According to Islamic doctrine, when a village or tribe was conquered through jihad, Muslims were permitted to take women and children as slaves. Captured women, even if they were married, became sexually available to their masters. This principle is clearly established in the Qur’an.
“And [also prohibited to you are] all married women except those your right hands possess.” (Qur’an 4:24)
The verse not only authorizes sexual relations with female captives, but explicitly nullifies the previous marriages of captured women. This permission was not revealed in the abstract, but in a specific wartime context, as the hadith demonstrate.
The context of the revelation: the Battle of Awtas
The most authoritative hadith report that Qur’an 4:24 was revealed precisely during the military campaign of Hunayn, after the Battle of Awtas. Muhammad’s companions had taken married women as captives and initially hesitated to have sexual relations with them. Allah then intervened with a revelation authorizing such conduct.
At the Battle of Hunayn, the Messenger of Allah sent an army to Awtas, where they met the enemy and fought them. Having defeated them and taken them captive, the Companions of the Messenger of Allah appeared to refrain from having sexual relations with the captive women because their husbands were polytheists. Then Allah, the Most High, revealed concerning this: “And [also prohibited to you are] all married women except those (slaves) your right hands possess” (Qur’an 4:24).
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri reported that the Messenger of Allah sent a small army. The Companions took captive women who had husbands. They were reluctant to have sexual relations with them when this verse was revealed: “…and married women except those whom your right hands possess” (Qur’an 4:24).
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri said: The Messenger of Allah sent a military expedition to Awtas on the occasion of the Battle of Hunayn. They met their enemy and fought them. They defeated them and took them as captives. Some of the Companions were reluctant to have intercourse with the captive women in the presence of their husbands, who were unbelievers. So Allah, the Exalted, revealed the Qur’anic verse: “And [also prohibited to you are] all married women except those (slaves) your right hands possess” (Qur’an 4:24).
Permission to practise withdrawal with female captives
Not only were sexual relations with female captives permitted, but Muhammad also actively encouraged the practice of withdrawal with them in order to avoid unwanted pregnancies.
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri reported: We had taken women as captives, and we wanted to practise ‘azl (withdrawal) with them. So we asked the Messenger of Allah about it, and he said to us: “Indeed, do it; indeed, do it; indeed, do it”, for every soul that is destined to be born until the Day of Judgment will be born anyway.
Confirmation in other collections
The same episode is also reported in Malik’s Muwatta:
I came to the mosque and saw Abu Said al-Khudri… We went out with the Messenger of Allah on the expedition against the tribe of Banu al-Mustaliq. We took some captives from among the Arabs and desired the women because abstinence had become difficult for us. We wanted ransom, and therefore we wanted to practise withdrawal. We asked him about it and he said: “Do it, for every soul that is destined to be born until the Day of Judgment will be born anyway.”
The definitive Qur’anic rule
The Qur’an does not limit itself to a temporary permission, but establishes a general rule that remains valid:
“And those who guard their chastity, except from their wives or those whom their right hands possess, for then they are not blameworthy.” (Qur’an 23:5-6)
Female slaves captured in war are therefore included among the categories of women with whom a Muslim man may lawfully have sexual relations according to Islamic doctrine.
Conclusion
Islamic tradition, through both the Qur’an and the most authoritative hadith collections, explicitly authorizes sexual relations with women captured during wars of conquest, even when those women are married. Their previous marriage is regarded as dissolved by their enslavement.
It is particularly significant that the revelation of Qur’an 4:24 came precisely at the moment when Muslim fighters wanted sexual access to the captive women. This episode shows how Qur’anic revelations frequently intervened to legitimize and encourage conduct that served the military efforts of Muhammad and his followers.
The permission to sexually use female prisoners of war, together with the encouragement of withdrawal, represents one of the most direct and enduring rules of Islamic doctrine concerning relations between the sexes during and after military conquests.
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