A Critique of the Exegesis of Verse 24 of Surah al-Nisāʼ by Translators and Commentators: Permissibility of Marriage with Married Captive Women of Disbelievers

Fathi, Yousof

doi:10.22054/rjqk.2025.84043.3078

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Yousof Fathi

Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, University of Zanja, Zanjan, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22054/rjqk.2025.84043.3078

Abstract

The phrase "Illā mā Malakat Aymānukum (Except those your right hands possess)" in verse 24 of Surah al-Nisāʼ has been interpreted as permitting marriage with married captive women of disbelievers, as an exception to the prohibition of marriage with married women. The fundamental question is whether this translation, exegesis, and understanding of the mentioned verse has Quranic and historical support. The present study, using documentary and descriptive-analytical methods, aims to examine and clarifies the answer to this question in the verses of the Quran and historical reports, and arrives at the following findings: 1) The text and context of the Quranic verses regarding war and combat do not support such an interpretation; 2) There is no indication that "Except those your right hands possess" refers to prisoners of war; 3) Historical reports do not support the narratives cited by commentators; 4) Explicit rules regarding the treatment of prisoners of war in the Quran do not support this interpretation; 5) Considering the efforts of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) towards the liberation of existing slaves in society, enslaving prisoners is contrary to this ethical practice of the Prophet (PBUH). The history of the Prophet's (PBUH) era can create a fundamental change in the understanding of the verse that forms the basis of its interpretation. These types of translations and interpretations may have a post-analytical basis and be influenced by the era of Islamic conquests

Keywords

Main Subjects

Quran and Quranic teachings

References

Ibn Athīr, I. )n.d(. al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh. 11 vol. Beirut: Dar wa Maktabat al-Hilal.

Ibn Juzayy, M. (1996 AD/1416 AH). al-Tashīl li ʻUlūm al-Tanzīl. 2 vol. Lebanon - Beirut: Sharikat Dar al-Arqam bin Abi al-Arqam.

Ibn Jawzī, A. (2001 AD/1422 AH). Zād al-Masīr fī ʻIlm al-Tafsīr. 4 vol. Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi.

Ibn Khaldūn, A. (1996 AD/1375 SH). Introduction. 2 vol. (Gonabadi, P. Trans). Tehran: Scientific and Cultural Publishing Company.

Ibn Kathīr (al-Qarashī al-Shāfiʼī), I. (2004 AD). al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah. 2 vol. Lebanon: Bait al-Afkar al-Dawliya.

Ibn Hishām, A. (2007 AD/1428 AH). al-Sīrah al-Nabawīyyah. (Ali al-Qutb, M; Al-Dali, M. Ed). 4 vol. Beirut: Al-Maktabah al-Asriyyah.

Azarnoush, A. (2007 AD/1386 SH). Contemporary Arabic-Persian Dictionary. Tehran: Nashr Ney.

Bottomore, T. T. (1991 AD/1370 SH). Sociology. (Mansour, H; Hosseini-Kolajahi, H. Trans). Tehran: Amir Kabir Publishing Institute.

Al-Tarmānīnī, A. (1984 AD). al-Zawāj ʻInd al-ʻArab fī al-Jāhilīyyah wa al-Islām (Dāsah Muqārinah). Kuwait: Alam al-Ma'rifah.

Thaʻlabī, A. (2001 AD/1422 AH). al-Kashf wa al-Bayān. 10 vol. Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi.

Juwaynī, A. (1971 AD/1370 SH). World-haking History. 3 vol. (Qazvini, M. Ed). Tehran: Arghavan Publications.

Khorramdel, M. (2005 AD/1384 SH). Tafsīr Nūr (Khorramdel). 1 vol. Tehran: Nashr Ehsan.

Zereshki, M; Kheirullah, P. (2020 AD/1399 SH). "A Legal Analysis of Prisoners of War from the Perspective of Islam and Muslim Jurists." Scientific Quarterly Journal of Holy Defense Studies. Vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 9-38.

Al-Ziriklī, K. (1980 AD). al-Aʻlām: Qāmūs Tarājim la Shahr al-Rijāl wa al-Nisāʼ min al-ʻArab wa al-Mustaghribīn wa al-Mustashriqīn. 8 vol. Beirut: Dar al-Ilm Lil-Malayeen.

Zarmohammadi, A. (2024 AD/1403 SH). Contemporary Arabic-Persian Dictionary. 4 Vol. Tehran: Avaye Khanvar.

Zamakhsharī, A. (1984 AD/1404 AH). Asās al-Balāghah. Beirut: Dar al-Bairut.

Sobhani, J. (1984 AD/1363 SH). The Eternal Light. 2 Vol. Qom: Islamic Knowledge Publication.

