Islam and Slavery
	Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq

Background of this essay:

Case A:
Some time ago, I was asked the following question on an Islamic forum. "Is slavery banned in Islam? If the answer is yes, please give me the reference."

Case B:
Recently, a dear fellow Muslim, whom I know as highly educated and pious, shared  [in 2005] a hadith on his daily Hadith distribution list.: 

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "If anyone possesses these three characteristics Allah will give him an easy death and bring him into His Paradise: gentleness towards the weak, affection towards parents, and kindness to slaves." [Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 981]

I shared the following observation with him:

The following hadith includes a part about showing "kindness to slaves."

 In my humble opinion and understanding, all such hadith about slavery and slaves should come with a brief note somehow clarifying that even though these hadiths speak in present tense or time frame, it should be understood in the context of a society that had institutionalized slavery.

Islam does not approve slavery. It has consistently worked toward the abolition of slavery and has even a permanent commitment against it by including one portion of Zakah for freeing the people in bondage.

Without this clarification, our Muslim mindset seems to confirm that we still believe in slavery or it leaves the impression especially for the non-Muslims that we still speak about slavery in "present" term.

He politely wrote back as following, which drew my attention.

... in my humble opinion (correct me if I am wrong) slavery is not haram.  That means if I have a slave today, I will not be committing haram act.  However, I understand that Allah, The Most High and His Prophet (sas) took every opportunity to discourage slavery and has given us numerous options to avoid it.  So, if I had written a comment at the end of that hadith that the context of hadith is in past tense (as you suggested), in my humble understanding that would be wrong because as of today slavery is not haram in Islam.  

Case C:
A very reputable Muslim intellectual, whom I respect highly, made a comment on the internet: 

"Imam Razi and some other scholars hold that you have to marry her even in such cases .I give below the note of Muhammad Asad. [translation of and note on verse 24 of Surah Nisa in Asad's The Message of the Qur'an] ... [However] The more general view is that marriage is not required for having sexual relation with one’s own female slave."

I replied:

One of the problems with discussions of such topics is that we seem to deal with these matters as if these issues are relevant to OUR contemporary time. Whatever was the minority or general view, this does not really add anything meaningful to what you have already written. It rather repeatedly opens a good number of common line of attacks, because is the issue of slavery a matter of the past to us or not? If yes, then such "general" (or more accurately, prevailing) view is completely out of sync. How does it really help to bring up the "general" view, which is sad anyway because it seems that so many of our "general" view has ended up generally on the wrong side.

 

When one mentions "... There ARE many other conditions...", this kind of present tense reference continues to give a currency to the discussions. Shouldn't it be "there WERE many other conditions ...". I am not just referring to your sentence here, rather this seems to be the general case. Thus, when non-Muslims read such discussions, they can't quite have the impression that we are talking about something that we REALLY believe as a matter of the past.

The esteemed intellectual wrote back:

I honestly feel that there is so much evidence in hadith and juristic literature that it will be almost impossible to prove that Islam prohibited slavery in one stroke, unless we decide to ignore all juristic views and hadith on the subject. Such effort will be neither convincing nor acceptable to scholars.

 

I strongly believe that slavery can not come back again because firstly, according to all Islamic scholars, no free man can be made slaves. Secondly because of Quranic position and our agreements POW’s have to be exchanged.

 

I think I have taken a more safe, defensible and academic approach in the matter.

 

I agree with you that our jurists almost forgot that Islam‘s objective was abolition of slavery.

 

I have given up present tense on your suggestion.

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Islam and Slavery

There are many non-Muslims who contend that Islam has not prohibited slavery. Indeed, despite the conscientious effort since the time of the Prophet, the institution of slavery did not simply disappear. Rather, in many parts of the Muslim world, slavery thrived throughout the history. 

As far as the continued presence of slavery through the centuries, it is a historical fact. However, one can't blame the non-Muslims for the view that Islam has not prohibited slavery, where even pious and educated Muslims even today, as evidenced in the correspondences mentioned in the Background section above, also rather insistently upholds the position that slavery is not haram in Islam and no sin would be committed, if a slave is owned today [Case B].

I can't quite fault the fellow pious Muslim for having such a view, because it is the widely held orthodox view that slavery hasn't been forbidden in Islam. According to Case C, "I strongly believe that slavery can not come back again because firstly, according to all Islamic scholars, no free man can be made slaves." He thinks that this is a "more safe, defensible and academic approach in the matter." However, he acknowledges that "... our jurists almost forgot that Islam‘s objective was abolition of slavery."

Hmm. Isn't it quite curious as to why all the Islamic scholars concur that "no free man can be made slaves," but they also FORGOT that "Islam's objective was abolition of slavery"?

Case C is right when he stated: "I honestly feel that there is so much evidence in hadith and juristic literature that it will be almost impossible to prove that Islam prohibited slavery in one stroke, unless we decide to ignore all juristic views and hadith on the subject."

