What is meant by "marrying chaste women" from among the People of the Book, Christian and Jewish women, and does this also include Muslim women? And do touching and kissing fall under the definition of chastity and thus prevent marriage to a woman from the People of the Book? And what is your advice to a young man who considers touching necessary before marriage?

According to Al-Tabari, "muhsanat" (chaste women) refers to women who are pure, and the phrase "she guarded her private parts" means she preserved them from immorality, as in the verse: "And Mary, the daughter of 'Imran, who guarded her private parts."

The exegetes (scholars of interpretation) differed regarding "the muhsanat from among those who were given the Scripture before you": - Some held that it is a general term for chaste women among them, whether free or enslaved, belligerent or under covenant (dhimmis). - Others held that it specifically refers to women from the People of the Book with whom there is a covenant, and that marrying women from belligerent (harbi) peoples is forbidden.

Al-Tabari stipulates that marrying a woman from the People of the Book is permissible only in a situation where there is no fear that the child might be forced into disbelief, such as being compelled to study Christianity, or taken to church, or if the law favors the disbelieving woman, allowing her to take the child and raise it in her religion.

Al-Sa'di is of the view that "muhsanat" refers to the free, chaste women among the believers and the People of the Book (Jews and Christians). This is a specification for the verse: "And do not marry polytheistic women until they believe." As for unchaste women, whether Muslim or from the People of the Book, it is not permissible to marry them until they repent, based on the verse: "The fornicator does not marry except a [female] fornicator or a polytheist."