Reports on the saying of the Mighty and Majestic: "And married women, except those whom your right hands possess"

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that on the day of Hunayn the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent an army towards Awtas. They fought the enemy, overcame them and obtained female captives. The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) felt reluctant to have intercourse with them because their polytheist husbands were still living, so Allah Almighty revealed this verse: "And (also forbidden are) married women, except those whom your right hands possess" [Surah al-Nisa: 24], "meaning that these are lawful for them once their waiting period ('iddah) has ended."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said concerning this saying of Allah Almighty, "And (also forbidden are) married women, except those whom your right hands possess" [Surah al-Nisa: 24]: Intercourse with any woman who has a husband is zina (fornication), except for a slave-woman.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said concerning the saying of Allah Almighty, "And (also forbidden are) married women, except those whom your right hands possess" [Surah al-Nisa: 24], that there is no harm in having intercourse with slave-women after their wombs have been confirmed free of pregnancy (istibra'), even if they have husbands.

Something similar is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) through another chain (via Sa'id bin Jubayr).
Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated with his chain from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) the same meaning as the statement of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both).

Sayyiduna Sa'id bin al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "And (also forbidden are) married women" [Surah al-Nisa: 24] refers to women who have husbands, and this goes back to the fact that Allah has forbidden zina.
Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) argued that slave-women who have husbands are also unlawful to anyone other than their husbands, and that the exception "except those whom your right hands possess" [Surah al-Nisa: 24] is restricted to female captives only; because when a slave-woman who is not a captive is sold or set free, her sale is not her divorce, since the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave Sayyidah Barirah (may Allah be pleased with her), when she was set free, the choice of staying with her husband or separating from him. Barirah's ownership ended through her being sold and then set free, so its ending happened in two ways, yet that was not a separation (from her husband). He said: So if the private part of a married woman does not become lawful through the ending of ownership, then when she has not been sold, she does not become lawful through right-hand possession either, until her husband divorces her. He said in his earlier view: Among those who held this view were Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab, Uthman bin Affan, Ali bin Abi Talib, Abd al-Rahman bin Awf and Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them), who said that the husband's marriage remains in place even after she is sold.
And those who say that selling a slave-woman is her divorce are Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud, Ubayy bin Ka'b, Imran bin Husayn, Jabir bin Abdullah, Ibn Abbas and Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with them).
The Shaykh said: It seems they drew an analogy with the captive woman, and the hadith of Barirah prevents this analogy. Moreover, there is consensus that whoever marries off his slave-woman does not have the right to have intercourse with her, even though she is among what his right hand possesses; and this is the meaning of the statement of al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him).

Qasim bin Muhammad narrates from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that there were three sunnahs, or ways, concerning Sayyidah Barirah (may Allah be pleased with her); one of these sunnahs was that she was given the choice (about her husband) after she was set free.