Family Law and Criminal Law Verses

The sections of Ahkam al-Quran dealing with marriage, divorce, inheritance, and the fixed punishments (hudud) represent some of Ibn al-Arabi's most detailed and technically accomplished legal commentary. His Maliki jurisprudential training is most visible here, as these topics sit at the heart of classical Maliki legal texts.

On the marriage verses of Surah an-Nisa, Ibn al-Arabi addresses the conditions of valid marriage: the role of the guardian (wali), the requirement of witnesses, the specification and payment of the dower (mahr), and the conditions under which different categories of marriage become permissible or impermissible. His treatment of the verse permitting up to four wives (4:3) includes a careful analysis of the condition of justice ('adl) required, the scholarly definitions of what constitutes justice in this context, and the implications for when polygyny may or may not be advisable.

His commentary on the divorce verses of al-Baqarah addresses the revocable and irrevocable forms of divorce in Maliki law, the waiting period ('idda) and its purposes, and the rules governing a husband's return during the revocable period. Ibn al-Arabi engages with the question of triple divorce issued in a single session — a topic of active scholarly debate — and presents the Maliki position while acknowledging the minority view that considers such a pronouncement to count as only one.

For the inheritance verses, Ibn al-Arabi's commentary maps the Quranic shares onto the technical categories of Maliki inheritance law, addressing the conditions of blocking (hajb) that prevent certain heirs from receiving shares when closer relatives are present. His treatment is systematic enough to serve as an introduction to the Maliki inheritance rules as grounded in direct Quranic authority.

The hudud verses receive careful treatment, with Ibn al-Arabi examining the Quranic conditions for punishment, the evidentiary requirements that must be met, and the discretionary punishments (ta'zir) that apply when the full evidentiary conditions for hudud are not met.