Quran Lessons

SLAVERY IN ISLAM

This topic is from the controversial issues that made the enemies of Islam use it as a way to offend this religion and claim that Islam is a religion that encouraged slavery rather than prohibit it. And how can a religion that came from heaven be short in freeing man from the tyranny of other man?

This is the question we intend to answer in this article.

What is slavery?

It is in reality the following of some to others and the depravation of a certain group from their human rights available to others.

We look upon slavery today with the eyes of the twentieth century and in the view of the brutal treatment and agony slaves went through. We are overwhelmed by that brutality and couldn�t stand that any system or religion that legalizes such a treatment.

Then we wonder more on how did Islam allow slavery in the time where all its legislation and guidance were aimed to liberate humans from slavery in all its colors and forms and we would wish that Islam had openly and frankly stated the prohibition of slavery.

A historical view:

In the Roman Empire slaves were considered things not people. They had no rights what so ever but they had from duties and obligations what would make a heavy burden.

These slaves would be brought by means of fighting, conquests and battles.

Such wars didn�t rise except for the purpose of enslaving others and use them for the Romans� interests. In order for a Romanian to lead an extravagant life, enjoying all the lusts of life from hot and cold baths, luxurious clothes, fine foods, wine, women, dancing, parties and celebrations he had to enslave other nations and suck their blood for that.

Egypt prior to Islam was a wheat harvest for the Empire and a source of wealth.

For the sake of this explicit lust the Roman colonial Empire set forth to achieve its goals.

Slaves used to work in fields with their hands rattling in chains, and fed only to keep them alive to work not because it is a right to them to acquire their need from food like trees and animals.

During their work they were whipped and hit just for the evil lust a master or his agent would feel from tormenting these creatures. They used to live by dozens in cells dark and filthy, full of rats and insects.

But things didn�t stop at that level. There were these rounds of fight by swords and arrows arranged by the masters and attended by the emperor himself sometimes to watch the slaves kill each other while the crowd cheer and shout happily and joyfully for the massacres taking place.

This was slavery in the Roman world and the situation wasn�t better than the one in Persia, India and other countries though they varied in the extent of brutality and cruelty.

Then Islam came�

It came to give these people their humanity again. It came to tell the masters and the salves � you are from each other�. It came to say, � he who kills his slave will be killed, and he who cuts the nose of his slave, his nose will be cut, and he who castrate his slave the same thing will be done to him.�

It came to say, you are sons of Adam and Adam is from dust and that no master is better than his slave and no slave is better than his slave except in the degree of piety and fear from Allah. The Prophet pbuh said, � No favor is given to an Arab over a Foreigner nor for a Black over Red or Red over Black except in piety.�

It came to order the masters to treat their slaves kindly and to establish that the relation between masters and slaves is not the relation of contempt, insult and higher status rather it is a relation of neighborhood and relatives.

In the Quran:
It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces towards East or West; but it is righteousness to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practise regular charity, to fulfil the contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth, the God-fearing. The masters who are the family of the slave would be asked if someone wants to propose to her.

In the Quran:
If any of you have not the means wherewith to wed free believing women, they may wed believing girls from among those whom your right hands possess: and Allah hath full knowledge about your faith. Ye are one from another: wed them with the leave of their owners, and give them their dowers, according to what is reasonable: they should be chaste, not lustful, nor taking paramours: when they are taken in wedlock, if they fall into shame, their punishment is half that for free women. This (permission) is for those among you who fear sin; but is better for you that ye practise self-restraint. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful, while the men from the slave are brothers of the masters. The Prophet pbuh said, � Your slaves are your brothers, so whoever has a brother under his hand let him feed him of what he eats, cloth him of what he wears, and don�t give them from work what they cannot stand but if you did you should help them.�

And to move things to a higher level the Prophet pbuh said, � Don�t say may slave but say my boy and my girl.� On that Abu Hurairah (a companion of the Prophet) tells a man riding while his slave running behind him, let him ride with you, he is your brother, and he has a soul the same as yours.�

Then Islam moved to the second step, the step of real liberation�

The prior step was taken to liberate the slaves morally by returning them to humanity and treating them as honored beings not different from their masters except for the circumstances that led to their slavery.

But Islam didn�t stop at that point rather it took practical actions to liberate the slave by two great means: the freeing of the slaves and the contracting.

As for freeing of the slave Islam encouraged volunteering to do so and the Prophet pbuh was to set the first example to his companions where he freed those whom he had and his companions followed him in that.

