وَلَا تَنكِحُوا۟ مَا نَكَحَ ءَابَآؤُكُم مِّنَ ٱلنِّسَآءِ إِلَّا مَا قَدْ سَلَفَ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ فَـٰحِشَةً وَمَقْتًا وَسَآءَ سَبِيلًا Qur’an An-Nisaa' (4:22)Wal a tanki h oo m a naka h a a b a okum mina a l nnis a i ill a m a qad salafa innahu k a na f ah ishatan wamaqtan was a a sabeel a n
Lit., "except what has come to pass earlier" - i.e., forgiven shall be he who did it before the promulgation of this Qur'anic ordinance or (in the case of a conversion in later times) before one's acceptance of Islam.
See above: iv. 19, n. 527.