‘Wife’, ‘woman’, and ‘companion’: A semantic message for translators of matrimony in the Holy Quran

Abstract This paper explores the use of three words used for a female spouse in the Holy Quran: wife, woman and companion. Specifically, it seeks to find if there is a semantic difference between these three terms and the characteristics that determine their classification. The data were collected from all the Quranic verses in which these terms appear. The terms themselves were clustered into specific groups and analyzed in their contexts, i.e. the verses themselves or the ones preceding or following them. The findings indicate that “wife” is used to describe the spouse whose relationship with her husband is characterized with physical intimacy, mental compatibility, religious adherence, mutual love, and birth-giving. “Woman” is used to describe a spouse who disagrees with her husband religiously or who is barren. A “companion” is used to describe a female spouse who no longer has any relation with her husband whatsoever or to deny the existence of matrimony altogether. The study provides important implications for translators of the Holy Quran so as to appropriately render the text into the target language.


Introduction
The pre-Islamic era in Arabia was known as Jahiliyyah, a term derived from the Arabic verb ‫ﺟ‬ ‫ﻬ‬ ‫ﻞ‬ / dʒahila/(be without knowledge) and whose equivalent in modern English is "ignorance".The orientalist Goldziher has remarked that Jahiliyyah refers to the "time of barbaric customs" (1967, p. 202), suggesting that the ignorance branding this period must be understood in terms of barbarism.The prevailing barbarism of this period was particularly derived from tribal law which sanctioned different forms of oppression, injustice, and cruelty.Chief among those affected by the barbaric customs of Jahiliyyah were women, who were mostly viewed ABOUT THE AUTHORS Mohd Nour Al Salem is an associate Professor of Translation at the University of Jordan.He got his PhD from the University of Leeds, UK.His research interests focus on Quranic translation, translation of figures of speech, and translation ideology.Mohammad Alaghawat is an assistant Professor of Spanish Linguistics at the University of Jordan.He got his Ph.D. in Spanish Linguistics, University of Seville.His research interests focus on socio-linguistics Ghadeer Alhasan is an assistant professor of English Literature at the University of Jordan.She obtained her PhD from Lancaster University in 2018.Here research interests focus on modern and contemporary drama, literary theory, and comparative studies.as slaves or objects for sale.One striking example of the barbaric practices against women in Arabia before the advent of Islam was that of female infanticide.With virtually no legal status under the customary tribal law, most newborn girls were buried alive out of concern for bringing shame to the clan and for fear of poverty that would result from providing for girls who were viewed as less productive than boys.
Islam, by contrast, emancipated females and regarded them as equal to their male counterparts.It has to be mentioned that the heinous practice of infanticide would not have stopped in Arabia had it not been for the scathing manner of the Quran in severely condemning this sinister act, as Verses 8 and 9 of "Surat At-takweer" (The Overthrowing) read: " (When the buried infant shall be asked for what sin she was slain.) The killing of children is also prohibited in Verse 31 of "Surat al-Isra" (The Night Journey), as it reads: " (And slay not your children for fear of poverty; We will provide for you and them; surely the slaying of them is a grievous sin.) Although the latter verse admonishes Arabs against children's homicide in general, it does, by implication, allude to female infanticide, as daughters were commonly seen as bearers of shame and misfortune.
The coming of Islam, then, abolished such unjust customs and changed the way women were viewed and treated.Women under Islam started to receive respect and be allocated special rights, such as the ones accorded to them in marriage, ownership, and inheritance.Many Quranic verses deal chiefly with the rights of women and testify to the advancing position of women in Islam.Most notable here is the full long chapter "Surat Annisa" (The Women), whose title is derived from the numerous references to women throughout the chapter.Consider Verses 19 and 20 in this Surat, which read: believers, it is not lawful for you to inherit women against their will; neither debar them, that you may go off with part of what you have given them, except when they commit a flagrant indecency.Consort with them honourably; or if you are averse to them, it is possible you may be averse to a thing, and God set in it much good.) These verses outlaw the pre-Islamic practice of inheriting women against their will and urge men to treat their wives well.Legally married women, then, are considered equal to their husbands before Islamic law or legislation (Shari'ah).
