Surah Al-Mairaj states that men are allowed sexual intimacy with wives as well as slave girls. Is a relationship with the latter allowed even while a man is in nikah with another woman?
If a man brings into nikah, his slave girl, does she achieve the status of a wife?
Answer
Slaves and slave girls were a problem that the message of Quran solved gradually. There was a reform movement that was launched right from the beginning of the revelation of Quran of not only raising the status of these unfortunate men and women, but also of gradually freeing them.
We cannot have slaves and slave girls anymore because of the following reasons:
i) All slaves and slave girls are allowed to set themselves free by entering into a contract of emancipation with their masters. (Quran 24:33).
ii) No new slaves and slave girls can be made now because the Quran has not allowed Muslims to treat their prisoners of war except in two ways: either they should set them free without demanding ransom or with ransom (Quran 47:4).
iii) The Quran requires all Muslims to honour their commitments. All Muslim countries are signatories to the contract that requires them to abolish slavery. Therefore, it is a big crime for a Muslim to keep a slave or a slave girl now (Quran 5:1).
During the time when the Quranic movement of gradual freedom for slaves was being launched, slaves girls were allowed to be kept by their masters as was the custom: to keep them as a member of the family. Men were also allowed to have sex with their slave girls during this period. The question is now irrelevant, thanks mainly to the Quranic teachings.