What is the meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted: "And do not compel your slave girls to prostitution, if they desire to keep chaste..."?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Her question asks: What is the meaning of the noble verse in the saying of Allah the Exalted: [An-Nur 24:33]?
The Shaykh : The meaning of the noble verse is that there were people in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance who compelled their young slave women, i.e., their female slaves, to commit unlawful sexual intercourse in order to earn money from them. So Allah the Exalted forbade them from doing that and said:[An-Nur 24:33] And in His saying [An-Nur 24:33], there is an expression of blame and rebuke for these masters who compel their slave women to commit unlawful sexual intercourse. It is as if it is being said: How can this slave woman, who is a slave woman desiring to keep chaste, be compelled by you to commit unlawful sexual intercourse for the sake of the fleeting display of this worldly life? In this is evident blame and rebuke. It is not a condition in the ruling in the sense that if she did not desire to keep chaste, you could compel her. No, but the purpose of this is to express blame and rebuke for these masters regarding their compelling their young slave women to prostitution. And in His saying: [An-Nur 24:33], meaning that whoever is compelled to this matter, then Allah the Exalted will forgive her if the compulsion is established. And for this reason He said: [An-Nur 24:33], for the one who is compelled bears no sin, whether he is compelled to say something or to do something, if he does not do it after the compulsion out of his own desire. Yes.
And do not compel your slave girls to prostitution, if they desire chastity, to seek [thereby] the temporary interests of worldly life. And if someone should compel them, then indeed, Allah is [to them], after their compulsion, Forgiving and Merciful.
ولا تُكرهوا فتياتكم على البغاء إن أردن تحصناً لتبتغوا عرض الحياة الدنيا ومن يكرههن فإن الله من بعد إكراههن غفور رحيمThe Shaykh : The meaning of the noble verse is that there were people in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance who compelled their young slave women, i.e., their female slaves, to commit unlawful sexual intercourse in order to earn money from them. So Allah the Exalted forbade them from doing that and said: