Slavery before and after Islam

Slavery before Islam

Slavery was common in pre-Islamic times and accepted by many ancient legal systems

Islam came while slavery was a well-established and recognized institution all over the world. Slaves were a current economic and social commodity with no sign of denial or opposition by anyone. They used to work at fields while fettered in heavy chains to prevent them from escaping. They were given a minimal amount of food just to keep them barely alive. They were forced to work as if they were beasts. Lashes were harshly used to discipline as well as punish them. They slept in dark, bad-smelling cells where insects and chains attached to their necks and feet were their sole companions.

While Islam tightened the sources of slavery, it widened its drains or outlets. 

Islam came while social injustices such as ethnic and caste discrimination were prevalent. At that time, several sources used to feed the “river of slavery” every day adding new slaves and bondmaids to the already existing deprived ones as follows:

1. War: Regardless of whether it was legitimate or not; prisoners of war were automatically turned into slaves be them males or females.

2. Kidnapping: As kidnapped persons were turned into slaves and female slaves.

3. Committing serious crimes: The perpetrators of such heinous crimes as as murdering, theft and fornication were enslaved as their punishment.

4. Inability to pay off debts: The owing poor were turned into slaves by the well-off creditors.

5. A father’s authority over his own children gave him the right to sell any of them to others and thus let them fall into thralldom.

6. One’s authority over himself as one could sell himself to others as well.

7. The progeny of all the above becomes slaves even if the parent was freed or emancipated.

Creating an Anti-Racism Environment

There is no legislation or system that has ever treated the slaves in a way that maintains and preserves their human dignity as Islam did. Islam recognized the slave’s humanity and his right to dignity and life. Allah Almighty says in the Qur’an,

{O humankind! Indeed, We have created all of you from a single male and female. Moreover, We have made you peoples and tribes, so that you may come to know one another. And, indeed, the noblest of you, in the sight of God, is the most God-fearing of you. Indeed, God is all-knowing, all-aware.} (Al-Hujurat 49:13)

The sole criterion thus is nothing but piety and righteous deeds and not the esprit de corps or tribalism or the like.

The Prophetic Sunnah confirms that Islam has established the principles of brotherhood between the slaves and the masters. The Prophet (peace be upon him) is reported to have said,

“Your slaves are your brothers and Allah has put them under your command. So whoever has a brother under his command should feed him of what he eats and dress him of what he wears. Do not ask them (slaves) to do things beyond their capacity (power) and if you do so, then help them.” (Al-Bukhari)

The Islamic way for treating slaves followed unprecedented humane commandments and precepts as well as practical steps that are regarded as a source of pride to Muslims. To cite some, let us recall a Prophetic hadith that shows how one should call a slave or ask him to do something.

Abu Hurairah reported Allah’s Messenger (Peace be upon him) as saying:

“None of you should say: ‘Supply drink to your lord, feed your lord, help your lord in performing ablution,’ and none of you should say: ‘My Lord.’ He should say: ‘My chief, my patron;’ and none of you should say: ‘My bondman, my slave-girl,’ but simply say: ‘My boy, my girl, my servant.’” (Muslim)

While slavery previously constituted one of the biggest sources of the master’s richness, Islam turned it – through applying the above system of values which regarded the master and the slave as equal human beings – into a financial burden for the master. The master is required to feed the slave of what he eats and dress him of what he wears and not to ask him to do things beyond his power. Moreover, the master is even required to use euphemistic terms such as my boy, my girl or my servant instead of bondman and slave-girl respectively to safeguard the dignity of the slave.

Amazingly, Islam has gone far beyond the mere emancipation of slaves, as it did not leave them astray in the maze of the new world of freedom without arming them with the necessary power, team spirit or affiliation. Rather, it prescribed integrating them into the tribes and clans in which they previously lived as slaves. In so doing, Islam empowered them with the dignity, honor, rank and power of those tribes and clans through al-Walaa’ (allegiance).

It is a fact that Islam has called for the liberation of slaves.  There are many proofs to attest for this: 

1. Liberating a slave is a kind of atonement for some sins, like indeliberate murder, and dhihar (divorce), oath breaking, corruption of one’s fast in Ramadhan by sexual intercourse and so on.

2. God promised a great reward for those who voluntary liberate any of their slaves.

3. The right of the slave to liberate himself by buying himself from his master;

4. A Muslim is encouraged to pay a portion of his zakat money to those slaves willing to purchase themselves from their masters;

5. The Islamic rule of what is called “arrangement,” which incurs the liberation of the slave upon the death of his master, especially if the master does not have the desire to liberate him during his lifetime.  So the choice of freeing oneself is open after the death of the master.  The master may say to his slave: “You are be free after my death,” whereupon the slave becomes free immediately after the death of the master.

