What is the meaning of the noble verse: "The fornicator does not marry except a fornicatress or a polytheistess; and as for the fornicatress, none marries her except a fornicator or a polytheist"? And must a repentant fornicator be punished by reporting himself?

Scholars have differed on the interpretation of the verse: "The fornicator does not marry except a fornicatress or a polytheist, and as for the fornicatress, no one marries her except a fornicator or a polytheist," in several ways:

Some are of the view that it was revealed concerning people who sought permission from the Prophet to marry fornicatresses, and "nikah (definition)" (marriage) here means wedlock. Others believe that the meaning is that a fornicator only commits fornication with a fornicatress, and "nikah" here means sexual intercourse. Still others believe that it is abrogated by the verse: "And marry the unmarried among you."

Scholars have also differed on the marriage of a chaste person to a fornicatress. Imam Ahmad prohibited it, relying on the verse and the hadith (definition) of Marthad al-Ghanawi, and Ibn al-Qayyim favored this view. The majority (Malik, Abu Hanifa, and al-Shafi'i) held it permissible with dislike, based on the abrogation of the verse, or on the understanding that "nikah" in it refers to fornication.

The preponderant view is the permissibility of marrying a fornicatress, with dislike, after her womb has been cleared (of pregnancy), and provided she is someone whose marriage is permissible, such as a Muslim woman or a woman of the People of the Book. If a fornicator repents, he must offer sincere repentance and conceal himself with God's concealment.