Regarded as a commendable act of worship, marriage in Islam is accorded a special status, entailing equal, though not identical, rights and responsibilities for both the wife and husband.Besides being a sacrament, "marriage in Islamic law is also considered a legal contract between two parties with the legal capacity to contract" (Samadi, 2021, p. 84).Accordingly, married women in Islam have legal status or laws attached to their matrimonial situation.Reference to married women in the Quran varies, depending on a number of factors, including their religious adherence, matrimonial relationship, fertility, and other personal attributes.In view of that, the Holy Quran uses three distinct terms for a married female-namely wife, woman, and companion-depending on these varying factors.The translation of these terms and their appropriate rendering into the target language, it would follow, must accurately reflect their various connotations and consider the Quranic context in which they are used.The Quranic designations for a female spouse, along with their renderings according to the different attributes of the concerned women and their relations with their husband, constitute the main impetus for this study.

Significance of the study
The significance of the study springs from the fact that it clarifies nuanced semantic distinctions among terms that refer to women in the Holy Quran.In fact, when reading chapters or verses from the Holy Quran, whether in its source language (Arabic) or any target language, one comes across words that may appear as synonyms and, usually, loses sight of any slight difference between them.A reader of Arabic does so probably because such words are used interchangeably in spoken Arabic.However, scrutinizing similar words from a semantic perspective reveals the hidden nature of the relationship between the spouses.A denotation of a word refers to its explicit meaning, whereas a connotation of a word refers to the effect or emotion a word may imply, which varies from one language user to another (Kreidler, 1998, p. 45).Consequently, the connotation of similar words is by no means the same.
Terms pertaining to a female spouse in Arabic connote various meanings in Standard Arabic as will be shown by their appearance in the Holy Quran.A number of attributes, emotional and physical, are usually considered in Standard Arabic when referring to a female spouse as a "wife", "woman" or "companion".This study seeks to explore the factors that determine whether a certain female spouse is a wife, woman, or companion.Known for its verbal power and precision of expression, the Quran abounds with similar examples of near-synonyms that testify to its exceptional eloquence and inimitability.Exegetes have strived to reveal how each word or lexeme is deliberately used in the Quran to convey a specific message or hidden meaning.Therefore, translators must also strive to reflect the shades of meaning of the Quranic near-synonyms in their translations.That is not to deny that any translation of the Quran, no matter how immaculate and scholarly, can never be like the original and will always be imperfect and subject to error.In Kidwai's (1987, p. 67) opinion, "the Muslim Scripture is yet to find a dignified and faithful expression in English language that matches the majesty and grandeur of the original".However, through awareness of the semantic, lexical, and contextual factors underlying the use of Quranic near-synonyms, the translator can make a better attempt at approximating the original in such a way that comes close to conveying the intended message of the Quran.With this in mind, it is hoped that this study will be useful to translators who encounter the near-synonyms designating female spouse during translation./s ʕ aħibah/(companion)-are selected because of their frequency in the Quran.The significance of studying these variations is to gain insight into the Quran's conception of marriage through its deliberate choice of specific terms that concisely delineate the nature of the marital relationship.Moreover, the three words have been repeated so often in different contexts of the Quran that they would allow for a comprehensive understanding and analysis of their use in different contexts.

Aims and Research questions
Exploring the differences between the three terms chosen for this study sheds light on the precise usage of similar terms in the Holy Quran.Similarly, uncovering the attributes that distinguish one married female from another and utilizing these attributes in classifying female spouses indicate real discrepancies between Arabic and other languages, i.e., English for the purpose of this study.This study is an attempt to answer the two questions: (1) What is the difference between a "wife", "woman", and "companion" as found in the Holy Quran?
(2) What are the attributes that determine a female spouse as a 'wife', 'woman', or 'companion'?

