Ma malakat aymanukum and sex

In Islamic Divine law (Arabic: Sharia), Ma malakat aymanukum ("what your right hands possess" ما ملكت أيمانکم) is the term for captives of war.

Qur'an

al-Muminun 6 and al-Maarij 30 both, in identical wording, draw a distinction between spouses and "those whom one's right hands possess", saying " أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ" (literally, "their spouses or what their right hands possess"), while clarifying that sexual intercourse with either is permissible. Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi explains that "two categories of women have been excluded from the general command of guarding the private parts: (a) wives, (b) women who are legally in one's possession".

The verse can be broken into three parts:

See also

• Islam and slavery