 Almost all prohibitions pertaining to human behavior and institutions were prohibited gradually, until the normative position (prohibition, permission or injunction) was established. Therefore, the real issue is not whether "Islam prohibited slavery in one stroke." The crux of the issue is whether Islam has established any normative position in regard to slavery.

If one is looking for the word "Haram" about slavery in the Qur'an or the Sunnah, I am afraid there is no textual evidence that slavery has been BANNED or PROHIBITED in Islam. This is the traditional or orthodox approach on this issue. However, anyone who understands the basics of Islam ought to know the intent of Islam based on ample evidence, textual and historical. And, not all the things that are regarded or established as haram is based on the explicit injunction containing the word haram or any equivalent.

Interestingly, Case C recognized that "according to all Islamic scholars, no free man can be made slaves." Well, this in itself constitutes the prohibition of slavery as the normative position, even though quite curiously it escapes the attention of Case C.

1. In Surah al-Balad, Islam is equated with, among a few others things, liberation of slaves/captives. [90/al-Balad/10-13]

"And (have We not) shown him the two highways?
But he has made no effort on the path that is steep (Aqaba).
And what will explain the Aqaba?
(It is:) freeing the bondsman/slave"

The Arabic above is "Fakku raqaba": a clear guidance about freeing slaves. It is important to realize how superficial is the discussion about whether Islam permits slavery or not, when Islam is emphatically and unambiguously trying its adherents to work for "freeing bondsman"!

This is what Abdullah Yusuf Ali had to say about the above verse: "As regards the bondsman, we are to understand not only a reference to legal slavery, which happily is extinct in all civilized lands, but many other kinds of slavery which flourish especially in advanced societies. There is political slavery, industrial slavery, and social slavery. There is the slavery of conventions, of ignorance, and of superstition. There is slavery to wealth or passions or power. THE GOOD MAN TRIES TO LIBERATE MEN AND WOMEN FROM ALL KINDS OF SLAVERY, OFTEN AT GREAT DANGER TO HIMSELF. BUT HE BEGINS BY FIRST LIBERATING HIMSELF." [The Holy Qur'an, Note #6140]

2. Remember, Surah al-Balad is a Meccan Surah, long before the prayer or fasting was made obligatory. The message of the Surah was clearly received by Muslims. Thus, Abu Bakar (r) walked extra miles to get freed the slave Bilal (r) - the AHAD-chanting Habshi (Abyssynian), who used to have stones on top of his chest and hot sand under his body due to his master's torture. This was a historical starting point for ISLAM'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST SLAVERY. Let's underscore: Islam started a permanent CAMPAIGN against slavery.

3. In Madinah, this campaign became further institutionalized. The Qur'an made Zakah a pillar of Islam and an obligatory duty on those who are financially capable. One of the categorical and PERMANENT  provision of Zakah fund is for freeing slaves. [9/at-Taubah/60] Further reinforcement of Islamic stance comes in one of the most profound verses:

"It is not righteous that you turn your faces towards East or West; but it is righteousness: to ... spend of your sustenance ... FOR THE RANSOM OF SLAVE ... to be steadfast in prayer..." [2/al-Baqara/177]

Interestingly, this is a Madani Surah and in this verse Salat is mentioned after listing the call for freeing of slave.

Unfortunately, many classical or traditional sources would continue to suggest or insist that slavery has not been prohibited by Islam. Indeed, much of the confusion arises from the fact that slavery involved human beings and the early Islamic society had to go through a transition process to secure an environment of freedom of all those in bondage slowly. During this transitional stage, Islam laid out clear guidelines defining the rights and status of those still in slavery, not so that such rights and status would be used as an excuse to perpetuate slavery, but to gradually carry the phasing out of slavery to its ultimate conclusion: its eradication.

It is unfortunate that many still won't, or feel like that they can't, reach the conclusion that those Qur'anic verses are absolutely clear about Islamic position on slavery: IT HAS NO PLACE IN ISLAM. Furthermore, Islam takes it further. It binds its followers to a permanent campaign to eradicate slavery.

Consider this following Hadith. "...that nation will never prosper which puts a woman in command of its affairs." [Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 9, Kitabul Fitan, #219] Does this hadith say that Islam has prohibited woman's leadership? Yet, based on this type of Hadith, Muslim scholars have drawn the tallest and far-reaching conclusions that leadership of women is "Haram" in Islam. There does not seem to be any direct corroboration of such position from the Qur'an.

On the other hand, al-Qur'an's position about slavery and freeing the slaves is unambiguous. Yet, there are many who don't realize the position of the Qur'an. Is it that we don't see or don't want to see?

If further corroboration is desired, there are Hadiths about slavery that do not deal with the subject indirectly as in the case of the Hadith about leadership of women. Let alone enslaving new people, even about those who become captives of war, it simply commands: "FREE THE CAPTIVE (aniyah) ...". [Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 9, #285]

What about slaves not possessed through wars? Confirming the Qur'anic statement from Surah al-Balad mentioned above, the Prophet (s) offered the same command time and again on various other circumstances: "SET FREE THE SLAVES (raqaba)..." [Musnad Ahmad, #18672]

No juristic opinion can contradict the clear commands in the Qur'an and Hadith. One should not confuse the way the Prophet set Muslims on course toward abolition of slavery. However, I hope these information would be helpful to draw one's own conclusion about Islam's normative stance on slavery based on the Qur'an and Hadith: it is haram or prohibited. 