Literature Review
The Holy Quran, the sacred book of Islam, is believed to be the word of Allah as revealed to Prophet Muhammad by the Archangel Gabriel.The Quran is considered the main source of the Islamic Shari'ah (legislation) which governs all aspects of Muslims' lives.The language of the Holy Quran is Classical Arabic, which is a form of Arabic used in Arabia at the time.Enshrining the word of Allah, the Quran, as Muslims believe, has no redundancy or repetition and the choice of each word is not without purpose.Therefore, the translation of the Quran is not an easy task.Hassan (2014)  / s ʕ aħibah/(companion).These words, at first glance, may seem to be synonymous, but a careful scrutiny of their use shows otherwise.Yule (2014) defines synonymy as "[t]wo or more words with very closely related meanings" and adds that they "can often, though not always, be substituted for each other in sentences" (p.113).In the same vein, Al-Omari and Abu-Melhim (2014) studied synonymy in English and Arabic in light of its use in the Quran and found that complete synonymy does not exist and that in the Quran "[w]hat exists is simply near synonymy which appears to be synonymous at first glance but reveals different and distinct semantic meanings upon deeper semantic analysis" (p.2619).Therefore, Ibrahim et al. (2018) stress the need to investigate the connotations of words that have slightly similar meanings so as to appropriately render the intended meaning into the target language, particularly in religious texts, such as the Quran.Shiyab (2007) is also of the position that complete synonymy does not exist and that each lexeme has its own semantic value.To support this with examples from the Arabic language, Shiyab (2007) cites the Arabic words that are equivalent to the English word "horse".In Arabic, ‫ﺣ‬ ‫ﺼ‬ ‫ﺎ‬ ‫ﻥ‬ / ħis ʕ aan /, ‫ﻓ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﺱ‬ / faras /, ‫ﺟ‬ ‫ﻮ‬ ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﺩ‬ / dʒawaad /, and ‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﻏ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ / ʔaʁarr / can all be used by translators to render "horse".However, Shiyab (2007) argues that although at first glance the four words may appear interchangeable, there are slight differences that make selecting one or the other more acceptable and reflective of the context in which the word is used.For example, / ħis ʕ aan / is used for the male horse, while / faras / is used for both the male and female.On the other hand, / dʒawaad / and / ʔaʁarr / denote additional characteristics in the horse, viz.speed in the former and the white forehead in the latter (Shiyab, 2007).
Abdelaal and Rashid (2015) investigated how translating religious texts into the second language may affect the intended meaning in the source text.The researchers analyzed the translation of a chapter from the Holy Quran into English using content analysis.They selected verses from the chapter to show the semantic loss that accompanied the translation process.Evaluation of the translation was conducted by two specialists in the Arabic language who are also highly proficient in English.The results "showed frequent partial and complete semantic loss of meanings mostly due to mistranslations, semantic complexity of the vocabularies, and culture" (p. 1).
In a study that aimed to uncover the problems faced by translators of the Holy Quran when rendering near-synonyms into English, Al-Sowaidi (2011) evaluated the translation of four nearsynonyms into English by two translators.The pairs included in the study were / ɣajθ / and / matar / ,/ ʔalħalf / and / ʔalqasam /, / baχiil / and / ʃaħiiħ/, and / ʕaqir / and / ʕaqiim /.The results showed that the two translators failed to account for the intended meaning of the Holy Quran.In particular, the study found that although both/ʁajθ/and/mat ʕ ar / have the meaning of water falling from the sky, they differ in the connotative meaning intended by Allah in the verses of the Quran.Similar nuances were cited for the other three pairs, concluding that a careful reading of the verses of the Quran in light of the interpretations available is needed to avoid mistranslation of the Quran into English.
