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What is the meaning of "those whom your right hand possesses," and can a married woman be among them, as mentioned in Surat An-Nisa?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

"Right-hand possessions" are enslaved persons, male or female. A female slave can be a wife to someone other than her master. As for her master, he may have intercourse with her by virtue of his ownership without needing a contract or witnesses, and she is called his concubine, not his wife. Each of them has detailed rulings expounded in books of Fiqh.

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

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