Cohabiting with a woman outside of marriage

30-11-2002 | IslamWeb

Question:

Can we have sex with slave woman? Know that I mean by slave woman that is mentioned in the Qur'an with the words: Ma Malakat Aymanukum what your right hand possess.Therefore is it permissible to have sex with a woman who is under control of someone not by force but with the free will of her and her parents. If a man has a woman living under his roof, who is a 'Sane' mature adult and has been placed under the man's responsibility by her parents and herself 'Willingly' and she is a Muslim/Christian and the man takes full responsibility of her, her maintenance, her stay, her needs, and with the approval of the government. So, she serves him as he is her master, and she has no other means of earning her livelihood other than serving a decent person. In this case, is it allowed to cohabit with her without marrying her under the law of the Qur'an, with her full permission or consent and then giving her same status as that of a wife? I am sure this is permitted in the Qur'an.

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

It is Haram for a Muslim to have sex with a woman who is not his wife nor one of his female slaves.
So, whoever maintains or manages affairs of a Muslim or non-Muslim woman, this does not entitle him to possess her even though she accepts, since the concept of Mulk al-Yameem means what your right hands possess, i.e. those captives and slaves possessed through one of the following channels:
1) Non-Muslim captives - males and females - due to Jihad.
2) A baby of female slave, whose father is not her master, whether his/her father was free or slave.
3) A slave possessed by purchasing, present or bequest.
Therefore, no one is permitted to take delight in woman on the plea of Mulk al-Yameen unless he possessed her through one of the above-mentioned ways.
Allah knows best.