(And when ye have divorced women and they reach their term, place not difficulties in the way…) [2:232].
Abu Sa‘id ibn Abi Bakr ibn al-Ghazi informed us> Abu Ahmad Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Hafiz> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Husayn> Ahmad ibn Hafs ibn ‘Abd Allah> his father> Ibrahim ibn Tahman> Yunus ibn ‘Ubayd> al-Hasan that he said regarding the saying of Allah, Glorious and Majestic is He (And when ye have divorced women and they reach their term, place not difficulties in the way of their marrying their husbands if it is agreed between them in kindness…): “Ma‘qil ibn Yasar informed me that this verse was revealed about him. He said: ‘I had given one of my sisters to a certain man who went on to divorce her. When my sister’s waiting period was over, the same man came back asking for my sister’s hand. I said to him: ‘I had given my sister to you as a bride; I married her to you and honoured you, but you went on to divorce her. No, by Allah, you will never go back to her!’ He said: ‘the man was not bad, and the woman wanted to go back to him. Then Allah, glorious and majestic is He, revealed this verse. I said: I will do it now, O Messenger of Allah’. And he gave his sister in marriage to this man’ ”. This was narrated by Bukhari from Ahmad ibn Hafs.
Al-Hakim Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Mansuri informed us> ‘Ali ibn ‘Umar ibn Mahdi> Muhammad ibn ‘Amr ibn al-Bukhturi> Yahya ibn Ja‘far> Abu ‘Amir al-‘Uqadi> ‘Abbad ibn Rashid> al-Hasan> Ma‘qil ibn Yasar who said: “I had a sister whose hand I always decline to give until a cousin of mine proposed to her. I gave her to him in marriage and they remained married as long as Allah willed. He then divorced her a revocable divorce, waited until her waiting period elapsed and came forward, along with other suitors, to ask for her hand. I said to him: ‘I had refused to marry her off to other people and, instead, gave her to you in marriage. You chose to divorce her a revocable divorce and waited until the waiting period elapsed. Now that her hand is asked for, you come to me asking to marry her. I will never marry her to you’. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (And when ye have divorced women and they reach their term, place not difficulties in the way of their marrying their husbands…). I therefore did amend for my oath and gave her to him in marriage”.
Isma‘il ibn Abi al-Qasim al-Nasrabadhi informed us> Abu Muhammad ‘Abd Allah ibn Ibrahim ibn Masi al-Bazzaz>Abu Muslim Ibrahim ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Basri> Hajjaj ibn Minhal> Mubarak ibn Fudalah> al-Hasan who reported that Ma‘qil ibn Yasar married his sister to a Muslim man. He remained married to her for a certain period and then divorced her one single divorce. He left her until the waiting period elapsed, and she became free to marry whoever she choose to, and came along with other suitors asking for her hand. She agreed to go back to him. He therefore went to Ma‘qil ibn Yasar asking for her hand. Ma‘qil was angry. He told him: “I honoured you by giving her to you in marriage but you divorced her. By Allah, she will never go back to you!”
Al-Hasan said: “Allah knew the man's need for his wife and the wife's need for her husband, and He revealed regarding this in the Qur’an (And when ye have divorced women and they reach their term, place not difficulties in the way of their marrying their husbands if it is agreed between them in kindness…). When Ma‘qil ibn Yasar heard this, he said: ‘I hear my Lord and obey!’ He then called the man and said: ‘I will give you my sister for marriage and honour you’, and he did”.
Sa‘id ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Shahid informed us> his grandfather> Abu ‘Amr al-Hiri> Muhammad ibn Yahya> ‘Amr ibn Hammad> Asbat> al-Suddi who said, reporting from his sources of narration: “This verse was revealed about Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Ansari. He had a cousin whose husband divorced her one single divorce. When her waiting period elapsed, he came back, wanting to take her back. But Jabir refused, saying: ‘You have divorced our cousin and now you want to marry her a second time [this will not happen]’. The woman however wanted to go back to her husband because she accepted him, and so this verse was revealed about them”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou