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'''Islamic views on slavery''' represent a complex and multifaceted body of ]ic thought,<ref name="auto">Brockopp, Jonathan E., “Slaves and Slavery”, in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC.</ref><ref>Brunschvig, R., “ʿAbd”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition'', Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.</ref> with various Islamic groups or thinkers espousing views on the matter which have been radically different throughout history.<ref name="Lewis">Lewis 1994, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010401012040/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/lewis1.html |date=2001-04-01 }}</ref> Slavery was a mainstay of life in ] and surrounding lands.<ref name="auto"/><ref name=OEIW/> The ] and the '']'' (sayings of ]) address slavery extensively, assuming its existence as part of society but viewing it as an exceptional condition and restricting its scope.<ref name=OEIW>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Dror Ze’evi|title=Slavery|encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World|editor=John L. Esposito|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2009|url=http://bridgingcultures.neh.gov/muslimjourneys/items/show/214|access-date=2017-02-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223125519/http://bridgingcultures.neh.gov/muslimjourneys/items/show/214|archive-date=2017-02-23|url-status=dead}}</ref> Early Islam forbade enslavement of '']'', the free members of Islamic society, including ]s and set out to regulate and improve the conditions of human bondage. ] regarded as legal slaves only those non-Muslims who were imprisoned or bought beyond the borders of Islamic rule, or the sons and daughters of slaves already in captivity.<ref name=OEIW/> In later ], the topic of slavery is covered at great length.<ref name="Lewis" />
{{Islam}}
'''Islam and slavery''' have a long history of accommodation defined by the existence of the ] for over a thousand years until last century. The subject has modern relevance because, despite official proscriptions, Islamically-condoned slavery (or at least slavery asserted as such) is still practised in parts of Arabia and Africa - most notably ]. The subject describes a tension between the goals of the modern ] movement and contrary outcomes tolerated by Islam, especially with respect to the circumstance of young children 'born into' slavery and the plight of waqf slaves who may be held in slavery indefinitely.<ref>Sachau, p.133</ref>


Slavery in Islamic law is not based on race or ethnicity. However, while there was no legal distinction between white European and black African slaves, in some Muslim societies they were employed in different roles.<ref>Jane Hathaway, The Chief Eunuch of the Ottoman Harem, Cambridge University Press, 2018 {{ISBN|9781107108295}}</ref> Slaves in Islam were mostly assigned to the service sector, including as concubines, cooks, and porters.{{Sfn|Segal|2002|p=4}} There were also those who were trained militarily, converted to Islam, and manumitted to serve as soldiers; this was the case with the ]s, who later managed to seize power by overthrowing their Muslim masters, the ].{{sfn|Chase|2003|p=98-99}}{{sfn|Lapidus|2014|p=195}} In some cases, the harsh treatment of slaves also led to notable uprisings, such as the ].{{sfn|Clarence-Smith|2006|pp=2-5}} "The Caliphate in Baghdad at the beginning of the 10th Century had 7,000 black eunuchs and 4,000 white eunuchs in his palace."{{sfn|Segal|2002}}{{pn|date=November 2024}} The Arab slave trade typically dealt in the sale of castrated male slaves. Black boys at the age of eight to twelve had their penises and scrota completely amputated. Reportedly, about two out of three boys died, but those who survived drew high prices.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1210/jcem.84.12.6206| pmid= 10599682|title = Long-Term Consequences of Castration in Men: Lessons from the Skoptzy and the Eunuchs of the Chinese and Ottoman Courts| journal=The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism| volume=84| issue=12| pages=4324–4331|year = 1999|last1 = Wilson|first1 = Jean D.| last2=Roehrborn| first2=Claus| doi-access=free}}</ref> However, according to ] and Muslim jurists castration of slaves was deemed unlawful this view is also mentioned in the ].<ref>https://boris.unibe.ch/186051/1/Naming_eunuchs_BCDSS.pdf</ref><ref>https://sunnah.com/nasai:4736</ref> ] opines that in later times, the domestic slaves, although subjected to appalling privations from the time of their capture until their final destination, seemed to be treated reasonably well once they were placed in a family and to some extent accepted as members of the household.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=13–14}}
It is also true that in the latter half of the last century a number of Islamic countries were among the last in the world to formally disavow and repudiate slavery, while the toleration for slavery practices still seen in parts the Islamic world draws some of its support from pronouncements by influential ] religious scholars on the subject of Islamic permissions for its continuance.


The ]s, which differ between ] and ],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-11-12 |title=Development of History and Hadith Collections |url=https://www.al-islam.org/shiite-encyclopedia/development-history-and-hadith-collections#shi%E2%80%99-sunni-and-scrutinizing-hadith |access-date=2024-08-31 |website=www.al-islam.org |language=en}}</ref> address slavery extensively, assuming its existence as part of society but viewing it as an exceptional condition and restricting its scope.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sahih Bukhari {{!}} Chapter: 48 {{!}} Manumission of Slaves |url=https://ahadith.co.uk/chapter.php?page=1&cid=134&rows=10 |access-date=2024-08-31 |website=ahadith.co.uk}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=BBC - Religions - Islam: Slavery in Islam |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/slavery_1.shtml |access-date=2024-08-31 |website=www.bbc.co.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref> The hadiths forbade enslavement of '']'', the non-Muslims of Islamic society, and Muslims. They also regarded slaves as legal only when they were non-Muslims who were imprisoned, bought beyond the borders of Islamic rule, or the sons and daughters of slaves already in captivity.<ref name=":3" />
As a historical fact and a modern reality the accommodation of slavery within Islam is a rich subject with some interesting variances between the main traditional schools of Islamic thought (madhhabs). Finally, Islamic slavery has, - with respect to racial equality and the social mobility of slaves and former slaves - produced some commendable outcomes at least in comparison with slavery practised elsewhere in the world.
] and ] are considered as possessions in Sharia;<ref name=jebro>Jonathan E. Brockopp (2000), Early Mālikī Law: Ibn ʻAbd Al-Ḥakam and His Major Compendium of Jurisprudence, Brill, {{ISBN|978-9004116283}}, pp. 131</ref> Masters may sell, bequeath, give away, pledge, share, hire out or compel them to earn Money.<ref>Levy (1957) p. 77</ref>]]


The ] was most active in ], ], and ].<ref name="LaRue 2023">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=La Rue |author-first=George M. |date=17 August 2023 |title=Indian Ocean and Middle Eastern Slave Trades |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199846733/obo-9780199846733-0051.xml |encyclopedia=] |publisher=] |location=] and ] |doi=10.1093/OBO/9780199846733-0051 |access-date=6 February 2024}}</ref> After the ] had been suppressed, the ancient ], the ] and the ] continued to traffic slaves from the African continent to the Middle East.<ref name="LaRue 2023"/> Estimates vary widely, with some suggesting up to 17 million slaves to the coast of the Indian Ocean, the Middle East, and North Africa.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1523100.stm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525101036/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1523100.stm|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 25, 2017|title=Focus on the slave trade|date=May 25, 2017|access-date=July 21, 2019}}</ref> Abolitionist movements began to grow during the 19th century, prompted by both Muslim reformers and diplomatic pressure from Britain. The first Muslim country to prohibit slavery was ], in 1846.<ref name="Montana 2013">{{cite book|last=Montana |first=Ismael|title=The Abolition of Slavery in Ottoman Tunisia|publisher=University Press of Florida|year=2013|isbn=978-0813044828}}</ref> During the 19th and early 20th centuries all large Muslim countries, whether independent or under colonial rule, banned the slave trade and/or slavery. The ] in 1860 but effectively ended in 1910, while British India abolished slavery in 1862.{{sfn|Clarence-Smith|2006|pp=120–122}} The Ottoman Empire banned the ] in 1857 and the ] in 1908,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Erdem |first1=Y. Hakan |title=Slavery in the Ottoman Empire and its Demise, 1800-1909 |year=1996 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=0333643232|pages=95–151}}</ref> while ] in 1895, ] and ].{{sfn|Clarence-Smith|2006|pp=110–116}} In some Muslim countries in the Arabian peninsula and Africa, slavery was abolished in the second half of the 20th century: 1962 ] and ], ] in 1970, ] in 1981.<ref>] (2002), Historical Dictionary of Slavery and Abolition, Page xxii, {{ISBN|0810841029}}</ref> However, slavery has been documented in recent years, despite its illegality, in Muslim-majority countries in Africa including ], ], ], ], and ].<ref>Segal, page 206. See later in article.</ref><ref>Segal, page 222. See later in article.</ref>
== Originally reforming character of Islamic slavery ==
The major juristic schools of Islam have historically accepted the institution of slavery<ref name="Lewis"> Lewis 1994, </ref>; and in the contemporary period only reaffirm this. (See ]) ] and those of his ] who could afford it themselves most certainly owned and trafficked slaves, and some acquired more by conquest. However, it has been said that the Islamic dispensation enormously improved the position of the ] slave through the reforms of a humanitarian tendency both at the time of Muhammad and the later early ]s.<ref name="Lewis"> Lewis 1994, </ref>


One notable example is ], who is noted for being the first ].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jZEL3kdcQggC&q=Bilal |title=Muslim Societies in African History |date=2004-01-12 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-53366-9 |language=en}}</ref> In modern times, various Muslim organizations reject the permissibility of slavery and it has since been abolished by ].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-11-03 |title=University of Minnesota Human Rights Library |url=http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/instree/cairodeclaration.html |access-date=2024-08-30 |archive-date=2018-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103121418/http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/instree/cairodeclaration.html |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> With abolition of ], the practice of slavery came to an end.{{sfn|Cortese|2013}} Many modern Muslims see slavery as contrary to Islamic principles of justice and equality, however, Islam had a different system of slavery, that involved many intricate rules on how to handle slaves.<ref name=eoq/><ref name=ali53-54>{{harvnb|Ali|2006|pp=53–54|ps=: "...the practical limitations of the Prophet’s mission meant that acquiescence to slave ownership was necessary, though distasteful, but meant to be temporary."}}</ref> However, there are ] and ] who have revived the practice of slavery while they were active.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ISIS and Their Use of Slavery |url=https://www.icct.nl/publication/isis-and-their-use-slavery |access-date=2024-08-30 |website=International Centre for Counter-Terrorism - ICCT |language=en}}</ref>
The development of Islamic law and jurisprudence brought major changes to the practice of slavery inherited from Middle-Eastern antiquity, from ], and from ], which were to have far-reaching effects. ] considers these reforms to be the cause of the vast improvements in the practice of slavery in ] lands. The reforms also seriously limited the supply of new slaves. Chief among them was the basic presumption of freedom; and the ban on the enslavement of free persons except in strictly defined circumstances.<ref name="Lewis"> Lewis 1994, </ref>


==Slavery in pre-Islamic Arabia==
The ] and Hadith in many places proclaim the ] of a slave to be a suitable expression of ], or as a condition of ] for certain sins. As already stated, Muslim jurists considered slavery to be an exceptional circumstance, with a basic assumption of freedom until proven otherwise. Furthermore, as opposed to pre-Islamic slavery, enslavement was limited to two scenarios: capture in war, and those with slave parentage (birth to parents where one was free and the other his/her slave concubine would produce a child born free).<ref name="eois">Brunschvig. 'Abd; Encyclopedia of Islam</ref><ref>Also see under [[Islam and slavery#Enslavement</ref><!-- Comment -->third source desired to definitively rule whether free birth to a slave parent may occur in any other circumstance
Slavery was widely practiced in ], as well as in the rest of the ancient and ]. The minority were white slaves of foreign extraction, likely brought in by Arab caravaners (or the product of ] captures) stretching back to biblical times. Native ] slaves had also existed, a prime example being ], later to become Muhammad's adopted son. Arab slaves, however, usually obtained as captives, were generally ransomed off amongst nomad tribes.<ref name="eois">Brunschvig. 'Abd; '']''</ref> The slave population increased by the custom of ] (see also ]), and by the kidnapping, or, occasionally, the sale of small children.<ref name=autogenerated4>Lewis (1992) p. 4</ref> There is no conclusive evidence of the existence of enslavement for debt or the sale of children by their families; the late and rare accounts of such occurrences show them to be abnormal, Brunschvig states<ref name="eois"/> (According to Brockopp, debt slavery was persistent.<ref name="Brockopp"/>) Free persons could sell their offspring, or even themselves, into slavery. Enslavement was also possible as a consequence of committing certain offenses against the law, as in the ].<ref name=autogenerated4 />


Two classes of slave existed: a purchased slave, and a slave born in the master's home. Over the latter the master had complete rights of ownership, though these slaves were unlikely to be sold or disposed of by the master. Female slaves were at times forced into ] for the benefit of their masters, in accordance with Near Eastern customs.<ref name="eois"/><ref>Mendelsohn (1949) pp. 54—58
Slavery in Islam does not have racial or color component, although this ideal has not always been put into practice. Nevertheless, historically, black slaves could rise to important positions in Muslim nations.<ref>Lewis (1992) p. 19, 74</ref><ref>The famous medieval ] ] denounced the perception of a white man being better than a black one as adopting the same hierarchical principles of ignorance endorsed by ]: something which al-Ghazzali believes would eventually result in ]. ''cf.'' Azizah Y. al-Hibri, 2003</ref> In early Islamic Arabia, Slaves were often African blacks from across the ], but by expansion of the Islamic empire in later times, slaves could be ] from North Africa, ] from Europe, Turks from Central Asia, or Circassians from the Caucasus. <ref> Bloom and Blair (2002) p. 48 </ref> The majority of slaves throughout the history of Arabia were, however, of ] origin. The ] was most active in eastern Africa, although by the end of the 19th century such activity had reached a significantly low ebb.
</ref><ref name="Esposito">John L Esposito (1998) p. 79</ref>


The historical accounts of the early years of Islam report that "slaves of non-Muslim masters ... suffered brutal punishments. ] is famous as the first martyr of Islam, having been killed with a spear by Abū Jahl when she refused to give up her faith. ] freed ] when his master, Umayya ibn Khalaf, placed a heavy rock on his chest in an attempt to force his conversion."<ref name="Brockopp"/>
], a contemporary scholar on Islamic civilization, asserts that because the status of slave under Islam could only be obtained through either being a prisoner of war (this was soon restricted only to infidels captured in a holy war)<ref name="Lewis"> Lewis 1994, </ref> or born from slave parents, slavery would be theoretically abolished with the expansion of Islam.<ref name="schimmel" /> Islam's reforms seriously limited the supply of new slaves, according to Lewis.<ref name="Lewis"/> In the early days of Islam, he notes, a plentiful supply of new slaves were brought due to rapid conquest and expansion. But as the frontiers were gradually stabilized, this supply dwindled to a mere trickle. The prisoners of later wars between Muslims and Christians were commonly ransomed or exchanged.<ref name="Lewis"/> ] states that Islamic legislations against the abuse of the slaves convincingly limited the extent of slavery in the Arabian Peninsula and to a lesser degree for the whole area of the whole Umayyad Caliphate where slavery existed since the most ancient times. He however notes that with the passage of time and the extension of Islam, Islam by recognizing and codifying the slavery seems to have done more to protect and expand slavery than the reverse. <ref> Manning (1990) p.28 </ref>


There were many common features between the institution of slavery in the Quran and that of pre-Islamic culture. However, the Quranic institution had some unique new features.<ref name="Brockopp"/> According to Brockopp, the idea of using alms for the manumission of slaves who had converted to Islam appears to be unique to the Quran.<ref name="auto2">{{qref|2|177|b=y}},{{qref|9|60}}</ref> Islam also prohibits the use of female slaves for prostitution which was common in pre-Islamic history.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Bernard Lewis on Slavery in Islam (An Analytical Study)|url=http://admin.umt.edu.pk/Media/Site/UMT/SubSites/jitc/FileManager/JITC%20Fall%202015/04.Bernard%20Lewis.pdf|journal=Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization|access-date=2017-03-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330013644/http://admin.umt.edu.pk/Media/Site/UMT/SubSites/jitc/FileManager/JITC%20Fall%202015/04.Bernard%20Lewis.pdf|archive-date=2017-03-30|url-status=live}}</ref>
== Pre-Islamic slavery ==
Slavery was widely practiced in pre-Islamic ], as well as in the rest of ancient and early medieval world. The majority of slaves within Arabia were of ]n origin, through whose sale merchants grew rich. The minority were white slaves of foreign race, likely brought in by Arab caravaneers (or the product of ] captures) stretching back to biblical times. Native ] slaves had also existed, a prime example being ], later to become Muhammad's adopted son. Arab slaves, however, usually attained as captives, were generally ransomed off amongst ] tribes.<ref name="eois"/> The slave population was recruited by the abandonment, ] or sale of small children. Free persons were also able to sell their offspring, or even themselves, into slavery. Enslavement was also possible due to legal offences of the law, as in the ].<ref>Lewis (1992) p. 4</ref>


Brockopp states that the Qur'an was a progressive legislation on slavery in its time because it encouraged proper treatment.<ref name="Brockopp">], ''Slaves and Slavery''</ref> Others state that Islam's record with slavery has been mixed, progressive in Arabian lands, but it increased slavery and worsened abuse as Muslim armies attacked people in Africa, Europe and Asia.<ref>Gad Heuman and James Walvin (2003), The Slavery Reader, Volume 1, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415213042}}, pp. 31-32</ref><ref name=mg1>{{cite book|first=Murray|last=Gordon|title=Slavery in the Arab World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5l81hwFPvzYC&pg=PA18|pages=18–39|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=1989|isbn=9780941533300|access-date=2023-02-26|archive-date=2023-02-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230226044956/https://books.google.com/books?id=5l81hwFPvzYC&pg=PA18|url-status=live}}</ref> Murray notes that Quran sanctified the institution of slavery and abuses therein, but to its credit did not freeze the status of a slave and allowed a means to a slave's manumission in some cases when the slave converted to Islam.<ref name=mg1/><ref name=pl1>{{cite book |last1=Lovejoy |first1=Paul |title=Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa |date=2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521784306 |pages= |quote=The religious requirement that new slaves be pagans and need for continued imports to maintain slave population made Africa an important source of slaves for the Islamic world. (...) In Islamic tradition, slavery was perceived as a means of converting non-Muslims. One task of the master was religious instruction and theoretically Muslims could not be enslaved. Conversion (of a non-Muslim to Islam) did not automatically lead to emancipation, but assimilation into Muslim society was deemed a prerequisite for emancipation. |url=https://archive.org/details/transformationsi0000love/page/16 }}</ref>
Two classes of slave were apparent: A purchased slave, and a slave born in the master's home— the latter over whom the master had complete rights of ownership, although was unlikely to be sold or disposed of by the master. Female slaves were at times forced into ] for the benefit of their masters in accordance with ] customs, the practice of which is condemned in the Qur'an {{Quran-usc|24|33}}.<ref name="eois"/><ref>Mendelsohn (1949) pp. 54—58</ref> <ref name="Esposito"> John L Esposito (1998) p. 79 </ref>


==Quran==
==Slavery in the Qur'an and Sunnah==
{{blockquote|Alms-tax is only for the poor and the needy, for those employed to administer it, for those whose hearts are attracted ˹to the faith˺, for ˹freeing˺ slaves, for those in debt, for Allah’s cause, and for ˹needy˺ travellers. ˹This is˺ an obligation from Allah. And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.|{{qref|9|60|c=y}}}}
Verses {{Quran-usc|4|36}} of the Qur'an admonishes Muslims to show equable kindness to orphans, parents, travellers and slaves. Verse {{Quran-usc|9|60}} directs part of ] toward the freeing of slaves. Verse {{Quran-usc|24|33}} grants well-behaved slaves the right to be advised the terms for their release in writing. Verses {{Quran-usc|5|92}} and {{Quran-usc|18|3}} propose the freeing of a slave as a means of expiation for certain sins. Verse 4:92 states that a Muslim should free a 'believing' slave as expiation for involuntary manslaughter. Verses {{Quran-usc|4|3}}, {{Quran-usc|23|6}}, and {{Quran-usc-range|33|50|52}} recognize the right of Muslim men to own slave concubines.<ref>Lewis, Bernanrd, ''Race and Slavery in the Middle East : an Historical Enquiry,'' Oxford University Press, 1990. p.6</ref> The Qur'an mainly contains "broad and general propositions of an ethical nature rather than specific legal formulations" in its approach to slavery, Sikainga states. <ref>Sikainga (2005), p.5-6</ref>


The Quran contains a number of verses aimed at regulating slavery and mitigating its negative impact.<ref name=quran1>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Brunschvig, R.| year=1986 | title=ʿAbd |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam| edition=2nd|publisher=Brill |editor=P. Bearman |editor2=Th. Bianquis |editor3=C.E. Bosworth |editor4=E. van Donzel |editor5=W.P. Heinrichs|volume=1|pages=25|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0003|quote=2. The Kor'an. The Religious Ethic. a.—Islam, like its two parent monotheisms, Judaism and Christianity, has never preached the abolition of slavery as a doctrine, but it has followed their example (though in a very different fashion) in endeavouring to moderate the institution and mitigate its legal and moral aspects. Spiritually, the slave has the same value as the free man, and the same eternity is in store for his soul}}</ref><ref name=mitigate>{{cite book|title=Islam in Africa South of the Sahara: Essays in Gender Relations and Political Reform|editor=Pade Badru, Brigid M. Sackey|author=Olayinka Kudus Amuni|publisher=]|pages=48–9|quote=The Qur'anic injunctions were such as to mitigate the effects of slavery and to provide considerable encouragement for manumission. Kindness to slaves is enjoined in the following verse: . In this verse, kindness to slaves is enjoined along with goodness to parents, kindsmen and orphans. Elsewhere the Qur'an says . }}</ref> It calls for the ] (freeing) of slaves.<ref name=mitigate/><ref name=liberation/> It prescribes kindness towards slaves.<ref name=mitigate/><ref name=kind/> Slaves are considered morally equal to free persons, however, they have a lower legal standing. All Quranic rules on slaves are ] in that they improve the rights of slaves compared to what was already practiced in the 7th century.<ref name=emancipatory>{{cite book|title=Possessed by the Right Hand: The Problem of Slavery in Islamic Law and Muslim Cultures|author=Bernard K. Freamon|publisher=]|pages=122–3|quote=Before embarking on the typological analysis it is also important to note at the outside that all of the important Quranic rules on slavery are emancipatory. None of the Quran provisions actively further, promote, or counsel the continuation of the pre-Islamic institutions of slavery. Rather, as I and others have argued elsewhere, the message of the Quran appears to be one that exhorts humankind to work toward the attainment of a slavery-free society.}}</ref> Many Muslims have interpreted Quran as gradually phasing out slavery.<ref name=iniquity/><ref name=emancipatory/>
== Islamic jurisprudence ==
], a freed black slave, calls for prayers as the first ].]]


The Quran calls for the freeing of slaves, either the owner manumitting the slave, or a third party purchasing and freeing the slave.<ref name=liberation/> The freeing of slaves is encouraged as an act of benevolence,<ref>({{qref|2|177|b=y}}, {{qref|24|33}}, {{qref|90|13}})</ref> and ] of sins.<ref name=liberation>{{cite book|author=]|title=]|publisher=]|page=6|quote= recommends, without requiring, his liberation by purchase or manumission. The freeing of slaves is recommended both for the expiation of sins (IV:92; V:92; LVIII:3) and as an act of simple benevolence (11: 177; XXIV:33; XC:13).}}</ref><ref>({{qref|4|92|b=y}}, {{qref|5|92}}, {{qref|58|3}})</ref> {{qref|24|33|b=y}} devises a ] in which slaves buy their freedom in installments. Two<ref name="auto2"/> other verses encourage believers to help slaves pay for such contracts.<ref name=eoq58>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Jonathan E. Brockopp|title=Encyclopaedia of the Quran|entry=Slaves and slavery|editor=Jane Dammen McAuliffe|volume=5|page=58}}</ref> One of the uses of '']'', a ], is to pay for the freeing of slaves.<ref>{{cite book|title=Charity in Islam: A Comprehensive Guide to Zakat|author=Omer Faruk Senturk|year=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wq8eXoo7TtgC&q=zakat+freeing+slaves&pg=PR10|page=x|publisher=Tughra Books |isbn=9781597841238}}</ref>
===Principles===
Muslim jurists defined slavery as an exceptional condition, with the general rule being a presumption of freedom (''al-'asl huwa 'l-hurriya'' — "''The basic principle is liberty''") for a person if his origins were unknown. Lawful enslavement was restricted to two instances: capture in war (on the condition that the prisoner is not a Muslim), or birth in slavery. Islamic law did not recognize the classes of slave from pre-Islamic Arabia including those sold or given into slavery by themselves and others, and those indebted into slavery.<ref name="eois"/>


The Quran prescribes kind treatment of slaves.<ref name=kind>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Jonathan E. Brockopp|title=Encyclopaedia of the Quran|entry=Slaves and slavery|editor=Jane Dammen McAuliffe|volume=5|page=59|quote=Finally, the important role played by slaves as members of this community may help explain the Quran’s emphasis on manumission and kind treatment.}}</ref><ref name=mitigate/> Verse {{qref|4|36}} calls for good treatment to slaves. The Quran recognizes the humanity of slaves,<ref name=humanity/> by calling them "believers", recognizing their desire to be free, and recognizing female slaves' aversion to prostitution.<ref name=jebro/> Several verses list slaves as members of the household, sometimes alongside wives, children and other relatives.<ref name=humanity>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Jonathan E. Brockopp|title=Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān|entry=Slaves and slavery|editor=Jane Dammen McAuliffe|volume=5|page=57|quote=The Qur'an, however, does not consider slaves to be mere chattel; their humanity is directly addressed in references to their beliefs (q 2:221; 4:25, 92), their desire for manumission and their feelings about being forced into prostitution (q 24:33)...The human aspect of slaves is further reinforced by reference to them as members of the private household, sometimes along with wives or children (q.v.; q 23:6; 24:58; 33:50; 70:30) and once in a long list of such members (q 24:31). This incorporation into the intimate family is consistent with the view of slaves in the ancient near east and quite in contrast to Western plantation slavery as it developed in the early modern period.}}</ref>
=== Treatment ===
In the instance of illness, for example, it would be required for the slave to be looked after. ] is considered a meritorious act. Based on the Quranic verse ({{Quran-usc|24|33}}), the Islamic law permits a slave to ransom himself upon consent of his master through a contract known as '']''. <ref name="eois"/> ], a professor of Law specializing in Islamic jurispundence, states that both the Qur’an and Hadith are repeatedly exhorting Muslims to treat the slaves well and that Muhammad showed this both in action and in words.<ref name="Hibri">Azizah Y. al-Hibri, 2003</ref> Al-Hibri for example quotes the famous last speech of Muhammad and other hadiths emphasizing that all believers, whether free or enslaved, are siblings.<ref name="Hibri"/> Lewis explains, "the humanitarian tendency of the Qur'an and the early caliphs in the Islamic empire, was to some extent counteracted by other influences,".<ref name="Lewis"> Lewis 1994, </ref> notably the practice of various conquered people and countries Muslims encountered, especially in provinces previously under ] (even the Christianized form of slavery was still harsh in its treatment of slaves). In spite of this, Lewis also states, "Islamic practice still represented a vast improvement on that inherited from antiquity, from Rome, and from Byzantium."<ref name="Lewis"/>


The Quran recognizes slaves as morally and spiritually equal to free people.<ref name=morallyequal>{{cite book|title=Islam: History, Religion, and Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CS6wCgAAQBAJ&q=quran+free+slaves&pg=PA18|author=]|date = 6 October 2015|page=18| publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn = 9781118972311|quote=The Quran acknowledges that slaves do not have the same legal standing as free people; instead they are treated as minors for whom the owners are responsible. But it recommends that unmarried Muslims marry their slaves (24:32), indicating that it considers slaves and free people morally equal.}}</ref> God promises an eternal life in the ].<ref name=quran1/> This equality is indicated in {{qref|4|25|b=y}}, which addresses free people and slaves as “the one of you is as the other” (''ba'dukum min ba'din'').<ref name=equal>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Jonathan E. Brockopp|title=Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān|entry=Slaves and slavery|editor=Jane Dammen McAuliffe|volume=5|page=57|quote=In one case, the Qur'an refers to master and slave with the same word, rajul (q 39:29). Later interpreters presume slaves to be spiritual equals of free Muslims. For example, q 4:25 urges believers to marry “believing maids that your right hands own” and then states: “The one of you is as the other” (ba'dukum min ba'din), which the ] interpret as “You and they are equal in faith, so do not refrain from marrying them”.}}</ref> {{qref|39|29|b=y}} refers to master and slave with the same word.<ref name=equal/> However, slaves are not accorded the same legal standing as the free. Slaves are considered as ] for whom the owner is responsible.<ref name=morallyequal/> The punishment for crimes committed by slaves is half the punishment as to be meted out on free persons.<ref name=eoq58/> The legal distinction between slaves and the free is regarded as the divinely established order of things,<ref name=quran1/> which is seen as part of God's grace.<ref name=jebro/>
=== Legal status ===
Within Islamic jurisprudence, slaves are able to occupy any office within the ], and instances of this in history include the ] who ruled Egypt for almost 260 years and the ]s (castrated human male) who have held military and administrative positions of note.<ref name="schimmel">Schimmel (1992) p. 67</ref>. They are also able to marry, own property, and lead the Muslim ] (the five daily ritual prayers).<ref>Esposito (2002) p.148</ref> ], a contemporary scholar on Islamic civilization, asserts that because the status of slave under Islam could only be obtained through either being a prisoner of war (this was soon restricted only to infidels captured in a holy war)<ref name="Lewis"> Lewis 1994, </ref> or born from slave parents, slavery would be theoretically abolished with the expansion of Islam.<ref name="schimmel" /> Islam's reforms seriously limited the supply of new slaves, according to Lewis.<ref name="Lewis"/> In the early days of Islam, he notes, a plentiful supply of new slaves were brought due to rapid conquest and expansion. But as the frontiers were gradually stabilized, this supply dwindled to a mere trickle. The prisoners of later wars between Muslims and Christians were commonly ransomed or exchanged.<ref name="Lewis"/> ] states that Islamic legislations against the abuse of the slaves convincingly limited the extent of slavery in Arabian peninsula and to a lesser degree for the whole area of the whole Umayyad Caliphate where slavery existed since the most ancient times. He however notes that with the passage of time and the extension of Islam, Islam by recognizing and codifying the slavery seems to have done more to protect and expand slavery than the reverse. <ref> Manning (1990) p.28 </ref>


The Quran recognizes slavery as a source of injustice, as it places the freeing of slaves on the same level as feeding the poor.<ref name=iniquity>{{cite book|title=Islam: History, Religion, and Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CS6wCgAAQBAJ&q=quran+free+slaves&pg=PA18|author=]|date = 6 October 2015|page=18| publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn = 9781118972311|quote=The Quran clearly recognizes that slavery is a source of inequity in society becaise it frequently recommends freeing slaves, along with feeding and clothing the poor as part of living a moral life (90:12-19)...the Quran does not abolish the institution of slavery...slavery was an integral part of the economic system at the time the Quran was revealed; abolition of slavery would have requires an overhaul of the entire socioeconomic system. Therefore, instead of abolishing slavery outright, virtually all interpreters agree that the Quran established an ideal toward which society should: a society in which no one person would be enslaved to another.}}</ref> Nevertheless, the Quran doesn't abolish slavery. One reason given is that slavery was a major part of the 7th century socioeconomic system, and it abolishing it would not have been practical.<ref name=iniquity/> Most interpretations of the Quran agree that the Quran envisions an ideal society as one in which slavery no longer exists.<ref name=iniquity/><ref name=emancipatory/>
Theoretically, free-born Muslims could not be enslaved, and the only way that a non-Muslim could be enslaved was being captured in the course of holy war. <ref name="Sikainga"> Sikainga (1996) p.5 </ref> (In early Islam, neither a Muslim nor a Christian or Jew could be enslaved.<ref> John Esposito (1998) p.40</ref>) Slavery was also perceived as a means of converting non-Muslims to Islam: A task of the masters was religious instruction. Although conversion and assimilation into the society of the master didn't automatically lead to emancipation but there was normally some guarantee of better treatment and was deemed a prerequisite for emancipation <ref name="Paul"> Paul Lovejoy (2000) p.2 </ref>


Slaves are mentioned in at least twenty-nine verses of the Quran, most of these are Medinan and refer to the ] of slaves. The legal material on slavery in the Quran is largely restricted to manumission and ].<ref name="Brockopp"/> The Quran permits owners to take slaves as concubines, though it promotes abstinence as the better choice.<ref name=eoq58/> It strictly prohibits slave prostitution.<ref name=eoq58/> According to Sikainga, the Quranic references to slavery as mainly contain "broad and general propositions of an ethical nature rather than specific legal formulations."<ref>Sikainga (2005), p.5-6</ref> The word 'abd' (slave) is rarely used, being more commonly replaced by some periphrasis such as '']'' ("that which your right hands own"). However the meaning and translation of this term has been disputed. ] that the term is used in the past-tense in the Quran, thus signalling only those individuals who were already enslaved at the dawn of Islam. This slight change in tense is significant, as it allowed Parwez to argue that slavery was never compatible with the commandments of the Quran and is in fact outlawed by Quranic Law.{{sfn|Clarence-Smith|2006|p=}}
The property of the slave technically was owned by the master unless a contract of freedom of the slave had been entered into, which allowed the slave to earn money to purchase his freedom and similarly to pay bride wealth. The marriage of slaves required the consent of the owner. Under the Hanafi and Shafai schools of jurisprudence male slaves could marry two wives, but the Maliki permitted them to marry four wives like the free men. According to the Islamic law, a male slave could marry a free woman but this was discouraged in practice. <ref name="Sikainga"/> Islam permits sexual relations between a male master and his female slave outside of marriage. This is referred to in the Qur'an as '']'' or "what your right hands possess"<ref> See ] by ], Vol. 2 pp. 112-113 footnote 44; Also see commentary on verses {{Quran-usc-range|23|1|6}}: Vol. 3, notes 7-1, p. 241; 2000, Islamic Publications</ref><ref>] 4:24</ref>). There are some restrictions on the master; he may not co-habit with a female slave belonging to his wife,<ref name="eois">Brunschvig. 'Abd; Encyclopedia of Islam</ref> neither can he have relations with a female slave if she is co-owned, or already married. If the female slave has a child by her master, she then receives the title of "umm walad" (''lit''. mother of a child), which is an improvement in her status as she can no longer be sold and is legally freed upon the death of her master. The child, by default, is born free due to the father (i.e. the master) being a free man. There is no limit on the number of concubines a master may possess. However, the general marital laws are to be observed, such as not having sexual relations with the sister of a female slave.<ref name="eois"/> <ref name="Paul"/> The concubines, under the Islamic law, had an intermediate position between slave and free.<ref name="Paul"/> In Islam, "men are enjoined to marry free women in the first instance, but if they cannot afford the bridewealth for free women, they are told to marry slave women rather than engage in wrongful acts." <ref> Nashat (1999) p. 42</ref> One rationale given for recognition of concubinage in Islam is that "it satisfied the sexual desire of the female slaves and thereby prevented the spread of immorality in the Muslim community."<ref>Sikainga(1996), p.22</ref> Concubinage was only allowed as a monogamous relation between the slave woman and her master <ref name="Bloom1"> Bloom and Blair (2002) p.48 </ref>, however, in reality in many Muslim societies, female slaves were prey for members of their owners' household, their neighbors, and their guests. <ref> Sikainga (1996) p.22 </ref>


There are many common features between the institution of slavery in the Quran and that of neighboring cultures. However, the Quranic institution had some unique new features.<ref name="Brockopp"/> ] states that the Quranic legislation brought two major changes to ancient slavery which were to have far-reaching effects: presumption of freedom, and the ban on the enslavement of free persons except in strictly defined circumstances.<ref name=lewis5>{{cite book|author=]|title=]|publisher=]|page=5|quote=But Qur'anic legislation, subsequently confirmed and elaborated in the Holy Law, brought two major changes to ancient slavery which were to have far-reaching effects. One of these was the presumption of freedom; the other, the ban on the enslavement of free persons except in strictly defined circumstances.}}</ref> According to Brockopp, the idea of using alms for the manumission of slaves appears to be unique to the Quran, assuming the traditional interpretation of verses {{qref|2|177}} and {{qref|9|60}}. Similarly, the practice of freeing slaves in atonement for certain sins appears to be introduced by the Quran (but compare Exodus 21:26-7).<ref name="Brockopp"/> The forced prostitution of female slaves, a long practiced custom in the ], is condemned in the Quran.<ref name="Esposito" /><ref>{{qref|24|33|b=y}}</ref> Murray Gordon notes that this ban is "of no small significance."<ref>Gordon 1989, page 37.</ref> Brockopp writes: "Other cultures limit a master's right to harm a slave but few exhort masters to treat their slaves kindly, and the placement of slaves in the same category as other weak members of society who deserve protection is unknown outside the Quran. The unique contribution of the Quran, then, is to be found in its emphasis on the place of slaves in society and society's responsibility toward the slave, perhaps the most progressive legislation on slavery in its time."<ref name="Brockopp"/>
In certain legal punishments, a slave would be entitled to half the penalty required upon a freeman. For example: where a free man would be subject to a hundred lashes due to ], a slave would be subject to only fifty. Other cases however, as with theft or apostasy, require the same punishment upon the slave as the free man, as long as the necessary conditions for such punishments are fulfilled.<ref name="eois"/><!-- need to expand --> Also in Islamic legal punishments, a freeman could face the capital punishment if convicted in the killing of a slave and vice versa.


===''Ma malakat aymanuhum''===
Under the legal doctrine of '']'', the purpose of which was to ensure that a man should be at least the social equal of the woman he marries, a freedman is not as good as the son of a freedman, and he in turn not as good as the grandson of a freedman. This principle is pursued up to three generations, after which all Muslims are deemed equally free.<ref>Lewis 85&ndash;86</ref>
The most common term in the Qur'an to refer to slaves is the expression ''ma malakat aymanuhum'' or ''milk al-yamin''<ref>{{URL|https://www.alhakam.org/what-is-the-meaning-of-those-whom-your-right-hand-possesses-milk-al-yamin}}</ref> in short, meaning "those whom your right hands possess".<ref group="n">The term's translations has many variations:


* ]: "those whom your right hands possess".
===Legal disabilities and dispensations of slaves===
* ]: "those whom your right hands possess".Shakir, M. H. (Ed.). (n.d.). The Quran. Medford, MA: Perseus Digital Library. Surah 4:24
There are several disabilities on the civil and economic rights of persons enslaved under Islam which may affect them at all times of their lives:<ref>Levy, pp.76-81, 102, 114</ref>
* ]: "that which your right hand possesses".] (1885). In A Dictionary of Islam: Being a Cyclopædia of the Doctrines, Rites, Ceremonies, and Customs, together with the Technical and Theological Terms, of the Muhammadan Religion. London: W. H. Allen & Co.
* they may not inherit property, even if they are freed upon their owner's death<ref>Levy p.78</ref>
* ]: "those whom you own as slaves."N. J. Dawood, "The Koran," ], ], 1999 edition.
* their evidence is generally rejected in a court of law<ref>Khalil bin Ishaq op cit II, 616</ref><ref>Sachau, p.739</ref>
* Dr Kamal Omar: "as except those whom your right hands held in trust'" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210322134202/https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/4/st48.htm|date=2021-03-22}}</ref> This term is found in 15 Quranic passages,<ref name=EoQ/> making it the most common term for slaves. The Qur'an refers to slaves very differently than classical Arabic: whereas the most common Arabic term for slave is ''‘abd'', the Qur'an instead uses that term in sense of "servant of God", and ''raqiq'' (another Arabic term for slave) is not found in the Qur'an.<ref name=EoQ>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Jonathan E. Brockopp | year= 2006 | title=Slaves and slavery |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān|editor=Jane Dammen McAuliffe|volume=5|pages=57–58|publisher=Brill}}</ref> Thus, this term is a Qur'anic innovation.<ref name=right129>{{cite book|title=Possessed by the Right Hand: The Problem of Slavery in Islamic Law and Muslim Cultures|author=Bernard Freamon|pages=129–130}}</ref> The term can be seen as an honorific, as to be held by "the right hands" means to be held in honor in Arabic and Islamic culture, a fact that can be seen in Quranic verses that refer to those who will enter Paradise as "companions of the right hand."<ref name=right129/> The term also implies that slaves are "possessions".<ref name=jebro/> In four places, the Qur'an addresses slaves in the same terms as the free; for example, ] refers to both the master and the slave using the same word (''rajul'').<ref name=jebro>Jonathan E. Brockopp (2000), Early Mālikī Law: Ibn ʻAbd Al-Ḥakam and His Major Compendium of Jurisprudence, Brill, {{ISBN|978-9004116283}}, pp. 131</ref>
* they cannot hold property and must hand over to their owner any they may acquire<ref>Khalil bin Ishaq, II, 329</ref><ref>Juynboll, p.204</ref>
* except as their master's agent they may not carry on trade or business<ref>ibid.</ref>
* slaves may lawfully killed in vengeance (talio) if their master or their master's kinfolk kill the slave of another person<ref>Levy, p.78</ref><ref>Qur'an 2:173</ref>
* except in the ] madhhab, slaves may be killed for killing other slaves but no free person may be killed for killing a slave.<ref>Khalil b. Ishaq, II, 662</ref><ref>Sachau, p.776</ref> If they are killed by a free man, the killer is only liable to at the time of the death not to pay their owner their sale value and not full blood-money compensation.<ref>Sachau, p.783</ref><ref>Shirazi, Tanbih (p.271)</ref> Thus, their owners may kill them with impunity.
* they are not permitted marriage without their owner's consent. A master cannot be compelled to give his/her consent to his/her slave's marriage.<ref>Khalil b. Ishaq, II, 4</ref><ref>Shirazi, p.90</ref> By the view of some ] (but not others), a master may compel his/her slave(s) to marriage and determine the identity of their marriage partner(s)<ref>Khalil bin Ishaq, II, 4</ref> <ref>Sachau, p.173</ref>
* the mahr that is given for marriage to a female slave is taken by her owner, whereas all other women possess it absolutely for themselves<ref>Levy, p.114</ref>


] and ] have argued that the expression ''ma malakat aymanukum'' should be properly read in the past tense, thus only referring to people already enslaved at the time the Qur'an was revealed.{{sfn|Clarence-Smith|2006|pp=–200}}
The property of slaves is owned by the master unless the master has granted the terms of a mukataba, which allowed the slave to earn money to purchase his or her freedom and similarly to pay bride wealth.<ref>Levy, p.76</ref>


==Prophet's traditions==
Under the Hanafi and Shafai schools of jurisprudence male slaves could marry two wives, but the Maliki permit them to marry four wives like the free men. According to the Islamic law, a male slave could marry a free woman but this was discouraged in practice. <ref name="Sikainga"/>
{{Unbalanced|section|talk=Section|date=October 2022}}
] was an African slave who was emancipated when ] paid his ransom upon Muhammad's instruction. He was appointed by Muhammad as the first official ]. This image depicts him atop the ] in January 630, when he became the first Muslim to proclaim ] in ].]]


The corpus of ] attributed to Muhammad follows the general lines of Quranic teaching on slavery and contains a large store of reports enjoining kindness toward slaves.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Brunschvig, R.| year=1986 | title=ʿAbd |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam| edition=2nd|publisher=Brill |editor=P. Bearman |editor2=Th. Bianquis |editor3=C.E. Bosworth |editor4=E. van Donzel |editor5=W.P. Heinrichs|volume=1|pages=25|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0003|quote=Tradition delights in asserting that the slave's lot was among the latest preoccupations of the Prophet. It has quite a large store of sayings and anecdotes, attributed to the Prophet or to his Companions, enjoining real kindness towards this inferior social class.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Bernard Lewis|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: An Historical Enquiry|url=https://archive.org/details/raceslaveryinmid0000lewi|url-access=registration|year=1992|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-505326-5|page=|quote=This point is emphasized and elaborated in innumerable hadiths (traditions), in which the Prophet is quoted as urging considerate and sometimes even equal treatment for slaves, denouncing cruelty, harshness, or even discourtesy, recommending the liberation of slaves, and reminding the Muslims that his apostolate was to free and slave alike.|access-date=2020-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519123412/https://archive.org/details/raceslaveryinmid0000lewi|archive-date=2020-05-19|url-status=live}}</ref>
== History of slavery under Islamic rule ==
=== The 'Islamic' slave trade ===
]
{{main|Oriental slave trade}}


Some modern Muslim authors {{who|date=October 2022}} have interpreted this as an indication that Muhammad envisioned a gradual abolition of slavery, while Murray Gordon characterizes Muhammad's approach to slavery as reformist rather than revolutionary. He did not set out to abolish slavery, but rather to improve the conditions of slaves by urging his followers to treat their slaves humanely and free them as a way of expiating one's sins. According to sahih (authentic) hadith Muhammad encouraged gifting of slaves to be a better alternative to setting them free.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:2592 |title=Sahih al-Bukhari 2592, Sunnah.com Saying and Teaching of Prophet Muhammad |access-date=29 March 2023 |url-status=live |archive-date=29 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329101515/https://sunnah.com/bukhari:2592 }}</ref> When the people of Banu Qurayzah were defeated, he ordered some of the captives to be exchanged to purchase horses and arms.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kalamullah.com/tabari.html |title=The History of al-Tabari }}, Vol 8, p. 39</ref> Gordon argues that Muhammad instead assured the legitimacy of slavery in Islam by lending it his moral authority. Likely justifications for his attitude toward slavery included the precedent of Jewish and Christian teachings of his time as well as pragmatic considerations.<ref>{{cite book|author=Murray Gordon|title=Slavery in the Arab World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5l81hwFPvzYC&pg=PA19|pages=19–20|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=1989|isbn=9780941533300}}</ref>
The 'oriental' or 'Arab' slave trade is sometimes called Islamic slave trade, but religion was hardly the point of the slavery, ], a professor of World History, states. <ref name="Manning2"> Manning (1990) p.10 </ref> Also, this term suggests comparison between Islamic slave trade and Christian slave trade. Furthermore, usage of the terms "Islamic trade" or "Islamic world" implicitly and erroneously treats Africa as it were outside of Islam, or a negligible portion of the Islamic world.<ref name="Manning2"/>


The most notable of Muhammad's slaves were: ] received in exchange for seven other slaves,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:2272 |title=Sunan Ibn Majah 2272 - The Chapters on Business Transactions | access-date=16 May 2024 }}</ref> whom he freed and married; ], given to Muhammad by ], who gave birth to his son ] and was freed.
In the 8th century ] was dominated by ]-] in the north: Islam moved southwards along the ] and along the desert trails. The ] of ] often exported ] slaves from their western borderland provinces, or from newly conquered or reconquered Muslim provinces. Native Muslim Ethiopian ] (rulership) exported slaves as well, such as the sometimes independent sultanate (rulership) of ] (a sixteenth century province-cum-rulership located in East Africa north of Northwestern Somalia).<ref>Pankhurst (1997) p. 59</ref> On the coast of the Indian Ocean too, slave-trading posts were set up by Arabs and Persians. The archipelago of ], along the coast of present-day ], is undoubtedly the most notorious example of these trading colonies. East Africa and the Indian Ocean continued as an important region for the Oriental slave trade up until the 19th century.<ref name="eois"/> ] and ] were then the first Europeans to penetrate to the interior of the ] basin and to discover the scale of slavery there.<ref name="fcamb">Holt ''et. al'' (1970) p.391</ref> The Arab ] extended his influence and made many people slaves.<ref name="fcamb"/> After Europeans had settled in the ], the trans-Saharan slave trade became less important. In Zanzibar, slavery was abolished late, in 1897, under Sultan ].<ref>Ingrams (1967) p.175</ref> The rest of Africa had no direct contact with Muslim slave-traders.
], Maria's sister, whom he freed and married to the poet ]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lastprophet.info/en/content/view/111/14/1/17/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721220320/http://www.lastprophet.info/is-muhammad-a-force-of-good-|url-status=dead|title=Aydin, p.17 (citing Ibn Abdilberr, İstîâb, IV, p. 1868; Nawavî, Tahzib al Asma, I, p. 162; Ibn al Asîr, Usd al Ghâbe, VI, p. 160)|archive-date=July 21, 2011|access-date=July 21, 2019}}</ref> and ], whom Muhammad freed and ].<ref>Hughes (1996), p. 370</ref>


==Traditional Islamic jurisprudence==
=== 19th century and post 19th century ===
===Source of slaves===
], the 1st November 1794]]
Traditional ] presumed everyone was free under the dictum of ''The basic principle is liberty'' ({{langx|ar-Latn|al-'asl huwa 'l-hurriya}}), and slavery was an exceptional condition.<ref name=liberty/><ref name=lewis5/> Any person whose status was unknown (e.g. a ]) was presumed to be free.<ref name=liberty>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Brunschvig, R.| year=1986 | title=ʿAbd |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam| edition=2nd|publisher=Brill |editor=P. Bearman |editor2=Th. Bianquis |editor3=C.E. Bosworth |editor4=E. van Donzel |editor5=W.P. Heinrichs|volume=1|pages=26}}</ref><ref name=OEIW/> A free person could not sell himself or his children into slavery.<ref name=lewis6/> Neither could a free person be enslaved due to debt or as punishment for a crime.<ref name=lewis6>{{cite book|author=]|title=]|publisher=]|page=6}}</ref> Non-Muslims living under Muslim rule, known as '']'', could not be enslaved.<ref>{{cite book|title=Slavery and Islam|author=Jonathan A.C. Brown|publisher=]|page=85|quote=Unenslavability extended to non-Muslims living under Muslim rule. There was agreement that these dhimmis could not be enslaved even if they rebelled against the Muslim government. Even if enemies from outside the Abode of Islam captured dhimmis living under Muslim rule and took them as slaves, they were not legally owned according to the Shariah.}}</ref> Lawful enslavement was restricted to two instances: capture in war (on the condition that the prisoner is not a Muslim), or birth in slavery. Islamic law did not recognize the classes of slave from ] including those sold or given into slavery by themselves and others, and those indebted into slavery.<ref name="eois"/> Though a free Muslim could not be enslaved, ] by a non-Muslim slave did not require that he or she then should be liberated. Slave status was not affected by conversion to Islam.<ref>Lewis 1990, page 9.</ref> Purchasing slaves and receiving slaves as tribute was permitted. Many scholars subjected slave purchases to the condition that slave should have been "rightfully enslaved" in the first place.{{sfn|Clarence-Smith|2006|p=33|ps=: "The rider was sometimes added that such people should have been 'rightfully enslaved', although what this meant was far from clear"}}


===Treatment===
Slavery in Muslim lands was influenced by the revolution against slavery in 19th century in ] and later in other Western countries which gave rise to a strong abolitionist movement in Europe. Contrasting with ancient and colonial systems, slaves in Muslim lands had a certain legal status and had obligations to as well as rights over the slave owner. Slavery was not only recognized but was elaborately regulated by ] law. Although emancipation of slaves was recommended, it was not compulsory. Lewis elucidates that it was for this reason that "the position of the domestic slave in Muslim society was in most respects better than in either classical antiquity or the nineteenth-century Americas", and that the situation of such slaves were no worse than (and even in some cases better than) free poors<ref name="Lewis1">Bernard Lewis, (1992), pp. 78-79 </ref>.
] (1912)]]
In the instance of illness it would be required for the slave to be looked after. ] is considered a meritorious act. Based on the Quranic verse (24:33), Islamic law permits a slave to ransom himself upon consent of his master through a contract known as '']''.<ref name="eois"/> ], a professor of Law specializing in Islamic jurisprudence, states that both the Quran and Hadith are repeatedly exhorting Muslims to treat their slaves well and that Muhammad showed this both in action and in words.<ref name="Hibri">Azizah Y. al-Hibri, 2003</ref> Levy concurs, adding that "cruelty to them was forbidden."<ref name="L77">Levy (1957) p. 77</ref> Al-Hibri quotes the famous last speech of Muhammad and other hadiths emphasizing that all believers, whether free or enslaved, are siblings.<ref name="Hibri"/> Lewis explains, "the humanitarian tendency of the Quran and the early caliphs in the Islamic empire, was to some extent counteracted by other influences,"<ref name="Lewis" /> notably the practice of various conquered people and countries Muslims encountered, especially in provinces previously under ]. In spite of this, Lewis also states, "Islamic practice still represented a vast improvement on that inherited from antiquity, from Rome, and from Byzantium."<ref name="Lewis" /> Murray Gordon writes: "It was not surprising that Muhammad, who accepted the existing socio-political order, looked upon slavery as part of the natural order of things. His approach to what was already an age-old institution was reformist and not revolutionary. The Prophet had not in mind to bring about the abolition of slavery. Rather, his purpose was to improve the conditions of slaves by correcting abuses and appealing to the conscience of his followers to treat them humanely.<ref>Gordon 1987, page 19.</ref> The adoption of slaves as members of the family was common, according to Levy. If a slave was born and brought up in the master's household he was never sold, except in exceptional circumstances.<ref name="L77"/>


===Sexual intercourse===
Ironically, the enlightened incentives and opportunities for slaves to be emancipated meant there was a strong market for new slaves and thus strong incentive to enslave and sell human beings. The processes of acquisition and transportation of slaves to Muslim lands often imposed appalling hardships, though "once the slaves were settled in Islamic culture they had genuine opportunities to realize their potential. Many of them became merchants in Mecca, Jedda, and elsewhere." The hardships of acquisition and transportation of slaves to Muslim lands drew attention of European opponents of slavery. The continuing pressure from European countries eventually overcame the strong resistance of religious conservatives who were holding that forbidding what God permits is just as great an offence as to permit what God forbids. Slavery, in their eyes, was "authorized and regulated by the holy law". There were also many pious Muslims who refused to have slaves and persuaded others to do so. <ref> ] (2004), p.182 </ref> Eventually, the Ottoman Empire's orders against the traffic of slaves were issued and put into effect. <ref name="Lewis1">Bernard Lewis, (1992), pp. 78-79 </ref>
{{Slavery}}
{{See also|Islamic marital jurisprudence|Islamic views on concubinage|History of concubinage in the Muslim world}}] 23, ], of the ] in verse 6 and Surah 70, ], in verse 30 both, in identical wording, draw a distinction between spouses and "those whom one's right hands possess", saying " أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ" (literally, "their spouses or what their right hands possess"), while clarifying that sexual intercourse with either is permissible. Sayyid ] explains that "two categories of women have been excluded from the general command of guarding the private parts: (a) wives, (b) women who are legally in one's possession".<ref>{{Cite web |title=23. Surah Al Muminoon (The Believers) - Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an |url=https://www.searchtruth.com/tafsir/Quran/23/index.html#sdfootnote7sym |access-date=2022-07-20 |website=www.searchtruth.com |archive-date=2022-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220720103738/https://www.searchtruth.com/tafsir/Quran/23/index.html#sdfootnote7sym |url-status=live }}</ref> Islamic law, using the term'' ]'' ("what your right hands possess") considered sexual relations with female slaves as lawful.<ref name=autogenerated1>Brunschvig. 'Abd; Encyclopedia of Islam, page 13.</ref>


According to ], the Qurʾanic passages on slavery differ strikingly in terms of their terminology and main preoccupations compared to the jurisprudential texts, that the text of the Qurʾan does not permit sexual access simply by the virtue of her being a milk al-yamīn or concubine while the "Jurists define zina as vaginal intercourse between a man and a woman who is neither his wife nor his slave. Though seldom discussed, forced sex with one's wife might (or, depending on the circumstances, might not) be an ethical infraction, and conceivably even a legal one like assault if physical violence is involved. One might speculate that the same is true of forced sex with a slave. This scenario is never, however, illicit in the jurists' conceptual world".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.brandeis.edu/projects/fse/muslim/slavery.html | title=Islam and Slavery &#124; the Feminist Sexual Ethics Project &#124; Brandeis University }}</ref>
Slavery in the forms of carpetweavers, sugarcane cutters, camel jockeys, sex slaves, and even chattel exists even today in some Muslim and non-Muslim countries (Some have questioned the use of the term slavery as an accurate description <ref> Jok Madut Jok (2001), p.3</ref>). <ref name="EHR"> James R. Lewis and Carl Skutsch, ''The Human Rights Encyclopedia'', v.3, p. 898-904 </ref> Chattel slavery in Mauritania and Sudan, Trokosi slavery ("a trokosi is a virgin girl who is dedicated (married) to a priest as a penance for a crime committed by a member of her family"), Child slavery in Asia, Child trafficking in west and central Africa are examples of slavery in twenty-first century.


Responding to a query about whether a man can be forced to have intercourse or if it is obligatory for him to have intercourse with his wife or concubine, Imam ] stated "If he has only one wife or an additional concubine with whom he has intercourse, he is commanded to fear Allah Almighty and to not harm her in regards to intercourse, although nothing specific is obligated upon him. He is only obligated to provide what benefits her such as financial maintenance, residence, clothing, and spending the night with her. As for intercourse, its position is one of pleasure and no one can be forced into it."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Asy-Syafi'i R. A. |first1=Al-Imam |title=Al-Umm = Kitab induk |date=1989 |publisher=Victory Agencie |location=Kuala Lumpur |isbn=9789839581522 |volume=5 |page=203}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Ali|2010|p=}}</ref>
=== Twentieth Century suppression and outlawry ===
] follows ]'s footsteps and says that the verses are revealed on the historical context, the ] are not among the essence and ], with an example: ] in ]; could be bought, sold, rented and shared.<ref name=jebro>Jonathan E. Brockopp (2000), Early Mālikī Law: Ibn ʻAbd Al-Ḥakam and His Major Compendium of Jurisprudence, Brill, {{ISBN|978-9004116283}}, pp. 131</ref><ref>Levy (1957) p. 77</ref> ] decided that the paternity determination of the child to be born could be made by ], and asks how many of you can accept this understanding today?<ref>{{YouTube|id=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwl85m-bSeA |title=3 Çarpıcı Örnek: Kurban, Kölelik ve Allah Tasavvuru}}</ref>]]
{{see also|Abolitionism#National_abolition_dates}}
Writing about ] the English traveller W.G. Palgrave says that in Arabia he constantly met with negro slaves in large numbers. The effects of concubinage were apparent in the number of persons of mixed race and the emancipation of slaves he found to be common.<ref>In his narrative of 'A Years Journey Through Central and Eastern Arabia' 5th Ed. London (1869), p.270</ref> Doughty, writing about 25 years later, made similar reports.<ref>Doughty(author), ''Arabia Deserta'' (Cambridge, 1988), I, 554</ref>


Another viewpoint is of Rabb Intisar, who argues that according to the Quran, sexual relations with a concubine were subject to both parties' consent.{{sfn|Intisar|p=152}} Similarly ] writes that consent of a concubine was necessary for sexual relations.{{sfn|Sonn|2015|p=18}} ] argues that the modern conception of sexual consent only came about since the 1970s, so it makes little sense to project it backwards onto classical Islamic law. Brown notes that premodern Muslim jurists rather applied the ] to judge sexual misconduct, including between a master and concubine.{{sfn|Brown|2019|p=282–283}} He further states that historically, concubines could complain to judges if they were being sexually abused and that scholars like ] require a master to set his concubine free if he injures her during sex.{{sfn|Brown|2019|p=96}} Islam permits sexual relations between a male master and his female slave outside marriage. This is referred to in the Quran as '']'' or "what your right hands possess".<ref>See ] by ], Vol. 2 pp. 112-113 footnote 44; Also see commentary on verses {{qref|23|1-6}}: Vol. 3, notes 7-1, p. 241; 2000, Islamic Publications</ref><ref>{{Qtaf|en:ibk|4|24}}</ref> There are some restrictions on the master; he may not co-habit with a female slave belonging to his wife, neither can he have relations with a female slave if she is co-owned, or already married.<ref name="eois"/>
Slavery was common in the ] until the end of the ]. In Singapore in 1891 there was a regular trade in Chinese slaves by muslim slaveowners, with girls and women used for concubinage.<ref>S.Hurgronje, Verspreide Geschriften (Bonn, 1923), II, II ff</ref>


In ancient Arabian custom, the child of a freeman by his slave was also a slave unless he was recognized and liberated by his father.<ref>Lewis 1990, page 24.</ref> In theory, the recognition by a master of his offspring by a slave woman was optional in Islamic society, and in the early period was often withheld. By the ] it became normal and was unremarkable in a society where the sovereigns themselves were almost invariably the children of slave concubines.<ref>Lewis 1990, page 91.</ref> The mother receives the title of "'']''" ({{lit|mother of a child}}),<ref name="umm walad">'' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801050417/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2424|date=2017-08-01}}'' Umm al-Walad, "Mother of the son. Refers to a slave woman impregnated by her owner…", Oxford Islamic Studies Online</ref> which is an improvement in her status as she can no longer be sold. Among Sunnis, she is automatically freed upon her master's death, however for Shi'a, she is only freed if her child is still alive; her value is then deducted from this child's share of the inheritance.<ref name="eois"/> Lovejoy writes that as an ''umm walad'', they attained "an intermediate position between slave and free" pending their freedom, although they would sometimes be nominally freed as soon as they gave birth.<ref name="Paul"/>
At ], the sale of women slaves, both ]es and ]s continued to be openly practised until the granting of the Constitution in ].<ref>Levy, p.88</ref>


There is no limit on the number of female concubines a male master may possess.<ref>] (2010), ''Marriage and Slavery in Early Islam'', Harvard University Press, p. 176</ref> However, the general marital laws are to be observed, such as not having sexual relations with the sister of a female slave.<ref name="eois"/><ref name="Paul"/> In Islam "men are enjoined to marry free women in the first instance, but if they cannot afford the bridewealth for free women, they are told to marry slave women rather than engage in wrongful acts."<ref>Nashat (1999) p. 42</ref> One rationale given for recognition of concubinage in Islam is that "it satisfied the sexual desire of the female slaves and thereby prevented the spread of immorality in the ]."<ref name=":0">Sikainga (1996), p. 22</ref> A slave master could have sex with his female slave only while she was not married. This attempt to require sexual exclusivity for female slaves was rare in antiquity, when female slaves generally had no claim to an exclusive sexual relationship.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Kecia|last=Ali|author-link=Kecia Ali|year=2010|title=Marriage and Slavery in Early Islam|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=39|isbn=9780674059177|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C229nbjq8TMC|access-date=2018-06-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104104847/https://books.google.com/books?id=C229nbjq8TMC&printsec=frontcover|archive-date=2018-11-04|url-status=live}}</ref> According to Sikainga, "in reality, however, female slaves in many Muslim societies were prey for members of their owners' household, their neighbors, and their guests."<ref name=":0"/>
It was in the early 20th century (post ]) that slavery gradually became outlawed and suppressed in Muslim lands, largely due to pressure exerted by Western nations such as ] and ] (although the extent to which it died out and/or flared up again is disputed).<ref name="eois"/>


In Shiite jurisprudence, it is unlawful for a master of a female slave to grant a third party the use of her for sexual relations. The Shiite scholar ] stated: ولا يجوز إعارتها للاستمتاع بها لأن البضع لا يستباح بالإعارة
In 1925 slaves were still being bought and sold at ] in the ordinary way of trade.<ref>E. Rutter, ''The Holy Cities of Arabia'' (London and New York, 1928), II, 93</ref>
"It is not permissible to loan (the slave girl) for enjoyment purpose, because sexual intercourse cannot be legitimate through loaning"<ref>
The slave market there consisted of the offspring of local slaves as well as those imported from the ], Africa, and ].
Shaykh al-Tusi stated in Al-Mabsut, Volume 3 page 57</ref> and the Shiite scholars al-Muhaqiq al-Kurki, ] and Ali Asghar Merwarid made the following ruling: ولا تجوز استعارة الجواري للاستمتاع
"It is not permissible to loan the slave girl for the purpose of sexual intercourse"<ref>al-Muhaqiq al-Kurki in ''Jame'a al-Maqasid'', Volume 6 page 62, Allamah al-Hilli in ''Al-Tadkira'', Volume 2 page 210 and Ali Asghar Merwarid in ''Al-Yanabi al-Fiqhya'', Volume 17 page 187</ref>


Under the ] of ''kafa'a'' (lit."adequacy, equivalence"), the purpose of which was to ensure that a man should be at least the social equal of the woman he marries, a ] is not as good as the son of a freedman, and he in turn not as good as the grandson of a freedman. This principle is pursued up to three generations, after which all Muslims are deemed equally free.<ref>Lewis 85&ndash;86</ref> Lewis asserts that since kafa'a "does not forbid unequal marriages", it is in no sense a "Muslim equivalent of ] of ] or the ] of ]. His purpose, he states, is not to try to set up a moral competition - to compare castration and apartheid as offenses against humanity."<ref name="eois"/><ref>John Joseph, Review of ''Race and Color in Islam'' by ], '']'', Vol. 5, No. 3. (Jun., 1974), pp. 368-371.</ref>
By the Treaty of Jedda, May 1927 (art.7), concluded between the British Government and Ibn Sa'ud (King of ] and the ]) it was finally agreed to suppress the slave trade in ]. Then by a decree issued in ] the importation of slaves into Saudi Arabia was prohibited unless it could be proved that they were slaves at that date.<ref>Levy, p.85</ref> It was not until 1962 that all slavery practice or trafficking in Saudi Arabia was prohibited.


===Legal status===
Writing in 1969, Levy noted:<ref>op cit. p.89</ref> 'Most Muslim states have abolished slavery, but it still flourishes in some of the Arabian Peninsular States such as Saudi Arabia, the Yemen and ] though it has been abolished in ] and ].
Within ], slaves were excluded from religious office and from any office involving jurisdiction over others.<ref>Lewis 1990, page 7</ref> Freed slaves are able to occupy any office within the ], and instances of this in history include the ] who ruled Egypt for almost 260 years and the ]s who have held military and administrative positions of note.<ref name="schimmel">Schimmel (1992) p. 67</ref> With the permission of their owners they are able to marry.<ref>Esposito (2002) p.148</ref> ], a contemporary scholar on ], asserts that because the status of slaves under Islam could only be obtained through either being a ] (this was soon restricted only to infidels captured in a ])<ref name="Lewis" /> or born from slave parents, slavery would be theoretically abolished with the expansion of Islam.<ref name="schimmel" /> ] agrees, stating that the Quranic acceptance of the institution of slavery on the legal plane was the only practical option available at the time of Muhammad since "slavery was ingrained in the structure of society, and its overnight wholesale liquidation would have created problems which it would have been absolutely impossible to solve, and only a dreamer could have issued such a visionary statement."<ref>Fazlur Rahman, Islam, University of Chicago Press, p.38</ref> Islam's reforms stipulating the conditions of enslavement seriously limited the supply of new slaves.<ref name="Lewis" /> Murray Gordon does note: "Muhammad took pains in urging the faithful to free their slaves as a way of expiating their sins. Some ] have taken this mean that his true motive was to bring about a gradual elimination of slavery. An alternative argument is that by lending the ] of Islam to slavery, Muhammad assured its legitimacy. Thus, in lightening the fetter, he riveted it ever more firmly in place."<ref>Murray Gordon, " {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104104847/https://books.google.com/books?id=5l81hwFPvzYC&printsec=frontcover |date=2018-11-04 }}." New Amsterdam Press, New York, 1989. Originally published in French by Editions Robert Laffont, S.A. Paris, 1987. Page 19.</ref> In the early days of Islam, a plentiful supply of new slaves were brought due to rapid conquest and expansion. But as the frontiers were gradually stabilized, this supply dwindled to a mere trickle. The prisoners of later wars between Muslims and Christians were commonly ransomed or exchanged.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}


According to Lewis, this reduction resulted in Arabs who wanted slaves having to look elsewhere to avoid the restrictions in the Quran, meaning an increase of importing of slaves from non-Muslim lands,<ref name="L9010">Lewis (1990) p. 10</ref> primarily from Africa. These slaves suffered a high death toll.<ref name="Lewis" /><ref name="L9010"/> ] states that Islamic legislations against the abuse of the slaves convincingly limited the extent of enslavement in the ] and to a lesser degree for the whole area of the ] where slavery had existed since the most ancient times. However, he also notes that with the passage of time and the extension of Islam, Islam, by recognizing and codifying slavery, seems to have done more to protect and expand slavery than the reverse.<ref name=autogenerated5>Manning (1990) p.28</ref>
The last nation in the muslim world, and for that matter the ''entire'' world, to formally enact the abolition of slavery practice and slave trafficking, was ] in 1981 although it still exists there de facto.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4091579.stm</ref>


In theory, free-born Muslims could not be enslaved, and the only way that a non-Muslim could be enslaved was being captured in the course of holy war.<ref name="Sikainga">Sikainga (1996) p.5</ref> (In early Islam, neither a Muslim nor a Christian or Jew could be enslaved.<ref>John Esposito (1998) p.40</ref> Slavery was also perceived as a means of converting non-Muslims to Islam: A task of the masters was religious instruction. Conversion and assimilation into the society of the master didn't automatically lead to emancipation, though there was normally some guarantee of better treatment and was deemed a prerequisite for emancipation.<ref name="Paul">Paul Lovejoy (2000) p.2</ref> The majority of ] authorities approved the ] of all the "]". According to some jurists -especially among the ]- only Muslim slaves should be liberated.<ref>Lewis(1990) 106</ref> In practice, traditional propagators{{Who|date=July 2021}} of ] often revealed a cautious attitude towards proselytizing because of its effect in reducing the potential reservoir of slaves.<ref>Murray Gordon, "Slavery in the ]." ] Press, New York, 1989. Originally published in French by Editions Robert Laffont, S.A. Paris, 1987, page 28.</ref>
== Contemporary slavery in the Islamic world ==
=== Contemporary Islamic juridical support for slavery ===
In recent years, according to at least one scholar, there has been a "reopening" of the issue of slavery by some conservative Islamic scholars after it's "closing" earlier in the 20th century when Muslim countries banned slavery and "most Muslim scholars" found the practice "inconsistent with Qur'anic morality." <ref>Abou el Fadl, ''Great Theft'', HarperSanFrancisco, c2005.</ref>


====Rights and restrictions====
In 2003 a high-level Saudi jurist, Shaykh Saleh al-Fawzan, issued a fatwa claiming
"Morally as well as physically the slave is regarded in law as an inferior being," Levy writes.<ref>Levy, p.78</ref> Under Islamic law<!-- What is meant by islamtic law? Muhammad's first change recommendations? Muhammad's ideal? Sultanic law? Quran?
“Slavery is a part of Islam. Slavery is part of jihad, and jihad will remain as long there is Islam.” <ref>Shaikh Salih al-Fawzaan "affirmation of slavery" was found on page 24 of "Taming a Neo-Qutubite Fanatic Part 1" when accessed on February 17, 2007 http://www.salafipublications.com/sps/downloads/pdf/GRV070005.pdf</ref>
He attacked Muslim scholars who said otherwise maintaining, “They are ignorant, not scholars ... They are merely writers. Whoever says such things is an infidel.” At the time of the fatwa, Al-Fawzan was a member of the Senior Council of Clerics, Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body, a member of the Council of Religious Edicts and Research, the Imam of Prince Mitaeb Mosque in Riyadh, and a professor at Imam Mohamed Bin Saud Islamic University, the main Wahhabi center of learning in the country.


There have been several, and are several Islamic laws. -->, a slave possesses a composite quality of being both a person and a possession.<ref name="eois"/> The slave is entitled to receive sustenance from the master, which includes shelter, food, clothing, and medical attention. It is a requirement for this sustenance to be of the same standard generally found in the locality and it is also recommended for the slave to have the same standard of food and clothing as the master. If the master refuses to provide the required sustenance, the slave may complain to a judge{{How|date=July 2021}}, who may then penalize the master through sale of her or his goods as necessary for the slave's keep. If the master does not have sufficient wealth to facilitate this, she or he must either sell, hire out, or manumit the slave as ordered. Slaves also have the right to a period of rest during the hottest parts of the day during the summer.<ref>Khalil b. Ishaq, quoted in Levy (1957) p. 77</ref>
According to multiple sources, religious calls have also been made to capture and enslave Jewish women. "It is hard to imagine a serious person calling for America to enslave its enemies. Yet a prominent Saudi cleric, Shaikh Saad Al-Buraik, recently urged Palestinians to do exactly that with Jews: `Their women are yours to take, legitimately. God made them yours. Why don't you enslave their women?` ,


The spiritual status of a Muslim slave was identical to a Muslim free person, with some exemptions made for the slave. For example, it is not mandatory for Muslim slaves to attend Friday prayers or go for Hajj, even though both are mandatory for free Muslims.<ref name=eoi27>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Brunschvig, R.| year=1986 | title=ʿAbd |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam volume 1|publisher=Brill |editor=P. Bearman |editor2=Th. Bianquis |editor3=C.E. Bosworth |editor4=E. van Donzel |editor5=W.P. Heinrichs|volume=1|pages=27|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0003}}</ref> Slaves were generally allowed to become an ''imam'' and lead prayer, and many scholars even allowed them to act as an imam for ] and ], though some disagreed.<ref name=eoi27/>
=== Contemporary slavery in Arabia as a consequence of Islamic religious approval ===
While slavery is illegal in Saudi Arabia despite Shaykh Saleh al-Fawzan's fatwa, the proclamation carries wieght among many Muslims. According to reformist jurist and author Khaled Abou El Fadl, it "is particularly disturbing and dangerous because it effectively legitimates the trafficking in and sexual exploitation of so-called domestic workers in the Gulf region and especially Saudi Arabia."<ref>''The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists'', by Khaled Abou El Fadl, Harper San Francisco, 2005, p.255</ref>


Evidence from slaves is rarely viable in a court of law. According to the most popular Sharia manual by Imam Shafi, the very first requirement for a legal testimony to be acceptable from a witness is that the witness must be free.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/relianceofthetravellertheclassicmanualofislamicsacredlawindexed |title=Imam Shafi, Umdat as-Salik (Reliance Of The Traveller The Classic Manual Of Islamic Sacred Law Indexed) |access-date=18 June 2023 }} Section o24.2</ref> As slaves are regarded as inferior in Islamic law, death at the hands of a free man does not require that the latter be killed in retaliation.<ref>Except according to Hanafis, who make a free man liable to retaliation in cases of murder</ref> The killer must pay the slave's master compensation equivalent to the slave's value, as opposed to blood-money. At the same time, slaves themselves possess a lessened responsibility for their actions, and receive half the penalty required upon a free man. For example: where a free man would be subject to a hundred lashes due to pre-marital relations, a slave would be subject to only fifty. Slaves are allowed to marry only with the owner's consent. Jurists differ over how many wives a slave may possess, with the Hanafi and Shafi'i schools allowing them two, and the Maliki school allowing four. Slaves are not permitted to possess or inherit property, or conduct independent business, and may conduct financial dealings only as a representative of the master. Offices of authority are generally not permitted for slaves, though a slave may act as the leader ('']'') in the congregational ], and he may also act as a subordinate officer in the governmental department of revenue.<ref name="eois"/><ref>Levy (1957) pp. 78-79</ref> Masters may sell, bequeath, give away, pledge, hire out or compel them to earn money.<ref name="L77" />
According to the U.S. State Department:


By the view of some ] (but not others), a master may compel his slave to marry and determine the identity of the marriage partner.<ref>Khalil bin Ishaq, II, 4</ref><ref>Sachau, p.173</ref>
<blockquote>Saudi Arabia is a destination for men and women from South and East Asia and East Africa trafficked for the purpose of labor exploitation, and for children from Yemen, Afghanistan, and Africa trafficking for forced begging. Hundreds of thousands of low-skilled workers from India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Kenya migrate voluntarily to Saudi Arabia; some fall into conditions of involuntary servitude, suffering from physical and sexual abuse, non-payment or delayed payment of wages, the withholding of travel documents, restrictions on their freedom of movement and non-consensual contract alterations.


