Surah An-Nisaa (4) — Ayah 24

(Ayah 24) ➊ {وَ الْمُحْصَنٰتُ مِنَ النِّسَآءِ …:} In the above verse, the mention was of prohibited relationships; they are forbidden in all circumstances, even if any of those women come as a slave woman to someone. On this basis, the scholars have written that bringing together two sisters is not only forbidden in marriage but also if both are slave women of one owner, it is forbidden for him to have relations with both. (Ibn Kathir) Now here it is stated that those women who have husbands present, marrying them is also forbidden, except in the case of war, when women from the land of war come as captives, after the distribution of the spoils of war, those who come into one's share, after "Istibra’" it is permissible to have relations with them, even if their husbands are still present behind. {’’استبراء‘‘} This means that the woman becomes pure from one menstrual cycle, or if she is pregnant, she gives birth. It is narrated from Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent an army towards Autas on the day of Hunain (8 AH), they confronted the enemy, fought, and were victorious, and many captives came into their hands. (After the distribution, the slave women who came into their share) the noble companions (may Allah be pleased with them) considered it a sin to have relations with those captive women, because their polytheist husbands were present, so Allah Almighty revealed this verse: «{ وَ الْمُحْصَنٰتُ مِنَ النِّسَآءِ اِلَّا مَا مَلَكَتْ اَيْمَانُكُمْ }» meaning, after the waiting period, they have been made lawful for you. [ مسلم، الرضاع، باب جواز وطیٔ المسبیۃ… : ۱۴۵۶ ]

➋ The literal meaning of "Iḥṣān" is to protect. In the Noble Qur'an, this word has come in several meanings: (1) In the meaning of married women, as at the beginning of this verse {”الْمُحْصَنٰتُ“} (with a fatha on the letter "Saad") is the passive participle form. (2) In the meaning of free women, as in the next verse. (3) In the meaning of chaste women, as in the following verse and in Surah Al-Ma'idah (5).

➌ { كِتٰبَ اللّٰهِ عَلَيْكُمْ:} That is, marrying those prohibited relationships mentioned above is the command of Allah Almighty, which you are obliged to accept. (Ibn Kathir)

➍ {وَ اُحِلَّ لَكُمْ مَّا وَرَآءَ ذٰلِكُمْ:} And besides them, the women who are allowed for you are lawful, provided that their prohibition has not come in the hadith, for example, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade marrying a woman together with her maternal or paternal aunt at the same time. There are a few other such cases, for example, keeping more than four women in marriage at the same time, or temporary marriage (mut'ah), or halalah, or marrying the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the daughter of the enemy of Allah (Abu Jahl) in one marriage, or marrying without the permission of a guardian (wali), or shighar marriage, i.e., exchange marriage in which the condition is that if you give a relation, I will give a relation, even if the dowry is fixed after this condition, the marriage is still forbidden. As in Abu Dawood, Abbas bin Abdullah bin Abbas married his daughter to Abdur Rahman bin Hakam, and Abdur Rahman bin Hakam married his daughter to him, so Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to Marwan and ordered him to separate the two, and both had also fixed the dowry. [ أبوداوٗد، النکاح، باب فی الشغار : ۲۰۷۵۔ و صححہ الألبانی ]

➎ { اَنْ تَبْتَغُوْا بِاَمْوَالِكُمْ … :} It is stated in "Mawdhih" that apart from the aforementioned prohibited relatives, all others are lawful, but with four conditions: First, that you seek (them), i.e., there is verbal offer and acceptance from both sides; second, that you accept to give wealth, i.e., dowry; third, that the intention is to bring those women into permanent possession (marriage), not just for lust (as in adultery), i.e., the woman becomes the man's wife, and cannot be left except by divorce, i.e., there is no mention of a month or year (duration). From this, it is understood that mut'ah is forbidden (and so is halalah, because in that too, the intention is to divorce after intercourse). Fourth, that it is not a secret relationship, meaning there are witnesses to the marriage, at least two men or one man and two women; these four conditions are understood from this verse. Included in this fourth condition is that the marriage is conducted by a guardian (wali), because marriage without a wali is included in secret relationships. Islam has declared marriage without a wali invalid; for evidence from Qur'an and Hadith, see Sahih Bukhari in {’’کتاب النكاح، باب من قال لا نكاح إلا بولي: ۵۱۲۷‘‘}