Al-Abbas and Khanji (2019) explored the strategies which translators use to render a nearsynonym from the Holy Quran into English.The selected pair was ‫ﺳ‬ ‫ﻨ‬ ‫ﺔ‬ / sanah / and ‫ﻋ‬ ‫ﺎ‬ ‫ﻡ‬ / ʕaam /, both referring to "a year" in English.Their study was also aimed at evaluating two translations of the Quran in reference to the selected words in their contexts.The results showed the untranslatability of some words in the Quran because of the lexical differences which exist between English and Arabic.In particular, the study found that although both words refer to time in some verses, / sanah / is more used in reference to difficult situations and times such as drought./ ʕaam /, on the other hand, was found to be highly related to lunar year and times of goodness.The study concludes that not only exegeses but also the context of the verse should be considered when rendering Quranic verses into English and other languages.
Review of related literature reveals that there is no study in English which tackles the use of all the three words of ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / zawdʒ / (wife), ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﺓ‬ / ʔimraʔah / (woman), and ‫ﺻ‬ ‫ﺎ‬ ‫ﺣ‬ ‫ﺒ‬ ‫ﺔ‬ / s ʕ aħibah / (companion) combined in the Quran.However, there is a study by al-Ghazălli and al-Musawi about the translation of synonyms in the Holy Quran (Al-Ghazălli & Al-Musawi, 2015) which briefly considered only two of the words examined in our study: namely ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / zawdʒ / (wife) and ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﺓ‬ / ʔimraʔah / (woman); it was found that the two words have two different meanings.The former (i.e., "wife") "is used in contexts where the spousal relationship is full circle and is characterized by birth-giving between a male and a female", as well as "a close intimacy between both partners till death" (p.38).The latter (i.e., "woman"), on the other hand, is used to "describe[. ..] the spousal relationship being characterized by separation and some defects in the sacred link between both partners.(p.38).
In another relevant study, AL-Tameemi (2017) discussed the difficulties translators face in rendering ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / zawdʒ / (wife) and ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﺓ‬ / ʔimraʔah / (woman) into English.Upon analysis of the verses which include the two words, the researcher found that the former (i.e., "wife") is "used when there is total consistency or when marriage is complete", while the latter (i.e., "woman") is used "when there is inconsistency between husband and wife in terms of religion or psychology or sex" (pp.151-152).The researcher concluded that there are small differences between the two words.These nuances, he argues, are based on the contexts in which the words are used.The study ended with implications for translators and readers of the Quran who are expected to understand the contextual meaning of the word before rendering it into the target language.
It can be noticed that the studies above handle only one entry or two in specific verses and contexts.Therefore, the present study can, still, be deemed original in that it covers the three entries (wife, woman and companion) altogether and comprehensively covers all the Quranic verses in which they appear.

Corpus and methodology
The corpus used in this study consists of the Quranic verses that encompass any of the three words ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / zawdʒ / (wife), ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﺓ‬ / ʔimraʔah / (woman), and ‫ﺻ‬ ‫ﺎ‬ ‫ﺣ‬ ‫ﺒ‬ ‫ﺔ‬ / s ʕ aħibah/(companion).These verses are presented in their source language (Arabic IPA) along with their translation into English.The translation adopted throughout the study is taken from The Koran Interpreted by Arberry (1955).The intended meaning of each of the three words above is explained depending on the context of the verse(s) and the story of the female spouse concerned.The particular usage of each word is explained based on the actual relation between the female spouse and her husband, and, in a few cases, on the existence or absence of that relation.Another factor considered in the explanation is whether that female spouse is barren or can give birth.These words together appear 33 times in 32 Quranic verses, and each one of them is analyzed below with the Surat / verse number in both the Arabic text and its English translation as found in The Koran Interpreted by Arberry (1955).

