"And if you divorce them before you have touched them"—meaning: had sexual intercourse with them—"and you had already specified for them an obligation (dower), then [give] half of what you specified."
Muhammad said: The reading (fanisfu) is in the nominative case (marfuʿ), meaning: upon you is half of what you specified.
Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib said: The woman used to be entitled to compensation (mataʿ) according to the Surah of al-Ahzab, but this verse abrogated it, so she became entitled to half of the dower, "unless they forgo it"—meaning: the women—"or [the husband] forgoes it."
﴿وَإِنْ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ تمَسُّوهُنَّ﴾ أَي: تجامعوهن ﴿وَقَدْ فَرَضْتُمْ لَهُنَّ فَرِيضَة فَنصف مَا فرضتم﴾.
قَالَ مُحَمَّد: الْقِرَاءَة (فَنصف) بِالرَّفْع؛ عَلَى معنى: فَعَلَيْكُم نصف مَا فرضتم.
قَالَ سَعِيد بْن الْمسيب: كَانَ لَهَا الْمَتَاع فِي سُورَة الْأَحْزَاب؛ فنسختها هَذِه الْآيَة؛ فَصَارَ لَهَا نصف الصَدَاق ﴿إِلا أَن يعفون﴾ يَعْنِي: النِّسَاء (أَوْ يَعْفُوَ
