Islamic Reforms Against Pre-Islamic Oppression of Women.
al Razi said:
علم أنه تعالى بعد وصف التوبة عاد الى أحكام النساء، واعلم أن أهل الجاهلية كانوا يؤذون النساء بأنواع كثيرة من الايذاء، ويظلمونهن بضروب من الظلم، فالله تعالى نهاهم عنها في هذه الآيات.
Know that after describing repentance, Allah Almighty returned to the rulings concerning women. Understand that the people of the pre-Islamic era of ignorance used to harm women in numerous ways and wrong them with various forms of injustice. Allah Almighty forbade them from these practices in these verses. [Tafsir al Kabir under 4:19]
Then he mentioned how pre-Islamic men used to treat women.
He said:
{ وَلاَ تَعْضُلُوهُنَّ } من هو؟ فيه أقوال: الأول: أن الرجل منهم قد كان يكره زوجته ويريد مفارقتها، فكان يسيء العشرة معها ويضيق عليها حتى تفتدي منه نفسها بمهرها، وهذا القول اختيار أكثر المفسرين، فكأنه تعالى قال: لا يحل لكم التزوج بهن بالاكراه، وكذلك لا يحل لكم بعد التزوج بهن العضل والحبس لتذهبوا ببعض ما آتيتموهن.
الثاني: أنه خطاب للوارث بأن يترك منعها من التزوج بمن شاءت وأرادت، كما كان يفعله أهل الجاهلية وقوله: { لِتَذْهَبُواْ بِبَعْضِ مَا ءاتَيْتُمُوهُنَّ } معناه أنهم كانوا يحبسون امرأة الميت وغرضهم أن تبذل المرأة ما أخذت من ميراث الميت، الثالث: أنه خطاب للأولياء ونهى لهم عن عضل المرأة، الرابع: أنه خطاب للأزواج. فانهم في الجاهلية كانوا يطلقون المرأة وكانوا يعضلونهن عن التزوج ويضيقون الأمر عليهن لغرض أن يأخذوا منهن شيئا، الخامس: أنه عام في الكل.
Who is being addressed in {nor may you make things difficult for them}? There are several views:
First: A man among them would dislike his wife and want to separate from her. He would treat her poorly and make life difficult for her until she ransomed herself from him with her dowry. This is the preferred interpretation of most exegetes. It is as if Allah said: It is not lawful for you to marry them by compulsion, nor is it lawful for you after marrying them to hinder and detain them in order to take back part of what you gave them.
Second: The address is to the heir, commanding him to stop preventing her from marrying whomever she wishes, as the people of ignorance used to do. {…in order to take back part of what you gave them} means they would detain the deceased’s wife with the aim that she would hand over what she had taken from the deceased’s inheritance.
Third: The address is to the guardians (awliyā’), forbidding them from hindering the woman.
Fourth: The address is to the husbands. In the pre-Islamic era, they would divorce their wives and then hinder them from remarrying, making things difficult for them with the aim of taking something from them.
Fifth: It is a general address encompassing all. [Tafsir al Kabir under 4:19]
Islam’s Command is Kindness. Then he said that Allah says:
{ وَعَاشِرُوهُنَّ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ }
وكان القوم يسيئون معاشرة النساء فقيل لهم: وعاشروهن بالمعروف، قال الزجاج: هو النصفة في المبيت والنفقة،
{And live with them in kindness} (4:19). The people used to treat women poorly in companionship, so they were told: “And live with them in kindness.” Az-Zajjāj said: It means fairness in sharing the night and spending, and gentleness in speech. [Tafsir al Kabir under 4:19]
When Dislike Exists Islamic Solution. Al-Rāzī explains two important meanings of the verse:
الأول: المعنى انكم إن كرهتم صحبتهن فأمسكوهن بالمعروف فعسى أن يكون في صحبتهن الخير الكثير ومن قال بهذا القول فتارة فسر الخير الكثير بولد يحصل فتنقلب الكراهة محبة، والنفرة رغبة وتارة بأنه لما كره صحبتها ثم إنه يحمل ذلك المكروه طلبا لثواب الله، وأنفق عليها وأحسن اليها على خلاف الطبع، استحق الثواب الجزيل في العقبى والثناء الجميل في الدنيا، الثاني: أن يكون المعنى إن كرهتموهن ورغبتم في مفارقتهن، فربما جعل الله في تلك المفارقة لهن خيرا كثيرا، وذلك بأن تتخلص تلك المرأة من هذا الزوج وتجد زوجا خيراً منه، ونظيره قوله:
1. Patience with kindness:
If a husband dislikes his wife, he is still commanded to treat her well. That patience may result in:
Love replacing dislike
A righteous child
Great reward from Allah for acting against one’s ego
2. Separation without injustice:
If separation occurs, Allah may place goodness in it freeing the woman from harm and granting her a better future.
However, al-Qāḍī rejected the idea that the verse encourages divorce, emphasizing that the Qur’an urges maintaining kindness and companionship, not exploitation.
[Tafsir al Kabir under 4:19]Conclusion
Islam ended persecution of women. The Qur’an dismantled pre-Islamic customs of abuse, coercion, and financial exploitation and replaced them with justice, mercy, and dignity. Anyone seeking truth should read Islam through its own sources not modern projections.