Analysis and results
As indicated above, the data are the verses which include any of the three words love and respect, physical intimacy, shared religious convictions, and (in most of the cases) birthgiving.Most of these aspects are fundamental to ensure the dignity of marriage, considering that the chief purpose of marriage in Islam is to create a marital life in peace, love and compassion, as ordained in Verse 30/21 - (And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquillity with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are Signs for those who reflect.) The second purpose of marriage, implied in the Quran (Verse 16/72), is the procreative function: (God has appointed for you of yourselves wives, and He has appointed for you of your wives sons and grandsons, and He has provided you of the good things.What, do they believe in vanity, and do they disbelieve in God´s blessing?) It can be inferred from Verses 30/21 and 16/72 taken together that the purpose of marriage in Islam is twofold: First, uniting man and woman in tranquility and compassion, and second, procreation as a natural human need which, when fulfilled, helps support and endorse tranquility.It must be emphasized here that that procreation is not the exclusive goal of marriage in Islam, but is still recognized as an expectation of marriage and one of its fundamental functions.Having said this, while procreation through marriage is considered important for maintaining the human race, it remains auxiliary to the ultimate and overall goal of marriage, namely dwelling in tranquillity-As Omran (1992) puts it "When procreation takes place, however, it should support and endorse tranquillity, rather than disrupt it" (p.15).It is worth mentioning that the word ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / zawdʒ / in Arabic, (singular of ‫ﺃ‬ َ ‫ﺯ‬ ْ ‫ﻭ‬ َ ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﺟ‬ ً ‫ﺎ‬ / azwājan / mates) refers to both a male and female partner; the translator should, therefore, pay attention to the context to decide the exact meaning.
In fact, the word ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / zawdʒ / in Arabic connotes homogeneity, correspondence and pairing (Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya, 2020, p. 122).Hence, its being used to refer to a set of two things from the same kind.An example of the occurrence of / zawdʒ / in this sense is found (in plural ‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / azwāj) in Verses 6/143-144, which refute the ancestral prohibition against using the female offspring of certain kinds of animals by mentioning God's wisdom in creating a male and female pair (/zawdʒ/) of each kind and making them lawful for human consumption and usage: e.g."a pair of sheep", "a pair of goats", "a pair of camels" and "a pair of oxen".The Quran abounds with examples where the word ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / zawdʒ / is used to express the idea of congruity and equality between two things of the same kind.It can be inferred from this that the Quran's use of the word ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / zawdʒ / to refer to a female partner is intended to suggest that she is in spiritual, physical, and intellectual agreement with her husband.
The Quranic conception of married life-dwelling in love, mercy, and tranquillity-is embodied in the intimate relationship between Adam and Eve, which justifies reference to her as ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / zawdʒ / (wife) in Verses 2/35, 7/19 and 20/117.Adam was alone and lonely when God created Eve for him.The couple believed in God and worshipped Him.Before the Fall, they dwelled blissfully together in Paradise where they were allowed to eat whatever they wished, except from the tree of immortality.They also had a common enemy, Satan, who, in the Quran, misguided and tempted both of them-As Fardun Ali Middya (2021) puts it, "Islam in no way indicates that Eve [. ..] tempted Adam to disobey Allah.Eating the fruit of the tree was a mistake committed by both Adam and Eve.They bear equal responsibility" (16).Adam and Eve remained united together even after they were expelled from Paradise and sent down to Earth.In addition to their close intimacy, their spousal relationship was characterized by birth-giving as they had sons (Abel and Cane) and daughters.
Another instance in the Quran where ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / zawdʒ / (wife) appears in the context of a strong marital bond is found in Verse 2/102, which describes how the Israelites were so engrossed in magic, sorcery, and witchcraft that they resorted to such practices to cause division between a man and his wife.At this stage, the Israelites were misled by the evil ones (Satans), who made them believe that the mighty kingdom and astonishing power of Solomon were merely due to magic and sorcery.The verse confirms, though, that Solomon believed in God, but it was the Satans who disbelieved as they used to teach people sorcery.Using sorcery to separate a husband from his wife implies that the couple to whom the verse refers would originally be in love with each other and that the relationship between them would be so firm and steadfast that it may need sorcery, a strong magic that uses evil spirits, to work well in dividing them.Hence, the use of the word ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / zawdʒ / (wife) in this verse.
