Do you know, when speaking about wives in the Qur'aan, there are two distinctly different words used by Allaah Sub-haanahu wa Ta`aalaa. Sometimes, you will see that Allaah Ta`aalaa uses the word "
Imra'ah". Now,
Imra'ah literally means "woman". When used as a
Mudhaaf (i.e. made possessive to another word), the meaning changes to "wife". On the other hand, there are Aayaat in the Qur'aan wherein Allaah Ta`aalaa uses the word "
Zawj" (spouse). There is a very wonderful reason behind this. Remember that everything in the Qur'aan contains infinite wisdom; every Soorah, every page, every Aayah, every word, and even every letter. Nothing whatsoever in the Qur'aan is redundant or without purpose. So we know that definitely there's a good reason why both
Imra'ah and
Zawj are used in the Qur'aan.
Look at these Aayaat:
وامرأة نوح
"The wife (
Imra'ah) of Nooh..."
وامرأة لوط
"The wife (
Imra'ah) of Loot..."
وامرأته حمالة الحطب
"And his (Abu Lahab's) wife (
Imra'ah), the carrier of wood..."
Speaking about the wife of Nabi Zakariyyah
عليه السلام, Allaah Ta`aalaa says:
امرأته
"His wife (
Imra'ah)..."
إمرأة فرعون
"And the wife (
Imra'ah) of Fir`own..."
Notice how the word "
Imra'ah" is used in each of these Aayaat to refer to spouse? Keep that in mind. Now take a look at the literal meaning of
Zawj: "Pair".
Zawj literally means a "pair". A couple. Two things that go together to make something complete or to make something greater. That is "
Zawj". For example, the night and day are a "pair"; together, the two of them make up the day. The sun and the moon. Like they're married.
Question: What is the purpose behind marriage? Why do people get married? The answer is very simple. People get married, they become a "pair", for two primary reasons:
- To decrease Fitnah (temptation; trials) and increase good in a society (each one is keeping himself/herself chaste with the other, thus eliminating Zinaa (adultery; fornication) and all avenues and forms of Zinaa)
- To make children (if people didn't have children, very soon there would be no people left)
Is this understood? This is the primary two reasons behind why people get married. Hence, if either of these two primary reasons are not found, the word
Zawj will not be used. You will use "
Imra'ah" instead.
Waadhih? Is it clear? Try and remember this, and now look once again at the Aayaat we mentioned earlier:
"The wife of Nooh..." Were two reasons found? The second reason, yes, but not the first. The wife of Nooh عليه السلام was a Kaafirah who opposed Islaam. Thus, no good at all could come from that Nikaah. A Muslim and a Kaafirah cannot "complete" each other. They cannot ever become a "pair". Hence, Allaah Ta`aalaa uses the word "Imra'ah" when referring to the wife of Nooh عليه السلام.
"The wife of Loot..." Very same thing as with the wife of Nooh
عليه السلام. The wife of Loot
عليه السلام was a Kaafirah who openly encouraged homosexuality and, when the angels came to Loot
عليه السلام in the form of young men, she ran to tell them that some "handsome young men" have visited her husband and are in the house right now, so they can come and do their thing. Could any goodness whatsoever come out of such a marriage? Obviously no. So again, you see that Allaah Ta`aalaa uses which word when referring to her? "
Imra'ah". Not "
Zawj".
"The wife of Fir`own..." In this case, it was the husband at fault. The husband was a Kaafir and the worst tyrant who ever lived. Could goodness come out of this marriage? Never ever. So Allaah Ta`aalaa refers to his wife as "
Imra'ah" because she was not a "
Zawj" to him. A Muslim and Kaafirah, or a Muslimah and a Kaafir, can never ever become a "pair".
"And his (Abu Lahab's) wife (
Imra'ah), the carrier of wood..." In this case, both husband and wife were Kuffaar and no goodness could obviously come out of such a marriage. When no goodness is coming out of a marriage, then the word "
Zawj" is not used. "
Imra'ah" is used instead.
You might be thinking, "Okay, so
Imra'ah is used if there is no goodness in the marriage. But then what about the wife of Zakariyyah
عليه السلام? She was a Muslimah and a very good woman. So why then?" Simple. In their marriage, the second reason for Nikaah was not found. What is the second reason? "Making children." She was not able to have children.
But something amazing happened in the case of Zakariyyah
عليه السلام. What is that? Huffaaz reading this will (or should) know right now, "Later in the Qur'aan, Allaah Ta`aalaa uses the word "
Zawj" for the wife of Zakariyyah
عليه السلام. So what then?"
Read the Aayah:
ووهبنا له يحيى وأصلحنا له زوجه
"We granted for him Yahyaa, and We made right for him his
Zawj (wife)..."
سبحان الله
Allaah Ta`aalaa granted her the ability to have a child once again. The moment that was possible, she was now referred to as "
Zawj". No longer as "
Imra'ah".
Once again: Marriage has two primary reasons:
- Keeping yourself pure
- Making children
When each spouse is keeping the other pure and chaste, each one bringing the other closer to Allaah Sub-haanahu wa Ta`aalaa, and they have children from their marriage - which is what Rasoolullaah
صلى الله عليه وسلم wanted for his Ummah. In fact, he encouraged them to have lots of children - then they will now be a "pair". Your wife will now be a "
Zawj" and not just an "
Imra'ah".
والله تعالى أعلم
For all of you who are not married: May Allaah Ta`aalaa grant you wonderful, pious spouses (who are beautiful as well). For those who are already married: May Allaah Ta`aalaa grant you
Barakah (blessings) in your marriages and make your spouses the coolness of your eyes.
آمين يا رب العالمين