[402] Waiting period (ʿiddah) as explained in the previous ayas.
[403] Deciding to keep the wife and not conclude divorce.
[404] To harm them by prolonging an agonizing waiting period, holding them back from marrying other husbands or forcing them into seeking separation and, in the process, financially compensating the current husband for it. (al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī, al-Shinqīṭī)
[405] The majority of the rightly-guided predecessors are of the opinion that ‘mothers’ here means divorced mothers (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Abū Ḥātim, Ibn ʿĀshūr).
[406] The father.
[407] In case of the father’s death, the person who takes over responsibility after him has to provide for the nursing mother in the same way. (al-Wāḥidī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī)
[408] That is if they come to an agreement to wean the infant before the two-year period of nursing has finished. (al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī)