Al-Mujādilah المجادلة "She Who Disputes, The Pleading Woman"

Holy Quran

Al-Mujādilah ( المجادلة, She who disputed [1] or "She Who Disputes, The Pleading Woman") is the 58th chapter of the Qur'an with 22 verses

Revealed in Medina, the chapter first addresses the legality of pre-Islamic method of divorce called zihar. The name "she who disputes" refers to the woman who petitioned Muhammad about the unjustness of this method, and the chapter's first verses outlaw it and prescribe how to deal with past cases of zihar. The chapter also discusses public assemblies and prescribes manners associated with it. The chapter ends by contrasting what it calls "the confederates of God" and "the confederates of Satan", and promising rewards for the former

Summary

• 1-5 An ancient Arab custom of divorce abrogated
• 6-7 Those who oppose Muhammad threatened
• 8-11 Clandestine discourse against Muhammad censured and forbidden
• 12-14 The prophet of God to be approached with due reverence and honour
• 15-21 Muslims reproached for keeping company with Jews and infidels
• 22 Nearest relatives, if unbelievers, to be avoided as enemies of Islam

The first six verses addresses the legal status of zihar, as petitioned by Khawla. The verses effectively declare that zihar is an unlawful method of divorce. The verses also address past cases of zihar, allowing them to be reversed by freeing a slave.[3] After the revelation, Muhammad clarified that if freeing a slave was not possible, someone who committed zihar could also perform fasting (sawm) for two months, or feed sixty poor people.[4] The chapter then portrays this direct involvement by God in early Muslim community as a sign of his omnipresence ("He is with you wheresoever you are and God sees whatsoever you do").[5]

The next section, verses 7 to 13, discusses political debates, which are framed as between "the confederates of God" and "the confederates of Satan". They also contain teachings for Muslims about how to conduct public assemblies (al-majalis). While in principle all individuals are free to participate in such assemblies, the verses maintain the importance of contributions from experts ("those who are possessed of knowledge"). This section also warns against conspiratorial secret meetings that are done for "iniquity, hostility and disobedience to the messenger of God".[6]

The last section, from 14 to 21, is the longest section (ruku') of the chapter. The section defines "the confederates of God" (hizb Allah) as those "who believe in God and the Last Day" and "the confederates of Satan" (hizb al-shaitan) as those who "forgets the remembrance of God", including those who openly oppose God and Muhammad as well as hypocrites.[7] It closes by discussing the rewards that God will give—according to the Quran—to his confederates

According to the Islamic tradition, the chapter was revealed during the Medinan period of Muhammad's prophethood, therefore, a Medinan sura. A minority opinion says that only the first ten verses were from the Medinan period, and the rest were from the Meccan period. Another minority opinion says that verse 9 was from the Meccan period, and the rest Medinan.

Name

The chapter is named Al-Mujadila, "she who disputes", in reference to Khawla bint Tha'laba whose petition was the occasion of revelation for some of the chapter's verses.[5] It is alternatively called Al-Mujadalah, a related word meaning "the dialogue", referring to the use of discourse and the dialectical method that is an important theme in the chapter