Continuation of the explanation of the verse: “And whoever among you cannot find the means to marry free believing women…”

We have previously discussed this phrase of the verse and stated that the meaning of *tawlan* (means) is wealth and abundance, and that the meaning of *al-muhsanāt* is free women, as evidenced by its contrast with His saying: and the phrase before it, *al-muhsanāt min al-nisā’*, refers to married women. He addresses the group as a whole, not each individual. We say this because a master is not permitted to marry his slave woman; a master cannot marry his slave woman, but rather he may take her as a concubine. This is because Allah made ownership of the right hand equivalent to marriage, saying: This indicates that what the right hand possesses is not the same as wives. The scholars stated that a master cannot marry his slave woman because his right to her sexual relations is established by a contract stronger than the marriage contract. The contract of ownership grants him ownership of her for all types of enjoyment, whereas the marriage contract grants him only the right to sexual enjoyment. The slave woman’s benefits are entirely owned by him; he may use her for service and rent her out. She has no wealth; the wealth belongs to him, and he has the right to enjoy her sexually. The wife is not in that position.