(And such of your slaves as seek a writing (of emancipation), write it for them…) [24:33].
This verse was revealed about a slave of Huwaytib ibn ‘Abd al-‘Uzza who was called Subayh. The latter asked his master for a writing of emancipation but he refused. When Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse, Huwaytib agreed to write a letter of emancipation in exchange for a hundred pieces of gold. Out of this sum, he offered him twenty pieces of gold which he paid. But he was killed in war at the Battle of Hunayn.
(Force not your slave-girls to whoredom that ye may seek enjoyment of the life of the world, if they would preserve their chastity) [24:33].
Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Qadi informed us> the chamberlain of Ahmad al-Tusi> Muhammad ibn Hamdan> Abu Mu‘awiyah> al-A‘mash> Abu Sufyan> Jabir who said: “‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy used to say to a slave-girl of his: ‘Go and earn something for us from whoring’, and so Allah, glorious and majestic is He, revealed (Force not your slave-girls to whoredom) up to His words (Allah will be Forgiving, Merciful!)”. Narrated by Muslim from Abu Kurayb from Abu Mu‘awiyah.
Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Farisi informed us> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Hamdun> Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Hafiz> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Isma‘il ibn Abi Uways> Malik> Ibn Shihab> ‘Umar ibn Thabit who related that the verse (Force not your slave-girls to whoredom) was revealed about Mu‘adhah, the slave-girl of ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul.
And through this chain of transmission> Muhammad ibn Yahya> ‘Ayyash ibn al-Walid> ‘Abd al-A‘la> Muhammad ibn Ishaq> al-Zuhri> ‘Umar ibn Thabit who said: “Mu‘adhah was Muslim as well as being the slave-girl of ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. The latter used to force her to whoredom, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Force not your slave-girls to whoredom) up to the end of the verse”.
Sa‘id ibn Muhammad al-Mu’adhdhin informed> Abu ‘Ali al-Faqih> Abu’l-Qasim al-Baghawi> Dawud ibn ‘Amr> Mansur ibn Abi al-Aswad> al-A‘mash> Abu Nadrah> Jabir who said: “‘Abd ibn Ubayy used to have a slave-girl by the name of Musaykah whom he forced to whoredom. And so, Allah, glorious and majestic is He, revealed (Force not your slave-girls to whoredom) up to the end of the verse”.
The commentators of the Qur’an said: “This verse was revealed about Mu‘adhah and Musaykah, two slave-girls of ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, whom he used to force to whoredom and tax them for it. This was a pre-Islamic practice; people used to drive their slave-girls to whoredom and take a certain amount of the money they made from it. Upon the advent of Islam, Mu‘adhah said to Musaykah: ‘This business of ours is one of two things: if it is good, we have done plenty of it; and if it is evil, it is high time that we leave it’. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”.
Said Muqatil: “This verse was revealed about six slave-girls who were owned by ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy. The latter forced them to whoredom in order to benefit from the money they earned from selling themselves. These slave-girls were: Mu‘adhah, Musaykah, Umaymah, ‘Amrah, Arwa and Qutaylah. One day, one of them brought back with her one piece of gold while another one brought back with her a stripy garment. He said to them: ‘Go back and do more’. They said: ‘By Allah, we will not; Allah has brought us Islam and made adultery forbidden’. They went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and complained to him. And so, Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”.
Al-Hakim Abu ‘Amr Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz informed us, through that which he wrote to me> Ahmad ibn al-Fadl al-Haddadi> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Ishaq ibn Ibrahim> ‘Abd al-Razzaq> Ma‘mar> al-Zuhri who related that a man from the Quraysh was taken prisoner at the Battle of Badr. He was the prisoner of ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy. The latter had a slave-girl called Mu‘adhah. The Qurashite prisoner sought to tempt Mu‘adhah to sleep with him but she persistently refused because she was Muslim. Ibn Ubayy tried to force her to sleep with the Qurashite and hit her to make her comply. He was hoping that she would eventually get pregnant from the Qurashite so that he could demand a ransom for his child. However, Allah, exalted is He, said: (Force not your slave-girls to whoredom) up to His words (Allah will be Forgiving, Merciful!), He says: I will forgive them that which they were forced to do.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou