224 Preface وَلا تَجعَلُوا اللَّهَ عُرضَةً لِأَيمانِكُم أَن تَبَرّوا وَتَتَّقوا وَتُصلِحوا بَينَ النّاسِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ سَميعٌ عَليمٌYusuf AliAnd make not God’s (name) an excuse in your oaths against doing good, or acting rightly, or making peace between persons; for God is One Who heareth and knoweth1 all things.The Arabs had many special kinds of oaths, for each of which they had a special name in their language. Some of them related to sex matters, and caused misunderstanding, alienation, division, or separation between husband and wife. This and the following three verses refer to them all. In 2:224 we are first of all told in perfectly general terms that we are not to make an oath in the name of God as excuse for not doing the right thing when it is pointed out to us, or for refraining from doing something which will bring people together. If we were swayed by anger or passion or mere caprice, God knows our inmost hearts, and right conduct and not obstinacy or quibbling is what He demands from us. (Cf. 66:2).