لِّلَّذِينَ يُؤْلُونَ مِن نِّسَآئِهِمْ تَرَبُّصُ أَرْبَعَةِ أَشْهُرٍۢ ۖ فَإِن فَآءُو فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ
For those who swear not to have sexual relations with their wives is a waiting time of four months, but if they return [to normal relations] - then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
Translation · Saheeh International
Ibn Kathīr (abridged)
The Ila' and its Rulings
Ila' is a type of vow where a man swears not to sleep with his wife for a certain period, whether less or more than four months. If the vow of Ila' was for less than four months, the man has to wait for the vow's period to end and then is allowed to have sexual intercourse with his wife. She has to be patient and she cannot ask her husband, in this case, to end his vow before the end of its term. It is reported in the Two Sahihs that `A'ishah said that Allah's Messenger ﷺ swore he would stay away from with his wives for a month. He then came down after twenty-nine days saying:
«الشَّهْرُ تِسْعٌ وَعِشْرُون»
(The (lunar) month is twenty-nine days.)
Similar was narrated by `Umar bin Al-Khattab and reported in the Two Sahihs. If the period of Ila' is for more than four months, the wife is allowed in this case to ask her husband, upon the end of the four months, to end the Ila' and have sexual relations with her. Otherwise, he should divorce her, by being forced to do so by the authorities if necessary, so that the wife is not harmed. Allah said:
لِّلَّذِينَ يُؤْلُونَ مِن نِّسَآئِهِمْ
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