Verse 4/20 from "Surat Annisa" (The Women) asserts wives' entitlement to her financial rights in the event of divorce.Despite its being concerned with divorce, the verse also uses the word ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / zawdʒ / (wife) because it seems to presuppose that the relation between husband and wife (before separation) would typically involve intimacy, harmony and love; the married couple would also be compatible in piety, attitudes, and beliefs.If divorce occurs after the consummation of marriage, the wife, according to Islamic doctrine, is entitled to her dowry in its entirety.This is evident in the immediately following verse, (4/21), which reads: How shall you take it, when each of you has been privily with the other, and they have taken from you a solemn compact?) The "solemn compact" is the marriage itself, which is a pledge of fidelity; it is only because a woman has faith in the firmness of this compact or pledge that she entrusts herself to a man.On this view, Verse 4/20 prohibits the husband from taking anything of the wife's dowry in the event of divorce, particularly because they have been together in private and wife would have received a solemn pledge (to be treated by their husbands in respect and love).
Another case in the Quran using ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / zawdʒ / (wife) occurs in Verse 21/90, which cites the story of Prophet Zachariah and how God answered his prayer and bestowed a child, Yaḥyā (John), upon him despite his wife's advanced age and barrenness.In Verse 3/40, nevertheless, Zachariah referred to his wife as ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﺓ‬ / ʔimraʔah / (woman) rather than "my wife", but that was when the marriage was still childless, i.e. before his wife got pregnant: "He said, 'My Lord, how will I have a boy when I have reached old age and my wife is barren?'The angel said, 'Such is Allah; He does what He wills'".In Verse 21/90, Zachariah's mate is referred to as "wife" only after God "answered him [Zachariah], and bestowed on him John", and only after God "set his wife right for him", i.e., cured her to be fit to bear children.The marriage was not only reproductive, it must be stressed, but also congruent and harmonious in that both Zachariah and his wife, as noted in the verse, were eager to perform good deeds and called upon God in all cases-" . . .truly they vied with one another, hastening to good works, and called upon Us out of yearning and awe".In other words, the couple seemed to be in accord on matters of faith, which further justifies the use of the word ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / zawdʒ / (wife).
One last instance in the Quran with reference to ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / zawdʒ / (wife) is in Verse 33/37, where Prophet Mohammad asks Zayd, his adopted son, to firmly keep his wife, Zainab, and fear God by not divorcing her.This marriage was arranged by the Prophet as Zainab was initially reluctant to accept the proposal, given her noble birth compared to Zayd's status as an enfranchised slave.Since the marriage was decided by God and His Prophet, Zainab eventually accepted the marriage.Years into the marriage, however, Zayd intimated to the Prophet that he wished to divorce Zainab on account of her disobedience to him.The Prophet had already known through divine revelation that Zayd would divorce Zainab and that the Prophet would be replacing him as her husband.The Prophet was worried, though, about society's discomfort at him taking his foster son's ex-wife, but God had already decreed this marriage to announce that it is permissible for the adoptive father to wed the foster son's ex-wife.Despite having foreknowledge of all this, the Prophet desisted from ordering Zayd to divorce Zainab and politely advised him to "Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear God" The imperative verb / ‫ﺃ‬ َ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﺴ‬ ِ ‫ﻚ‬ ْ ʔamsik / (keep), which literally means "catch with your hands", suggests the request to hold tenaciously onto the marriage as something precious and even sacred, being especially paired with reverence to God.The use of the word ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / zawdʒ / (wife), then, would befit the context and type of marriage implicated by the Prophet's counsel to keep the while she raced after him to the door where her husband was waiting.At that point she attempted to blame Joseph, suggesting that he had attacked her.Joseph, however, said that it was Zuleikha who had attempted to seduce him and his account was confirmed since his shirt was torn on the back.In Verse 12/51, Zuleikha confessed that Joseph had told the truth about their story and that it was she who had solicited him.
