CAPTIVE WOMEN

Adultery and fornication are punished according to Muhammad�s law, but not if you commit them with the �women that your right hands possess,� that is, those women, whether married or unmarried, who are captured by the Muslims injihAd, or holy war.  A QurAnic verse fortifies this position: �Also prohibited are women already married except those whom your right hands possess� (4:24).

AhAdIs 3432-3434 tell us that this verse descended on the Prophet for the benefit of his Companions.  AbU Sa�Id reports that �at the Battle of Hunain Allah�s Messenger sent an army to AutAs. . . . Having overcome them [the enemies] and taken them captives, the Companions of Allah�s Messenger seemed to refrain from having intercourse with captive women because of their husbands being polytheists.  Then, Allah, Most High. sent down [the above verse]� (3432).

The followers had a feeling of delicacy in the matter, based on an old moral code, but Allah now gave a new one.

author : ram swarup