enslaved women from among the People of the Book by virtue of ownership, because He, Mighty and Majestic, says:
“Except those your right hands possess.” [al-Nisā’: 24]
Allah grants success.
Section
On a Free Man’s Marriage to a Muslim Enslaved Woman
As for a Muslim enslaved woman, the well-known position reported from Mālik—may Allah have mercy on him—is that a free man may marry her only if he lacks the means to marry a free woman and fears falling into sin. It has also been reported from Mālik—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—that this is permissible even when he possesses the means and has no such fear. This is the well-known position reported from Ibn al-Qāsim.
This disagreement stems from disagreement over accepting a text’s contrary implication as evidence. Those who accept it permit a free man to marry an enslaved woman only when both conditions are met; those who do not accept it permit this without either condition. According to those who accept such an implication, the reason for prohibiting this marriage unless both conditions are met is the undesirability of a man entering a marriage in which his children would be enslaved. Accordingly, if a free man marries an enslaved woman whose owner’s relationship to any child he has by her would entail that child’s automatic emancipation, or if he is someone who cannot father children, such as a man incapable of intercourse or someone in a similar condition, his marriage is permissible even without the two conditions, since the reason for prohibition is absent. On this there is no difference of opinion, just as in the case of an enslaved man. Allah knows best.
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According to the view that a free man may marry an enslaved woman even when he possesses the means to marry a free woman and does not fear falling into sin, a free wife has no right to object if he marries an enslaved woman while married to her, or marries her while already married to an enslaved woman. This is because, according to this view, the enslaved woman is one of his wives, just as she is for an enslaved man. This is what the wording of al-Mudawwana indicates.
Abū Ishāq al-Tūnisī, however, interpreted it as granting the free wife the same right in this matter under both views. This is sound only according to the position of Ibn al-Mājishūn, who holds that a woman has the option to end her marriage if her enslaved husband marries an enslaved woman while married to her, or marries her while already married to an enslaved woman. Allah—glorified and exalted is He—grants success.
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According to the view that such a marriage is prohibited unless the man lacks the requisite means, there is disagreement over what constitutes those means. It has been said that it is