What is the reason for preferring previously married women (thayyibat) over virgins (abkār) in the verse: "It may be that if he divorces you, his Lord will give him in your place wives better than you – Muslim, believing, devoutly obedient, repentant, worshipping, given to fasting, previously married as well as virgins" (66:5), despite the presence of the conjunction between them?

The letter "waw" (و) denotes absolute conjunction and does not imply order. This applies to all the mentioned verses where some categories are presented before others. However, scholars have sought the wisdom behind this precedence, assuming that the order might be intentional. They have thus explained the wisdom behind presenting the thief (male) before the thief (female) in Surat Al-Ma'idah, the fornicator (male) before the fornicatress (female) in Surat An-Nur, and previously married women before virgins.