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What is the meaning of: (or those whom their right hands possess, for indeed they are not to be blamed) in Surah Al-Ma'arij, and who are they, and why, and what is the wisdom behind it?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The Almighty's saying: "or those whom their right hands possess, for indeed, they are not to be blamed" means those who guard their private parts from the unlawful, and do not approach except their wives or those whom their right hands possess from slave-women. And those who transgress beyond that are the aggressors. What is meant by "those whom their right hands possess" are the slave-women owned by a man, and they are among his possessions. Allah has permitted a Muslim to have intercourse with a slave-woman without specifying a number, because there is no obligation to divide justly or be fair among slave-women as there is with wives. This was a mercy and an expansion for the servants.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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