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What is meant by "or whom their right hands possess" in His, the Almighty's, saying: "And those who guard their private parts, except from their wives or whom their right hands possess"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The phrase "what your right hands possess," mentioned in the Holy Qur'an, refers to female captives, meaning slave women whom their masters may have intercourse with. The jurists stated that among the conditions for enslaving a woman is that she must be a disbeliever and a combatant. If the captive is from the People of the Book, then enslaving her is permissible. A slave woman has specific rulings that differ from a free woman. Her master is permitted to have intercourse with her, and if she gives birth to his child, she becomes an Umm Walad (mother of a child) and is freed after his death. It is not permissible to treat a domestic worker as a slave, because a domestic worker is a free woman.

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

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