for she has a purpose in learning (39) from him, as he is her husband who is lawful to her and for whom she is lawful. Furthermore, since he is not (40) obligated to teach other than her, she is not obligated to learn (41) from other than him, by way of drawing a parallel between the two.

Section: If she learns it from someone else, or if it becomes impossible for him to teach her, then he owes her the wage for teaching her. If they disagree, and he says, "I have taught it to you" (42), and she denies it, the statement is hers; because the default assumption is that he has not taught her. There is another view that if they disagree after she has already learned it, then the statement is his; because the outward appearance supports him. If he teaches her the surah and then she forgets it, he owes nothing; because he has fulfilled what he stipulated for her, and the dowry only perished after being received. If he dictates the whole thing to her, and every time he dictates a verse to her she forgets it, it is not counted as teaching; because that is not considered teaching. If that were permissible, it would lead to the conclusion that whenever he reads it and she reads it with her tongue without memorization, it would be considered dictation. It is possible that this could be considered dictation; because he has indeed dictated the verse to her and she has memorized it. As for that which is less than a verse, it is not dictation, in any view.

Section: If he divorces her before consummation after teaching her the surah, he has recourse against her (43) for half the wage of teaching her; because divorce before consummation necessitates recourse for half the dowry. If he has not yet taught her, there are two views: one of them is that he owes half the wage for teaching her; because she has become a stranger, so there is no security against temptation in teaching her. The second is that it is permissible for him to teach her from behind a curtain without being in seclusion with her, just as it is permissible for him to hear her speech in transactions. If the divorce is after consummation, the two views apply regarding the teaching of the surah. If he gives her as a dowry the returning of her slave from a specific place, and he divorces her before consummation and before the return, he owes half the wage of the return; because it is impossible to return half. If he divorces her after the return, he has recourse against her for half its wage.