➏ {فَمَا اسْتَمْتَعْتُمْ بِهٖ:} That is, after marriage, from the women you benefit from, i.e., have intercourse with, give them their full dowry. Most of the earlier and later commentators have interpreted "istimta'" to mean intercourse after a legal marriage (with the four conditions mentioned above). The Rafidah have tried to prove the permissibility of mut'ah from this, but the scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah are unanimously agreed on its prohibition. In the early years of migration, indeed, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (not on the basis of this verse, but) on the basis of the custom that continued from before Islam (which is called "istishab al-hal"), on some occasions and as needed, permitted mut'ah, but later the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in very clear words forbade it until the Day of Judgment. Sabrah bin Ma'bad al-Juhani (may Allah be pleased with him) states that he was with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) at the conquest of Makkah, and on that occasion, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O people! I had permitted you to contract mut'ah with women, but now Allah Almighty has forbidden it until the Day of Judgment, so whoever has women from mut'ah should leave them, and whatever wealth you have given them, do not take it back from them." [ مسلم، النکاح، باب نکاح المتعۃ… : 1406/21 ] Also, mut'ah women are neither slave women nor wives, so how can mut'ah be permissible with them? See Surah Al-Mu’minun (5 to 7).

➐ {وَ لَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ …:} That is, if the husband and wife, by mutual consent, make an increase or decrease in the agreed dowry, there is no harm in it.

24. 1 In the Noble Quran, "ihsan" is used in four meanings: 1. Marriage; 2. Freedom; 3. Chastity; 4. Islam. Accordingly, "muhsanat" has four meanings: 1. Married women; 2. Chaste women; 3. Free women; and 4. Muslim women. Here, the first meaning is intended. In its context of revelation, it is mentioned that when, in some battles, the women of the disbelievers also came into the captivity of the Muslims, the Muslims felt aversion to having intercourse with them because they were married. The Companions asked the Prophet ﷺ, upon which this verse was revealed (Ibn Kathir). From this, it is understood that the disbelieving women obtained in war, when they become the slave women of the Muslims, it is permissible to have intercourse with them despite their being married; however, "istibra’ al-rahm" is necessary, i.e., after one menstrual cycle, or if they are pregnant, after childbirth, sexual relations may be established with them. The issue of slave women: At the time of the revelation of the Noble Quran, the system of slaves and slave women was common, which the Quran did not abolish, but such a strategy was adopted regarding them that slaves and slave women could obtain as many facilities as possible so that slavery would be discouraged. There were two sources for this: first, some families had, for centuries, been such that their men and women were sold; these purchased men and women were called slaves and slave women. The owner had the right to benefit from them in every way. The second source was prisoners of war, that the captive women of the disbelievers were distributed among the Muslims, and they would live with them as their slave women. For the captives, this was the best solution, because if they were left free in society, corruption would arise in society through them. (For details, see the book "Al-Riq fi al-Islam," "The Reality of Slavery in Islam" by Maulana Saeed Ahmad Akbarabadi.) In any case, Muslim married women are already forbidden, and disbelieving women are also forbidden except when they come into the ownership of Muslims; in that case, after "istibra’ al-rahm," they are lawful for them.

24. 2 That is, besides the aforementioned Quranic and hadith-based restrictions, it is permissible to marry other women, provided that four things are present: First, that you seek (them), i.e., there is mutual proposal and acceptance from both sides; second, that you accept to pay the dowry; third, that the intention is to bring them into the bond of marriage (permanent possession), not merely for the purpose of lust (as in adultery or in the mut‘ah practiced among the Shia, i.e., marriage for a few days or hours for the satisfaction of sexual desire); fourth, that it is not a secret relationship, but the marriage is conducted in the presence of witnesses. These four conditions are derived from this verse. From this, not only is the invalidity of Shia mut‘ah established, but also the impermissibility of the prevalent "halalah" is proven, because its purpose is also not to bring the woman into the permanent bond of marriage, but customarily it is fixed and intended only for one night.

24. 3 This is an emphasis that the women whom you marry according to the Shariah rulings, you must pay them their prescribed dowry.

24. 4 In this, there is the option, by mutual consent, to increase or decrease the dowry. Note: The Shia use the word "istimta‘" to prove the permissibility of mut‘ah marriage, whereas what is meant here is the enjoyment of intercourse after marriage, as we have explained. However, mut‘ah was permissible in the beginning of Islam, and its permissibility was not based on this verse, but on the custom that existed before Islam. Then the Prophet ﷺ, in very clear words, made it forbidden until the Day of Judgment.

