Sura-24 [ An Nur madina 102]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s version:
وَأَنكِحُوا
الْأَيَامَى
مِنكُمْ وَالصَّالِحِينَ
مِنْ عِبَادِكُمْ
وَإِمَائِكُمْ...
24:32. Marry those among you who are single, or the virtuous ones among your slaves, male or female:
C2988. The subject of sex ethics and manners brings us to the subject of marriage.
Single (ayama, plural of Aiyim) here means any one not in the bond of wedlock, whether unmarried or lawfully divorced, or widowed.
If we can, we must marry in our own circle, but if we have not the means, there is no harm if we choose from a lower circle, provided our choice is determined by virtue. Poverty in the other party does not matter if there is virtue and love. A happily married man has the best wealth in a virtuous wife, and his very happiness make him a better potential earner of wealth. A slave becomes free by marriage.
...إِن يَكُونُوا فُقَرَاء يُغْنِهِمُ اللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ...
if they are in poverty, Allah will give them means out of His grace:
...وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ ﴿٣٢﴾
for Allah encompasseth all, and He knoweth all things.
Allah's mercy is for all: it is not confined to a class or grade of people.
Asad’s Version:
24:32
AND [you ought to] marry the single from among you 42 as well as such of your male and female slaves as are fit [for marriage]. 43 If they [whom you intend to marry] are poor, [let this not deter you;] God will grant them sufficiency out of His bounty - for God is infinite [in His mercy], all-knowing.
(24:33) And as for those who are unable to marry, 44 let them live in continence until God grants them sufficiency out of His bounty. And if any of those whom you rightfully possess 45 desire [to obtain] a deed of freedom, write it out for them if you are aware of any good in them: 46 and give them [their share] of the wealth of God which He has given you. 47 And do not, in order to gain some of the fleeting pleasures of this worldly life, coerce your [slave] maidens into whoredom if they happen to be desirous of marriage; 4 ' and if anyone should coerce them, then, verily, after they have been compelled [to submit in their helplessness), God will be much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!
Asad’s notes:
42 I.e., from among the free members of the community, as is evident from the subsequent juxtaposition with slaves. (As most of the classical commentators point out, this is not an injunction but a recommendation to the community as a whole: hence my interpolation of the words "you ought to".) The term ayyim of which ayama is the plural - signifies a person of either sex who has no spouse, irrespective of whether he or she has never been married or is divorced or widowed. Thus, the above verse expresses the idea - reiterated in many authentic sayings of the Prophet - that, from both the ethical and the social points of view, the married state is infinitely preferable to
celibacy.
43 The term as-salihin connotes here both moral and physical fitness for marriage: i.e., the attainment of bodily and mental maturity as well as mutual affection between the man and the woman concerned. As in 4:25, the above verse rules out all forms of concubinage and postulates marriage as the only basis of lawful sexual relations between a man and his female slave. ]]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s version:
وَلْيَسْتَعْفِفِ
الَّذِينَ لَا
يَجِدُونَ
نِكَاحًا حَتَّى
يُغْنِيَهُمْ
اللَّهُ مِن
فَضْلِهِ...
24: 33. Let those who find not the wherewithal for marriage keep themselves chaste, until Allah gives them means out of His grace.
C2990. A Muslim marriage requires some sort of a dower for the wife. If the man cannot afford that, he must wait and keep himself chaste.
It is no excuse for him to say that he must satisfy his natural cravings within or outside marriage. It must be within marriage.
...وَالَّذِينَ يَبْتَغُونَ الْكِتَابَ مِمَّا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ فَكَاتِبُوهُمْ إِنْ عَلِمْتُمْ فِيهِمْ خَيْرًا...
And if any of your slaves ask for a deed in writing (to enable them to earn their freedom for a certain sum), give them such a deed if ye know any good in them;
C2991. The law of slavery in the legal sense of the term is now obsolete. While it had any meaning, Islam made the slave's lot as easy as possible.
A slave, male or female, could ask for conditional manumission by a written deed fixing the amount required for manumission and allowing the slave meanwhile to earn money by lawful means. Such a deed was not to be refused if the request was genuine and the slave had character.
Not only that, but the master is directed to help with money out of his own resources in order to enable the slave to earn his or her own liberty.
