Tafsir Al-Jalalayn: Al-Baqara, Ayah 187
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Tafsir
(It is made lawful for you to go unto your wives on the night of the fast) for sexual intercourse. (They are raiment for you) a repose for you (and you are raiment for them) a repose for them. (Allah is aware that ye were deceiving yourselves in this respect) by having sexual intercourse with them at night (and He hath turned in mercy towards you) He forgave you (and relieved you) from your deception and did not punish you. (So) now that it is made lawful, (hold intercourse with them and seek that which Allah hath ordained for you) to have a righteous child; this verse was revealed about 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab, (and eat and drink) from the time the night falls (until the white thread becometh distinct to you from the black thread of the dawn) i.e. until the light of day becomes distinct to you from the darkness of night. (Then strictly observe the fast till nightfall) the beginning of nightfall; this verse was revealed about Sirmah Ibn Malik Ibn 'Adiyy (and touch them not) do not have sexual intercourse with them, (while you are at your devotions) in pious retreat (in the mosques) whether this is during the day or the night. (These are the limits imposed by Allah) such sexual intercourse is a transgression against Allah, (so approach them not) abstain from having sexual intercourse with your wives, during the day and at night, while you are in such retreats. (Thus Allah expoundeth His revelations) His commands and prohibitions (to mankind) as He has exposited this matter (that they may ward off (evil)) they may ward off transgressing against Him. This verse was revealed about a group of Companions of Allah's Messenger (pbuh) among whom were 'Ali Ibn Abi Talib and 'Ammar Ibn Yasir, who were in retreat in the mosque and used to go to their wives whenever they needed them, and then take a ritual bath and return to the mosque. Henceforth but they were forbidden to do so.
Related Hadiths
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Al Bara’ (bin Azib) said “When a man fasted and slept, he could not eat till (another nigh) like it.” Sarmah bin Qais Al Ansari came to his wife while he was fasting and asked her Do you have somethin...
When the order of compulsory fasting of Ramadan was revealed, the people did not have sexual relations with their wives for the whole month of Ramadan, but some men cheated themselves (by violating ...
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if one of them went to sleep before eating supper, it was not permissible for him to eat or drink anything that night or the following day, until the sun had set. (That continued) until this Verse was...
When the following verses were revealed: 'Eat and drink until the white thread appears to you, distinct from the black thread' and of dawn was not revealed, some people who intended to fast, tied bla...
When this verse was revealed." Eat and drink till the white streak becomes distinct from the dark streak for you," the person who decided to observe fast tied on one of his feet a black thread and on ...
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "O `Abdullah! Have I not been formed that you fast all the day and stand in prayer all night?" I said, "Yes, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)!" He said, "Do not do that! Observe th...
‘Uqbah bin ‘Amir reported the Apostle of Allaah (ﷺ) as saying “The condition worthier to be fulfilled by you is the one by which you made the private parts (of your wife) lawful (for you).
Al-Jalalayn Commentary
Permitted to you upon the night of the Fast is to go in to your wives in sexual intercourse this was revealed as an abrogation of its unlawfulness during the earliest phase of Islam as well as an abrogation of the unlawfulness of eating and drinking after the night prayer; they are a vestment for you and you are a vestment for them a metaphor for their embraces or their need for one another; God knows that you have been betraying yourselves by having sexual intercourse on the eve of the fast this happened with ‘Umar b. al-Khattāb and others and they apologised to the Prophet s and so He has turned to you relenting before you even turned in repentance and He has pardoned you. So now when it is permitted to you lie with them in sexual intercourse and seek what God has prescribed for you of sexual intercourse or what it produces of offspring; and eat and drink at any time during the night until the white thread is distinct to you from the black thread at daybreak that is the true moment of daybreak which explains the white thread while the explanation of the black thread namely the night has been left out. The whiteness and the darkness of the dawn twilight are likened to two black and white threads in the way they stretch out; then complete the fast from daybreak to the night that is until it arrives after the setting of the sun; and do not lie with them your women while you cleave to the mosques in devotion to God while you are residing therein with the intention of performing i‘tikāf ‘spiritual retreat’. This was a prohibition pertaining to one who used to leave the mosque whilst in a state of i‘tikāf have sexual intercourse with his wife and then return. Those rulings mentioned are God’s bounds delimited by God for His servants so that they do not overstep them; do not approach them lā taqrabūhā is more intense than lā ta‘taddūhā ‘Do not overstep’ used in verses elsewhere. So just as He makes clear to you what has been mentioned God makes clear His signs to people so that they might fear disobeying His prohibitions.