Is it not permissible according to the Quran to have sexual intercourse with concubines (female slaves) without marriage?

- There is an article on your website related to the permissibility of having unmarried sex with concubines; I read it but it did not satisfy me because I came across an article on a theologian’s website and what was written in this article sounded very logical to me. This person briefly says this: “It is not permissible according to the Quran to have unmarried sex with concubines, but unfortunately madhhabs twist and turn the verses according to their own desires and present it as if it is in the Quran.” He proves it by analyzing the verses of the Quran.
- The arguments he presents there sounded very logical and correct to me.
- Pay particular attention to what he says about an-Nisa verse 3, an-Nisa verse 24, al-Ahzab verse 50 and al-Muminun, verses 5-6.
- He claims that madhhabs take those verses out of context according to their own desires and proves it.
- As you know, there is a group called Quranists today. They do not accept hadiths, narrations and traditions as the source of religion - because they do not find them reliable and some things contradict the Quran - and accept only the Quran as the source of the religion.
- Some of them even have books called the religion in the Quran and Fabricated religion.
- Those people say, according to the Quran, that in order to have sex with a concubine, you have to be married to her, that it is forbidden to have sex with a concubine without being married, and that it is never allowed in the Quran to have sex with a woman without being married even if she is a concubine.
-  To sum up, according to what those people say, it is not allowed to have unmarried sex with a concubine in the Quran. The Quran stipulates marriage with them too. One of the verses they present as evidence for what they say is verse 3 of the chapter of an-Nisa
- In this verse, there is an expression in the translations saying “be content with the concubines you have”. However, they say there is no expression meaning be content with in the original Arabic of the verse. They say the only verb in the verse is “marry”. According to them, the word-for-word translation of the verse should be as follows:
“Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four. But if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly, then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess.”
- As you can see, there is no verb in the second sentence (i.e., there is no expression meaning be content with as it is stated in the translations); there is only the verb “marry” in the verse. Therefore, the verb of the first sentence is also the verb of the second sentence; in other words, this verb is also used for concubines.
- What is your view regarding the issue? Is what they say true?
- According to the Quran, is it necessary to marry concubines in order to have sexual intercourse with them?

Dear Brother / Sister,

There are no concubines (female slaves), etc. anymore. Islam aimed for this practice to disappear over time, and this goal was eventually achieved.

We think that asking about the decrees regarding slaves and concubines in the past and making everyone talk about it is harmful.

However, since the meaning of the verses has been asked, we find it appropriate to answer briefly in a few items.

1) A marriage contract is a contract made by a man and a woman, both of whom are free (and hence own their bodies), to establish a family and benefit from each other sexually - in accordance with its conditions. The contract and right that allows having a concubine (obtaining one through purchasing, inheritance, booty or donation...) is also a legal transaction, and this legal transaction also grants the owner and the concubine the right to live as husband and wife, and replaces the marriage contract in a stronger and more comprehensive way than it.

2) It would be utterly unreasonable and illogical to think that someone who is a bit sane and fair would prefer the interpretation mentioned in the question out of those two different interpretations.

It is definitely unreasonable to think that the words of the Quran had not been understood by millions of Islamic scholars, most of whom are originally Arabs or know Arabic very well, but was understood 15 centuries later by someone who is not originally an Arab and whose Arabic is not very good.

Such people are the addressees of the thread in the following verse of the Quran:

“If anyone contends with the Messenger even after guidance has been plainly conveyed to him, and follows a path other than that becoming to men of Faith, We shall leave him in the path he has chosen, and land him in Hell,- what an evil refuge.” (an-Nisa, 4/115)

According to the narrations, our Prophet (pbuh) said:

“Allah does not unite this ummah (or Muhammad’s ummah) in aberration (error). Allah’s hand is upon the congregation. Whoever separates from the congregation is separated into the fire.” (see Tirmidhi, Fitan, 7)

According to Tirmidhi, what is meant by the “congregation” in the hadith meaning “Allah’s hand is upon the congregation” is Islamic scholars, fiqh and hadith scholars. (ibid)

“My ummah does not unite in aberration. Therefore, when you see disagreement on an issue, follow the great majority.” (Ibn Majah, Fitan, 8)

3) One of the words / expressions that are discussed regarding the issue is “Fankihu”, another one is “Fa Wahidatan” and yet another one is “Aw ma malakat aymanukum”

The verse in which this issue is expressed is verse 3 of the chapter of an-Nisa:

وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلاَّ تُقْسِطُواْ فِي الْيَتَامَى فَانكِحُواْ مَا طَابَ لَكُم مِّنَ النِّسَاء مَثْنَى وَثُلاَثَ وَرُبَاعَ فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلاَّ تَعْدِلُواْ فَوَاحِدَةً أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَلاَّ تَعُولُواْ

If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice. (an-Nisa 4/3)

- Let us have a look at the expression “فَانكِحُواْ مَا طَابَ لَكُم مِّنَ النِّسَاء مَثْنَى وَثُلاَثَ وَرُبَاعَ” first:

“The addressee of the order “fankihu / marry” at the beginning of the expression “(If you fear that you will not be able to act justly / rightly if you marry orphan girls) marry two, three and four women that you like” is the word “Ma” (the object of the verb).

The word “Ma (what)”, which means “Men (who)” here, is used because of its broad meaning. In other words: “Of the women other than orphan women, you may marry two, three or four women that you like - and naturally - those with whom it is permissible to marry.”

So, the order to marry here aims to eliminate the custom of marrying unlimited number of women in the age of ignorance and limit it to a maximum of four women.

4) فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلاَّ تَعْدِلُواْ فَوَاحِدَةً / “If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly, be content with one”.

According to those who object, this interpretation is not correct. They claim that the meaning of being content with was made up even though it is not included in the verse.

However, the following point has been emphasized in dozens of tafsir sources: The word فَوَاحِدَةً (fa wahidatan) has been pronounced in two ways in the science of qira’ah (recitation), ending as -tun or -tan.

The meaning of the form ending as -tun is “choose one, prefer one”.

If it is pronounced as -tan, its meaning is: “one is enough for you, be content with one”. (For example, see Zamakhshari / Kashshaf; Abus-Suud; Shawkani; ad-Durrul-Masun, the interpretation of the verse in question)

According to some scholars, its meaning is “marry one”. (see Raghib, the interpretation of the verse in question)

Shawkani makes a clear explanation and states the following:

The sentence “Aw Ma malakat aymanukum” is a reference to the word “Wahidatan”. That is, “If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly, marry only one or marry the concubines that your right hands possess (mulkul-yamin). However, what is meant by marrying concubines is not marrying them through real marriage contract but through mulkul-yamin.” (see Shawkani, the interpretation of the verse in question)

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