The ] that is given for marriage to a female slave is taken by her owner, whereas all other women possess it absolutely for themselves.<ref>Levy, p.114</ref>
The Government of Saudi Arabia does not comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. </blockquote>


A slave was not allowed to become a ], but could become a subordinate officer.<ref name=eoi27/>
According to ] news, young children have been kidnapped or sold by their parents to Arab countries, where they are forced to become ] and "subjected to slave labour." ,


===Manumission and abolition===
Children are routinely beaten, starved, overworked, raped, and forced to engage in camel races that sometimes result in the deaths of the child jockeys. Although ] has promised to end slavery, human rights groups have suggested that those promises may be insincere.
The Quran and Hadith, the primary Islamic texts, make it a praiseworthy act for masters to ]. There are numerous ways in Islamic law under which a slave may become free:
*An act of piety by the owner.<ref name="L8081"/>
*the '']'' contract: the slave and master draw a contract whereby the master will grant the slave freedom in exchange for a period of employment,<ref name="L8081"/> or a certain sum of money (payable in installments).<ref name=bbcfree/> The master must allow the slave to earn money.<ref name="eois"/><ref name="L8081">Levy pp. 80-81</ref> Such a contract is recommended by the Qur'an.<ref name="L8081"/>
*A female slave who gives birth to her owner's child becomes an ''umm walad'' and becomes automatically free upon the death of her owner.<ref name="umm walad"/><ref name=bbcfree>{{cite web|title=Slavery in Islam|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/slavery_1.shtml|publisher=]|access-date=2019-12-21|archive-date=2022-02-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225141842/https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/slavery_1.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> The child would be automatically free and equal to the owner's other children.<ref name=":1">Gordon 1987, pp. 42-43.</ref>
*The owner can promise, either verbally<ref name="L8081"/> or in ] that the slave is free upon the owner's death. Such a slave is known as a ''mudabbar''.<ref name=bbcfree/>
*A Muslim who has committed certain sins, such as involuntary ] or ], is required to free a slave as an expiation.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Crown And The Turban: Muslims And West African Pluralism|page=51|publisher=]|author= Lamin Sanneh}}</ref>
*Anytime the owner of the slave declares the slave to be free the slave becomes automatically free, even if the owner made the statement accidentally or jokingly.<ref name="L8081"/> For example, if a slave owner said "You’re free once you’ve finished this task", intending to mean "you’re done with work for the day", the slave would become free despite the owner's ambiguous statement.<ref>{{cite book|title=Slavery and Islam|author=Jonathan A.C. Brown|publisher=]|page=86}}</ref>
*A slave is freed automatically if it is discovered the slave is related to the master; this could happen, for example, when someone purchases a slave who happens to be a relative.<ref name="L8081"/>


Gordon opines that while Islamic jurisprudence considered manumission as one way of ] of sin, but other means of atonement also existed: for example, giving charity to the poor was considered superior to freeing a slave.<ref name=autogenerated3>Gordon 1987, page 40.</ref> And while Islam made freeing a slave a meritorious act, it was usually not a requirement,<ref name=liberation/> making it possible for a devout Muslim to still own a slave.<ref name=":1"/> ] stated that sometimes slaves refused freedom due to lack of employable skills, as freedom from the master meant the slave might go hungry.<ref name="RFBurton">{{Cite book
]s were introduced in the gulf state of ] in ] with the use of child jockeys being banned in ] by the ], ].<ref name=GUK> by Ian Sample, '']'', Thursday, ]</ref>
|last = Burton
|first = Richard Francis
|chapter = Tale of the Second Eunuch
|title = The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night
|url = https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/richard/b97b/part14.html
|access-date = 2012-07-03
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120406154909/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/richard/b97b/part14.html
|archive-date = 2012-04-06
|url-status = dead
}}</ref>


According to ], all Muslim slaves become automatically free after a maximum of 7 years in servitude. This rule applies regardless of the will of the owner.<ref>{{cite web|author=Makarem Shirazi|first=Naser|author-link=Naser Makarem Shirazi|title=ممنوع نشدن اصل برده داری در اسلام|date=19 August 2018 |url=https://makarem.ir/main.aspx?typeinfo=44&lid=0&mid=411870&catid=27286|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712074715/https://makarem.ir/main.aspx?typeinfo=44&lid=0&mid=411870&catid=27286|archive-date=2020-07-12|access-date=2020-07-12|quote="در بعضى از روايات اسلامى آمده است: بردگان بعد از هفت سال خود به خود آزاد مى‏ شوند، چنانكه از امام صادق(عليه السلام) مى خوانيم: «كسى كه ايمان داشته باشد بعد از هفت سال آزاد مى شود صاحبش بخواهد يا نخواهد و به خدمت گرفتن كسى كه ايمان داشته بعد از هفت سال حلال نيست»"}}</ref>
=== Islamically-inspired resurgence of slavery in contemporary Africa ===
According to Australian art critic and writer ] (writing for ]), slavery in Africa has been dominated by Arabs. ""Slave markets, supplying the Arab emirates, were still operating in ] in the 1950s; and since 1960, the slave trade has flourished in ] and the ]. There are still reports of chattel slavery in northern ], ] and ]."


Some scholars hold that the abolition of slavery was one of the aims of Islam, a view that Islamic feminists scholar ] finds well intentioned but ahistorical and simplistic.{{sfn|Ali|2004}} She suggest that while there was definitely an "emancipatory ethic" (encouragement for freeing slaves) in Islamic jurisprudence and that "it is possible to view slavery as inconsistent with basic Qur'anic precepts of justice and human equality before God",{{sfn|Ali|2004}} slavery was also "marginal to the Qur'anic worldview" and "there has not been a strong internally developed critique of past or present slaveholding practices".{{sfn|Ali|2004}} The subsequent shift in attitudes within Islam towards slavery have also been compared to similar shifts within Christianity towards Biblically sanctioned slavery, which was widespread in the late antique world in which both the Bible and Quran arose.{{sfn|Hazelton|2010|p=107}}
According to Dr. Kwaku Person-Lynn, "The saddest and most painful reality of this situation is, that same slave trading is occurring today, still in the name of Islam. It is primarily happening in the countries of Mauritania, located in northwest Afrika, and Sudan, in northeast Afrika." and "If we assess what we have before us, this only leaves us to conclude that this is a horrendous misuse of Islam."


==Modern interpretations==
==== Slavery in Sudan ====
=== Abolitionism ===
{{main|Slavery in Sudan}}
]. 'An Arab master's punishment for a slight offence.' c. 1890. From at least the 1860s onwards, photography was a powerful weapon in the abolitionist arsenal.]]
Slavery in the Sudan predates Islam, but continued under Islamic rulers. Though it never completely died out in Sudan, there has been a relatively recent upsurge in slave-taking that has its roots in Islam. According to John Eibner, an historian and human rights specialist writing in ]:
In the Ottoman Empire, restrictions on the slave trade began to be introduced during the eighteenth century, in the context of Ottoman-Russian warfare. Bilateral agreements between the Ottoman and Russian empires enabled both sides to retrieve captives taken during war in return for ransom payments. Ransoming of enslaved war captives had been common before this, but had depended on the agreement of a captive's owner; by establishing this as a legal right, the agreements restricted the rights of slaveowners and contributed to the development of the international law concept of "prisoner of war."<ref>{{cite book |last=Smiley |first=Will |title=From Slaves to Prisoners of War: The Ottoman Empire, Russia and International Law|year=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780198785415}}</ref> The ] starting in the late 18th century in Western Europe<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/antislavery_01.shtml|title=British Anti-slavery|last=Oldfield|first=John|date=2011-02-07|website=British History in depth|publisher=BBC History|access-date=2016-10-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160925213603/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/antislavery_01.shtml|archive-date=2016-09-25|url-status=live}}</ref> led to gradual changes concerning the institution of slavery in Muslim lands both in doctrine and in practice.<ref name="eois"/> One of the first religious decrees comes from the two highest dignitaries of the Hanafi and Maliki rites in the Ottoman Empire. These religious authorities declared that slavery is lawful in principle but it is regrettable in its consequences. They expressed two religious considerations in their support for abolition of slavery: "the initial enslaving of the people concerned comes under suspicion of illegality by reason of the present-day expansion of Islam in their countries; masters no longer comply with the rules of good treatment which regulate their rights and shelter them from wrong-doing."<ref name=EI2-37>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Brunschvig, R.| year=1986 | title=ʿAbd |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam| edition=2nd|publisher=Brill |editor1=P. Bearman|editor2= Th. Bianquis|editor3= C.E. Bosworth|editor4= E. van Donzel|editor5= W.P. Heinrichs|volume=1|pages=37–38}}</ref>


According to Brunschvig, although the total abolition of slavery might seem a reprehensible innovation and contrary to the Quran and the practice of early Muslims, the realities of the modern world caused a "discernible evolution in the thought of many educated Muslims before the end of the 19th century." These Muslims argued that Islam on the whole has "bestowed an exceptionally favorable lot on the victims of slavery" and that the institution of slavery is linked to the particular economic and social stage in which Islam originated. According to the influential thesis of ], the ] disapproved of slavery, but Muhammad could
<blockquote>Sudan is the only place where chattel slavery is not just surviving but experiencing a great revival. This renascence of the slave trade began in the mid-1980s and resulted directly from an upsurge of ] in Sudan at that time, and especially from the Islamist emphasis on the renewal of ]. After gaining the upper-hand in ] by about 1983, the Islamists' immediate goal was to transform the multi-ethnic, multi-religious population of Sudan into an Arab-dominated Muslim state, and to do so through jihad. Under ]'s powerful influence, the ruler of the time, ], declared himself to be (sounding like a ] of old), the "rightly guided" leader of an Islamic state. </blockquote>
not abolish the institution overnight as it would have disrupted society and economy. The Prophet thus ordered an immediate
betterment in the status and treatment of slaves, and encouraged manumission, trusting
that slavery would soon die out.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Clarence-Smith |first1=William Gervase |title=Indian Ocean Slavery in the Age of Abolition |chapter=5. Islamic Abolitionism in the Western Indian Ocean From c. 1800 |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.12987/9780300166460-006/html |website=Degruyter |date=2017 |pages=81–98 |publisher=Yale University Press|doi=10.12987/9780300166460-006 |isbn=978-0-300-16646-0 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Slavery and the Slave Trades in the Indian Ocean and Arab Worlds: Global Connections and Disconnections |url=https://glc.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/indian-ocean/smith.pdf |publisher=Yale University |page=6 |access-date=February 19, 2024 |date=November 8, 2008}}</ref> ] was the first Muslim country to abolish slavery, in 1846. Tunisian reformers argued for the abolition of slavery on the basis of Islamic law. They argued that while Islamic law permitted slavery, it set many conditions, and these conditions were impossible to enforce in the 19th century and widely flouted. They pointed to evidence that many slaves sold in Tunisian markets had been enslaved illegally, as they were either Muslim or the subject of a friendly state at the time of capture (Islamic law allowed the enslavement only of non-Muslims in the course of war). They also argued that the circumstances for legal enslavement in the 19th century were very rare, because Tunisia and other Muslim states were not permanently at war with non-Muslim powers, as the first Muslim state had been. Therefore, one could assume that the vast majority of the 19th-century slave trade was illegal, and the only way to prevent illegal enslavement was to prohibit the slave trade entirely. Furthermore, since the child of a slave and a free man was considered free, the institution of slavery was not sustainable without a slave trade.<ref name="Montana 2013"/> By the early 20th century, the idea that Islam only tolerated slavery due to necessity was to varying extent taken up by the ].


According to Brockopp, in the Ottoman Empire and elsewhere the manumission contract ('']'') was used by the state to give slaves the means to buy their freedom and thereby end slavery as an institution. Some authorities issued condemnations of slavery, stating that it violated Quranic ideals of equality and freedom. Subsequently, even religious conservatives came to accept that slavery was contrary to Islamic principles of justice and equality.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Jonathan E. Brockopp | year= 2006 | title=Slaves and slavery|volume=5|page=60 |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān|editor=Jane Dammen McAuliffe|publisher=Brill}}</ref>
John Eibner of Christian Solidarity International, as quoted by the American Anti-Slavery Groups, discusses slavery in ]. He states:
<blockquote>"It begins when the armed forces of the government-backed mujadeen, or allied militias, raid a southern Sudanese village. They kill men on the spot, beat the elderly, and capture the women and children. Raiders and their victims start the horrific march to the North. Children are executed when they cry. People who try to run away are shot. The young girls are taken by soldiers into the bush and gang raped.


===Contemporary===
"Each victim later becomes one of two kinds of slaves, a house slave or a field slave. House slaves cook, clean, fetch water and firewood, and do other household chores. The field slaves cultivate the land, weed, and tend to livestock. Children usually tend cows and goats. But all slaves are mocked, insulted, threatened, and beaten into submission.
By the 1950s–1960s, a majority of Muslims had accepted the abolition of slavery as religiously legitimate.{{sfn|Clarence-Smith|2006|p=221}} Islam as a whole has never preached the freedom of all men "as a doctrine" up to the current day.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2009-09-07 |title=Slavery in Islam |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/slavery_1.shtml |access-date=2023-06-24 |publisher=] |language=en-GB}}</ref> However, by the end of the 20th century, all Muslim countries had made slavery illegal,<ref name=greattheft>{{cite book|title=The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists|author=]|year=2009|publisher=]|pages=255–266}}</ref> and the vast majority of Muslim organizations and interpretations of ''sharia'' firmly condemn ].<ref name=":2" /> In 1926, the Muslim World Conference meeting in ] condemned slavery.<ref name=consensus>{{cite journal|author=]|journal=]|title=Slavery, Freedom, and the Doctrine of Consensus in Islamic Jurisprudence|volume=11|issue=1|year=1998|pages=60–61}}</ref> Proceedings from an ] meeting in 1980 upheld human freedom and rejected enslavement of prisoners.{{sfn|Clarence-Smith|2006|p=221}} Most Muslim scholars consider slavery to be inconsistent with Quranic principles of justice.<ref name=greattheft/> Bernard Freamon writes that there is consensus ('']'') among Muslim jurists that slavery has now become forbidden.<ref name=consensus/> However, certain contemporary clerics still consider slavery to be lawful, such ] of Saudi Arabia.<ref name=greattheft/><ref name=Al-Fawzan2>{{cite web|title=Author of Saudi Curriculums Advocates Slavery |url=http://www.arabianews.org/english/article.cfm?qid=132&sid=2 |publisher=SIA News |access-date=27 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051018033802/http://www.arabianews.org/english/article.cfm?qid=132&sid=2 |archive-date=October 18, 2005 }} </ref><ref name=Al-Fawzan1>{{cite web|title=Taming a Neo-Qutubite Fanatic Part 1|url=http://abdurrahman.org/innovation/thequtbisuroori_d.pdf|publisher=salafi publications, abdurrahman.org|access-date=27 May 2014|page=24|quote=Questioner: ... one of the contemporary writers is of the view that this religion, at its inception, was compelled to accept the institution of slavery ... ... that the intent of the Legislator is to gradually end this institution of slavery. So what is your view on this?<br>Shaikh Salih alFawzaan: These are words of falsehood (baatil) ... despite that many of the writers and thinkers -- and we do not say scholars -- repeat these words. Rather we say that they are thinkers (mufakkireen), just as they call them. And it is unfortunate, that they also call them `Du'at' (callers). ... These words are falsehood ... This is deviation and a false accusation against Islaam. And if it had not been for the excuse of ignorance we excuse them on account of (their) ignorance so we do not say that they are Unbelievers because they are ignorant and are blind followers .... Otherwise, these statements are very dangerous and if a person said them deliberately he would become apostate and leave Islaam. ..."|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527211742/http://abdurrahman.org/innovation/thequtbisuroori_d.pdf|archive-date=27 May 2014}}
{{dead link|date=July 2016}}</ref>


] (1906–1966) wrote in '']'' (a '']'') that slavery was adopted by Islam at a time it was practiced world-wide for a period of time "until the world devised a new code of practise during war other than enslavement."<ref>in ], Surah Tawbah (3/1669) also in Tafsir of Surah Baqarah (/230), tafsir of Surah Mu'minoon (4/2455), tafsir of Surah Muhammad (6/3285)</ref> Qutb's brother, ], contrasted sexual relations between Muslim slave-owners and their female slaves with what he saw as the widespread practice of pre-marital sex in Europe.<ref>Qutb, Muhammad, ''Islam, the Misunderstood Religion'', Markazi Maktabi Islami, Delhi-6, 1992 p.50</ref>
"Some masters are simply interested in labor and do not convert slaves to Islam. Other masters teach slaves Islam and give their slaves Muslim names. Many female slaves are subjected to genital mutilation or circumcision - a rite of passage for some Muslims, but something not practiced by the Dinka." </blockquote>


] (1903–1979) wrote: <blockquote>Islam has clearly and categorically forbidden the primitive practice of capturing a free man, to make him a slave or to sell him into slavery. On this point the clear and unequivocal words of ] are as follows:<blockquote style="font-size:inherit; quotes:none">"There are three categories of people against whom I shall myself be a plaintiff on the ]. Of these three, one is he who enslaves a free man, then sells him and eats this money" (al-Bukhari and Ibn Majjah).</blockquote> The words of this Tradition of the Prophet are also general, they have not been qualified or made applicable to a particular nation, race, country or followers of a particular religion.&nbsp;... After this the only form of slavery which was left in Islamic society was the prisoners of war, who were captured on the battlefield. These prisoners of war were retained by the Muslim Government until their government agreed to receive them back in exchange for Muslim soldiers captured by them&nbsp;...<ref>From "Human Rights in Islam" by 'Allamah Abu Al-'A'la Mawdudi. Chapter 3, subsection 5 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203193405/http://www.central-mosque.com/fiqh/slav3.htm|date=2007-02-03}}</ref></blockquote>
According to CBS news, slaves have been sold for $50 apiece.


