Traditional translations mistranslate the last three adjectives used here to describe Muslim women. They distort their meaning as “fasters, widows and virgins." When the issue is about women, somehow, the meaning of the Quranic words passes trough rapid mutations. For instance, we know that the Sunni and Shiite scholars who could not beat cows and examples found it convenient and fair to beat women (see 4:34). Those of us who have rejected other religious sources besides the Quran are still struggling to clean our minds from these innovations that even have sneaked into the Arabic language long after the revelation of the Quran. There is, in fact, nothing whatsoever about fasting, widows and virgins in this verse. We are rediscovering and relearning the Quran. The third word from the end of the verse, SaYiHat, which we have translated as "active in their societies" simply means to travel or move around for a cause. About two century after the revelation of the Quran, when the rights of women were one by one were taken through all-male enterprises called hadith, ijtihad and tafseer, Muslim communities found themselves thinking and living like the enemies of Islam in the Days of Ignorance. The misogynistic mind of orthodox commentators and translators simply could not fathom the notion of a Muslim woman traveling around alone to do anything – and so they pretended that the word in question was not SaYaHa, but SsaWM – fasting! Socially active women were indeed more difficult to control than the women who would fast in their homes; they were even less costly, since they would eat less. For the usage of the verb form of the root, see 9:2. The word SaYaHa has nothing to do with fasting; the Quran consistently uses the word SaWaMa for fasting (2:183-196; 4:92; 5:89,90; 19:26; 33:35; 58:4). The second word from the end is THaYiBat, which means “those who return, or those who are responsive". Various derivatives of the same root are used to mean “reward" or “refuge" or “cloths". For instance, see 2:125; 3:195. The Arabic words for widow are ARMiLa or AYaMa. The Quran uses AYaMa for widow or single; see: 24:32. The last word of this verse, aBKaR, which means those who are "young," "early risers" or "foremost," has traditionally, and implausibly, been interpreted as "virgins" in this passage. The resulting distorted meaning of the verse supports a sectarian teaching that justifies a man marrying more than one virgin. The Arabic word for virgin is BaTuL or ADRa. This false interpretation has become so popular that it is apparently now considered beyond any challenge. Excluding Edip Yuksel's Turkish translation, Mesaj; published in 1999, we have not seen any published translation that does not duplicate this centuries-old error. For a comparative discussion of this verse, see the Sample Comparisons section in the Introduction.

See 2:48.

For this rendering of the expression sa'ihat, see note 147 on 9:112, where the same expression occurs in the masculine gender relating to both men and women.

I.e., like the actual wives of the Prophet, one of whom ("A'ishah) was a virgin when she married him, one (Zaynab bint Jahsh) had been divorced, while the others were widows. This allusion, together with the fact that the Prophet did not divorce any of his wives, as well as the purely hypothetical formulation of this passage, shows that it is meant to be an indirect admonition to the Prophet's wives, who, despite their occasional shortcomings - unavoidable in human beings - did possess the virtues referred to above. On a wider plane, it seems to be an admonition to all believers, men and women alike: and this explains the subsequent change in the discourse.

Lit., "your families" or "your people"; however, the term ahl denotes also people who share one's race, religion, occupation, etc., as well as "dependants" in the most comprehensive sense of this word (Jawhari, Raghib; also Mughni).

See surah 2, note 16.

See 74:27 ff. and the corresponding notes, particularly notes 15 and 16, in which I have tried to explain the allegorical meaning of that passage.

I.e., these angelic powers are subject to the God-willed law of cause and effect which dominates the realm of the spirit no less than the world of matter.

I.e., "do not try to rationalize your deliberate denial of the truth" - the element of conscious intent being implied in the past-tense phrase alladhina kafaru (see note 6 on 2:6).

Sc., "since no human being, however imbued with faith, can ever remain entirely free from faults and temptations".

The implication is that He will not only "not shame" the Prophet and his followers but will, on the contrary, exalt them: an idiomatic turn of phrase similar to sayings like "I shall let you know something that will not be to your detriment" - i.e., "something that will benefit you".

Cf. 57:12 and the corresponding note 12.

Lit., "Complete for us our light", i.e., by making it permanent.

See note 101 on 9:73, which is identical with the above verse.

Lit., "and both betrayed them", i.e., their respective husbands. The story of Lot's wife and her spiritual betrayal of her husband is mentioned in the Qur'an in several places; see, in particular, note 66 on 7:83 and note 113 on 11:81. As regards Noah's wife, the above is the only explicit reference to her having betrayed her husband; it would seem, however, that the qualification of "those on whom [God's] sentence has already been passed" in 11:40 applies to her no less than to her son (whose story appears in 11:42-47).

The "parable" (mathal) of these two women implies, firstly, that even the most intimate relationship with a truly righteous person - even though he be a prophet - cannot save an unrepentant sinner from the consequences of his sin; and, secondly, that a true believer must cut himself off from any association with "those who are bent on denying the truth" even if they happen to be those nearest and dearest to him (cf. 11:46).

Cf. 28:8-9.

I.e., a descendant of the House of 'lmran (cf. the last third of note 22 on 3:33).

I.e., into the as yet unborn child (Razi, thus explaining the pronoun in fihi). For an explanation of the much-misunderstood allegorical phrase, "We breathed of Our spirit into it", see note 87 on 21:91.

For the meaning of God's "words" (kalimat), see note 28 on 3:39.

'To their right' is a metaphor of Divine grace

In very adverse circumstances, Mary guarded her chastity and revolted against the non-Divine institution of monasticism, and got married adopting the natural family life. 'from Our Energy' = Free will, as all human beings are granted. 2:30