6. The Islamic rule regarding the women slaves in case they become mother of children to their master upon a sexual intercourse they might have with them.  If the bondwoman conceives in this case, she may neither be sold nor rented; soon after her master’s death, she becomes free.  

When a war takes place between Muslims and others, and Muslims come out victorious, if an agreement takes place between the Muslims and their enemies regarding the captives, the Muslims are bound to keep their word according to what they have pledged.  If there is no such agreement or reconciliation, then Muslims are free to opt for one of the following choices:

1. Ransoming their captives with captives from the enemies, or money is given instead.

2. Setting the captives free against nothing, out of kindness and charity.

3. Killing them to relieve mankind from their evil, and killing only the fighters from them.

4. Enslaving them as a kind of charity so that they could know Islam closely with the hope that they might become Muslims themselves.  It is in the right of Islam to kill those who stood in the face of Islam as fighters, but in most cases they are kept alive and enslaved. This is some kind of showing the power of Islam and the humiliation of its enemies.  The caliph is the only one who could command enslaving up, it is not left to individuals.

While the sources that fed the river of slavery then were gaining momentum and recognition, the gates of freedom were either blocked or were too tight to let anyone get rid of slavery.

Recognizing that reality, Islam adopted a middle way of reformation that aimed at the emancipation of slaves, and abolishment of the slavery system in a realistic revolutionary though gradual manner. In so doing, neither ignoring the reality, nor acknowledging it in a way that may consolidate it or strengthen its already existing foundations, Islam adopted what follows:

* Drying the sources out 

This means that Islam started with blocking most of the means that used to pour new victims into the river of slavery. Only two sources were left; namely, prisoners of legitimate wars and the progeny of slave parents. Even the POWs were given the opportunity to restore their freedom through either a gracious offer of freedom for them or a ransom paid as explained in the following Qur’anic verse:

{Thus whenever you (believers) face (in battle) those who disbelieve, strike their necks (a lethal blow), until, when you have thoroughly pacified them, you shall tie fast their bonds. Thereafter, let there be either a gracious offer of freedom for them or a ransom paid.} (Muhammad 47:4)

Thereupon, when the war is over, the POWs are either to be graciously emancipated or exchanged for Muslim captives.

Remarkably, Islam kept this last source as a way of mutual or reciprocal treatment with the other. This means that, if the other nations used not to enslave the Muslim POWs, Muslims would have done the same with non-Muslim captives and thus putting an end to the slavery system for good. This would have left the block of already existing slaves that could be dissolved through emancipation by means of widening the mouth of the river of slavery.

**. Widening the avenues of emancipation

While Islam tightened the sources of slavery, it widened its drains or outlets. In so doing, it activated its noble values and social justice system through endearing to Muslims the act of emancipating slaves voluntarily. It dictated that the emancipation of each member of the slave’s body is a reason for saving a similar member of the master’s body from Hell-fire.

In the same vein, Islam considered the deliverance of slaves and rescuing them from bondage as an expiation or penance for sins and offenses. The Qur’an states what means,

{Thus, whoever kills a believer by mistake, then their atonement shall be the freeing of a believing human being from bondage...} (An-Nisa’ 4:93)

Imam An-Nasafi (d. AH 710) commented on this verse as saying,

“Verily, as the killer forced a believing soul to leave the troop of the living human beings, it becomes incumbent upon him to help another soul to enter the realm of the freedom. This is due to the fact that rescuing a slave from bondage is similar to reviving him…”[5]

Moreover, Islam empowered the state and the public system as to play a role in the process of emancipating slaves through dictating that freeing slaves is one of the eight ways prescribed for spending the Zakah.

Thus, Islam made the rescuing of slaves part of Zakah which is one of the five pillars of Islam:

{Indeed, prescribed charitable offerings are only to be given to the poor and the indigent, and to those who work on administering it, and to those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and to free those in bondage, and to the debt-ridden, and for the cause of God, and to the wayfarer. This is an obligation from God.} (At-Tawbah 9:60)

According to Islam, freedom of all people is the original state while bondage is the exception that needs verification. Anyone whose condition is unknown is to be considered free unless there is a solid proof that he is otherwise. Anyone who claims that another is a slave should prove his allegations through presenting irrefutable evidence.

In addition, Islam treated the slaves and the free equally in terms of all religious rights and in most of the civil rights. It also created a desire in Muslims for helping the slaves who want to get themselves rid of slavery through fulfilling a deed of emancipation. A slave in such a case is called a mukatab which stands for, a slave, male or female, who binds himself (or herself) to pay a certain equivalent for his (or her) freedom:[6]

{…Moreover, if those whom your hands rightfully possess desire a deed of emancipation, then write it for them, if you come to know goodness in them. Moreover, give them of the wealth of God that He has given you.} (An-Nur 24:33)

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