(And when ye have divorced women and they reach their term, place not difficulties in the way…) [2:232]. Abu Sa‘id ibn Abi Bakr ibn al-Ghazi informed us> Abu Ahmad Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Hafiz> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Husayn> Ahmad ibn Hafs ibn ‘Abd Allah> his father> Ibrahim ibn Tahman> Yunus ibn ‘Ubayd> al-Hasan that he said regarding the saying of Allah, Glorious and Majestic is He (And when ye have divorced women and they reach their term, place not difficulties in the way of their marrying their husbands if it is agreed between them in kindness…): “Ma‘qil ibn Yasar informed me that this verse was revealed about him. He said: ‘I had given one of my sisters to a certain man who went on to divorce her. When my sister’s waiting period was over, the same man came back asking for my sister’s hand. I said to him: ‘I had given my sister to you as a bride; I married her to you and honoured you, but you went on to divorce her. No, by Allah, you will never go back to her!’ He said: ‘the man was not bad, and the woman wanted to go back to him. Then Allah, glorious and majestic is He, revealed this verse. I said: I will do it now, O Messenger of Allah’. And he gave his sister in marriage to this man’ ”. This was narrated by Bukhari from Ahmad ibn Hafs. Al-Hakim Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Mansuri informed us> ‘Ali ibn ‘Umar ibn Mahdi> Muhammad ibn ‘Amr ibn al-Bukhturi> Yahya ibn Ja‘far> Abu ‘Amir al-‘Uqadi> ‘Abbad ibn Rashid> al-Hasan> Ma‘qil ibn Yasar who said: “I had a sister whose hand I always decline to give until a cousin of mine proposed to her. I gave her to him in marriage and they remained married as long as Allah willed. He then divorced her a revocable divorce, waited until her waiting period elapsed and came forward, along with other suitors, to ask for her hand. I said to him: ‘I had refused to marry her off to other people and, instead, gave her to you in marriage. You chose to divorce her a revocable divorce and waited until the waiting period elapsed. Now that her hand is asked for, you come to me asking to marry her.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
