Surah 4. An-Nisaa, Ayah 25
| وَمَنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ مِنْكُمْ طَوْلًا أَنْ يَنْكِحَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ فَمِنْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ مِنْ فَتَيَاتِكُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ۚ وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِإِيمَانِكُمْ ۚ بَعْضُكُمْ مِنْ بَعْضٍ ۚ فَانْكِحُوهُنَّ بِإِذْنِ أَهْلِهِنَّ وَآتُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ مُحْصَنَاتٍ غَيْرَ مُسَافِحَاتٍ وَلَا مُتَّخِذَاتِ أَخْدَانٍ ۚ فَإِذَا أُحْصِنَّ فَإِنْ أَتَيْنَ بِفَاحِشَةٍ فَعَلَيْهِنَّ نِصْفُ مَا عَلَى الْمُحْصَنَاتِ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَنْ خَشِيَ الْعَنَتَ مِنْكُمْ ۚ وَأَنْ تَصْبِرُوا خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ |
| Transliteration | : | wa- man lam yastat.ic min -kum t.awl(an) 'an yankih. al- muh.s.anaat al- mu'minaat fa- min maa malakat aymaan -kum min fatayaat -kum al- mu'minaat wa- 'allaah aclam bi- 'emaan -kum bacd. -kum min bacd. fa- inkih.o -hunna bi- 'idhn 'ahl -hunna wa- 'aato -hunna 'ujor -hunna bi- al- macrof muh.s.anaat ghayr musaafih.aat wa- laa muttakhidhaat akhdaan fa- 'idhaa uh.s.inna fa- 'in 'atayna bi- faah.ishah fa- calay -hinna nis.f maa calaa al- muh.s.anaat min al- cadhaab dhaalika li- man khashiya al- canat min -kum wa- 'an tas.biro khayr la- -kum wa- 'allaah ghafor rah.em |
| Pickthall | : | And whoso is not able to afford to marry free, believing women, let them marry from the believing maids whom your right hands possess. Allah knoweth best (concerning) your faith. Ye (proceed) one from another; so wed them by permission of their folk, and give unto them their portions in kindness, they being honest, not debauched nor of loose conduct. And if when they are honorably married they commit lewdness they shall incur the half of the punishment (prescribed) for free women (in that case). This is for him among you who feareth to commit sin. But to have patience would be better for you. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. |
| Asad | : | And as for those of you who, owing to circumstances, are not in a position29 to marry free believing women, [let them marry] believing maidens from among those whom you rightfully possess.30 And God knows all about your faith; each one of you is an issue of the other.31 Marry them, then, with their people's leave, and give them their cowers in an equitable manner - they being women who give themselves in honest wedlock, not in fornication, nor as secret love-companions.32 And when they are married, and thereafter become guilty of immoral conduct, they shall be liable to half the penalty to which free married women are liable.33 This [permission to marry slave-girls applies] to those of you who fear lest they stumble into evil.34 But it is for your own good to persevere in patience [and to abstain from such marriages]: and God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace. |
| Malik | : | If any of you cannot afford to marry a free believing woman, let him marry one of his own slave girls who is a believer; Allah knows how good you are in your faith. You all belong to one and the same community. Marry them with the permission of their family and give them their fair dowry so that they may live a decent life in wedlock and not live as prostitutes or look for secret illicit relationships. Then if after marriage they commit adultery, they shall be given half the punishment prescribed for a free adulteress. The concession of such a marriage is for those of you who fear that they might commit a sin if they do not get married, but it is better for you to practice self-restraint. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. |
| Yusuf Ali | : | If any of you have not the means wherewith to wed free believing women they may wed believing girls from among those whom your right hands possess: and Allah hath full knowledge about your faith. Ye are one from another: wed them with the leave of their owners and give them their dowers according to what is reasonable: they should be chaste not lustful nor taking paramours: when they are taken in wedlock if they fall into shame their punishment is half that for free women. This (permission) is for those among you who fear sin; but it is better for you that ye practice self-restraint: and Allah is Oft-forgiving Most Merciful. 540 |
Note - 29The phrase lam yastati' tawlan is often taken to mean "he
is not in a position to afford", i.e., in the financial
sense; but Muhammad 'Abduh very convincingly expresses
the view that it applies to all manner of preventive
circumstances, be they of a material, personal or social
nature (Manar V, 19).
|
Note - 30In this context, ma malakat aymanukum (lit., "those whom
your right hands possess") denotes women who were
captured in a holy war and have subsequently embraced
Islam. In the above phrase, the pronoun "you" refers to
the community as a whole.
|
Note - 31I.e., since all human beings - whatever their outward
"social status" - are members of one and the same human
family, and are therefore equal to one another in the
sight of God (cf. 3:195), it is only the strength or
weakness of faith which makes one person superior or
inferior to another.
|
Note - 32Lit., "and not taking unto themselves secret
love-companions". This passage lays down in an
unequivocal manner that sexual relations with female
slaves are permitted only on the basis of marriage, and
that in this respect there is no difference between them
and free women; consequently, concubinage is ruled out.
|
Note - 33The weaker social status of a slave makes her, obviously,
more accessible to temptation than a free married woman
is presumed to be.
|
Note - 34I.e., to those who for one reason or another are unable
to marry free women and are, at the same time, not equal
to the temptations arising from celibacy. As is made
clear in the next sentence, the Qur'an discourages such
marriages - obviously with a view to removing a major
attraction from the institution of slavery as such, and
thus promoting its abolition.
|
Note - 540That is, captives taken in a Jihad: If you seek such a
person in marriage, do it from no base motives. Safeguard
your faith, and see that she too does believe. In that
case, after all, she is of the human brotherhood, and her
condition is accidental and redeemable. If the slave bore
a child to her master, she would become free.
|
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The phrase lam yastati' tawlan is often taken to mean "he is not in a position to afford", i.e., in the financial sense; but Muhammad 'Abduh very convincingly expresses the view that it applies to all manner of preventive circumstances, be they of a material, personal or social nature (Manar V, 19). |
| |
In this context, ma malakat aymanukum (lit., "those whom your right hands possess") denotes women who were captured in a holy war and have subsequently embraced Islam. In the above phrase, the pronoun "you" refers to the community as a whole. |
| |
I.e., since all human beings - whatever their outward "social status" - are members of one and the same human family, and are therefore equal to one another in the sight of God (cf. 3:195), it is only the strength or weakness of faith which makes one person superior or inferior to another. |
| |
Lit., "and not taking unto themselves secret love-companions". This passage lays down in an unequivocal manner that sexual relations with female slaves are permitted only on the basis of marriage, and that in this respect there is no difference between them and free women; consequently, concubinage is ruled out. |
| |
The weaker social status of a slave makes her, obviously, more accessible to temptation than a free married woman is presumed to be. |
| |
I.e., to those who for one reason or another are unable to marry free women and are, at the same time, not equal to the temptations arising from celibacy. As is made clear in the next sentence, the Qur'an discourages such marriages - obviously with a view to removing a major attraction from the institution of slavery as such, and thus promoting its abolition. |
| |
That is, captives taken in a Jihad: If you seek such a person in marriage, do it from no base motives. Safeguard your faith, and see that she too does believe. In that case, after all, she is of the human brotherhood, and her condition is accidental and redeemable. If the slave bore a child to her master, she would become free. |
