Safeguards For Widows In Sharia
Furthermore, Ghamidi Sahab writes under heading Directives Relating to Widows : “Should such a wife be provided with residence and maintenance during this period? The Quran has answered this question further down in the surah: husbands should make a will in favour of their wives for the provision of one year’s residence and maintenance, except if the wives themselves leave the house or take any other similar step [4] : وَالَّذِينَ يُتَوَفَّوْنَ مِنْكُمْ وَيَذَرُونَ أَزْوَاجًا وَصِيَّةً لِأَزْوَاجِهِمْ مَتَاعًا إِلَى الْحَوْلِ غَيْرَ إِخْرَاجٍ فَإِنْ خَرَجْنَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي مَا فَعَلْنَ فِي أَنفُسِهِنَّ مِنْ مَعْرُوفٍ وَاللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ And those of you who die and leave widows should bequeath for their widows a year’s provision and [bequeath] that [in this period] they shall not be turned out of their residences ; but if they themselves leave the residence, there is no blame on you for what they do with themselves according to the norms of society. And Allah is exalted in Power, Wise . ( Quran 2:240 )” (Excerpt from Meezan: Javed Ahmed Ghamidi) (Rendered into English by Dr. Shahzad Saleem) __ [4] . Most commentators consider the directive stated in this verse to be abrogated from the verses of inheritance that Surah Nisa mentions. This, I am afraid, is not the case. The verse has not been abrogated by any other Quranic verse. Quite obviously, it is an extension of another Quranic directive: the directive given to the husband to provide for and give shelter to his wife in his lifetime. It is for the husband that she accepts the restriction of the iddat period. Hence she should necessarily be given more time to decide for her future. This is the wisdom behind the directive and bears no relation to the directive of distribution of inheritance.