Assalaamu alaykum, Shaykh. I am a little bit confused regarding Soorah Al-Baqarah verse 241. Is Mataa' referred to in verse 241 only for certain cases (such as an irrevocable divorce), or is it for all types of divorce?

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The scholars held different opinions regarding who the women entitled to Mut‘ah (or Mataa', meaning alimony or a gift after divorce) are. Some scholars underlined the different opinions in this regard, such as Al-Qurtubi . He said:

"The scholars differed regarding the pronoun (them) in the verse (which means) {But give them a Mut`ah, the rich according to his means, and the poor according to his means, a gift of reasonable amount is a duty on the doers of good} [Quran 2:236]); to whom among the women does it refer to exactly? Ibn ‘Abbaas, Ibn ‘Umar, Jaabir ibn Zayd, Al-Hasan, Ash-Shaafi‘i, Ahmad, Ataa‘, Is-haaq and the Hanafis held that Mut'ah is an obligation upon the husband to his divorced wife if he divorced her before consummating the marriage (having sexual intercourse) and before specifying a dowry for her, and they view that it is recommended for other divorcees. Maalik and his followers said, 'Mut‘ah is recommended for every divorced woman, even if the husband had already consummated the marriage with her, except the woman whose marriage was not consummated while he had already fixed a dowry for her, then the dowry fixed for her is sufficient and she is not entitled to Mut'ah.'"

Some scholars held that the Mut‘ah was legislated for the woman who was divorced before the marriage consummation and after specifying the dower, and that the verse in Al-Baqarah chapter was abrogated by the verse in Al-Ahzaab chapter (which means: {O You who have believed, when you marry believing women and then divorce them before you have touched them, then there is not for you any waiting period to count concerning them. So provide for them and give them a gracious release.} [Quran 33:49]). Ibn Katheer wrote:

"The second scholarly view holds that Mut‘ah is obligatory in the case of a woman who is divorced before the consummation of the marriage even if the dower is specified; Allah, The Exalted, says (what means): {O You who have believed, when you marry believing women and then divorce them before you have touched them, then there is not for you any waiting period to count concerning them. So provide for them and give them a gracious release.} [Quran 33:49] Shu‘bah and others narrated on the authority of Qataadah that Sa‘eed ibn Al-Musayyib said, 'This verse (33:49) in Soorah Al-Ahzaab abrogated the one in Soorah Al-Baqarah..." [Tafseer Ibn Katheer]

Allah knows best.