...وَآتُوهُم مِّن مَّالِ اللَّهِ الَّذِي آتَاكُمْ...
yea, give them something yourselves out of the means which Allah has given to you.
...وَلَا تُكْرِهُوا فَتَيَاتِكُمْ عَلَى الْبِغَاء ...
But force not your maids to prostitution
C2992. Where slavery was legal, what is now called the "white slave
traffic" was carried on by wicked people like 'Abdullah ibn Ubai, the Hypocrite leader at Madinah. This is absolutely condemned.
While modern nations have abolished ordinary slavery, the "White Slave Traffic" is still a big social problem in individual States. Here it is absolutely condemned. No more despicable trade can be imagined. (R).
... إِنْ أَرَدْنَ تَحَصُّنًا لِّتَبْتَغُوا عَرَضَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا...
when they desire chastity, in order that ye may make a gain in the goods of this life.
C2993. I have translated "In" (literally, -if") by -when- because this is not a conditional clause but an explanatory clause, explaining the meaning of 'force'.
"Forcing" a person necessarily means that it is against the wish or inclination of the person forced. Even if they were to give a formal consent, it is not validbecause the persons concerned are in (legal, or now) economic slavery.
...وَمَن يُكْرِههُّنَّ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ مِن بَعْدِ إِكْرَاهِهِنَّ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿٣٣﴾
But if anyone compels them, yet, after such compulsion, is Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful (to them).
C2994. The poor unfortunate girls, who are victims of such a nefarious trade, will yet find mercy from Allah, whose bounties extend to all His creatures.
[[Asad’s notes -- 44 I.e., because of poverty, or because they cannot find a suitable mate, or for any other personal reason.
45 Lit., "whom your right hands possess", i.e., male or female slaves.
46 The noun kitab is, in this context, an equivalent of kitabah or mukatabah (lit., "mutual agreement in writing"), a juridical term signifying a "deed of freedom" or "of manumission executed on the basis of an agreement between a slave and his or her owner, to the effect that the slave undertakes to purchase his or her freedom for an equitable sum of money payable in instalments before or after the manumission, or, alternatively, by rendering a clearly specified service or services to his or her owner. With this end in view, the slave is legally entitled to engage in any legitimate, gainful work or to obtain the necessary sum of money by any other lawful means (eg-,through a loan or a gift from a third person). In view of the imperative form of the verb katibuhum
("write it out for them"), the deed of manumission cannot be refused by the owner, the only pre-condition being an evidence to be established, if necessary, by an unbiassed arbiter or arbiters - of the slave's good character and ability to fulfil his or her contractual obligations. The stipulation that such a deed of manumission may not be refused, and the establishment of precise juridical directives to this end, clearly indicates that Islamic Law has from its very beginning aimed at an abolition of slavery as a social institution, and that its prohibition in modern times constitutes no more than a final implementation of that aim. (See also next note, as well as note
146 on 2: 177.)
47 According to all the authorities, this relates (a) to a moral obligation on the part of the owner to promote the slave's efforts to obtain the necessary revenues by helping him or her to achieve an independent economic status and/or by remitting part of the agreed-upon compensation, and (b) to the obligation of the state treasury (bayt al-mal) to finance the freeing of slaves in accordance with the Qur'anic principle - enunciated in 9:60 - that the revenues obtained through the obligatory tax called zakah are to be utilized, among other purposes, "for the freeing of human beings from bondage" (fi 'r-riqab, an expression explained in surah 2, note 146). Hence, Zamakhshari holds that the above clause is addressed not merely to persons owning slaves but to the community as whole. - The expression "the wealth of God" contains an allusion to the principle that "God has bought of the believers their lives and their possessions, promising them paradise in return" (9:11 1) - implying that all of man's possessions are vested in God, and that man is entitled to no more than their usufruct.
49 Lit., "if they desire protection against unchastity (tahassun)", i.e , through marriage (cf the expression muhsanat as used in 4:24). Most of the classical commentators are of the opinion that the term fatayat ("maidens") denotes here "slave-girls": an assumption which is fully warranted by the context, Hence, the above verse reiterates the prohibition of concubinage by explicitly describing it as "whoredom" (bigha 1 ). ]]