Abu Bakr used to spend a lot of money in buying slaves from their atheist owners and freeing them. The House of money (finance ministry) used to buy slaves and free them whenever there was an excess of money left in it.

The Prophet used to ask the slaves of war to teach ten Muslims how to read and write as a price for their freedom. The Holy Quran also stated that a lot of sins could be repented and compensated by freeing a slave.

Killing by mistake was compensated by paying an amount of money to the family of the deceased and freeing a slave as a compensation to both the family and the society since slavery is like death in the eyes of Islam and that�s why it takes every possible opportunity to revive the slaves by freeing them.

Contracting on the other hand is granting the slave his freedom whenever he asks in return for an amount of money agreed upon the master and the slave. The freeing here is compulsory and can�t be delayed or postponed after paying the amount agreed upon and is enforced by the state.

By establishing contracting Islam opened the door of liberation and didn�t wait for the masters to volunteer at the time they see right.

From the first moment contracting is asked- the master has no right to refuse- by any one who feels its time to liberate himself, and freeing him didn�t impose threat on the state.

At that time the slave�s work for his master becomes a paid job or he can if he decided to work at another place until he gathers the required amount.

Such a thing happened in Europe in the 14th century, 7 centuries after Islam did with one difference and that the states in Europe didn�t contribute in helping the slaves pay for their contracts while Islam had made a branch of Zakat (compulsory charity) to be paid to help those slaves pay for their contracts if they were unable to do so on their own.

A question might arise here and that is if Islam had took these vast steps toward freeing slave why didn�t it take the final step and announce the cancellation of slavery from its roots?

To answer this question we need to realize some socio-political and psychological facts that surrounded the issue of slavery and made Islam establish the principles for freeing them and let them work on the long run to do so.

We need to remember that freedom is taken not granted and freeing slaves by a law would not liberate them, the American experiment is a witness on that.

When president Lincoln Issued the law of freeing the slaves. They couldn�t withstand freedom and went back to their masters begging to be accepted again because they weren�t liberated from the inside.

This is not so weird taking the life they used to live because life in slavery has made them adjust to obedience and taking orders and never on responsibility and issuing orders.

This hidden slavery is still working today in nations who were under colonialism represented in cowardice toward taking any action unless one of the western advisors or consultants are brought to give opinion or until one of the heads of the government do so.

This psychological adjustment is the one that enslaves the slave but it originated in the first place from outer circumstances then it transformed to be something independent from it like a branch of a tree that reached the earth and then started to make its own roots.

Such a psychological adjustment is not wiped out by a declaration issued by the state rather it should be transformed from within by measures that would re-adjust the feeling and enhance the unused systems in the soul of the slave and makes a human being from the distorted entity he was turned into.

Another thing worth mentioning and that is the only way for slavery was through wars with other nations who would enslave Muslim captives while what took place from selling and buying and slave markets didn�t have any relation to Islam and its teachings.

Women slaves were honored even in their slavery. They were no longer an open ground for any one except for their owner and no one is allowed except him to enter on them.

It also gave them the right to free themselves by contracting. Any woman slave who would give birth to a child from her master is freed and so is her child.

And they used to get from the kind treatment what Islam asked for.

Despite it was allowed for one man to have more than one woman as a slave but treating them as wives was his right alone and he had no right to ask them to practice adultery with any one or to be forced to do so.

Islam did that to help keep the society clean from adultery and crime and for treating these captive women as honored wives for one man to guard, feed and protect from crime.

In other countries captive women were forced to practice prostitution with others and their masters had no feeling of honor towards them since they have no protector. Their masters would even get money from that dirty trade.

But because the European conscience doesn�t accept this beast like nature�!!! it allowed prostitution and protected it by law and went on spreading it in every country it colonized.

So what changed from slavery except its title? And where is the honor and dignity of the prostitute when she cannot refuse any one who desire her for the dirtiest meaning humanity can be lowered to.

Compare this and to the system of women slaves in Islam.

Islam was open and frank with itself and gave things their names while the phony civilization doesn�t call prostitution slavery rather they call it � a social necessity�!

Why is that?

It is because this civilized man in the west doesn�t want to support anyone; not a wife nor children. He wants to have fun without carrying out any consequences. He wants to discharge these sex desires in her without caring on who this woman is or her feeling towards him. She is a mere body available to anyone who passes by her.

Is this the social necessity that allows men in the west to enslave women in our modern age?

Further more, these countries that cancelled prostitution didn�t do so because of pain in conscience or because of an increase in their ethical, psychological, and spiritual levels. No they did that because amateurs had exceeded the professionals and the state doesn�t have to interfere any more.

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