معنی
What is meant by sirr in "do not promise them secretly"?
جواب
Imām Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597/1201) summarized the scholars' opinions in his book "Zād al-Masīr" as follows:
1.The term sirr ("secret") here refers to marital intimacy. This has been reported from Ibn ʿAbbās. The meaning, therefore, is: do not offer them that explicitly while they are still in their waiting period, "Except that you speak honourable words", meaning: in which you say nothing that that is indecent or explicit in this regard.
- "Promising in secret" means saying to her, "I am in love with you. Promise me that you will not marry anyone else." This is another view reported from Ibn ʿAbbās.
- The term "secret" is interpreted as referring to fornication [al-Ḥasan, Jābir ibn Zayd, Abū Mijliz, Ibrāhīm, Qatādah, al-Ḍaḥḥāk]
- The meaning is: do not marry them secretly during their waiting period, making it public later only when they have become lawful to marry. [Ibn Zayd]

