(O Prophet! When ye (men) put away women, put them away for their (legal) period…) [65:1]. Qatadah reported that Anas said: “The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, divorced Hafsah and so Allah, exalted is, revealed this verse. It was said to him: ‘Take her back, for she is one who fasts often and stands up in night vigil prayer’ often, and she is one of your wives in the Garden’ ”. Al-Suddi said: “This verse was revealed about ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar who divorced his wife while she was in her menses. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, ordered him to take her back and keep her until the period of her menses was over and then wait again until she was in her menses. When she became pure, he was free to divorce her provided that he did not sleep with her before that, for this was the waiting period which Allah has commanded to observe”. Mansur ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ahmad al-Shalanji> Abu ‘Amr Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Hiri> Muhammad ibn Zanjawayh> ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Yahya> al-Layth ibn Sa‘d> Nafi‘> Ibn ‘Umar who divorced his wife one single divorce while she was still in her menses. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, commanded him to keep her until the period of her menses was over. He had then to wait until she was in her period, and if he was still determined to divorce, he had to wait until her period was over, provided that he did not sleep with her before divorcing her. This was the waiting period in which Allah, exalted is He, has ordered that women be divorced. This was narrated by Bukhari and Muslim from Qutaybah and al-Layth respectively.

(And whosoever keepeth his duty to Allah, Allah will appoint a way out for him, And will provide for him from (a quarter) whence he hath no expectation) [65:3]. This verse was revealed about 'Awf ibn Malik al-Ashja'i whose son was imprisoned by the idolaters. He went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and complained to him about his poverty, saying: “The enemy has imprisoned my son and his mother is very distressed, what do you advise me to do?” The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to him: “Be fearful of Allah and be patient. I also command you and your wife to often repeat 'there is no strength or might except by Allah' ”. So he went home and said to his wife: “The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, commanded both of us to often repeat 'there is no strength or might except by Allah' ”. She said: “How good is that with which he has commanded us!” And they both started saying it straightaway. It happened that the enemy became distracted from their son and the latter led their sheep away and fled. He brought these sheep to his father; they were four thousand heads. This verse was revealed about this incident. 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abdan informed us> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Nu'aym> Abu'l-Qasim al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Sakuni> 'Ubayd ibn Kathir al-'Amiri> 'Abbad ibn Ya'qub> Yahya ibn Adam> Isra'il> 'Ammar ibn Mu'awiyah> Salim ibn Abi al-Ja'd> Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah who said: “This verse (And whosoever keepeth his duty to Allah, Allah will appoint a way out for him, And will provide for him from (a quarter) whence he hath no expectation) was revealed about a man from Ashja'. This man was poor but had numerous children. He went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and asked him for help. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, told him: 'Fear Allah and be patient!' The man went back to his companions and when they asked him about what the Prophet had given him, he said: 'He did not give me anything; he simply said: Fear Allah and be patient'. Not long after this, a son of this man, who had been captured by the enemy, brought him sheep. The man went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to ask him about what he should do with the sheep, and told him the full story. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to him: 'Keep them, they are yours' ”.

(And for such of your women as despair of menstruation…) [65:4]. Said Muqatil: “When the verse (Women who are divorced shall wait, keeping themselves apart…), Kallad ibn al-Nu‘man ibn Qays al-Ansari said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, what is the waiting period of the woman who does not menstruate and the woman who has not menstruated yet? And what is the waiting period of the pregnant woman?’ And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”. Abu Ishaq al-Muqri’ informed us> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Hamdun> Makki ibn ‘Abdan> Abu’l-Azhar> Asbat ibn Muhammad> Mutarrif> Abu ‘Uthman ‘Amr ibn Salim who said: “When the waiting period for divorced and widowed women was mentioned in Surah al-Baqarah, Ubayy ibn Ka‘b said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, some women of Medina are saying: there are other women who have not been mentioned!’ He asked him: ‘And who are they?’ He said: ‘Those who are too young [such that they have not started menstruating yet], those who are too old [whose menstruation has stopped] and those who are pregnant’. And so this verse (And for such of your women as despair of menstruation…) was revealed”.