Men 'giving away' / 'choosing spouse for' women in verse 2:221? Please help!
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Peace everyone!
This has been bothering me for a while now, in verse 2221, the part about the believing women seems to be addressing the women directly(giving them the say in their marital matters) and not addressing the men about what to do with them, but the translations are making it seem like the men are the ones that are supposed to give the females away in marriage and choose for them the man they would marry.
(Yusuf Ali) "Do not marry unbelieving women (idolaters), until they believe A slave woman who believes is better than an unbelieving woman, even though she allures you. Nor marry (your girls) to unbelievers until they believe A man slave who believes is better than an unbeliever, even though he allures you. Unbelievers do (but) beckon you to the Fire. But Allah beckons by His Grace to the Garden (of bliss) and forgiveness, and makes His Signs clear to mankind That they may celebrate His praise."
(Sahih International) "And do not marry polytheistic women until they believe. And a believing slave woman is better than a polytheist, even though she might please you. And do not marry polytheistic men until they believe. And a believing slave is better than a polytheist, even though he might please you. Those invite to the Fire, but Allah invites to Paradise and to forgiveness, by His permission. And He makes clear His verses to the people that perhaps they may remember."
(Pickthall) "Wed not idolatresses till they believe; for lo! a believing bondwoman is better than an idolatress though she please you; and give not your daughters in marriage to idolaters till they believe, for lo! a believing slave is better than an idolater though he please you. These invite unto the Fire, and Allah inviteth unto the Garden, and unto forgiveness by His grace, and expoundeth His revelations to mankind that haply they may remember."
RED Where did all of this come from? does this not seem like an obvious fabrication or am I missing something in the context of the quran? My Arabic is not very good so I might be confusing something linguistic, but...
shouldn't the translation look something like this2221 "And do not marry the polytheistic women until they believe, And a believing slave woman is better than a polytheist, even though she might allure you. And do not marry polytheistic men until they believe. And a believing slave is better than a polytheist, even though he might allure you. Those invite to the Fire, but Allah invites to Paradise and to forgiveness, by His permission. And He makes clear His verses to the people that perhaps they may remember."
Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance!
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It is clear whensaying do not marry women who associate, it is addressing men since they re the ones who are marrying, but when it says do not give in marriage, it is a different verb from the same root, but it is not addressed necessarily to men but to those who would be in a position to intervine in the marriage of young girls, their mothers for instance are not being excluded from this.
From what I can see in the Qur'an, in the case of divorced women or widows they are addressed and they marry, the same verb as used in this aya to tell ment not to marry associators, and I take it form that that when a woman marries young for the first time, wht the society, the parents or persons who are close to her, her arents or tutors, to look that they are not swindled or taken advntage of under to cover of "love" for instance. Finally an in a sense, for women there more at stake in marrige thnfor men, depending a lot on the society in which they live. A wrong marriage in a wrong plce may mean a sentence for life for the women.
However, when women have alredy experience and there is not so much worry that they may not be well aware of what they are getting in, they are told directly to marry.
On the other hand we must not forget that no matter their condition or their age no womn can be obliged to marry against her will.
Salaam