Volume 4, Book 51, Number 25:
Narrated Az-Zuhri:
Urwa bin Az-Zubair said that he asked ‘Aisha about the meaning of the Quranic Verse:–
“And if you fear that you will not deal fairly with the orphan girls then marry (other) women of
your choice.” (4.2-3)
Aisha said, “It is about a female orphan under the guardianship of her guardian who is inclined
towards her because of her beauty and wealth, and likes to marry her with a Mahr less than what is
given to women of her standard. So they (i.e. guardians) were forbidden to marry the orphans unless
they paid them a full appropriate Mahr (otherwise) they were ordered to marry other women in –
stead of them. Later on the people asked Allah’s Apostle about it. So Allah revealed the following
Verse:–
“They ask your instruction (O Muhammad!) regarding women. Say: Allah instructs you regarding
them…” (4.127)
and in this Verse Allah indicated that if the orphan girl was beautiful and wealthy, her guardian
would have the desire to marry her without giving her an appropriate Mahr equal to what her peers
could get, but if she was undesirable for lack of beauty or wealth, then he would not marry her, but
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SAHIH BUKHARI VOLUME 4 > BOOK 51: WILLS AND TESTAMENTS (WASAAYAA)
seek to marry some other woman instead of her. So, since he did not marry her when he had no in –
clination towards her, he had not the right to marry her when he had an interest in her, unless he
treated her justly by giving her a full Mahr and securing all her rights.