The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 359
CH. 24 PT. 18 AN-NŪR 34. And those who find no means of marriage should keep وَلْيَسْتَعْفِفِ الَّذِينَ لَا يَجِدُونَ نِكَاحًا islen حَتَّى يُغْنِيَهُمُ اللهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ وَالَّذِيْنَ themselves chaste, until Allah يَبْتَغُونَ الْكِتَبَ مِمَّا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ grants them means out of His bounty. And such as desire a from among those whom your فَكَاتِبُوهُمْ إِنْ عَلِمْتُمْ فِيْهِمْ خَيْرًا deed of manumission in writing وَأَتُوهُمْ مِّن مَّالِ اللَّهِ الَّذِي أَتُكُمُ right hands possess, write it for وَلَا تُكْرِهُوا فَتَيْتِكُمْ عَلَى الْبِغَاءِ them if you know any good in them; and give them out of the إِنْ أَرَدْنَ تَحَصُّنَّا لِتَبْتَغُوا عَرَضَ wealth of Allah which He has bestowed upon you. And force الْحَيُوةِ الدُّنْيَا وَمَنْ تُكْرِهُهُنَّ فَإِنَّ not your maids to unchaste life (ayyimun) means, a woman having no husband, whether she be a virgin or not, or whether she had married before or not; a free woman, (Lane & Aqrab) also a man having no wife Mufradāt). Commentary: As mentioned above, this Surah deals with some of those very heinous moral evils which if ignored and neglected are calculated to eat into the vitals of the society and shake its very foundations. One of these evils is adultery. In the preceding verses the Surah has dealt with some of the causes that lead to the birth, growth and prevalence of this fell moral disease. Two of these causes are scandal-mongering and free and indiscriminate intermingling of the sexes and the third is that some women widows or virgins, come to conceive a strong dislike for leading a married life, or their guardians, in order to further their own nefarious ends, stand in the way of their marriage. In the verse under comment the Quran has strongly urged the marriage of widows and virgins, the word covers both of them. In fact, Islam views with extreme disfavour the unmarried state. It regards the married state as the normal state. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said:. i. e النكاح من سنتى و من رغب عن سنتي فليس منى "marriage is my 'sunnat' (usage or practice) and whoso disapproves and forsakes my sunnat, is not of me" (Muslim, Kitābun-Nikāḥ). Preponderance of unmarried women in a society is sure to tell adversely on its whole moral tone. The refusal on the part of unmarried women to accept the responsibilities of married life has led to the prevalence of moral laxity to which the west seems to have fallen a helpless victim. The verse strongly discourages unmarried life and does not recognize poverty as a bar to marriage. 2273