives people relevant information, time and a meaningful chance to speak. A spouse cannot call a decision mutual after financial pressure or threats made refusal unsafe. Children should be heard at a level appropriate to age and understanding, but they should not be made responsible for adult decisions.
Children are not mediators
Do not ask a child to carry hostile messages, spy on another parent, choose sides or keep dangerous secrets. In England, children who see, hear or experience the effects of domestic abuse can be recognised as victims in their own right. Other countries have their own law and safeguarding routes.
Care must preserve dignity and communication
A disabled or older family member may need assistance with money, movement, health or communication. Support is not permission to confiscate devices, prevent private medical appointments, withhold mobility equipment or isolate the person from safe relationships. Capacity and best-interest decisions have specific legal tests; a general religious article cannot make them.
Provision
Are food, housing, healthcare, education and personal needs addressed without using money as control?
Care load
Who performs daily and invisible work, and who receives rest and support?
Voice
Can each capable person express a view without punishment or ridicule?
Safety
Can family members contact trusted people and services when they need help?
Abuse, coercion and concealment are not family leadership
Domestic abuse can be physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, economic, threatening, controlling or coercive. It can occur between spouses, former spouses or relatives. Women and men can be affected, while current public-health evidence shows women are disproportionately subjected to intimate-partner and severe domestic violence. Male survivors must not be mocked or excluded.
Qur’an study · An-Nisa
Ayah 4:135
A full learner transliteration is not displayed here. Listen to the complete ayah and use the Arabic with a capable teacher rather than guessing its sounds from English letters.
Transliteration can help you begin, but it cannot reproduce every Arabic sound or replace listening, tajwid study, or correction from a capable teacher.Read from right to left. Each column keeps one Arabic word, its reading aid and its contextual gloss together. Select a word to hear it.
Each word card: Arabic · reading aid · contextual gloss
Saheeh International is the primary reading. The two named comparisons make translation choices visible; none is presented as the Arabic Qur’an itself.
O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allāh, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, Allāh is more worthy of both. So follow not [personal] inclination, lest you not be just. And if you distort [your testimony] or refuse [to give it], then indeed Allāh is ever, of what you do, Aware.
O ye who believe! Be ye staunch in justice, witnesses for Allah, even though it be against yourselves or (your) parents or (your) kindred, whether (the case be of) a rich man or a poor man, for Allah is nearer unto both (them ye are). So follow not passion lest ye lapse (from truth) and if ye lapse or fall away, then lo! Allah is ever Informed of what ye do.
O ye who believe! stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do.
Sources used for this ayah panelOpen the Arabic, audio and translation notes
- Arabic and word segmentation
- Quran Foundation Quran.com Content API snapshot for Qur’an 4:135. The selected riwayah and Mushaf text field are recorded with the source data.
- Reading aids
- A full learner transliteration is not displayed; use the recitation and Arabic with a capable teacher. Transliteration is not Qur’an.
- Word audio and contextual glosses
- Quran Foundation word data. Glosses help align words; they are not presented as a complete translation.
- Named translations
- Saheeh International (resource 20), M. Pickthall (resource 19), and A. Yusuf Ali (resource 22).
- Complete recitation
- Mishari Rashid al-‘Afasy, Quran Foundation recitation resource 7.
The command to uphold justice applies even when evidence goes against oneself, parents or close relatives. Family reputation is therefore not a reason to conceal harm, pressure a person to withdraw a report or attack someone who seeks help. Community leadership should make truth and safety possible, not protect status.
Religious language can be used coercively
Examples include inventing a ruling to restrict money or healthcare, threatening divine punishment for seeking help, presenting every disagreement as disobedience, forcing unsafe mediation, isolating a spouse from qualified advice or demanding secrecy about harm. Religious vocabulary does not change the effect of coercive conduct.
Do not recommend unsafe confrontation
Separation and disclosure can increase danger in some abusive situations. A generic article should not tell someone to announce that they are leaving, confront the person harming them or attend couples counselling. Specialist services can help assess risk and make a plan. If there is immediate danger, contact local emergency assistance.
Support does not replace accountability
A person using abuse may need a qualified perpetrator programme, legal consequences and pastoral intervention. An apology or religious recommitment does not entitle them to restored contact. Safeguards should be changed only through proper risk assessment and lawful process, not family pressure.
Likewise, a survivor should not be told that patience means accepting harm, that prayer replaces medical care, or that mercy requires immediate reconciliation. Prayer and patience can accompany safety action. They must not be used to obstruct it.
Handle disagreement, separation and support with justice
Not every disagreement is abuse. Families can differ about spending, work, relatives, parenting and household routines without one person controlling the other. Good support first identifies the type of problem: ordinary conflict, harmful behaviour, coercive control, a legal dispute, a theological question or an immediate safeguarding risk.
