Captives (Al-Sabayi)
Arabic original
وَالْمُحْصَنَاتُ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ إِلَّا مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ ۖ كِتَابَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ
Translation
And the chaste women of [other] women, except what your right hands possess—indeed, it is a decree of Allah upon you.
Explanation
"And the chaste women of [other] women, except what your right hands possess"—meaning: He forbade you foreign chaste women, and they are the married ones. "Except what your right hands possess" refers to those whom you acquire through captivity, for they become permissible for you to marry after you have performed istibra' (legal purification) upon them, as the verse was revealed concerning this matter. Imam Ahmad reported: 'Abd al-Razzaq related to us, Sufyan—that is, al-Thawri—reported from 'Uthman al-Batti, from Abi al-Khalil, from Abi Sa'id al-Khudri, who said: We captured women from the captives of Autas, and they had husbands, so we disliked to approach them while they had husbands. We asked the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family, and this verse was revealed: "And the chaste women of [other] women, except what your right hands possess." So we considered their private parts lawful.