Perhaps the most curious use of ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﺓ‬ / ʔimraʔah / (woman) occurs in verse 111/4, which refers to the wife of Abu Lahab, a leading figure of disbelievers and uncle of Prophet Mohammad.Her given name is Arwa Bint Harb Ibn Umayyah and is mostly known by her nickname, Umm Jamil.She happens to be a disbeliever and supports her husband in his persecution of Prophet Mohammed (Kathir, 1998, p. 270).Verse 111/4 -" " (and his wife, the carrier of the firewood)can be better understood when taken together with the verse immediately preceding it, which reads: " " (He shall roast at a flaming fire) (Verse 111/3).In view of this, Verse 111/4 can be interpreted as "and his wife, the carrier of the firewood", shall roast at a flaming fire, too (Ibn Ashoor, 1984, p. 606).Abu Lahab's wife is believed to be called "the carrier of the firewood" for two reasons: she is known to have carried information (tell-tale) about the Prophet and his companions to slander them and ignite conflict (Al-'Adawi, p. 5), and she literally used to carry thorny branches from the jungle and place them in the path of the Prophet to harm him (Ibn Kathir,p. 271).Commenting on the double interpretation of "the carrier of the firewood", Islam writes (Islam, 2016): Some scholars explain that just as she [Abu Lahab's wife] used to help her husband in this world promote disbelief and tyranny and to assist him in harming the Messenger of Allah [. ..], she will add to the torment of her husband in the Hereafter.She will collect the branches of zaqqum and other trees and add them as fuel to the fire of Hell in which her husband would be roasting.(97) It can be concluded from this that Abu Lahab's wife does not only agree with her husband on obstinacy, disbelief, and wrongdoing but also "share[s] his punishment in the Hell-fire" (Ibn Kathir,p. 270).
For all their agreement on evildoing and rejection of the Prophet, Abu Lahab and his wife's union, it can be argued, does not achieve the primary objectives of marriage in that it is not premised on emotional harmony and spiritual rest.To explain, if the married couple happen to be united in sin rather than virtue and piety, it is not likely that their marriage fosters the elements of sakeenah (tranquillity), mawaddah (love), and Rahmah (mercy) mentioned in Verse 30/21.Csányi and Szabina (2021) point out the irreconcilability between dwelling in Sakeena through marriage and living in sin: Islam highlights that the purpose of marriage is to form a united sakeenah family based on mawaddah and Rahmah.Sakeena is the purpose of marriage which means to achieve peace, tranquillity and calmness . . . .The physical and spiritual state of fear associated with sin when not yet married can be changed into a calm and peaceful feeling after marriage.(337) Based on this Islamic conception of marriage, the marital relationship between Abu Lahab and his wife, it can be argued, does not achieve the chief purpose of marriage-namely the sakeena of the soul which is mutually exclusive of the idea of living in unrest through sin.
Furthermore, the visual description of the couple's punishment in the afterlife annuls the presence of spiritual harmony and rest in their relationship.Described as "carrier of the fire wood", the wife of Abu Lahab does not only "share[. ..] her husband's punishment in Hell-fire" but participates in preparing it as "she carries the wood to feed the flames which have been prepared for him" (Ibn Kathir,p. 270).Besides joining him in Hell-fire, Abu Lahab's wife is especially prescribed another punishment, namely having a twisted cord of burning fibre around her neck to offspring.In Abraham's case, his wife, Sarah, resigned to her childlessness, arranges that her maiden, Hajar, be married to him so that she begets him children (Al-Khatib, 2006, p. 220).It can be inferred from this arrangement that Sarah has long struggled with misplaced guilt and anxiety over depriving her husband of his reproductive rights.Prophet Zachariah, also, seems to be overwhelmed with anxiety about being childless, so he prays to God for a pure child to succeed him.God responds to Zachariah's prayer by saying, "We set his wife right for him" (Verse 21/90).The use of "set right" has been interpreted as "having cured his wife of her infertility", but it can also signify having his impaired matrimony corrected through the divine bounty of his child, Yaḥyā (John) (Madani, 2020, p. 47).
