'O Prophet, say to your wives, "If you desire the worldly life and its adornment..."' until His saying: '...a great reward.' She said: 'On what matter should I consult my parents, O Messenger of Allah? Rather, I choose Allah and His Messenger.' The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was pleased with that, and his wives heard of it and followed suit one after another (1).

17656 - From Qatadah and al-Hasan (may Allah have mercy on them both) who said: Allah commanded him to give them the choice between the worldly life and the Hereafter, and Paradise and the Fire. Al-Hasan (may Allah be pleased with him) said: It was regarding something they had desired of the worldly life. Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: It was due to some jealousy that Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) had felt. At that time, he had nine wives: five from Quraysh—Aisha, Hafsah, Umm Habibah bint Abi Sufyan, Sawdah bint Zam'ah, and Umm Salamah bint Abi Umayyah—and he also had under him Safiyyah bint Huyayy the Khaybariyyan, Maymunah bint al-Harith the Hilaliyyah, Zaynab bint Jahsh the Asadiyyah, and Juwayriyyah bint al-Harith from Banu al-Mustaliq. He began with Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), and when she chose Allah, His Messenger, and the Home of the Hereafter, joy was seen on the face of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and they all followed her in that. When he gave them the choice and they chose Allah, His Messenger, and the Home of the Hereafter, Allah Almighty thanked them for that by saying: 'Not lawful to you are the women after this, nor that you replace them with other wives, even if their beauty were to please you.' Thus, Allah Almighty restricted him to them, and they were the nine who chose Allah and His Messenger (2).

17657 - From Sa'id ibn Jubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding His saying: 'O Prophet, say to your wives'—he said: Allah Almighty commanded His Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to give his wives the choice in this verse, and not one of them chose herself over him, except for the Humayriyyah (3).

His saying, the Almighty: 'O wives of the Prophet, whoever of you brings an open indecency'

17658 - From Muqatil ibn Sulayman (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding His saying: 'O wives of the Prophet, whoever of you brings an open indecency'—meaning disobedience to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)—'for her the punishment will be doubled twice in the Hereafter, and that is easy for Allah.' He says: Her punishment according to Allah would be light. 'And whoever obeys'—meaning whoever among you obeys Allah and His Messenger and does righteous deeds, 'We shall give her her reward twice in the Hereafter,' for every prayer, fast, charity, or 'takbir' or 'tasbih' by the tongue, in place of every good deed, twenty good deeds are recorded. 'And We have prepared for her a noble provision,' meaning a good one, which is Paradise (4).