]]]
According to ], Christian groups in the United States have expressed concern about slavery and religious oppression against Christians by Muslims in Sudan, putting pressure on the ] to take action. CNN has also quoted the ]'s allegations: "The government's support of slavery and its continued military action which has resulted in numerous deaths are due in part to the victims' religious beliefs."
William Clarence-Smith<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060417083811/http://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staffinfo.cfm?contactid=36|date=April 17, 2006}}</ref> criticized the above two as: "dogged refusal of ] to give up on slavery"{{sfn|Clarence-Smith|2006|p=}} and the notable "evasions and silences of ]".<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=http://www.lse.ac.uk/economicHistory/Research/GEHN/GEHNPDF/Conf3_WCSmith.pdf|title=Department of Economic History|website=London School of Economics and Political Science|access-date=2015-10-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603012804/http://www2.lse.ac.uk/economicHistory/Research/GEHN/GEHNPDF/Conf3_WCSmith.pdf|archive-date=2016-06-03|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Clarence-Smith|2006|p=}}


].]]
Writing for '']'' on December 12, 2001, Michael Rubin said:
], a shariah judge and founder of ] movement, gives the following explanation:
<blockquote>When Islam came, for the situations where people were taken into slavery (e.g. debt), Islam imposed Shari’ah solutions to those situations other than slavery. ... It (Islam) made the existing slave and owner form a business contract, based upon the freedom, not upon slavery ...  As for the situation of war, ...  it clarified the rule of the captive in that either they are favoured by releasing without any exchange, or they are ransomed for money or exchanged for Muslims or non-Muslim citizens of the ].<ref>''al-Shakhsiyah al-Islamiyyah'' (The Islamic Personality) by ], Volume 3, Slavery Section</ref></blockquote> The website of the organization stresses that because sharia historically was responding to a contract, not the institution of slavery, a future caliphate could not re-introduce slavery.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101111114656/http://www.khilafah.com/index.php/the-khilafah/foreign-policy/2764-the-islamic-view-on-slaves-and-slavery |date=2010-11-11 }}, khilafah.com 13 May 2008</ref>


In 2014, ] ] met with ] and other religious leaders to draft an inter-faith declaration to "eradicate modern slavery across the world by 2020 and for all time." The declaration was signed by other ] leaders and the Sunni ].<ref name=Belardelli>{{cite news|last1=Belardelli|first1=Guilia|title=Pope Francis And Other Religious Leaders Sign Declaration Against Modern Slavery|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/02/pope-francis-and-other-re_n_6256640.html|access-date=3 November 2015|agency=Huffpost Religion|date=2 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018013533/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/02/pope-francis-and-other-re_n_6256640.html|archive-date=2015-10-18|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1993, ] ] declared that "Islam has devised solutions and strategies for ending slavery, but that does not mean that slavery is condemned in Islam".<ref name=Rajaee-176>see also: {{cite book|last1=Rajaee|first1=Farhang|title=Islamism and Modernism: The Changing Discourse in Iran|date=2007|publisher=University of Texas Press|location=Austin TX|page=176|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZV0gqOX6gDEC&pg=PA178|access-date=3 November 2015|quote=Islam has devised solutions and strategies for ending slavery, but this does not mean that slavery is condemned in Islam. If, in a legitimate war, Muslims gain dominance over unbelievers and take them captive, in the hand of the victorious Muslims they are considered slaves and the ordinances of slavery apply to them. |isbn=9780292774360}}</ref> He argued that ordinances of slavery could apply to prisoners of war.<ref name=Rajaee-176/><ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923220623/http://www.drsoroush.com/English/Interviews/E-INT-HomaTV.html |date=2015-09-23 }} Retrieved 15 July 2009</ref><ref>see also {{cite web|title=متن مصاحبه داريوش سجادی با دکتر سوش|url=http://www.drsoroush.com/Persian/Interviews/P-INT-13841218-HomaTV.html|publisher=Dr. Soroush|access-date=7 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307050311/http://www.drsoroush.com/Persian/Interviews/P-INT-13841218-HomaTV.html|archive-date=2008-03-07|url-status=live}}{{in lang|fa}}<!--Persian--></ref> Iranian ] ] has used an Islamic legal technique called ''naskh aqli'' (abrogation by reason) to conclude that slavery is no longer permissible in Islam.<ref>{{cite book|title=Slavery and Islam|author=Jonathan A.C. Brown|publisher=]|pages=219–220}}</ref>
<blockquote>What's Sudanese slavery like? One 11-year-old Christian boy told me about his first days in captivity: "I was told to be a Muslim several times, and I refused, which is why they cut off my finger." Twelve-year-old Alokor Ngor Deng was taken as a slave in 1993. She has not seen her mother since the slave raiders sold the two to different masters. Thirteen-year-old Akon was seized by Sudanese military while in her village five years ago. She was gang-raped by six government soldiers, and witnessed seven executions before being sold to a Sudanese Arab.


{{further|Slavery in 21st-century jihadism}}
Many freed slaves bore signs of beatings, burnings and other tortures. More than three-quarters of formerly enslaved women and girls reported rapes.
In response to the Nigerian extremist group ]'s Quranic justification for kidnapping and enslaving people,<ref name=CNNEssenceTerror>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/06/world/africa/nigeria-boko-haram-analysis/ |publisher=CNN |title=Boko Haram: The essence of terror |last=Lister |first=Tim |date=6 May 2014 |access-date=13 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513033040/http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/06/world/africa/nigeria-boko-haram-analysis/ |archive-date=2014-05-13 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Ferran|first1=Lee|title=Boko Haram: Kidnappers, Slave-Owners, Terrorists, Killers|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/boko-haram-kidnappers-slave-owners-terrorists-killers/story?id=23598347|publisher=ABC News|date=5 May 2014|access-date=28 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104104804/https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/boko-haram-kidnappers-slave-owners-terrorists-killers/story?id=23598347|archive-date=4 November 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> and ]'s religious justification for enslaving ] women as ] as claimed in their digital magazine '']'',<ref name=Newsweek> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101221822/http://www.newsweek.com/islamic-state-seeks-justify-enslaving-yazidi-women-and-girls-iraq-277100 |date=2014-11-01 }}, '']'', 10-13-2014</ref><ref>Allen McDuffee, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830060025/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/10/isis-confirms-and-justifies-enslaving-yazidis-in-new-magazine-article/381394/ |date=2017-08-30 }}, '']'', October 13, 2014</ref><ref>Salma Abdelaziz, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621204748/http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/12/world/meast/isis-justification-slavery |date=2017-06-21 }}, '']'', October 13, 2014</ref><ref>Richard Spencer, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409195532/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11158797/Thousands-of-Yazidi-women-sold-as-sex-slaves-for-theological-reasons-says-Isil.html |date=2018-04-09 }}, '']'', 13 October 2014.</ref><ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829145631/https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21625870-jihadists-boast-selling-captive-women-concubines-have-and-hold |date=2017-08-29 }}, '']'', October 18, 2014</ref> 126 Islamic scholars from around the Muslim world, in late September 2014, signed an ] to the Islamic State's leader ], rejecting his group's interpretations of the ] and ] to justify its actions.<ref>{{cite news|title=Muslim Scholars Release Open Letter to Islamic State Meticulously Blasting Its Ideology|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/24/muslim-scholars-islamic-state_n_5878038.html|work=The Huffington Post|date=24 September 2013|author=Lauren Markoe|agency=Religious News Service|access-date=25 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140925115145/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/24/muslim-scholars-islamic-state_n_5878038.html|archive-date=2014-09-25|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=christianpost-2014-09-25>{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Samuel|title=International Coalition of Muslim Scholars Refute ISIS' Religious Arguments in Open Letter to al-Baghdadi|url=http://www.christianpost.com/news/international-coalition-of-muslim-scholars-refute-isis-religious-arguments-in-open-letter-to-al-baghdadi-127032/|access-date=18 October 2014|work=]|date=25 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402083022/https://www.christianpost.com/news/international-coalition-of-muslim-scholars-refute-isis-religious-arguments-in-open-letter-to-al-baghdadi-127032/|archive-date=2 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref group="n">], the leader of ], a Nigerian extremist group, said in an interview "I shall capture people and make them slaves" when claiming responsibility for the ]. ISIL claimed that the Yazidi are idol worshipers and their enslavement part of the old ] practice of ].</ref> The letter accuses the group of instigating ] – sedition – by instituting slavery under its rule in contravention of the ] of the ].<ref name=OpenLetToAlBagh>{{cite web|title=Open Letter to Al-Baghdadi |url=http://lettertobaghdadi.com/index.php |date=September 2014 |access-date=25 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140925193528/http://lettertobaghdadi.com/index.php |archive-date=25 September 2014 }}</ref>


==Notable enslaved people and freedmen==
The practice of the enslavement of child war captives, enjoying the justification of the Islamic ], occurs currently and with widespread alarming frequency in the ]. Recent reports document instances of the Islamic slaveholders disciplining such captured child slaves with the ] punishment of ].<ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37913</ref><ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52181</ref> These practices and related ]s<ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=26566</ref> and religious ] have been condoned and authorised by the Sudanese ] since 1989.<ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=26672</ref>
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==See also==
While nongovernmental organizations argue over how to end slavery, few deny the existence of the practice. ...stimates of the number of blacks now enslaved in Sudan vary from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands (not counting those sold as forced labor in Libya)...</blockquote>
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==References==
====Slavery in Chad and Mauritania====
===Notes===
] (Integrated Regional Information Networks) of the ] reports children being sold to Arab herdsmen in ]. As part of a new identity imposed on them the herdsman "...change their name, forbid them to speak in their native dialect, ban them from conversing with people from their own ethnic group and make them adopt Islam as their religion."<ref>http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=52490</ref>
{{reflist|group=n}}


===Citations===
In ], despite slave ownership having been made punishable by law in 1981, hereditary slavery continues,<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4091579.stm</ref> moreover, as claimed by the representatives of interested organisations such as ]: <blockquote>"Not only has the government denied the existence of slavery and failed to respond to cases brought to its attention, it has hampered the activities of organisations which are working on the issue, including by refusing to grant them official recognition".<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4091579.stm</ref></blockquote>
{{reflist}}


===Sources===
==== Disputation about the plight of slaves and official government denials ====
{{refbegin}}
According to ], professor of Islamic studies at ]:
* {{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=Bernard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WdjvedBeMHYC |title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: An Historical Enquiry |date=1990 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-505326-5 |language=en}}
<blockquote>If some write today that slavery is still practiced here and there, as in the Sudan or some other African lands, it is more like the slavery of sweatshops in China or the West today. In neither case is it a prevalent practice, nor are such practices condoned by religious authorities. -Seyyed Nasr, ''The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity''<ref>Nasr (2002) page 182</ref></blockquote>
* {{Cite book |last=Segal |first=Ronald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fdh3GYnXvrAC |title=Islam's Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora |date=2002-02-09 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-374-52797-6 |language=en}}
*{{Cite book |last=Chase |first=Kenneth Warren |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esnWJkYRCJ4C |title=Firearms: A Global History to 1700 |date=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-82274-9 |language=en}}
*{{Cite book |last=Lapidus |first=Ira M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kFJNBAAAQBAJ |title=A History of Islamic Societies |date=2014 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-51430-9 |language=en}}
*{{cite web | title = Islam and Slavery | last = Ali | first = Kecia | publisher = The Feminist Sexual Ethics Project, Brandeis University | url = https://www.brandeis.edu/projects/fse/muslim/slavery.html | date = 2 February 2004 | access-date = 24 September 2020 | archive-date = 1 November 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201101014010/https://www.brandeis.edu/projects/fse/muslim/slavery.html | url-status = live }}
*{{cite book | title = Beyond Slavery: Overcoming Its Religious and Sexual Legacies | last = Hazelton | first = Jacqueline L. | publisher = Springer | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=NaVhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT3 | date = 25 October 2010 | isbn = 978-0-230-11389-3 }}
* {{cite book | author=Lewis, Bernard | title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East | location=New York | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1990 | isbn=0-19-505326-5 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/raceslaveryinmid0000lewi }}
* {{cite book| author=Lovejoy, Paul E.| title=Transformations in Slavery| publisher=Cambridge University Press| year=2000| isbn=0-521-78430-1| url-access=registration| url=https://archive.org/details/transformationsi0000love}}
* {{cite book | author=Manning, Patrick | title=Slavery and African Life: Occidental, Oriental, and African Slave Trades| publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=1990 | isbn=0-521-34867-6}}
* {{cite book | author=Gordon, Murray | title=Slavery in the Arab World | publisher=New York: New Amsterdam Press | year=1987 | isbn=9780941533300 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5l81hwFPvzYC }}
* {{cite book | last=Clarence-Smith | first=Willian Gervase | year=2006 | title=Islam and the Abolition of Slavery | publisher=] | url=https://archive.org/details/islamabolitionof0000clar | url-access=registration | isbn=978-0-19-522151-0 }}
* {{cite book | author=Ingrams, W. H.| title=Zanzibar | location=UK |publisher=Routledge | year=1967| isbn=0-7146-1102-6}}
{{refend}}


==Further reading==
Jok Madut Jok, professor of History at ], states that the abduction of women and children of the black south by Arab north is slavery by any definition however the government of Sudan insists that the whole matter is no more than the traditional tribal feuding over resources. <ref> Jok Madut Jok (2001), p.3</ref>
{{refbegin}}
* Habeeb Akande, '''' (Ta Ha 2012)
* {{cite journal| last = Al-Hibri| first = Azizah Y.| year = 2003| title = An Islamic Perspective on Domestic Violence| journal = 27 Fordham International Law Journal 195| url = http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1917&context=ilj| access-date = 2018-06-06| archive-date = 2021-04-11| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210411122411/https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1917&context=ilj| url-status = live}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |editor1=P.J. Bearman |editor2=Th. Bianquis |editor3=] |editor4=E. van Donzel |editor5=W.P. Heinrichs | encyclopedia =] Online| title = Abd| publisher = Brill Academic Publishers | issn = 1573-3912}}
* {{cite book |author1=Bloom, Jonathan |author2=Blair, Sheila |title=Islam: A Thousand Years of Faith and Power |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2002 |isbn=0-300-09422-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780300094220 }}
* {{cite book| author=Davis, Robert C.| title=Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters| publisher=Palgrave Macmillan| year=2004| isbn=1-4039-4551-9| url-access=registration| url=https://archive.org/details/trent_0116405722392}}
* {{cite book| author = ]| year = 1998| title = Islam: The Straight Path| publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 0-19-511233-4| url = https://archive.org/details/islamstraightpat00espo_0}} - First Edition 1991; Expanded Edition : 1992.
* {{cite journal|last1=Frank|first1=Alison|title=The Children of the Desert and the Laws of the Sea: Austria, Great Britain, the Ottoman Empire and the Mediterranean Slave Trade in the Nineteenth Century|journal=American Historical Review|date=2012|volume=117|issue=2|pages=410–444|doi=10.1086/ahr.117.2.410|s2cid=159756171 |doi-access=free}}
* {{cite book | author=] | title=] | location=Lahore | publisher=] | year = 2001 | id=OCLC 52901690}}
* {{cite book |author1=Hasan, Yusuf Fadl |author2=Gray, Richard | title=Religion and Conflict in Sudan | publisher=Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa | year=2002| isbn=9966-21-831-9}}
* {{cite book | author=Hughes, Thomas Patrick |author2=Patrick | title=A Dictionary of Islam | publisher=Asian Educational Services | year=1996 | isbn=978-81-206-0672-2 }}
* {{cite book | author=''Ed.'': Holt, P. M ; Lambton, Ann; Lewis, Bernard| title=The Cambridge History of Islam | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=1977| isbn=0-521-29137-2}}
* {{cite book| author=Jok, Madut Jok| title=War and Slavery in Sudan| url=https://archive.org/details/warslaveryinsuda0000jokj| url-access=registration| publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press| year=2001| isbn=0-8122-1762-4}}
* {{cite book | author=Juynboll | title=Handbuch des Islamischen Gesetzes | url=https://archive.org/details/handbuchdesislmi00juyn | location=Leyden | year=1910 }}
* {{cite book | author=Khalil bin Ishaq | title=Mukhtasar tr. Guidi and Santillana (Milan, 1919)}}
* {{cite book | author=Levy, Reuben | title=The Social Structure of Islam | url=https://archive.org/details/socialstructureo0000levy | url-access=registration | location=UK | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=1957 | isbn=9780521091824 }}
* {{cite book | author=Mendelsohn, Isaac | title=Slavery in the Ancient Near East | url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.7521 | location=New York | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1949 | id=OCLC 67564625 }}
* {{cite book | author=Martin, Vanessa| title=The Qajar Pact | publisher=I.B.Tauris | year=2005| isbn=1-85043-763-7}}
* {{cite book | author=Montana, Ismael| title=The Abolition of Slavery in Ottoman Tunisia | publisher=University Press of Florida | year=2013| isbn=978-0813044828}}
* {{cite book | author=] | title=The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity | location=US | publisher=HarperSanFrancisco | year=2002 | isbn=0-06-009924-0 | url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780060099244 }}
* {{cite book | author=Pankhurst, Richard | title=The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century | publisher=The Red Sea Press | year=1997| isbn=0-932415-19-9}}
* {{cite book | author=Sachau | title=Muhammedanisches Recht | location=Berlin, Germany | year=1897 }}
* {{cite book | author=] | title=Islam: An Introduction | location=US | publisher=SUNY Press | year=1992 | isbn=0-7914-1327-6}}
* {{cite book | author=Sikainga, Ahmad A. | title=Slaves Into Workers: Emancipation and Labor in Colonial Sudan | publisher=University of Texas Press | year=1996 | isbn=0-292-77694-2 | url=https://archive.org/details/slavesintoworker0000sika }}
* {{cite book | author=Smiley, Will| title=From Slaves to Prisoners of War: The Ottoman Empire, Russia and International Law | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2018| isbn=9780198785415}}
* {{cite book | author=Toledano, Ehud | title=The Ottoman Slave Trade and its Suppression | publisher=Princeton University Press | year=2014| isbn=978-0691613932}}
* {{cite book |author1=Tucker, Judith E. |author2=Nashat, Guity | title=Women in the Middle East and North Africa | publisher=Indiana University Press | year=1999 | isbn=0-253-21264-2}}
* Ahmad A. Sikainga, " {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430121313/http://www.jstor.org/stable/221303 |date=2016-04-30 }}", ''The International Journal of African Historical Studies'' > Vol. 28, No. 1 (1995), pp.&nbsp;1–24
{{refend}}


