550 Page Notes

60 Surah Al-Mumtahanah (continued)

Page 550 - Related Hadith/Sunnah

Translation of the meaning by Sahih International.

Page 550 - Related Hadiths and Sunnah

Page 550 of the Quran contains Surah Al-Mumtahanah (Chapter 60, "The Woman to be Examined"), verses 6 through 11.

This page serves as a foundational legal and ethical text in Islamic history. Revealed primarily after the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah (6 AH / 628 CE), it outlines the rules of foreign diplomacy, establishes guidelines for treating non-Muslim relatives with kindness, and completely restructures the laws of cross-faith marriages and asylum for refugees.

The Sunnah and authentic Hadiths provide the exact historical context (Asbab al-Nuzul) for how these verses transformed the social and political structure of Medina.

1. Verse 8: Kindness to Non-Hostile Non-Muslims

"Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes—from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them..." (Quran 60:8)

The Hadith of Asma bint Abi Bakr and Her Mother

This verse is famously tied to a personal family dilemma involving the family of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, illustrating how Muslims must maintain ties of kinship with non-Muslim parents.

Asma bint Abi Bakr (ra) narrated: "My mother came to visit me during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while she was still a polytheist (and lived under the pagan Quraysh protection). I was hesitant, so I went to consult the Prophet ﷺ and asked: 'My mother has come to visit me and she desires my companionable kindness and gifts. Should I maintain good relations with her?'

The Prophet ﷺ replied immediately: 'Yes, keep good relations with your mother.'

Ibn Uyaynah and other classical authorities noted that Allah revealed Verse 8 precisely regarding this encounter to codify that peaceful non-Muslims are entitled to family benevolence (Birr).

Source: Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 2620) and Sahih Muslim.

2. Verse 10: The Asylum and Asylum-Testing of Believing Refugee Women

"O you who have believed, when the believing women come to you as emigrants, examine them. Allah is most knowing as to their faith. And if you know them to be believers, then do not return them to the disbelievers..." (Quran 60:10)

The Clause in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah

Under the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, the Prophet ﷺ agreed to a clause stating: "Whoever comes to Muhammad from the Quraysh without the permission of his guardian, Muhammad must return them to Mecca."

Shortly after, a noble woman named Umm Kulthum bint Uqbah escaped Mecca and walked through the desert alone to seek asylum in Medina. Her brothers pursued her and demanded the Prophet ﷺ hand her back based on the treaty.

Through Verse 10, Allah intervened to declare that the clause applied only to men, because returning vulnerable believing women to abusive pagan captors would lead to forced apostasy.

How the Prophet ﷺ Conducted the Examination (Imtihan)

Because a woman might claim to be Muslim just to flee a failing marriage or cross tribal borders, the Sunnah shows how the Prophet ﷺ rigorously tested their true intentions:

Ibn Abbas (ra) explained the "examination" mandated by the verse:

The Prophet ﷺ would ask the incoming refugee woman to swear an oath: "By Allah, did you leave your home due to hatred of your husband?" She would say no. "By Allah, did you leave seeking a different land or worldly gain?" She would say no. "By Allah, did you leave for any reason other than the love of Allah and His Messenger?"

If she swore to this sincere faith, the Prophet ﷺ granted her asylum, refused to hand her back to the Meccans, and compensated her former pagan husband for the dowry (Mahr) he had originally spent on her.

Source: Recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim and Al-Tabari; cited in Tafsir Ibn Kathir.

3. Verse 10: The Dissolution of Mixed-Faith Marriages

"They [the Muslim women] are not lawful [wives] for them, nor are they [the disbelievers] lawful [husbands] for them. But give the disbelievers what they have spent. And hold not to marriage bonds with disbelieving women..." (Quran 60:10)

This verse permanently altered family law in Islam. Prior to this revelation, a Muslim could remain married to an active idolater. When this verse descended, all mixed marriages between Muslims and pagans were legally dissolved.

The Sunnah records how instantly the senior companions executed this command upon hearing page 550 read aloud:

Miswar ibn Makhramah reported that when this verse was revealed, Umar ibn al-Khattab immediately divorced two of his wives who were still polytheists back in Mecca (Qariyb bint Abi Umayyah and Subay'ah bint al-Harith). One of them was later married by Abu Sufyan.

Source: Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 2731/2732 - Book of Shurut).

4. Verse 11: Reimbursing Marital Losses from War Booty

"And if any of your wives have gone from you to the disbelievers, and then you have an expedition [against them and gain booty], then pay to those whose wives have gone the equivalent of what they had spent..." (Quran 60:11)

Islam sought to maintain absolute financial equity during this geopolitical crisis. If a pagan woman fled Mecca to Medina, the Muslims paid her Meccan ex-husband back for his lost dowry. Conversely, if a Muslim man's wife abandoned Islam and fled to Mecca, the Meccans were supposed to pay the Muslim husband back.

However, the Meccan pagans often refused to pay. The Sunnah explains how the Prophet ﷺ legally balanced the accounts inside Medina using state funds:

Ibn Abbas (ra) narrated: "If any Muslim women ran away to the Quraysh, Allah commanded the Prophet ﷺ that when the Muslims captured war booty (Ghanimah) from the Quraysh, they must first deduct an amount from it to compensate the Muslim husbands whose wives had abandoned them, matching exactly what they had spent on their dowries."

Source: Sunan Abi Dawud (Book of Jihad) and Sunan An-Nasa'i.