Light (Al-Nur)
Verses 32-34 GROUP_902 24.32-34
32
وَأَنكِحُوا الْأَيَامَى مِنكُمْ وَالصَّالِحِينَ مِنْ عِبَادِكُمْ وَإِمَائِكُمْ إِن يَكُونُوا فُقَرَاء يُغْنِهِمُ اللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
Marry those among you who are single, and those of your male and female slaves who are fit [for marriage]. If they are poor, God will provide for them from His bounty, for God’s bounty is infinite and He is all knowing.
33
وَلْيَسْتَعْفِفِ الَّذِينَ لَا يَجِدُونَ نِكَاحًا حَتَّى يُغْنِيَهُمْ اللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ وَالَّذِينَ يَبْتَغُونَ الْكِتَابَ مِمَّا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ فَكَاتِبُوهُمْ إِنْ عَلِمْتُمْ فِيهِمْ خَيْرًا وَآتُوهُم مِّن مَّالِ اللَّهِ الَّذِي آتَاكُمْ وَلَا تُكْرِهُوا فَتَيَاتِكُمْ عَلَى الْبِغَاء إِنْ أَرَدْنَ تَحَصُّنًا لِّتَبْتَغُوا عَرَضَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَمَن يُكْرِههُّنَّ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ مِن بَعْدِ إِكْرَاهِهِنَّ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Those who do not have the means to marry should keep themselves chaste until God grants them enough out of His bounty. If any of your slaves desire a deed of freedom, write it out for them, if you find any promise in them, and give them some of the wealth God has given you. Do not force your [slave] maids into prostitution, in order to enrich yourself, when they wish to preserve their chastity. Yet if anyone forces them, once they have been forced, God will be forgiving and merciful to them.
34
وَلَقَدْ أَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكُمْ آيَاتٍ مُّبَيِّنَاتٍ وَمَثَلًا مِّنَ الَّذِينَ خَلَوْا مِن قَبْلِكُمْ وَمَوْعِظَةً لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ
We have sent down clear revelations to you and the example of those who passed away before you and an admonition for the God-fearing.
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Commentary
(a) Islam clearly approves of married life for both men and women. In case certain persons remain unmarried, due to lack of resources, it is necessary that all the members of society unanimously view it as a common problem and do not rest content until it is solved. In the period when Islam came into existence, the system of owning slaves was prevalent in Arabia and, indeed, throughout the whole world. Islam, following its basic principles, started abolishing slavery in a very systematic though gradual manner. One of the methods followed was known as makatibah. The literal meaning of kitab or makatibah is ‘writing’. Here this term denotes a bond by which a male or female slave promises his or her owner to earn for him a specified amount within stipulated time, after which he or she will be free. Both male and female slaves were thus being set free either by makatibah or by other methods, so much so, that by the end of the period of early Islamic history (the period of the ‘four rightly guided caliphs’) the institution of slavery had been almost completely abolished In pre-Islamic times and even in the very early period of Islam, there were people who used to make their slave girls work as prostitutes. Abdullah ibn Ubayy had many slave girls whom he forced into prostitution and thus earned a profit out of them. When one of these slave girls embraced Islam and wanted to give up prostitution, Abdullah ibn Ubayy started harassing her. Ultimately, at the behest of the Prophet Muhammad, she was freed from his clutches by paying for her freedom.