Occasion of Revelation (Sahih — Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi & Nasai):
Khawlah bint Tha'labah said: "By Allah, it is about me and Aws ibn Al-Samit that Allah revealed the opening of Al-Mujadilah." He married her when old; when he tired of her he said: "You are to me like my mother's back" — the zihar formula, which in pre-Islamic custom constituted divorce. She came to the Prophet ﷺ, arguing, and he said: "I see only that you have become unlawful to him." She said: "He did not say 'divorce'! I have young children — if I leave them with him they suffer; if with me they starve." She kept arguing while looking up at the sky. Then the verses were revealed.
Significance:
- "Allah has heard the speech of the woman arguing with you" — Allah directly hears the oppressed
- Zihar is now a major infraction requiring expiation: freeing a slave, or 60-day fast, or feeding 60 poor
- Zihar nullified as divorce — it now requires expiation rather than causing total separation
Question: What changed about zihar between pre-Islamic custom and after Al-Mujadilah was revealed?
Answer: Pre-Islam: zihar was a permanent divorce. After the verses: it became a forbidden act requiring expiation (freeing, fasting, or feeding), not divorce.