ا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِنْ طَلَّقْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ مَا لَمْ تَمَسُّوهُنَّ أَوْ تَفْرِضُوا لَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً وَمَتِّعُوهُنَّ عَلَى الْمُوسِعِ قَدَرُهُ وَعَلَى الْمُقْتِرِ قَدَرُهُ مَتَاعًا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُحْسِنِينَ ﴿۲۳۶﴾ وَإِنْ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ تَمَسُّوهُنَّ وَقَدْ فَرَضْتُمْ لَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً فَنِصْفُ مَا فَرَضْتُمْ إِلَّا أَنْ يَعْفُونَ أَوْ يَعْفُوَ الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ وَأَنْ تَعْفُوا أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَى وَلَا تَنْسَوُا الْفَضْلَ بَيْنَكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ ﴿۲۳۷﴾
﴾236﴿ Laa junaaha 'alaikum in tallaqtumun nisaaa'a maa lam tamassoohunna aw tafridoo lahunna fareedah; wa matti'hoohunna 'alal moosi'i qadaruhoo wa 'alal muqtiri qadaruhoo matta'am bilma'roofi haqqan 'alalmuhsineen
﴾237﴿ Wa in tallaqtumoohunna min qabli an tamassoohunna wa qad farad tum lahunna fareedatan fanisfu maa faradtum illaaa ai ya'foona aw ya'fuwallazee biyadihee 'uqdatunnikaah; wa an ta'fooo aqrabu littaqwaa; wa laa tansawulfadla bainakum; innal laaha bimaa ta'maloona Baseer
﴾236﴿ There is no blame on you if you divorce women before you have touched them or before you have set a dowry for them, and provide for them—let the wealthy give according to his means and the one with limited means according to his means.
Providing for them according to what is customary is a rightful obligation upon the doers of good.
﴾237﴿ And if you divorce them before you have been together with them and you have set a dowry for them, then half of what you set is due, unless the women forgo their right or the one who holds the marriage contract forgoes it.
And that you forgo is closer to piety.
Do not forget kindness between yourselves—indeed, Allah sees what you do.
[236-237] This is the fifteenth ruling: divorcing before being together.
In the time of ignorance, this was not considered at all.
The religious ruling is that this type of divorce is allowed if intimacy has not occurred and a dowry has not been set at the time of marriage, and in this case, it is obligatory for the husband to provide a gift—such as a scarf, a set of clothes, shoes, and the like.
“The doers of good” here refers to Muslims, but the description is mentioned for emphasis.
If intimacy has not occurred but the dowry was set, then half of the dowry belongs to the woman.
“Unless they forgo it” means if the husband has already paid the entire dowry at the time of marriage, then after divorce, he should not take half of it back, but let her forgo it if she wishes.
“He who holds the marriage contract” refers to the husband. If at the time of marriage no part of the dowry was paid, then after divorce, he should give half of the dowry, unless the woman waives it.
“Do not forget to show favor” means that because of divorce, do not abandon Islamic ties with each other or become enemies.
“No blame” here has a general meaning—that there is no sin or worldly penalty (such as dowry) in either case.