Ṭabrisī, F. (1993 AD/1372 SH). Majmaʻ al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʼān. 10 Vol. Tehran: Naser Khosrow.

Ṭabarī, A. (n.d). Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī: Tārīkh al-Umam wa al-Mulūk. Beirut: Dar wa Maktabat al-Hilal.

Ṭurayḥī, F. (1988 AD/1367 SH). Majmaʻ al-Baḥrayn. Tehran: Office of the Culture of Islamic Culture Publication.

Ṭūsī, M. (n.d). al-Tibyān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʼān. 10 Vol. Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi.

ʻᾹmilī, J. (2012 AD/1391 SH). The Correct Biography of the Great Prophet. (Sepehri, M. Trans). 8 vol. Tehran: Publication Organization of the Research Institute of Islamic Culture and Thought.

Arab Abouzeidabadi, A. (2006 AD/1385 SH). "Slaves from Ignorance to Islam (Analysis and Historical Review)." History of Islam in the Mirror of Research. Vol. 3, no. 4, 12 Serial, pp. 109-149.

ʻAyyāshī, M. (1960 AD/1380 AH). al-Tafsīr (Tafsīr al- ʻAyyāshī). 2 Vol. Tehran: Maktabat al-Ilmiyah al-Islamiyah.

Farahmand, M; Haeri, M; Fakhrale, M. (2021 AD/1400 SH). "Investigating the Ruling on Enslaving War Captives Based on Verses and Hadiths." Specialized Quarterly Journal of Quran and Hadith Studies Safineh. Vol. 18, no. 70, pp. 166-191.

Qarashī, A. (2001 AD/1380 SH). From Hijra to Departure. Tehran: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyah.

Qummī, A. (1984 AD/1363 SH). Tafsīr al-Qumī. 2 Vol. Qom: Dar al-Kitab.

Kulaynī Rāzī, A. (1987 AD/1407 AH). al-Kāfī. (Ghaffari, A; Akhundi, M. Ed). 8 Vol. Tehran: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyah.

Giddens, A. )1995 AD/1374 SH). Sociology. (Sabouri, M. Trans). Tehran: Nashr-e Ney.

Māturīdī, M. (2005 AD/1426 AH). Taʻwīlāt Ahl al-Sunnah. 10 vol. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya, Manshūrāt Muḥammad ʻAlī Bayḍūn.

Mojtahed Zanjani, A. (1968 AD/1347 SH). A Glimpse of Muhammad's Ethics in: Muhammad Seal of the Prophets. 2 Vol. Tehran: Hosseinieh Ershad Publications. Pp. 367-406.

Muḥaqiq Dāmād, M. (2004 AD/1383 SH). International Humanitarian Law, Tehran: Islamic Sciences Publishing Center.

Mursī Ṭāḥūn, R. (2013 AD). Masūʻah Ḥuqūq al-Insān fī al-Islām. 6 Vol. Syria: Dar Al-Nour.

Motahhari, M. (2002 AD/1381 SH). The Finality of Prophethood. Tehran: Sadra Publications.

Motahhari, M. (2014 AD/1393 SH). Slavery in Islam. Tehran: Sadra Publications.

Maalouf, L. (1983 AD). al-Munjid. Tehran: Ismailiyan Publications.

Makarem Shirazi, N. (1992 AD/1371 SH). Exemplary Commentary. 28 Vol. Tehran: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyah.

Hashemi Rafsanjani, A; Bahonar, M. (1968 AD/1347 SH). The World in the Era of the Prophetic Mission, in: Muhammad the Seal of the Prophets. 2 Vol. Tehran: Hosseiniyeh Ershad Publications. Pp. 29-162.

Wāqidī, M. (1997 AD/1376 SH). al-Maghāzī. (Jones, M. Ed). Qom: Maktab al-A'lam al-Islami.

Yaʻqūbī, A. (1983 AD/1362 SH). Yaʻqūbī’s History. 2 Vol. (Ayati, M. Ed). Tehran: Center for Scientific and Cultural Publications.

Quranic Knowledge Research

A Critique of the Exegesis of Verse 24 of Surah al-Nisāʼ by Translators and Commentators: Permissibility of Marriage with Married Captive Women of Disbelievers

References

References

Volume 16, Issue 60 - Serial Number 60
March 2025
Pages 89-114

A Critique of the Exegesis of Verse 24 of Surah al-Nisāʼ by Translators and Commentators: Permissibility of Marriage with Married Captive Women of Disbelievers

References

References

Volume 16, Issue 60 - Serial Number 60March 2025Pages 89-114

Volume 16, Issue 60 - Serial Number 60
March 2025
Pages 89-114