Al-Bukhari recorded that Ibn `Abbas said about the Ayah,
﴿يَـأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ
لاَ يَحِلُّ لَكُمْ أَن تَرِثُواْ النِّسَآءَ كَرْهاً﴾
(O you who believe! You are not permitted to inherit women against their will,)
"Before, the practice was that when a man dies, his male relatives used to have
the right to do whatever they wanted with his wife. If one of them wants, he would
marry her, give her in marriage, or prevent her from marriage, for they had more
right to her than her own family. Thereafter, this Ayah was revealed about this
practice,
﴿يَـأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ
لاَ يَحِلُّ لَكُمْ أَن تَرِثُواْ النِّسَآءَ كَرْهاً﴾
(O you who believe! You are not permitted to inherit women against their will).