His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And do not compel your female slaves to prostitution if they desire chastity, seeking the temporary pleasures of this worldly life. And whoever compels them, then indeed, Allah is after their compulsion Forgiving and Merciful" [An-Nur: 33]. "And We have certainly sent down to you clear verses and an example from those who were before you and a lesson for the righteous".

It has been narrated that the reason for this verse is that "Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul had a female slave named Musaykah, and it was said: Mu'adhah. He used to command her to engage in fornication and earn from it. She complained about this to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, so the verse was revealed concerning him and concerning those who did as he did from the hypocrites."

And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "If they desire chastity" [An-Nur: 33] refers back to "the female slaves". This is because if a girl desires chastity, then at that time it is possible and conceivable that the master may compel her, and it is possible to prohibit compulsion. If the girl does not desire chastity, then it cannot be imagined that it would be said to the master: do not compel her; because compulsion cannot be conceived in her if she desires fornication. This is a matter concerning [masters and female slaves] in their state. This view has been overlooked by many of the interpreters. Some of them said: His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "If they desire chastity" [An-Nur: 33] refers to [the unmarried] in His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And marry those who are single among you" [An-Nur: 32]. And some of them said: This condition in His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "If they desire" is nullified, and this is among the weak opinions. And Allah is the One who grants success to the truth by His mercy.

And "the temporary pleasures of this worldly life" in this verse refers to what the female slave earns through her private parts. And the meaning of the remainder of the verse is: indeed, Allah is after their compulsion Forgiving and Merciful towards them. And forgiveness and mercy may be conceived for those who are compelled after repentance from that. The meaning is: Forgiving for whoever repents. Ibn Mas'ud, Jabir ibn Abdullah, and Ibn Jubair read: "For them is Forgiving and Merciful" with the addition of "for them".

Then He enumerated the blessings upon the believers in what He sent down to them of the illuminating verses, and in what He set forth for them of the examples of the past nations so that they may take heed from what those fell into, and in what He mentioned to them of the admonitions. The majority of the people read: "clear verses" with a فتح on the ي, meaning: Allah, exalted and majestic is He, clarified and explained them. And Al-Hasan, Talhah, Asim, and Al-A'mash read: "clarifying verses" with a كسر on the ي, meaning: they clarified the truth and made it evident.