30 Preface إِلّا عَلىٰ أَزواجِهِم أَو ما مَلَكَت أَيمانُهُم فَإِنَّهُم غَيرُ مَلومينَYusuf AliExcept with their wives and the (captives) whom1 their right hands possess,- for (then) they are not to be blamed,Captives of war may be married as such: see 4:25: but their status is inferior to that of free wives until they are free. This institution of the captives of war is now obsolete. Such inferiority of status as there was, was in the status of captivity, not in the status of marriage as such, in which there are no degrees except by local customs, which Islam does not recognise.