Episode 31 - The Necessity of Understanding Allah's Will -1

Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah. Dear brothers, the Quran was revealed in Arabic, the best and most complete language. However, we Muslims have distanced ourselves from the precise use and understanding of the language, which sometimes makes us understand from the Quran something contrary to what Allah the Almighty intended. Today, we mention an example of this, His saying: ((And there is no blame upon you for what you say indirectly to women or conceal in yourselves. Allah knows that you will mention them, but do not promise them in secret except that you say a good word)) (Al-Baqarah 235). Many people know that the intended meaning of this verse is women whose husbands have died and are still in the waiting period. So, Allah forbade proposing to them directly, but He allowed indirect speech in front of the woman or her guardian, such as the one who wants to marry her saying: (I wish I had a righteous woman and you are a house of religion and character). However, what some may understand from the verse is the permissibility for the one who wants to marry to meet the widow in secret to speak to her in a restrained manner ((but do not promise them in secret except that you say a good word))...so the reader of the verse understands that the secret meeting is forbidden unless it is to say something known. The reality, brothers and sisters, is that this imprecise understanding is due to our distance from a style in the Arabic language called the broken exception. In the broken exception, what comes after the word (except) may not be connected to what comes before it or be part of it, but rather it is a new, separate meaning. For example, in this verse: ((but do not promise them in secret except that you say a good word))...meaning: do not take, O the one who wants to marry, a promise in secret from the widow that you will marry her, for this is forbidden. Therefore, the meaning of promising them: taking a promise from them. Then His saying: ((except that you say a good word))...except is a broken exception, so what comes after it is a new meaning not connected to what comes before it. Except that you say a good word, meaning: it is permissible for you to say in front of her or in front of her guardian a good word in which there is an allusion to the intention of marrying her. So, the verse is as if it says: do not promise them in secret, but you may say a good word. Therefore, the verse does not permit the man to meet the widow in secret even if he is to say something known in this meeting. And from the ruling of Allah the Almighty in the legitimacy of the waiting period is that the woman fulfills the rights of her deceased husband and honors his memory, and Allah knows best. So, it is not befitting for her in this to promise a man in secret. Rather, promising men to women in secret is not befitting for the non-widow, let alone the widow, and the two parties do not feel safe from the devil leading them to what angers Allah the Almighty. Therefore, it is worthy of us, brothers, to contemplate the Quran and read its interpretation lest we understand from it something contrary to the will of Allah the Almighty. And Allah the Almighty knows best. Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.