His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

"The fornicator does not marry except a fornicatress or a polytheist, and the fornicatress is not married except by a fornicator or a polytheist. And that is forbidden to the believers."

In this verse, there are four aspects of interpretation:

One of them is that the purpose of the verse is to denounce and disgrace his matter, and that it is forbidden for the believers. The connection of this meaning with what came before is good and eloquent. He means by His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "does not marry" that he does not have sexual intercourse. Thus, marriage is in the meaning of sexual intercourse. He repeated the story for emphasis and taking from both sides. Then he added the division of the polytheist and the polytheist woman in terms of polytheism being more general in sins than fornication. The meaning is that the fornicator does not have sexual intercourse at the time of his fornication except with a fornicatress from the Muslims or one who is lower than her from the polytheists. It has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his companions, that marriage in this verse is sexual intercourse. Al-Zajjaj denied this and said: Marriage is not known in the Book of Allah, the Exalted, except in the meaning of wedlock.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And it is not as he said. In the Qur'an, it is mentioned: "until she marries another husband" [Al-Baqarah: 230]. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, clarified that it is in the meaning of sexual intercourse. Al-Tabari mentioned what leans towards this interpretation from Sa'id ibn Jubair, Ibn Abbas, and Ikrimah, but it is not conclusive or complete.

The second is that the verse was revealed concerning a specific people. This is a saying that has been narrated in its meaning from Abdullah ibn Umar and from Ibn Abbas and his companions, may Allah be pleased with them. They said: They were a people who used to commit adultery in their ignorance with well-known prostitutes. When Islam came and they embraced Islam, they could not engage in adultery. They wanted to marry those women due to their poverty, as it was customary for them to provide for those who entered into marriage with them. The verse was revealed because of them. The reference to 'the adulterer' is to one of those, who carried the name of adultery that was in the days of ignorance. And His saying, 'لا يَنْكِحُ' means he does not marry. In the verse - according to this interpretation - there is a meaning of lamentation for them. In that, there is a rebuke as if He is saying: What calamity? The adulterer does not want to marry except an adulteress or a polytheist, meaning: Their souls are inclined to these lowly matters due to their lack of discipline. The consensus that the adulteress cannot be married by a polytheist contradicts this interpretation. Then His saying: 'وَحُرِّمَ ذَلِكَ عَلى المُؤْمِنِينَ' means the marriage of those prostitutes is forbidden. The people of this interpretation claim that the marriage of those prostitutes has been prohibited by Allah, the Most High, for the Ummah of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. Among the most famous of them was 'Anaq the prostitute, and the one who intended to marry her was Duldul. He used to secretly bring the weak of the Muslims from Mecca. She became aware of him and invited him to herself, but he refused adultery and wanted marriage. He sought permission from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and the verse was revealed. When she called him and he refused, she said to him: How will you show your face? By Allah, I will expose you! Al-Tabari mentioned that among the mentioned prostitutes was Umm Mahzoum, the slave girl of the Makhzumi, and it is said about her: Umm Mahzoum, and Umm Ghaliz, the slave girl of Safwan ibn Umayyah, and Hinnah the Copt, the slave girl of Al-As ibn Wa'il, and Muznah, the slave girl of Malik ibn Amilah ibn Sabbak ibn Abd al-Dar, and Jalalah, the slave girl of Suhail ibn Amr, and Umm Suwayd, the slave girl of Amr ibn Uthman al-Makhzumi, and Shuraifah, the slave girl of Zam'ah ibn al-Aswad, and Farasah, the slave girl of Hisham ibn Rabiah, and Quraybah, the slave girl of Hilal ibn Anas, and others among those who had banners known by which their residences were identified. Likewise, in Medina, there were famous slave girls of Abdullah ibn Ubayy and others. Al-Tabari narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, that he said in the context of this interpretation: There were houses in the days of ignorance called 'mawakhir', where they would rent out their young women, and it was known for adultery. Allah prohibited that for the believers. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It is possible that this statement is in the interpretation that I mentioned before. One of the mawakhir is a makhur, and from it is the saying of some of the modern poets: 'In every valley we descended, there was a makhur in every elevation we ascended.'

The third interpretation mentioned by Al-Zajjaj and others from Al-Husayn is that the intended meaning is the male and female adulterers who are subject to punishment. He said: This is a ruling from Allah, the Exalted, so it is not permissible for a punished male adulterer to marry except a punished female adulterer. It has been narrated that a punished man married a non-punished woman, and Ali ibn Abi Talib rejected their marriage. And His saying, the Exalted: "And that is forbidden to the believers" refers to adultery. Al-Zahrawi narrated in this regard a hadith from Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "The punished male adulterer does not marry except one like him." This hadith is not authentic, and there is a consideration in it. The inclusion of "the polytheist" in the verse refutes it, and the words of the verse reject it, even if "the polytheist woman" is interpreted in the sense of a woman of the Scripture, there is no way in the wording of the polytheist.

The fourth has been narrated from Sa'id ibn Al-Musayyib, and that is that he said: This ruling was for the adulterers in general, that a male adulterer does not marry except a female adulterer. Then the concession came, and this was abrogated by His saying, the Exalted: "And marry those among you who are single" [An-Nur: 32]. The sequence of this abrogation has also been narrated from Mujahid, except that he said: The prohibition was for those specific individuals and not for adulterers in general. Abu Ubaidah mentioned this from him in his book on abrogation, and he mentioned from Mujahid that he said: The marriage of those prostitutes was forbidden for those specific individuals.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The mention of "polytheism" in the verse weakens these interpretations.

Abu Al-Burheshim read: "And Allah has forbidden that to the believers."

There is a difference of opinion regarding one who commits adultery with a woman and then intends to marry her. Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, Ibn Umar, Jabir ibn Abdullah, Tawus, Ibn Al-Musayyib, Jabir ibn Zayd, Ata, Al-Hasan, Ikrimah, Ibn Abbas, Malik, Al-Thawri, and Ash-Shafi'i permitted that. Ibn Mas'ud, Al-Bara' ibn Azib, and Aisha prohibited it, saying: They remain adulterers as long as they are together.