And when there was in that a harshness towards the fornicator for what he has committed of the forbidden, which is characterized by disgrace, that which indicates his avoidance was made clear. It was stated explicitly, preventing the marriage of one characterized by fornication, whether male or female. This is to inform that the act of one characterized by it, whether a man or a woman, can only be fornication even if it is by contract. So it was said, connecting it to what came before: "The fornicator does not marry" meaning he does not marry "except a fornicator or a polytheist." This means that the known characteristic of fornication restricts his marriage to a fornicator or a polytheist, and that is forbidden. This is a deterrent for the Muslim from marrying one characterized by fornication, as she has been equated with the polytheist if she associates with him. This returns to the fact that whoever marries a fornicator is either a fornicator or a polytheist, meaning he is like her or worse than her. If it were limited to that, there would be no prohibition against the chaste marrying the fornicator. So Allah, the Most High, stated, preventing that: "And the fornicator does not marry her" meaning he does not marry her "except a fornicator or a polytheist." This means that the known characteristic of her fornication restricts her marriage to a fornicator or a polytheist, and that is forbidden. So this is a deterrent for the Muslim to marry one characterized by fornication, as he has been equated in this with the polytheist. This returns to the fact that whoever marries a fornicator is either a fornicator or a polytheist, meaning he is like her or worse than her. And the marriage in both cases has been ascribed to the man, indicating that women have no right to initiate the contract. Then it was stated clearly what the beginning of the verse indicates by saying, built for the passive: "And that is forbidden" meaning the marriage of the fornicator and the fornicator is a prohibition with no duality in it "upon the believers." And it is known from this that the mention of the polytheist and the polytheist is for the increase in deterrence. Then this ruling was abrogated, as our Imam al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, said, in agreement with Ibn al-Musayyib by His saying, the Most High: "And marry those who are single among you" [An-Nur: 32], which is the plural of single, meaning one who has no spouse from among males and females. So it was made lawful for the fornicator to marry whom he wishes, and for the fornicatress to marry whom she wishes. And the reading of whoever read "does not marry" in the negative refers to this, as the request may come for the news just as the news comes for the request - and Allah knows best. Al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, said in al-Um in a section translated with the rulings of the Qur'an and in a section after the book of the major and minor pilgrimage and the sacrifices: What has come regarding the marriage of the fornicators. He mentioned the verse and said: The people of tafsir have differed in this verse with a significant difference. Muslim ibn Khalid informed us from Ibn Jurayj from Mujahid that this verse was revealed concerning the prostitutes from the prostitutes of the pre-Islamic period who had flags at their homes. He said in another part: And they were not chaste. Some Muslims wanted to marry them, so the verse was revealed prohibiting them from marrying except one who declared like what they declared or a polytheist. It was said they were fornicators who were polytheists, so it was revealed that no one marries them except a fornicator like them or a polytheist, or a polytheist even if he is not a fornicator. And that was forbidden upon the believers. It was said: It is general but it has been abrogated. Sufyan informed us from Yahya ibn Sa'id from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib that he said: It has been abrogated.

﴿And marry those among you who are single﴾ [An-Nur: 32] This refers to the single Muslims. This is as Ibn Al-Musayyib said, if Allah, the Most High, wills. There are proofs from the Book and the Sunnah for this. Then he deduced the invalidity of other than this statement by saying that if the fornicator is a polytheist, she is forbidden to the fornicators of the Muslims and others, by His saying, ﴿And do not marry polytheist women until they believe﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 221] and there is no disagreement in this. If she is a Muslim, she is forbidden by Islam to all polytheists in every marriage, by His saying, ﴿If you know them to be believers, do not return them to the disbelievers; they are not lawful for them, nor are they lawful for them﴾ [Al-Mumtahana: 10] and there is no disagreement in this either. Furthermore, there is no disagreement among any of the people of knowledge regarding the prohibition of polytheist women, whether they are chaste or fornicators, to one who believes, whether he is a fornicator or chaste. It is also known that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, punished a man for fornication and punished a woman, and we do not know of him saying to the fornicator: 'Do you have a wife? Then she becomes forbidden to you if you fornicate.' A fornicator cannot marry except a fornicator or a fornicator woman. It has been reported that a man complained about his wife's immorality, and he said: 'Divorce her.' He replied: 'I love her.' He said: 'Enjoy her' - referring to what was narrated by Abu Dawood, An-Nasa'i, and others from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, that a man came to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and said: 'My wife does not prevent a hand from touching her.' He said: 'Divorce her.' He said: 'I cannot be patient without her.' He said: 'Then keep her.'