24. And [forbidden to you are] all married women, except those [captives or bondwomen] whom your right hands possess [40]. This is Allah’s decree for you. And all [other] women are lawful for you beyond these, provided you seek them with your wealth in marriage, not in fornication. So, for those of them whom you enjoy [in marriage], give them their due dowries as an obligation. But there is no blame upon you if, after the obligation [of dowry], you mutually agree [to modify it]. Surely, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. And whoever among you cannot afford to marry free believing women, then [let him marry] from those whom your right hands possess among your believing bondwomen. And Allah knows best about your faith.

[40] In the civilized society of the present age, the way the victorious nation commits open indecency with captive women is, from the Islamic point of view, clear adultery. And the way nowadays captive women are kept in a camp and soldiers are generally permitted to commit adultery with any woman they wish, this is not only adultery but also becomes a barbaric act. Therefore, Islam has imposed multiple restrictions on enjoyment with such women. In this regard, first consider the following hadith:

Condition for Enjoyment with Captive Women and Female Slaves:

It is narrated from Abu Sa'id Khudriؓ that the Prophetﷺ sent an army towards Autas on the day of Hunayn. They confronted the enemy, the Muslims were victorious, and many captives were taken. The Companions considered it sinful to have intercourse with those captive women because their polytheist husbands were present. Allah revealed this verse and, after the waiting period ('iddah), made those slave women lawful for them.
[مسلم۔ کتاب الرضاع، باب جواز وطی المسبیۃ]
From this verse and the above-mentioned hadith, the following points are understood:
1. Enjoyment is permissible only with that captive woman whom the commander of the army, like other spoils of war, assigns to the ownership of a Mujahid. If anyone enjoys a woman before this, he will be guilty of two sins: one of adultery and the other of betraying the undivided spoils of war.
2. After the commander of the army assigns a woman to someone's ownership, there is no need for marriage. The act of assigning ownership is sufficient, and her previous marriage is automatically annulled.
3. After the distribution, immediate intercourse with such a woman is not allowed. She must have at least one menstrual cycle, and it must be known whether she is pregnant or not. If she is pregnant, her waiting period is until childbirth. Before this, intercourse is not allowed. Further rulings are:
4. Only the person to whom the woman is assigned can have intercourse with her; no one else can.
5. If a child is born from such a captive woman, then she cannot be sold.
6. If the owner gives such a captive woman in marriage to someone, then he may take other services from her but cannot have intercourse with her.
7. When a child is born to the woman from her owner, after the owner's death, she will automatically become free. In Islamic terminology, such a woman is called "umm walad."
8. If the commander of the army or the government assigns a woman to someone's ownership, then even they are not authorized to take her back, unless some injustice in the distribution is discovered later. In this way, by imposing multiple conditions, Islam has presented the purest form of enjoyment with such women, in which the obscenity, savagery, and brutality of the past and present ages have been declared forbidden and eliminated, and the full responsibility for the consequences after enjoyment has been placed on the owner. Also, the Messenger of Allahﷺ said: "Whoever has a slave woman, he should teach and educate her, then free her and marry her, he will have a double reward."
[بخاری، کتاب العتق، باب فضل من ادب جاریتہ و علمھا]
Despite all these things, it should be kept in mind that enjoyment with slave women is a concession, not a command, and it is Allah's mercy that He has permitted it, because jihad and the capture of women in it is something unavoidable, and it is also quite possible that after the war, no honorable solution such as exchange of prisoners can be found. That is why Allah has not declared it completely forbidden.

[41] That is, apart from the above-mentioned women, you may marry any other free woman you wish, with the following conditions:
1.

Conditions of Marriage:

By "request" is meant proposal and acceptance.
2. The marriage should be permanent, not merely for the purpose of lust. From this, the prohibition of temporary marriage (mut'ah) is established.
3. The dowry (mahr) must be fixed and paid, unless the wife, of her own will, forgoes it or part of it. Similarly, the man may give more than the fixed mahr.
4. Announcement of marriage, as is clear from the next verse ﴿وَّلَا مُتَّخِذٰتِ اَخْدَانٍ﴾ and is explicitly mentioned in the Sunnah. That is, there must be at least two witnesses to the marriage. It should be noted that the Shia use this verse and some authentic hadiths to argue for the permissibility of temporary marriage (mut'ah). Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the permissibility or prohibition of mut'ah marriage. The way of argument from this verse is that in some narrations it is mentioned that after ﴿فَمَا اسْتَمْتَعْتُمْ بِهٖ﴾ the words ﴿اِليٰ اَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّي﴾ were also present, which were later abrogated, but Ibn Abbasؓ does not accept their abrogation.