Annemarie Schimmel, Islam: An Introduction Slavery was not abolished by the Koran, but believers are constantly admonished to treat their slaves well. In case of illness a slave has to be looked after and well cared for. To manumit [free] a slave is higly meritorious; the slave can ransom himself by paying some of the money he has earned while conducting his own business. Only children of slaves or non-Muslim prisoners of war can become slaves, never a freeborn Muslim; therefore slavery is theoretically doomed to disappear with the expansion of Islam. The entire history of Islam proves that slaves could occupy any office, and many former military slaves, usually recruited from among the Central Asian Turks, became military leaders and often even rulers as in eastern Iran, India (the Slave Dynasty of Delhi), and medieval Egypt (the Mamluks). Eunuchs too served in important capacities, not only as the guardians of the women's quarters, but also in high administrative and military positions. -- p. 67

Roger Du Pasquier, Unveiling Islam To answer this question, it should first be remarked that Islam has tolerated slavery but has never approved of it, and that all its teachings and prescriptions in this regard lead to its alleviation as far as possible in the short term, and, in the longer term, conduce to its progressive suppression. To abolish it would have been impossible in a world in which it was generally practiced by all the states which bordered on the new Muslim empire, and in which the idea of challenging the principle itself had not occurred to anyone. It was the custom to enslave prisoners of war -- when these were not simply massacred -- and the Islamic state would have put itself at a grave disadvantage vis-a-vis its enemies had it not reciprocated to some extent. By guaranteeing them humane treatment, and various possibilities of subsequently releasing themselves, it ensured that a good number of combatants in the opposing armies preferred captivity at the hands of Muslims to death on the field of battle. It should be very clearly underlined that the slavery once practiced in the Muslim world cannot be compared to the form it had assumed -- for instance -- in the Roman Empire. Islamic legislation subjected slaveowners to a set of precise obligations, first among which was the slave's right to life, for, according to a hadith, 'Whoever kills his slave shall be killed by us'. In consequence, the murder of a slave was punished like that of a free man. There are many other hadiths which define Islam's true attitude in this regard. The Prophet said: 'Your slaves are your brethren; therefore whoever has a brother who depends upon him must feed and clothe him in the way he feeds and clothes himself; and should not impose upon him tasks which exceed his capacity; should you ask them to do such things, then you are obliged to help them.' The Sharia takes this injunction, among many others, into account when defining the responsibilities and duties of slaveholders. There is another teaching which enjoins respect for the human dignity of slaves: 'Let none of you say, "This man, or this woman, is my slave". He must rather say: "This is my man, and this my woman."' Putting into relief the provisional character of social ties and the authority exercised by slaveowners over their slaves, the Prophet said: 'It is true that God has made you their masters, but, had He so wished, He could equally well have made you their slaves.' To manumit a slave has always been regarded as one of the most meritorious of all acts, and many passages of the Qur'an recommend or even require it, particularly as a means of expiation for serious faults. Traditional legislation lays down the methods of voluntary liberation of slaves by their masters (itq), and there were very many Muslims who observed these, especially at the end of their lives, so as not to die and appear before God without having given full freedom to the human beings placed in their power during their earthly lives. Additionally, slaves had the ability to enfranchise themselves at their own initiative, without waiting passively for the goodwill of their masters: the procedure known as mukataba allowed them to buy their own freedom with sums which they saved from their work, and which the state frequently augmented with advances -- a measure which the slaveowner had no right to oppose. In contrast to the situation under Roman law, slaves were not deprived of the legal ability to exercise their rights and to appeal to a judge against their masters in all cases of illegal treatment. Besides domestic slavery, which was generally imbued with a patriarchal character, there also existed a form of military slavery, which was frequently employed by princes in need of recruits, especially for their personal guards. This situation had the effect of conferring an often considerable influence and power on men of servile condition or origin, and some of these became the founders of great and illustrious dynasties such as the Tulunids and Mamlukes of Egypt. The object of a prosperous commercial sector, which under the Abbasid Empire was often the speciality of non-Muslims, particularly Byzantine and Venetian Christians, and Jews, slavery gradually declined in importance until, at the beginning of the present century, it was confined to a few survivals which have now disappeared entirely. Thanks to the strict traditional controls which have always regulated the practice, it would be difficult to deny that social conditions were remarkably humane during the great periods of Muslim civilization, and that these, moreover, were in conformity with the 'egalitarian' spirit of Islam, which, in a hadith, teaches that 'the blackest of Abyssinians' is superior to most noble of Quraishites, if he has more faith. -- pp. 104-107

 

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