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Scope of Men’s Qawamah (guardianship) over Women - amma - 08-20-2003
Dear scholars, may Allah reward you generously for this distinguished and wonderful service you offer to tens of millions of Muslims around the world. I have a very important question to ask. Could you please furnish me with a detailed answer concerning the issue of Qawamah that is mentioned in Surat An-Nisaa’, verse 34? It will be very much appreciated if you send me a detailed answer with the opinions of both scholars and exegetes of the Qur’an.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear sister in Islam, thank you very much for having confidence in us, and we hope our efforts, which are purely for Allah’s Sake, meet your expectations.
As regard your question, we’d like to cite for you the following:
"Interpreting the word qawwamuna in the above verse is just such an ethical analysis, with human implications too tremendous to be left to amateurs. We will therefore turn to what some of the principal Imams of Qur'anic exegesis have said about it. One of the earliest tafsirs in print is by Imam Ibn Jarir At-Tabari (d. 310/923), who says:
Allah Almighty means by the verse 34 of the mentioned Sura that “men are caretakers of women” in the sense that they are in charge of their womenfolk, in disciplining and guidance, respecting the rights that they [women] owe Allah and to them.
The phrase “because of that by which Allah has favored one over another” means because of that through which Allah has favored men over their wives, since men must give them their marriage payment Mahr and spend of their wealth to support them, and save them their pains and effort: that is the favoring of Allah Most Blessed and Exalted of men over women, and is why they have become caretakers of them who have authority over them regarding those of their affairs that Allah has given them charge of ... (Jami` Al-bayan an tawil ay Al-Qur'an. 30 vols. Cairo n.d. Reprint (30 vols. in 15). Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1405/1984, 5.57).
Al-Tabari mentions, with a chain of transmission that ends with Hasan al-Basri (d. 110/728) that a man slapped his wife, and she went to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who wanted to let her take retaliation or Qisas against her husband [by striking him back in reprisal], but Allah revealed that “Men are caretakers (qawwamuna) of women, because of that through which Allah has favored one over another, and because of what they spend of their property…”, hence the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, summoned the man, recited the verse to him and said, "I wanted one thing, but Allah wanted another."
In fact, although the scholar of Hadith Imam Al-Baghawi (d. 510/1117) also mentions this event in his M`aalim At-Tanzeel, neither he nor At-Tabari can produce an acceptable chain of its transmission and trace it back to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, so for religious purposes, it is not well-documented enough to rely on for the verses interpretation, and At-Tabari's first interpretation is sounder.
But whatever the original occasion of revelation or Sabab An-Nuzulof the verse, the intended meaning is not confined to that alone. As the Yemeni Shari`ah scholar and judge Abdullah Mahfuz Baalawi says, "The interpretive principle established by the scholarly consensus or Ijmaa`of specialists in methodological bases or Usul of Sacred Law is that the point of primary texts (of the Qur'an and Sunnah) lies in the generality of their lexical significance, not the specificity of their historical context. (Al-Sunnah wa Al-bid'ah. Kuwait: Matabi al-Wazzan, 1404/1984, 33).
In light of this important principle, we will now examine and deduce the significance of this verse and its placement in the Qur'an (for the order is also divinely revealed), coming as it does after the provisions for Islamic estate division or Irth in surat An-Nisaa. The Arabic grammarian and exegete Abu Hayyan An-Nahwi (d. 754/1353) says of the verse "Men are caretakers of women":
Because Allah Almighty has mentioned [in preceding verses] the matter of men and women acquiring their appointed share and their estate-division inheritance, He [here] apprises them that men are in charge of the interests of women. The word “caretakers” (qawwamuna) is an intensive form [indicating something done much]. The phrase “because Allah has favored one over another” means because of Allah's favoring some men over others, this man having been given more sustenance than that man, this man being better off than that one", while the phrase “…and because they spend of their property” means "upon women". The word ma [lit. what, translated above in the citation of al-Tabari as "because of that through which Allah has favored," and secondly, "because of what they spend"] is [rather] ma masdariyya or "the indefinite pronoun signifying a verbal noun" in both instances. [Thus meaning "because of Allah's favoring the one," and "because of their spending of their property,"] (Tafsir al-nahr al-madd min al-Bahr al-muhit. 2 vols. in 3. Beirut: Dar al-Janan and Mu'assasa al-Kutub al-Thaqafiyya, 1407/1987, 1.45758).
Imam Fakhr Ad-Deen Ar-Razi is another exegete who considers the relation of the verse "Men are caretakers of women" to other verses, bearing in mind that Allah Almighty has said [two verses previously], ". . . and not to long for that with which Allah has preferred some of you above others" (Qur'an 4:32), a verse that we said was revealed because some women made remarks about Allah's favoring men over them in estate division inheritance [by certain male heirs receiving twice the share of their female counterparts].
So Allah mentions in this verse that He only favored men over women in estate division because men are the caretakers of women. Although both spouses enjoy the usufruct of each other, Allah has ordered men to pay women their marriage portion, and to daily provide them with their support, so that the increase on one side is met with an increase on the other--and so it is as though there is no favoring at all. This clarifies the verses arrangement and order (Tafsir al-Fakhr al-Razi. 32 vols. Beirut 1401/1981. Reprint (32 vols. in 16). Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1405/1985, 10.90).
Finally, the more Fiqh-oriented exegesis of Al-Kaya al-Harrasi notes that while Allah has mentioned men's support of women in verses such as the one in surat At-Tahrim "Let him who possesses plenty spend of his plenty; and let him whose provision is straitened spend of what Allah has given him" (At-Tahreem:7), in this verse “Men are caretakers (qawwamuna) of women, He mentions the necessary cause or `illa for this support, so scholars have naturally inferred from the two verses that whenever a husband is unable to support his wife, he is no longer her caretaker: she is not obliged to remain at home [should he request it] in any school of jurisprudence, and according to the Shafi`ie school of thought, she is entitled to have the marriage annulled. He is no longer a caretaker or entitled to oblige her to remain at home because he has vitiated the objective of protecting her by marriage, for the aim of marriage is her security (Ahkam al-Qur'an. 4 vols. Cairo n.d. Reprint (4 vols. in 2). Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya, 1405/1985, 2.449).
The exegetes clarify how the meaning of qawwamuna or "caretakers" involves legal rights and obligations on the part of both men and women. It entails that women have the right to security, protection, and to be free from the thought of having to support themselves. Even if a woman has millions, she is entitled to be completely supported by her husband and can have her marriage annulled if he is unable to. And it entails that a man has charge of his wife's interests, supervision, and discipline.”
The above article is excerpted, with slight modifications, from http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/masud/ISLAM/nuh/nuh.htm
Still, if you have any further comments, please don’t hesitate to write back.
May Allah guide you to the straight path and direct you to that which pleases Him, Amen.
Allah Almighty knows best.