Mut'ah Marriage Was an Exceptional Concession:

In the time of the Prophetﷺ, mut'ah marriage was permitted on three occasions, and then its prohibition was announced. These were the battles of Khaybar, the conquest of Makkah and Autas, and the battle of Tabuk. On these occasions, initially, permission for mut'ah marriage was given, and at the end of the battle, its prohibition was announced. Thus, it was an exceptional concession, and only those Mujahideen present at the battlefront were given this permission, and only for that period. And clear evidence of this is that at the battles of Badr, Uhud, and Khandaq, such permission was not given. The circumstances in which this permission was given are mentioned in the following hadiths:
1. Ibn Abi Amr says that mut'ah was, in the beginning of Islam, an exceptional concession, like the concession for a compelled person to eat carrion, blood, or pork. Then Allah made His religion firm and prohibited mut'ah marriage.
[مسلم، کتاب النکاح، باب نکاح المتعہ۔۔]
2. Abdullahؓ says that we used to go on jihad with the Messenger of Allahﷺ and we did not have women with us, and we said, "Should we become eunuchs?" So the Prophetﷺ forbade us from that and permitted us to marry a woman for a specified period in exchange for a garment.
[حواله ايضاً]
3. And the procedure was that, upon the request of the Companions, the Prophetﷺ would have the announcement of permission for mut'ah made by a Companion, but at the end of the battle, he would himself announce its prohibition. Thus, Jabir bin Abdullahؓ and Salamah bin Akwaؓ both say that the Messenger of Allahﷺ's announcer came to us and called out, saying that the Messenger of Allahﷺ has permitted you to contract mut'ah with women.
[حواله ايضاً]
4. Rabi' bin Samurah, narrating from his father, says that the Messenger of Allahﷺ said: "O people! I had permitted you to contract mut'ah with women, but now Allah has forbidden it until the Day of Resurrection. So if anyone has such a woman, he should leave her, and do not take back anything you have given her."
[حواله ايضاً] The announcement of the prohibition of mut'ah was made at the Farewell Pilgrimage in 10 AH, just as on that day the eternal prohibition of usury and the blood of the pre-Islamic era was also announced.
5. Iyas bin Salamah bin Akwaؓ says that the Messenger of Allahﷺ said: "If a man and a woman do not fix the period of mut'ah, they should live together for three days and nights. Then if they wish, they may extend the period, or if they wish, they may separate."
[بخاری کتاب النکاح، باب النھی رسول اللہﷺ عن نکاح المتعۃ اخیرا]
From this hadith, it is understood that the form of mut'ah marriage was not like what happens in today's brothels, where the fee for a single act of intercourse is fixed, but its minimum period was three days, with no maximum limit. This period of three days was fixed only for the Companionsؓ. Later, according to the statement of Sayyiduna Aliؓ, it was abrogated.
6. Ibn Abbasؓ, who was in favor of mut'ah, also considered it permissible only in cases of necessity, not in normal circumstances. Thus, Ibn Jamrah says that someone asked Ibn Abbasؓ about mut'ah with women. He said that it is a concession. Upon this, one of his slaves (Ikrimah) said, "Mut'ah is permissible in a situation when men are in severe need, or there is a shortage of women, or some similar necessity." Ibn Abbasؓ said, "Yes!"
[بخاري۔ حواله ايضاً] We cannot mention all the narrations here, as these are sufficient for drawing conclusions, which are as follows:
(1) The recitation of ﴿اليٰ اجل مسميٰ﴾ is narrated only by Abdullah bin Abbasؓ, whose age at the time of the Prophetﷺ's death was only 13 years. At the time of the compilation of the Quran, he kept swearing that this verse was revealed in this way (and it is possible that in the days when mut'ah was permissible, this recitation was also read. But such recitations also fall under the category of concession and abrogation), but his statement could not be accepted for two reasons. One, in the matter of compilation of the Quran, only mutawatir (mass-transmitted) reports were accepted, and his was a solitary report, with no other narrator. The second reason was that there were already two definitive verses in the Makkan surahs Al-Mu’minun and Al-Ma’arij:
﴿وَالَّذِيْنَ هُمْ لِفُرُوْجِهِمْ حٰفِظُوْنَ﴾
That is, there are only two means of guarding one's private parts: one is the wife, the other is the slave woman. Whatever is beyond these is transgression. And it is obvious that a woman of mut'ah is neither a wife nor a slave woman. There is no doubt about her not being a slave woman, and she is not a wife because a wife inherits, and such a woman does not inherit.
(2) Sayyiduna Ibn Abbasؓ was only lenient in the matter of mut'ah; he was not insistent at all. Whereas a large number of Companions were very strict in declaring mut'ah forbidden and would rebuke Ibn Abbasؓ. Sayyiduna Aliؓ was among such people.
[مسلم۔ حواله ايضاً]
Sayyiduna Ibn Abbasؓ became blind in his old age, and when he would speak of the permissibility of mut'ah, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Zubairؓ said that Allah has blinded not only his eyes but also his heart, as he gives the fatwa for the permissibility of mut'ah. At that time, Abdullah bin Zubairؓ was the caliph. Someone said to him, "You are being excessive! By my life, mut'ah was practiced in the time of the Prophet." Abdullah bin Zubairؓ said, "Try this mut'ah on yourself. By God! If you do so, I will stone you to death."
[مسلم، حواله ايضاً]
(3) It appears that the final and eternal prohibition announced by the Messenger of Allahﷺ did not reach all the Companions who had gone to distant regions, or it was the effect of Sayyiduna Ibn Abbasؓ's leniency that until the beginning of the era of Abu Bakr and the early period of Umar, some secret incidents of mut'ah are found. Sayyiduna Umarؓ was a strong opponent of mut'ah, so he would be on the lookout for such incidents. Once, a man came from Syria and stayed at the house of Umm Abdullah Abi Fatiha and asked her to find a woman for him for mut'ah. Umm Abdullah gave him the address of a woman, and the man contracted mut'ah with her and stayed with her for some time, then returned to Syria. Someone informed Sayyiduna Umarؓ of this incident. Sayyiduna Umarؓ summoned Umm Abdullah and inquired, and she confirmed the incident. Sayyiduna Umarؓ told her, "When that man comes again, inform me." When he came again, Umm Abdullah informed Sayyiduna Umarؓ, who summoned him and asked, "Why did you contract mut'ah?" He replied, "I have been practicing mut'ah in the time of the Prophet, Abu Bakr, and even in your time, but no one forbade me." Sayyiduna Umarؓ said, "By Allah, in Whose hand is my soul, if I had not already issued the order of prohibition, I would have stoned you to death. Now separate, so that there may be a distinction between marriage and fornication." This incident is actually the detail of the summary narration of Jabir bin Abdullahؓ in Muslim, and from this incident, the following conclusions are drawn:
1.