Diplomatic spokesmen for the Republic of Sudan have denied that there is slavery in their country, and asserted that slave redemption programs are fraudulent attempts to make money. According to a June 2003 ] of Embassy of Sudan in the United States of America, there are documented instances of people, who were not slaves, being gathered together and instructed to pretend they were being released from slavery.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.sudanembassy.org/default.asp?page=viewstory&id=179
| title = Fraud and Bigotry: Attempts to Resurrect Claims of
| accessdate = 2006-10-07
| date = ]
| publisher = Embassy of the Republic of Sudan
}}</ref>

==See also==
*]
*]
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==References==
===General===
* {{cite encyclopedia | editor = P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, ], E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs | encyclopedia =] Online| title = Abd| publisher = Brill Academic Publishers | id = {{ISSN|1573-3912}}}}
*{{cite journal | last = Al-Hibri| first = Azizah Y.| year = 2003| title = An Islamic Perspective on Domestic Violence| journal = 27 Fordham International Law Journal 195}}
* {{cite book | author=Bloom, Jonathan; Blair, Sheila| title=Islam: A Thousand Years of Faith and Power | publisher=Yale University Press | year=2002| id=ISBN 0-300-09422-1}}
*{{cite book | author=]| year = 1998| title = Islam: The Straight Path| publisher = Oxford University Press | id = ISBN 0-19-511233-4}} - First Edition 1991; Expanded Edition : 1992.
* {{cite book | author=Hasan, Yusuf Fadl; Gray, Richard| title=Religion and Conflict in Sudan | publisher=Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa | year=2002| id=ISBN 9966-21-831-9}}
* {{cite book | author=] | title=] | location=Lahore | publisher=] | year = 2001 | id={{OCLC|52901690}}}}
* {{cite book | author=Jok, Madut Jok| title=War and Slavery in Sudan| publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press | year=2001| id=ISBN 0-8122-1762-4}}
* {{cite book | author=Juynboll | title=Handbuch des Islamischen Gesetzes | location = Leyden | year = 1910}}
* {{cite book | author=Khalil bin Ishaq | title=Mukhtasar tr.Guidi and Santillana (Milan, 1919)}}
* {{cite book | author=''Ed.'': Holt, P. M ; Lambton, Ann; Lewis, Bernard| title=The Cambridge History of Islam | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=1977| id=ISBN 0-521-29137-2}}
* {{cite book | author=Ingrams, W. H.| title=Zanzibar | location=UK |publisher=Routledge | year=1967| id=ISBN 0-7146-1102-6}}
* {{cite book | author=Levy, Reuben | title=The Social Structure of Islam | location = UK | publisher=Cambridge Univerisity Press | year = 1969}}
* {{cite book | author=Lewis, Bernard | title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East | location=New York | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1992 | id=ISBN 0-19-505326-5 }}
* {{cite book | author=Lovejoy, Paul E.| title=Transformations in Slavery | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2000| id=ISBN 0-521-78430-1}}
* {{cite book | author=Manning, Patrick | title=Slavery and African Life: Occidental, Oriental, and African Slave Trades| publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=1990 | id=ISBN 0-521-34867-6}}
* {{cite book | author=Mendelsohn, Isaac | title=Slavery in the Ancient Near East | location=New York | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1949 | id={{OCLC|67564625}}}}
* {{cite book | author=Pankhurst, Richard | title=The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century | publisher=The Red Sea Press | year=1997| id=ISBN 0-932415-19-9}}
* {{cite book | author=] | title=The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity | location=US | publisher=HarperSanFrancisco | year=2002 | id=ISBN 0-06-009924-0}}
* {{cite book | author=] | title=Islam: An Introduction | location=US | publisher=SUNY Press | year=1992 | id=ISBN 0-7914-1327-6}}
* {{cite book | author=Sachau | title=Muhammedanisches Recht | location=Berlin, Germany | Berlin | year=1897}}
* {{cite book | author=Sikainga, Ahmad A. | title=Slaves Into Workers: Emancipation and Labor in Colonial Sudan | publisher=University of Texas Press | year=1996 | id=ISBN 0-292-77694-2}}
* {{cite book | author=Tucker, Judith E.; Nashat, Guity | title=Women in the Middle East and North Africa | publisher=Indiana University Press | year=1999 | id=ISBN 0-253-21264-2}}
*Ahmad A. Sikainga, ''Shari'a Courts and the Manumission of Female Slaves in the Sudan 1898-1939'',
The International Journal of African Historical Studies > Vol. 28, No. 1 (1995), pp. 1-24

===Notes===
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==External links== ==External links==
* by Bernard Lewis {{commons category-inline|Slavery in Islam}}
* by ]
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Latest revision as of 16:04, 7 December 2024

This article is about Islamic views on slavery. For other uses, see Islam and slavery (disambiguation).

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Islamic views on slavery represent a complex and multifaceted body of Islamic thought, with various Islamic groups or thinkers espousing views on the matter which have been radically different throughout history. Slavery was a mainstay of life in pre-Islamic Arabia and surrounding lands. The Quran and the hadith (sayings of Muhammad) address slavery extensively, assuming its existence as part of society but viewing it as an exceptional condition and restricting its scope. Early Islam forbade enslavement of dhimmis, the free members of Islamic society, including non-Muslims and set out to regulate and improve the conditions of human bondage. Islamic law regarded as legal slaves only those non-Muslims who were imprisoned or bought beyond the borders of Islamic rule, or the sons and daughters of slaves already in captivity. In later classical Islamic law, the topic of slavery is covered at great length.

Slavery in Islamic law is not based on race or ethnicity. However, while there was no legal distinction between white European and black African slaves, in some Muslim societies they were employed in different roles. Slaves in Islam were mostly assigned to the service sector, including as concubines, cooks, and porters. There were also those who were trained militarily, converted to Islam, and manumitted to serve as soldiers; this was the case with the Mamluks, who later managed to seize power by overthrowing their Muslim masters, the Ayyubids. In some cases, the harsh treatment of slaves also led to notable uprisings, such as the Zanj Rebellion. "The Caliphate in Baghdad at the beginning of the 10th Century had 7,000 black eunuchs and 4,000 white eunuchs in his palace." The Arab slave trade typically dealt in the sale of castrated male slaves. Black boys at the age of eight to twelve had their penises and scrota completely amputated. Reportedly, about two out of three boys died, but those who survived drew high prices. However, according to Islamic law and Muslim jurists castration of slaves was deemed unlawful this view is also mentioned in the Hadith. Bernard Lewis opines that in later times, the domestic slaves, although subjected to appalling privations from the time of their capture until their final destination, seemed to be treated reasonably well once they were placed in a family and to some extent accepted as members of the household.

The hadiths, which differ between Shia and Sunni, address slavery extensively, assuming its existence as part of society but viewing it as an exceptional condition and restricting its scope. The hadiths forbade enslavement of dhimmis, the non-Muslims of Islamic society, and Muslims. They also regarded slaves as legal only when they were non-Muslims who were imprisoned, bought beyond the borders of Islamic rule, or the sons and daughters of slaves already in captivity.

13th century slave market, Yemen. Slaves and concubines are considered as possessions in Sharia; Masters may sell, bequeath, give away, pledge, share, hire out or compel them to earn Money.

The Muslim slave trade was most active in West Asia, Eastern Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa. After the Trans-Atlantic slave trade had been suppressed, the ancient Trans-Saharan slave trade, the Indian Ocean slave trade and the Red Sea slave trade continued to traffic slaves from the African continent to the Middle East. Estimates vary widely, with some suggesting up to 17 million slaves to the coast of the Indian Ocean, the Middle East, and North Africa. Abolitionist movements began to grow during the 19th century, prompted by both Muslim reformers and diplomatic pressure from Britain. The first Muslim country to prohibit slavery was Tunisia, in 1846. During the 19th and early 20th centuries all large Muslim countries, whether independent or under colonial rule, banned the slave trade and/or slavery. The Dutch East Indies abolished slavery in 1860 but effectively ended in 1910, while British India abolished slavery in 1862. The Ottoman Empire banned the African slave trade in 1857 and the Circassian slave trade in 1908, while Egypt abolished slavery in 1895, Afghanistan in 1921 and Persia in 1929. In some Muslim countries in the Arabian peninsula and Africa, slavery was abolished in the second half of the 20th century: 1962 in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, Oman in 1970, Mauritania in 1981. However, slavery has been documented in recent years, despite its illegality, in Muslim-majority countries in Africa including Chad, Mauritania, Niger, Mali, and Sudan.

One notable example is Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi, who is noted for being the first Muezzin. In modern times, various Muslim organizations reject the permissibility of slavery and it has since been abolished by all Muslim majority countries. With abolition of slavery in the Muslim world, the practice of slavery came to an end. Many modern Muslims see slavery as contrary to Islamic principles of justice and equality, however, Islam had a different system of slavery, that involved many intricate rules on how to handle slaves. However, there are Islamic extremist groups and terrorist organizations who have revived the practice of slavery while they were active.

Slavery in pre-Islamic Arabia

Slavery was widely practiced in pre-Islamic Arabia, as well as in the rest of the ancient and early medieval world. The minority were white slaves of foreign extraction, likely brought in by Arab caravaners (or the product of Bedouin captures) stretching back to biblical times. Native Arab slaves had also existed, a prime example being Zayd ibn Harithah, later to become Muhammad's adopted son. Arab slaves, however, usually obtained as captives, were generally ransomed off amongst nomad tribes. The slave population increased by the custom of child abandonment (see also infanticide), and by the kidnapping, or, occasionally, the sale of small children. There is no conclusive evidence of the existence of enslavement for debt or the sale of children by their families; the late and rare accounts of such occurrences show them to be abnormal, Brunschvig states (According to Brockopp, debt slavery was persistent.) Free persons could sell their offspring, or even themselves, into slavery. Enslavement was also possible as a consequence of committing certain offenses against the law, as in the Roman Empire.

Two classes of slave existed: a purchased slave, and a slave born in the master's home. Over the latter the master had complete rights of ownership, though these slaves were unlikely to be sold or disposed of by the master. Female slaves were at times forced into prostitution for the benefit of their masters, in accordance with Near Eastern customs.

The historical accounts of the early years of Islam report that "slaves of non-Muslim masters ... suffered brutal punishments. Sumayyah bint Khayyat is famous as the first martyr of Islam, having been killed with a spear by Abū Jahl when she refused to give up her faith. Abu Bakr freed Bilal when his master, Umayya ibn Khalaf, placed a heavy rock on his chest in an attempt to force his conversion."

There were many common features between the institution of slavery in the Quran and that of pre-Islamic culture. However, the Quranic institution had some unique new features. According to Brockopp, the idea of using alms for the manumission of slaves who had converted to Islam appears to be unique to the Quran. Islam also prohibits the use of female slaves for prostitution which was common in pre-Islamic history.

Brockopp states that the Qur'an was a progressive legislation on slavery in its time because it encouraged proper treatment. Others state that Islam's record with slavery has been mixed, progressive in Arabian lands, but it increased slavery and worsened abuse as Muslim armies attacked people in Africa, Europe and Asia. Murray notes that Quran sanctified the institution of slavery and abuses therein, but to its credit did not freeze the status of a slave and allowed a means to a slave's manumission in some cases when the slave converted to Islam.

Quran

Alms-tax is only for the poor and the needy, for those employed to administer it, for those whose hearts are attracted ˹to the faith˺, for ˹freeing˺ slaves, for those in debt, for Allah’s cause, and for ˹needy˺ travellers. ˹This is˺ an obligation from Allah. And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.

— Surah At-Tawbah 9:60

The Quran contains a number of verses aimed at regulating slavery and mitigating its negative impact. It calls for the manumission (freeing) of slaves. It prescribes kindness towards slaves. Slaves are considered morally equal to free persons, however, they have a lower legal standing. All Quranic rules on slaves are emancipatory in that they improve the rights of slaves compared to what was already practiced in the 7th century. Many Muslims have interpreted Quran as gradually phasing out slavery.

The Quran calls for the freeing of slaves, either the owner manumitting the slave, or a third party purchasing and freeing the slave. The freeing of slaves is encouraged as an act of benevolence, and expiation of sins. Quran 24:33 devises a manumission contract in which slaves buy their freedom in installments. Two other verses encourage believers to help slaves pay for such contracts. One of the uses of zakat, a pillar of Islam, is to pay for the freeing of slaves.

The Quran prescribes kind treatment of slaves. Verse 4:36 calls for good treatment to slaves. The Quran recognizes the humanity of slaves, by calling them "believers", recognizing their desire to be free, and recognizing female slaves' aversion to prostitution. Several verses list slaves as members of the household, sometimes alongside wives, children and other relatives.

The Quran recognizes slaves as morally and spiritually equal to free people. God promises an eternal life in the Hereafter. This equality is indicated in Quran 4:25, which addresses free people and slaves as “the one of you is as the other” (ba'dukum min ba'din). Quran 39:29 refers to master and slave with the same word. However, slaves are not accorded the same legal standing as the free. Slaves are considered as minors for whom the owner is responsible. The punishment for crimes committed by slaves is half the punishment as to be meted out on free persons. The legal distinction between slaves and the free is regarded as the divinely established order of things, which is seen as part of God's grace.

The Quran recognizes slavery as a source of injustice, as it places the freeing of slaves on the same level as feeding the poor. Nevertheless, the Quran doesn't abolish slavery. One reason given is that slavery was a major part of the 7th century socioeconomic system, and it abolishing it would not have been practical. Most interpretations of the Quran agree that the Quran envisions an ideal society as one in which slavery no longer exists.

Slaves are mentioned in at least twenty-nine verses of the Quran, most of these are Medinan and refer to the legal status of slaves. The legal material on slavery in the Quran is largely restricted to manumission and sexual relations. The Quran permits owners to take slaves as concubines, though it promotes abstinence as the better choice. It strictly prohibits slave prostitution. According to Sikainga, the Quranic references to slavery as mainly contain "broad and general propositions of an ethical nature rather than specific legal formulations." The word 'abd' (slave) is rarely used, being more commonly replaced by some periphrasis such as ma malakat aymanukum ("that which your right hands own"). However the meaning and translation of this term has been disputed. Ghulam Ahmed Pervez argued that the term is used in the past-tense in the Quran, thus signalling only those individuals who were already enslaved at the dawn of Islam. This slight change in tense is significant, as it allowed Parwez to argue that slavery was never compatible with the commandments of the Quran and is in fact outlawed by Quranic Law.

There are many common features between the institution of slavery in the Quran and that of neighboring cultures. However, the Quranic institution had some unique new features. Bernard Lewis states that the Quranic legislation brought two major changes to ancient slavery which were to have far-reaching effects: presumption of freedom, and the ban on the enslavement of free persons except in strictly defined circumstances. According to Brockopp, the idea of using alms for the manumission of slaves appears to be unique to the Quran, assuming the traditional interpretation of verses 2:177 and 9:60. Similarly, the practice of freeing slaves in atonement for certain sins appears to be introduced by the Quran (but compare Exodus 21:26-7). The forced prostitution of female slaves, a long practiced custom in the Near Eastern, is condemned in the Quran. Murray Gordon notes that this ban is "of no small significance." Brockopp writes: "Other cultures limit a master's right to harm a slave but few exhort masters to treat their slaves kindly, and the placement of slaves in the same category as other weak members of society who deserve protection is unknown outside the Quran. The unique contribution of the Quran, then, is to be found in its emphasis on the place of slaves in society and society's responsibility toward the slave, perhaps the most progressive legislation on slavery in its time."

Ma malakat aymanuhum

The most common term in the Qur'an to refer to slaves is the expression ma malakat aymanuhum or milk al-yamin in short, meaning "those whom your right hands possess". This term is found in 15 Quranic passages, making it the most common term for slaves. The Qur'an refers to slaves very differently than classical Arabic: whereas the most common Arabic term for slave is ‘abd, the Qur'an instead uses that term in sense of "servant of God", and raqiq (another Arabic term for slave) is not found in the Qur'an. Thus, this term is a Qur'anic innovation. The term can be seen as an honorific, as to be held by "the right hands" means to be held in honor in Arabic and Islamic culture, a fact that can be seen in Quranic verses that refer to those who will enter Paradise as "companions of the right hand." The term also implies that slaves are "possessions". In four places, the Qur'an addresses slaves in the same terms as the free; for example, Q39:29 refers to both the master and the slave using the same word (rajul).

Ghulam Ahmed Pervez and Amir Ali have argued that the expression ma malakat aymanukum should be properly read in the past tense, thus only referring to people already enslaved at the time the Qur'an was revealed.

Prophet's traditions

This section may be unbalanced toward certain viewpoints. Please improve the article by adding information on neglected viewpoints, or discuss the issue on the talk page. (October 2022)
Bilal ibn Ribah was an African slave who was emancipated when Abu Bakr paid his ransom upon Muhammad's instruction. He was appointed by Muhammad as the first official muezzin. This image depicts him atop the Kaaba in January 630, when he became the first Muslim to proclaim adhan in Mecca.

The corpus of hadith attributed to Muhammad follows the general lines of Quranic teaching on slavery and contains a large store of reports enjoining kindness toward slaves.

Some modern Muslim authors have interpreted this as an indication that Muhammad envisioned a gradual abolition of slavery, while Murray Gordon characterizes Muhammad's approach to slavery as reformist rather than revolutionary. He did not set out to abolish slavery, but rather to improve the conditions of slaves by urging his followers to treat their slaves humanely and free them as a way of expiating one's sins. According to sahih (authentic) hadith Muhammad encouraged gifting of slaves to be a better alternative to setting them free. When the people of Banu Qurayzah were defeated, he ordered some of the captives to be exchanged to purchase horses and arms. Gordon argues that Muhammad instead assured the legitimacy of slavery in Islam by lending it his moral authority. Likely justifications for his attitude toward slavery included the precedent of Jewish and Christian teachings of his time as well as pragmatic considerations.

The most notable of Muhammad's slaves were: Safiyya bint Huyayy received in exchange for seven other slaves, whom he freed and married; Maria al-Qibtiyya, given to Muhammad by a Sassanid official, who gave birth to his son Ibrahim and was freed. Sirin, Maria's sister, whom he freed and married to the poet Hassan ibn Thabit and Zayd ibn Harithah, whom Muhammad freed and adopted as a son.