And it was narrated by Al-Bayhaqi and Al-Tabarani from the hadith of Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him. Our Sheikh Ibn Hajar said: 'It is a good and authentic hadith.' - End of quote. Al-Shafi'i said: 'It has been narrated from Umar ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said to a man who wanted to marry a woman who had committed immorality: 'Marry her in the manner of a chaste Muslim woman.' - End of quote, in meaning. And he said in the part that came after Hajj: 'We have unified the evidence from the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, regarding a fornicator and a fornicator among the Muslims, of whom we do not know that it was forbidden for either of them to marry other than a fornicator or a fornicator, nor did he prohibit one of them to his wife. Then he said: 'The choice for the man is not to marry a fornicator, and for the woman not to marry a fornicator. If they do so, it is not forbidden for either of them; it is not a sin of one of them in itself that prohibits him from the lawful when it comes to him. Then he said: 'It makes no difference whether the fornicator among them was punished or not, or whether there was evidence against him or he confessed; it does not prohibit the fornication of one of them nor their fornication nor any sin from the sins the lawful, except if their religions differ by polytheism and faith.' - End of quote.

And it has been known that this ruling was not abrogated by the verse regarding the unmarried ones only, but by what has joined it from consensus and other verses and hadiths, such that this made its indication regarding what it addressed certain, like the indication of the specific regarding what it addressed. So it cannot be said that al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, contradicted his principle that the specific is not abrogated by the general, because what the specific addressed is certain, and what the general addressed is apparent and presumed. And this ruling - which is the prohibition in the early Islam after the migration - was so that the state of the corruptor does not dominate over the reformer, causing some matters to become unsettled, as was indicated in Al-Baqarah: "And do not marry the polytheists" [Al-Baqarah: 221] and in Al-Ma'idah at "And whoever disbelieves in faith, his work has become worthless" [Al-Ma'idah: 5]. And this is from the valley of his saying:

"Do not ask about a man, but ask about his companion, for every friend follows his friend."

And the kinship is the reason for the connection, and the similarity is the cause of the continuation, and the opposition necessitates distance and prohibits alliance. And Abu Dawood narrated in Al-Adab and Al-Tirmidhi in Al-Zuhd - and he said: it is a good strange narration - from Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "A man is upon the religion of his friend, so let one of you look at whom he befriends." And Imam Abu Ya'la Al-Mawsili narrated in his Musnad that Yahya ibn Ma'in narrated to us that Sa'id ibn Al-Hakam narrated to us that Yahya ibn Ayyub narrated to me from Yahya ibn Sa'id: "From Amrah bint Abdul Rahman, she said: There was a woman in Mecca who was a jester, meaning she migrated to the noble city, and she stayed with a woman who resembled her. This reached Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, and she said: My beloved spoke the truth! I heard the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, say: 'Souls are like conscripted soldiers; what they recognize of each other will unite, and what they deny of each other will differ.'" He said: And I do not know except that he said in the hadith: And we do not know that woman. And it will come at "And the good women are for the good men" [An-Nur: 26] the narration of "Souls are like conscripted soldiers." And Imam Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Marwan Al-Dinuri said in his book Al-Majalisa: Ahmad ibn Ali Al-Khazzaz narrated to us from Mus'ab ibn Abdullah from Abu Ghuzayyah Al-Ansari, who said: Al-Sha'bi said: It is said that Allah has an angel appointed to gather the forms together. - Ended. And our Sheikh, the Hafiz Abu Al-Fadl ibn Hajar, attributed in the narration of the hadiths of Musnad Al-Firdaws to Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, and said: By the gathering of the forms. And it is narrated that the Commander of the Faithful, Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, addressed the people of Kufa three days after his arrival to them and said: O people of Kufa, we have known your evil ones from your good ones. They said: How is that when you have only been here three days? He said: There were with us good and evil, so our good joined your good, and our evil joined your evil.

So when the rulings were established, and both the specific and the general submitted, and the religion struck with its strength, and there was no fear of anything from its structure, the prohibition was abrogated, and the dislike or the contrary of the preferable remained - and Allah is the Grantor of success. All of this is a prelude to the innocence of Aisha, the Mother of the Believers, may Allah be pleased with her, as will be clarified from him. "And the good are for the good" [An-Nur: 26] because she is the companion of the best of the worlds and the most pious and chaste among them. And because both she and Safwan, may Allah be pleased with them, are far removed from what they were accused of, which is well known to be the opposite of it. And to this, there is reference in the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Who will excuse me from a man whose harm has reached my family? By Allah, I have not known anything about my family except good. And they mentioned a man about whom I have not known anything except good." And in another narration, "I have never known anything bad about him at all, nor did he ever enter my house except that I was present." And in the words of Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, about Safwan, may Allah be pleased with him: "Indeed, he was killed as a martyr in the way of Allah." This is besides the explicit verses and the clear signs, for it is "and the good" [An-Nur: 26], a hint before the clarification, and a statement and indication after the expression and explanation, so that in the innocence of the truthful one, may Allah be pleased with her, there are two rational and witness-based proofs that encompass the transmitted evidence, making them a protection for her and a safeguard against the validation of any slander against her. In this, there is a greatness of her matter and a tremendous status that none can truly appreciate except the One who has honored her with it.