Qur’an study · At-Talaq
Ayah 65:6
A full learner transliteration is not displayed here. Listen to the complete ayah and use the Arabic with a capable teacher rather than guessing its sounds from English letters.
Transliteration can help you begin, but it cannot reproduce every Arabic sound or replace listening, tajwid study, or correction from a capable teacher.Read from right to left. Each column keeps one Arabic word, its reading aid and its contextual gloss together. Select a word to hear it.
Each word card: Arabic · reading aid · contextual gloss
Saheeh International is the primary reading. The two named comparisons make translation choices visible; none is presented as the Arabic Qur’an itself.
Lodge them [in a section] of where you dwell out of your means and do not harm them in order to oppress them. And if they should be pregnant, then spend on them until they give birth. And if they breastfeed for you, then give them their payment and confer among yourselves in the acceptable way; but if you are in discord, then there may breastfeed for him [i.e., the father] another woman.
Lodge them where ye dwell, according to your wealth, and harass them not so as to straiten life for them. And if they are with child, then spend for them till they bring forth their burden. Then, if they give suck for you, give them their due payment and consult together in kindness; but if ye make difficulties for one another, then let some other woman give suck for him (the father of the child).
Let the women live (in 'iddat) in the same style as ye live, according to your means: Annoy them not, so as to restrict them. And if they carry (life in their wombs), then spend (your substance) on them until they deliver their burden: and if they suckle your (offspring), give them their recompense: and take mutual counsel together, according to what is just and reasonable. And if ye find yourselves in difficulties, let another woman suckle (the child) on the (father's) behalf.
Sources used for this ayah panelOpen the Arabic, audio and translation notes
- Arabic and word segmentation
- Quran Foundation Quran.com Content API snapshot for Qur’an 65:6. The selected riwayah and Mushaf text field are recorded with the source data.
- Reading aids
- A full learner transliteration is not displayed; use the recitation and Arabic with a capable teacher. Transliteration is not Qur’an.
- Word audio and contextual glosses
- Quran Foundation word data. Glosses help align words; they are not presented as a complete translation.
- Named translations
- Saheeh International (resource 20), M. Pickthall (resource 19), and A. Yusuf Ali (resource 22).
- Complete recitation
- Mishari Rashid al-‘Afasy, Quran Foundation recitation resource 7.
This ayah appears in a divorce-related passage and addresses housing, non-harm, pregnancy and nursing arrangements. It should be read with Qur’an 65:1–7 and qualified law. The principle relevant here is that separation does not authorise deliberate pressure and harm. Exact maintenance, residence and payment questions depend on the case, school and jurisdiction.
Use the right kind of help
- Qualified scholar: for school-specific religious duties and status.
- Family lawyer: for civil marriage, divorce, finances, custody and orders.
- Safeguarding or domestic-abuse specialist: for risk, coercive control and safety planning.
- Clinician: for injury, trauma, mental health or capacity needs.
- Counsellor or mediator: only where participation is free and the process is assessed as safe.
A religious opinion does not cancel the law of the country or a binding court order. A civil process may also leave a separate religious-status question. Competent professionals may need to coordinate. Do not delay immediate protection while waiting for every track to align.
A household review for non-abusive situations
Ask what duties are clear, what labour is invisible, whose health has changed, whether everyone can access money appropriately, how decisions are made and what needs renegotiation. Write a specific agreement and review it. The aim is not identical tasks; it is a just, workable distribution that respects revealed duties and actual capacity.
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Read related source-led questionsExplore marriage, parenting and justice with a visible evidence trail.
Inspect the How sources are usedSee how Qur’an, translation, tafsir, law and educational explanation are separated.
For confidential help, use a qualified local service. Do not put personal abuse disclosures into ordinary learning notes or progress fields.
Primary Qur’anic evidence
Qur’an 4:1; 17:70; 30:21; 4:19; 4:34; 2:233; 4:135; and 65:6. Read 4:34 with 4:35 and 65:6 with 65:1–7. The study panels distinguish the Arabic text, named translations of its meaning and tafsir. Translation is human interpretation, not the Arabic revelation itself.
Sources and scope
The Qur’an panels are primary evidence. Named translations, tafsir and fiqh are human scholarship. WHO’s violence-against-women fact sheet and UK government domestic-abuse help guidance support the safeguarding information. These sources do not establish a theological ruling. Use the government help page for current UK support routes; elsewhere use local services. Family-law scholarship maps disagreement and jurisdictional interaction; it is not a personal ruling.
Editorial note: The Tawheed Club editorial team maintains this public study. Independent specialist approval is not claimed. Read the sources and limits alongside the explanation.