What's the link between being unjust to orphan girls and having up to four wives in verse (4:3)?

Question

In surat an-Nisaa' we read (4:3):

And if you fear that you will not deal justly with the orphan girls, then marry those that please you of [other] women, two or three or four. But if you fear that you will not be just, then [marry only] one or those your right hand possesses. That is more suitable that you may not incline [to injustice].

It seems as if there's something missing here the verse jumps from the fear for being unjust to orphan girls -which was also discussed earlier in the surah- to marrying up to four women. I wonder what this missing information is!

One also may notice that much later in the same surah we may find a resumption of the topic of orphan girls this time in context of marrying them (I'm unclear whether there's a link between both verses):

And they request from you, [O Muhammad], a [legal] ruling concerning women. Say, " Allah gives you a ruling about them and [about] what has been recited to you in the Book concerning the orphan girls to whom you do not give what is decreed for them - and [yet] you desire to marry them - and concerning the oppressed among children and that you maintain for orphans [their rights] in justice." And whatever you do of good - indeed, Allah is ever Knowing of it. (4:127)

My question is:
What is the link between marrying up to four women/girls and fearing to deal unjustly with orphan girls?

Answer 1

The link is that in the pre-Islamic times, the people used to marry orphan girls and unjustly take their wealth. This (unjustly taking their wealth) was made forbidden by Allah.

But the problem is that if a person marries an orphan girl, the orphan might feel indebted to their husband and accept any dowry because of that. But that is also unjust. So, God told men to marry other woman rather than orphan girls if they fear that injustice would happen.

This is explained in the tafsir of Ibn Kathir:

Allah commands, when one of you is the caretaker of a female orphan and he fears that he might not give her a dowry that is suitable for women of her status, he should marry other women, who are plenty as Allah has not restricted him. Al-Bukhari recorded that `A'ishah said, "A man was taking care of a female orphan and he married her, although he did not desire to marry her. That girl's money was mixed with his, and he was keeping her portion from her.

Answer 2

I don't know much about the link here, but there are some explanations for it on: https://www.englishtafsir.com/Quran/4/index.html#sdfootnote4sym

The commentators ascribe three meanings to this:

(a) Hadrat 'A ' ishah says that this was revealed to remedy an evil that was prevalent in the days of "Ignorance." The guardians of the orphan girls used to marry them for their wealth and beauty, with the intention of keeping them under their power because they had no one to defend their cause; then they treated them unjustly without any fear. Therefore when they became Muslims, they had misgivings about marrying orphan girls. Accordingly, the Qur'an advised them to marry women of their choice other than orphan girls in their charge, if they feared that they would not be able to do justice to them. Verse 127 of this Surah also supports this comment.

(b) In commenting on this, Hadrat Ibn-i-Abbas and his discipleIkrimah assert that this Commandment was given to eradicate an injustice that was prevalent at that time. In pre-Islamic days, there was no limit to the number of wives and some people would marry even a dozen of them but when they could not meet the increasing expenses, they were forced to grab the property of their orphan nephews and other helpless relatives. Therefore, Allah restricted the maximum number of wives to four, and enjoined that this too, was subject to the condition that one should do justice to all of them.

(c) SaÆid bin Jubair, Qatadah and some other commentators declare that this Command was given to safeguard the interests of wives. They say that even before the advent of Islam, injustice to the orphans was looked upon with disfavor, but in regard to wives, it was different; they would marry as many as they liked and would treat them cruelly and unjustly without any fear of the society or pangs of conscience. Therefore Allah warned them that they should refrain from doing injustice to their wives as they did in the case of the orphans. Therefore they should not marry more than four wives and that too, only if they would do justice to them.

And Allah knows better.

Answer 3

i always understood this this way: orphan(s) should be, naturally, somewhat like first candidates to marry, because it is likely hard for the people who look after them to take care of them. but whenever man fears he cannot deal correctly with an orphan wife, he should consider other options to marry.

so, now i have seen that probably the options are listed in order of from most hard to be just to the least hard to be just. orphan wifes are harder than 2, 3 or 4 wifes; 2, 3 or 4 are harder than 1 wife; 1 wife is harder than slave wife. i am not sure whether 2 wifes are harder than 3, and 3 than 4, but i think it is quite possible.