The Disciplinary Order of Sayyiduna Umar:

Sayyiduna Umarؓ and his entire council were opposed to mut'ah. If there had been any disagreement among them, he could not have enforced such a disciplinary order.
2. The few people who believed in mut'ah did so secretly. If it had been common, Sayyiduna Umarؓ would not have needed to be on the lookout.
3. The majority of society considered mut'ah an unlawful and detestable act. If this practice had been common, the Syrian would not have needed to ask for the address of such a woman. Why did he not settle the matter with Umm Abdullah, at whose house he was staying? After this disciplinary law, Ibn Abbasؓ and his students, such as Ata bin Abi Rabah, Tawus, Sa'id bin Jubair, and Ibn Jurayj, had no choice but to provide a rational argument for mut'ah and vent their feelings. And that rational argument was what Ibn Abbasؓ used to say: "The permissibility of mut'ah was a mercy from Allah to His servants. If Umarؓ had not prohibited it, no one would ever have needed to commit adultery."
[تفسير مظهري 208]
Then, when in the era of Uthman, the recitation of Sayyiduna Ibn Abbasؓ ﴿اليٰ اَجَلٍ مُّسَمّيٰ﴾ did not gain acceptance due to not being mutawatir, and these words could not be included in the Book of Allah, the inclination to mention the benefit of mut'ah also ended. And finally, he also retracted his fatwa of concession.
[تفسیر حقانی ج 2 ص 145]

[42] The dowry (mahr) and maintenance of a free woman are greater than those of a slave woman, and this permission is only for the person who, firstly, cannot bear the expenses of marrying a free woman, and secondly, fears that if he does not marry, he will fall into sexual immorality. Because marrying a free woman is, in any case, better, as the child born from her will not bear the stigma of slavery. And the reason for the permission of marriage in case of necessity is that, after all, they are also women.