3 Preface الزّاني لا يَنكِحُ إِلّا زانِيَةً أَو مُشرِكَةً وَالزّانِيَةُ لا يَنكِحُها إِلّا زانٍ أَو مُشرِكٌ ۚ وَحُرِّمَ ذٰلِكَ عَلَى المُؤمِنينَAhmed AliThe adulterer can marry no one but an adulteress or his partner (in the act)1, and the adulteress cannot marry any but an adulterer or her partner (in the act). This is forbidden the believers, Shirk, though used in the Qur’an conceptually for associating a partner with God, basically it means to be attached to or be associated or mixed up with. Mushrikah (feminine gender) and mushrik (masculine) are the nominative forms of sharika, shared, participated, was a sharer became partners. The use of a word as a concept does not abolish its etymology… The believers are forbidden to marry adulterous women unless they renounce evil and repent, for those who repent and reform are forgiven by God (3:89).