Infertility, according to Bint al-Shātiʼ, prevents the fulfilment of one of the most important purposes of marriage, namely procreation which ensures the continuity and preservation of life.(p.231).The Quran, Bint al-Shātiʼ notes, especially uses the word / zawdʒ / (and its various derivatives) when expressing the idea of reproductive pairing or mating with reference not only to human beings but also to every kind of creation, including animals and plants, as in Surat Ani-sa (The Women)1, Hud 40, Al-Shuraa (The Counsel) 11, Ya-Sin 36, Adh-Dhariyat (The Scatterers) 49, etc (Bint al-Shātiʼ, p. 230).The goal behind matrimony in the Quranic sense, it must be added, is not merely to provide the legitimate means for preserving the human race; but rather "to produce righteous children who will be obedient to Allah and who will be a source of reward for their parents after they die" (Dogarawa, 2009, p. 2).This insightful remark helps explain why it would be more befitting in the Quran to refer to a childless female spouse as "woman" or /ʔimraʔah/ rather than "wife" or zawja given that the procreational function of matrimony is not achieved.
The examples of the righteous and barren women in the Quran are not limited to prophets' wives for there are also references to virtuous, yet childless, women married to disbelieving men.The most notable example of this category is Pharaoh's wife, Asiya, whose righteousness, as presented in Verses 66/11 and 28/9, contrasts with her husband's evil doing.In Verse 66/11, Asiya requests God to build her a house in Paradise and save her from her husband and his people's evil work by keeping her faith strong.Osman (2015, p. 63) remarks that Asiya's supplication parallels Pharaoh's request to Haman in Verses 40/36-7 to build him a tower in heaven that he may go there and check if Moses' God really exists.Osman further points out that "these verses not only show Asiya's faith, but the contrast with the silliness of Pharaoh's words reveal a disparity in their understanding of Moses message" (63).Asiya's strong faith, as opposed to her husband's faithlessness, is manifested in the scene referred to in Verse 28/9 where she prevented Pharaoh from killing Moses and expressed her wish to take him as son.And it is particularly due to the double factors of her barrenness as well as her departure from her husband's faithlessness that Asiya is referred to as ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﺓ‬ / ʔimraʔah / (woman).
Verse 4/128 cited last in Table 2 also uses ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﺓ‬ / ʔimraʔah/(woman), but it does not seem to refer to any particular woman.The verse, however, does seem to refer to a scenario of marital conflict in that it addresses women who fear neglect, indifference or ill-treatment from their husbands and advises them to try and arrive at a fair settlement or compromise to prevent divorce.It can be concluded from this that the advised women are not already in accord with their husbands, but they may rather be seeking to set things right in their marriage for nothing but the need for financial support.
It is noticeable that, in all the 20 verses recorded in Table 2, none of the women is mentioned by her name; rather, they are attributed to their husbands.It is also clear that this husband is either a prophet (Lot, Noah, Zachariah, Abraham, and Imran), or a man of high position (governor of Egypt, Pharaoh, and Abu Lahab).In view of this, for all of these cases, albeit in Verse 4/128, which concerns women in general, the word "consort" may be proposed as a more suitable rendering for ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﺓ‬ / ʔimraʔah / (woman)".One must also note that by using ‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﺓ‬ / ʔimraʔah / (woman), the Quran identifies the sex of these partners (i.e., their femaleness) as their most prominent attribute, rather

Table 1 . Occurrences of the word ‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ /zawdʒ/(wife) Surat/verse no.
‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ / zawdʒ / (wife) appears eight times in the Holy Quran in seven verses (see Table1below) because it is used twice in Verse 4/20.The word Mary), the mother of Jesus, is the only female mentioned by name in the Holy Quran, and this name appears 32 times.An example of this occurs in Verse 34 from "Surat Maryam" (Mary), which is a full chapter named after Mother Mary, which reads: ʕ aħibah/(companion).The analysis shows that the word angels, Harut and Marut; they taught not any man, without they said, 'We are but a temptation; do not disbelieve.'From them they learned how they might divide a man and his wife, yet they did not hurt any man thereby, save by the leave of God,