S.4 A.33-34
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Sharers and heirs543 To property left By parents and relatives. To those, also, to whom Your right hand was pledged,SÂŤ Give their due portion. For truly Allah is witness To all things. SECTION 6. Men are the protectors545 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. 546
543. Mawa/i, plural of Mallia; from the root wala. to be near in place or relationship, to follow. Mallia may therefore mean: (I) nearly related, (2) heir, (3) sharer or partner; these three meanings are implied here; (4) neighbour, or friend, or protector, or client (xliv. 44); (5) lord or master (xvi. 76).
544. When the emigration took place from Makkah to Madinah, bonds and links of brotherhood were established betwecn the Emigrants and the Helpers, and they shared in each other's inheritance. Later, when the Community was solidly established, and relations with those left behind in Makkah were resumed, the rights of blood-relations in Makkah, and the Helper-brethren in Madinah were both safeguarded. This is the particular meaning. The more general meaning is similar; respect your tics of blood, of neighbourhood, and of friendly compacts and understandings. Be just to all. 545. Qawwam: one who stands firm in another's business. protects his interests, and looks after his affairs: or it may be. standing firm in his own business. managing affairs. with a steady purpose. Cf iv. 135.
546. Or the sentence may be rendered: "and protect (the husband's interests) in his absence. as Allah has protected them. "If we take the rendering as in the text, the meaning is: the good wife is obedient and harmonious in her husband's presence, and in his absence guards his reputation and property and her own virtue, as ordained by Allah. If we take the rendering as in the note, we reach the same result in a different way: the good wife, in her husband's absence, remembering how Allah has given her a sheltered position, does everything to justify that position by guarding her own virtue and his reputation and property.
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