Traditional Islamic jurisprudence

Source of slaves

Traditional Islamic jurisprudence presumed everyone was free under the dictum of The basic principle is liberty (Arabic: al-'asl huwa 'l-hurriya), and slavery was an exceptional condition. Any person whose status was unknown (e.g. a foundling) was presumed to be free. A free person could not sell himself or his children into slavery. Neither could a free person be enslaved due to debt or as punishment for a crime. Non-Muslims living under Muslim rule, known as dhimmi, could not be enslaved. Lawful enslavement was restricted to two instances: capture in war (on the condition that the prisoner is not a Muslim), or birth in slavery. Islamic law did not recognize the classes of slave from pre-Islamic Arabia including those sold or given into slavery by themselves and others, and those indebted into slavery. Though a free Muslim could not be enslaved, conversion to Islam by a non-Muslim slave did not require that he or she then should be liberated. Slave status was not affected by conversion to Islam. Purchasing slaves and receiving slaves as tribute was permitted. Many scholars subjected slave purchases to the condition that slave should have been "rightfully enslaved" in the first place.

Treatment

Chief Eunuch of Abdul Hamid II (1912)

In the instance of illness it would be required for the slave to be looked after. Manumission is considered a meritorious act. Based on the Quranic verse (24:33), Islamic law permits a slave to ransom himself upon consent of his master through a contract known as mukataba. Azizah Y. al-Hibri, a professor of Law specializing in Islamic jurisprudence, states that both the Quran and Hadith are repeatedly exhorting Muslims to treat their slaves well and that Muhammad showed this both in action and in words. Levy concurs, adding that "cruelty to them was forbidden." Al-Hibri quotes the famous last speech of Muhammad and other hadiths emphasizing that all believers, whether free or enslaved, are siblings. Lewis explains, "the humanitarian tendency of the Quran and the early caliphs in the Islamic empire, was to some extent counteracted by other influences," notably the practice of various conquered people and countries Muslims encountered, especially in provinces previously under Roman law. In spite of this, Lewis also states, "Islamic practice still represented a vast improvement on that inherited from antiquity, from Rome, and from Byzantium." Murray Gordon writes: "It was not surprising that Muhammad, who accepted the existing socio-political order, looked upon slavery as part of the natural order of things. His approach to what was already an age-old institution was reformist and not revolutionary. The Prophet had not in mind to bring about the abolition of slavery. Rather, his purpose was to improve the conditions of slaves by correcting abuses and appealing to the conscience of his followers to treat them humanely. The adoption of slaves as members of the family was common, according to Levy. If a slave was born and brought up in the master's household he was never sold, except in exceptional circumstances.

Sexual intercourse

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See also: Islamic marital jurisprudence, Islamic views on concubinage, and History of concubinage in the Muslim world

Surah 23, Al-Muminun, of the Quran in verse 6 and Surah 70, Al-Maarij, in verse 30 both, in identical wording, draw a distinction between spouses and "those whom one's right hands possess", saying " أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ" (literally, "their spouses or what their right hands possess"), while clarifying that sexual intercourse with either is permissible. Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi explains that "two categories of women have been excluded from the general command of guarding the private parts: (a) wives, (b) women who are legally in one's possession". Islamic law, using the term Ma malakat aymanukum ("what your right hands possess") considered sexual relations with female slaves as lawful.

According to Kecia Ali, the Qurʾanic passages on slavery differ strikingly in terms of their terminology and main preoccupations compared to the jurisprudential texts, that the text of the Qurʾan does not permit sexual access simply by the virtue of her being a milk al-yamīn or concubine while the "Jurists define zina as vaginal intercourse between a man and a woman who is neither his wife nor his slave. Though seldom discussed, forced sex with one's wife might (or, depending on the circumstances, might not) be an ethical infraction, and conceivably even a legal one like assault if physical violence is involved. One might speculate that the same is true of forced sex with a slave. This scenario is never, however, illicit in the jurists' conceptual world".

Responding to a query about whether a man can be forced to have intercourse or if it is obligatory for him to have intercourse with his wife or concubine, Imam Al-Shafiʽi stated "If he has only one wife or an additional concubine with whom he has intercourse, he is commanded to fear Allah Almighty and to not harm her in regards to intercourse, although nothing specific is obligated upon him. He is only obligated to provide what benefits her such as financial maintenance, residence, clothing, and spending the night with her. As for intercourse, its position is one of pleasure and no one can be forced into it."

Mustafa Öztürk follows Fazlur Rahman Malik's footsteps and says that the verses are revealed on the historical context, the Ahkam are not among the essence and purposes of religion, with an example: Slaves were considered property in sharia; could be bought, sold, rented and shared. Al-Sarakhsi decided that the paternity determination of the child to be born could be made by draw, and asks how many of you can accept this understanding today?

Another viewpoint is of Rabb Intisar, who argues that according to the Quran, sexual relations with a concubine were subject to both parties' consent. Similarly Tamara Sonn writes that consent of a concubine was necessary for sexual relations. Jonathan Brown argues that the modern conception of sexual consent only came about since the 1970s, so it makes little sense to project it backwards onto classical Islamic law. Brown notes that premodern Muslim jurists rather applied the harm principle to judge sexual misconduct, including between a master and concubine. He further states that historically, concubines could complain to judges if they were being sexually abused and that scholars like al-Bahūtī require a master to set his concubine free if he injures her during sex. Islam permits sexual relations between a male master and his female slave outside marriage. This is referred to in the Quran as ma malakat aymanukum or "what your right hands possess". There are some restrictions on the master; he may not co-habit with a female slave belonging to his wife, neither can he have relations with a female slave if she is co-owned, or already married.

In ancient Arabian custom, the child of a freeman by his slave was also a slave unless he was recognized and liberated by his father. In theory, the recognition by a master of his offspring by a slave woman was optional in Islamic society, and in the early period was often withheld. By the High Middle Ages it became normal and was unremarkable in a society where the sovereigns themselves were almost invariably the children of slave concubines. The mother receives the title of "umm walad" (lit. 'mother of a child'), which is an improvement in her status as she can no longer be sold. Among Sunnis, she is automatically freed upon her master's death, however for Shi'a, she is only freed if her child is still alive; her value is then deducted from this child's share of the inheritance. Lovejoy writes that as an umm walad, they attained "an intermediate position between slave and free" pending their freedom, although they would sometimes be nominally freed as soon as they gave birth.

There is no limit on the number of female concubines a male master may possess. However, the general marital laws are to be observed, such as not having sexual relations with the sister of a female slave. In Islam "men are enjoined to marry free women in the first instance, but if they cannot afford the bridewealth for free women, they are told to marry slave women rather than engage in wrongful acts." One rationale given for recognition of concubinage in Islam is that "it satisfied the sexual desire of the female slaves and thereby prevented the spread of immorality in the Muslim community." A slave master could have sex with his female slave only while she was not married. This attempt to require sexual exclusivity for female slaves was rare in antiquity, when female slaves generally had no claim to an exclusive sexual relationship. According to Sikainga, "in reality, however, female slaves in many Muslim societies were prey for members of their owners' household, their neighbors, and their guests."

In Shiite jurisprudence, it is unlawful for a master of a female slave to grant a third party the use of her for sexual relations. The Shiite scholar Shaykh al-Tusi stated: ولا يجوز إعارتها للاستمتاع بها لأن البضع لا يستباح بالإعارة "It is not permissible to loan (the slave girl) for enjoyment purpose, because sexual intercourse cannot be legitimate through loaning" and the Shiite scholars al-Muhaqiq al-Kurki, Allamah Al-Hilli and Ali Asghar Merwarid made the following ruling: ولا تجوز استعارة الجواري للاستمتاع "It is not permissible to loan the slave girl for the purpose of sexual intercourse"

Under the legal doctrine of kafa'a (lit."adequacy, equivalence"), the purpose of which was to ensure that a man should be at least the social equal of the woman he marries, a freedman is not as good as the son of a freedman, and he in turn not as good as the grandson of a freedman. This principle is pursued up to three generations, after which all Muslims are deemed equally free. Lewis asserts that since kafa'a "does not forbid unequal marriages", it is in no sense a "Muslim equivalent of Nuremberg Laws of Nazi Germany or the apartheid laws of South Africa. His purpose, he states, is not to try to set up a moral competition - to compare castration and apartheid as offenses against humanity."

Legal status

Within Islamic jurisprudence, slaves were excluded from religious office and from any office involving jurisdiction over others. Freed slaves are able to occupy any office within the Islamic government, and instances of this in history include the Mamluk who ruled Egypt for almost 260 years and the eunuchs who have held military and administrative positions of note. With the permission of their owners they are able to marry. Annemarie Schimmel, a contemporary scholar on Islamic civilization, asserts that because the status of slaves under Islam could only be obtained through either being a prisoner of war (this was soon restricted only to infidels captured in a holy war) or born from slave parents, slavery would be theoretically abolished with the expansion of Islam. Fazlur Rahman agrees, stating that the Quranic acceptance of the institution of slavery on the legal plane was the only practical option available at the time of Muhammad since "slavery was ingrained in the structure of society, and its overnight wholesale liquidation would have created problems which it would have been absolutely impossible to solve, and only a dreamer could have issued such a visionary statement." Islam's reforms stipulating the conditions of enslavement seriously limited the supply of new slaves. Murray Gordon does note: "Muhammad took pains in urging the faithful to free their slaves as a way of expiating their sins. Some Muslim scholars have taken this mean that his true motive was to bring about a gradual elimination of slavery. An alternative argument is that by lending the moral authority of Islam to slavery, Muhammad assured its legitimacy. Thus, in lightening the fetter, he riveted it ever more firmly in place." In the early days of Islam, a plentiful supply of new slaves were brought due to rapid conquest and expansion. But as the frontiers were gradually stabilized, this supply dwindled to a mere trickle. The prisoners of later wars between Muslims and Christians were commonly ransomed or exchanged.

According to Lewis, this reduction resulted in Arabs who wanted slaves having to look elsewhere to avoid the restrictions in the Quran, meaning an increase of importing of slaves from non-Muslim lands, primarily from Africa. These slaves suffered a high death toll. Patrick Manning states that Islamic legislations against the abuse of the slaves convincingly limited the extent of enslavement in the Arabian Peninsula and to a lesser degree for the whole area of the Umayyad Caliphate where slavery had existed since the most ancient times. However, he also notes that with the passage of time and the extension of Islam, Islam, by recognizing and codifying slavery, seems to have done more to protect and expand slavery than the reverse.

In theory, free-born Muslims could not be enslaved, and the only way that a non-Muslim could be enslaved was being captured in the course of holy war. (In early Islam, neither a Muslim nor a Christian or Jew could be enslaved. Slavery was also perceived as a means of converting non-Muslims to Islam: A task of the masters was religious instruction. Conversion and assimilation into the society of the master didn't automatically lead to emancipation, though there was normally some guarantee of better treatment and was deemed a prerequisite for emancipation. The majority of Sunni authorities approved the manumission of all the "People of the Book". According to some jurists -especially among the Shi'a- only Muslim slaves should be liberated. In practice, traditional propagators of Islam in Africa often revealed a cautious attitude towards proselytizing because of its effect in reducing the potential reservoir of slaves.

Rights and restrictions

"Morally as well as physically the slave is regarded in law as an inferior being," Levy writes. Under Islamic law, a slave possesses a composite quality of being both a person and a possession. The slave is entitled to receive sustenance from the master, which includes shelter, food, clothing, and medical attention. It is a requirement for this sustenance to be of the same standard generally found in the locality and it is also recommended for the slave to have the same standard of food and clothing as the master. If the master refuses to provide the required sustenance, the slave may complain to a judge, who may then penalize the master through sale of her or his goods as necessary for the slave's keep. If the master does not have sufficient wealth to facilitate this, she or he must either sell, hire out, or manumit the slave as ordered. Slaves also have the right to a period of rest during the hottest parts of the day during the summer.

The spiritual status of a Muslim slave was identical to a Muslim free person, with some exemptions made for the slave. For example, it is not mandatory for Muslim slaves to attend Friday prayers or go for Hajj, even though both are mandatory for free Muslims. Slaves were generally allowed to become an imam and lead prayer, and many scholars even allowed them to act as an imam for Friday and Eid prayers, though some disagreed.

Evidence from slaves is rarely viable in a court of law. According to the most popular Sharia manual by Imam Shafi, the very first requirement for a legal testimony to be acceptable from a witness is that the witness must be free. As slaves are regarded as inferior in Islamic law, death at the hands of a free man does not require that the latter be killed in retaliation. The killer must pay the slave's master compensation equivalent to the slave's value, as opposed to blood-money. At the same time, slaves themselves possess a lessened responsibility for their actions, and receive half the penalty required upon a free man. For example: where a free man would be subject to a hundred lashes due to pre-marital relations, a slave would be subject to only fifty. Slaves are allowed to marry only with the owner's consent. Jurists differ over how many wives a slave may possess, with the Hanafi and Shafi'i schools allowing them two, and the Maliki school allowing four. Slaves are not permitted to possess or inherit property, or conduct independent business, and may conduct financial dealings only as a representative of the master. Offices of authority are generally not permitted for slaves, though a slave may act as the leader (Imam) in the congregational prayers, and he may also act as a subordinate officer in the governmental department of revenue. Masters may sell, bequeath, give away, pledge, hire out or compel them to earn money.

By the view of some madh'hab (but not others), a master may compel his slave to marry and determine the identity of the marriage partner.

The mahr that is given for marriage to a female slave is taken by her owner, whereas all other women possess it absolutely for themselves.

A slave was not allowed to become a judge, but could become a subordinate officer.

Manumission and abolition

The Quran and Hadith, the primary Islamic texts, make it a praiseworthy act for masters to set their slaves free. There are numerous ways in Islamic law under which a slave may become free:

  • An act of piety by the owner.
  • the mukataba contract: the slave and master draw a contract whereby the master will grant the slave freedom in exchange for a period of employment, or a certain sum of money (payable in installments). The master must allow the slave to earn money. Such a contract is recommended by the Qur'an.
  • A female slave who gives birth to her owner's child becomes an umm walad and becomes automatically free upon the death of her owner. The child would be automatically free and equal to the owner's other children.
  • The owner can promise, either verbally or in writing that the slave is free upon the owner's death. Such a slave is known as a mudabbar.
  • A Muslim who has committed certain sins, such as involuntary manslaughter or perjury, is required to free a slave as an expiation.
  • Anytime the owner of the slave declares the slave to be free the slave becomes automatically free, even if the owner made the statement accidentally or jokingly. For example, if a slave owner said "You’re free once you’ve finished this task", intending to mean "you’re done with work for the day", the slave would become free despite the owner's ambiguous statement.
  • A slave is freed automatically if it is discovered the slave is related to the master; this could happen, for example, when someone purchases a slave who happens to be a relative.

Gordon opines that while Islamic jurisprudence considered manumission as one way of atonement of sin, but other means of atonement also existed: for example, giving charity to the poor was considered superior to freeing a slave. And while Islam made freeing a slave a meritorious act, it was usually not a requirement, making it possible for a devout Muslim to still own a slave. Richard Francis Burton stated that sometimes slaves refused freedom due to lack of employable skills, as freedom from the master meant the slave might go hungry.

According to Jafar as-Sadiq, all Muslim slaves become automatically free after a maximum of 7 years in servitude. This rule applies regardless of the will of the owner.

Some scholars hold that the abolition of slavery was one of the aims of Islam, a view that Islamic feminists scholar Kecia Ali finds well intentioned but ahistorical and simplistic. She suggest that while there was definitely an "emancipatory ethic" (encouragement for freeing slaves) in Islamic jurisprudence and that "it is possible to view slavery as inconsistent with basic Qur'anic precepts of justice and human equality before God", slavery was also "marginal to the Qur'anic worldview" and "there has not been a strong internally developed critique of past or present slaveholding practices". The subsequent shift in attitudes within Islam towards slavery have also been compared to similar shifts within Christianity towards Biblically sanctioned slavery, which was widespread in the late antique world in which both the Bible and Quran arose.

Modern interpretations

Abolitionism

A photograph of a slave boy in the Sultanate of Zanzibar. 'An Arab master's punishment for a slight offence.' c. 1890. From at least the 1860s onwards, photography was a powerful weapon in the abolitionist arsenal.

In the Ottoman Empire, restrictions on the slave trade began to be introduced during the eighteenth century, in the context of Ottoman-Russian warfare. Bilateral agreements between the Ottoman and Russian empires enabled both sides to retrieve captives taken during war in return for ransom payments. Ransoming of enslaved war captives had been common before this, but had depended on the agreement of a captive's owner; by establishing this as a legal right, the agreements restricted the rights of slaveowners and contributed to the development of the international law concept of "prisoner of war." The abolitionist movement starting in the late 18th century in Western Europe led to gradual changes concerning the institution of slavery in Muslim lands both in doctrine and in practice. One of the first religious decrees comes from the two highest dignitaries of the Hanafi and Maliki rites in the Ottoman Empire. These religious authorities declared that slavery is lawful in principle but it is regrettable in its consequences. They expressed two religious considerations in their support for abolition of slavery: "the initial enslaving of the people concerned comes under suspicion of illegality by reason of the present-day expansion of Islam in their countries; masters no longer comply with the rules of good treatment which regulate their rights and shelter them from wrong-doing."

According to Brunschvig, although the total abolition of slavery might seem a reprehensible innovation and contrary to the Quran and the practice of early Muslims, the realities of the modern world caused a "discernible evolution in the thought of many educated Muslims before the end of the 19th century." These Muslims argued that Islam on the whole has "bestowed an exceptionally favorable lot on the victims of slavery" and that the institution of slavery is linked to the particular economic and social stage in which Islam originated. According to the influential thesis of Ameer Ali, the Qur’an disapproved of slavery, but Muhammad could not abolish the institution overnight as it would have disrupted society and economy. The Prophet thus ordered an immediate betterment in the status and treatment of slaves, and encouraged manumission, trusting that slavery would soon die out. Tunisia was the first Muslim country to abolish slavery, in 1846. Tunisian reformers argued for the abolition of slavery on the basis of Islamic law. They argued that while Islamic law permitted slavery, it set many conditions, and these conditions were impossible to enforce in the 19th century and widely flouted. They pointed to evidence that many slaves sold in Tunisian markets had been enslaved illegally, as they were either Muslim or the subject of a friendly state at the time of capture (Islamic law allowed the enslavement only of non-Muslims in the course of war). They also argued that the circumstances for legal enslavement in the 19th century were very rare, because Tunisia and other Muslim states were not permanently at war with non-Muslim powers, as the first Muslim state had been. Therefore, one could assume that the vast majority of the 19th-century slave trade was illegal, and the only way to prevent illegal enslavement was to prohibit the slave trade entirely. Furthermore, since the child of a slave and a free man was considered free, the institution of slavery was not sustainable without a slave trade. By the early 20th century, the idea that Islam only tolerated slavery due to necessity was to varying extent taken up by the Ulema.

According to Brockopp, in the Ottoman Empire and elsewhere the manumission contract (kitaba) was used by the state to give slaves the means to buy their freedom and thereby end slavery as an institution. Some authorities issued condemnations of slavery, stating that it violated Quranic ideals of equality and freedom. Subsequently, even religious conservatives came to accept that slavery was contrary to Islamic principles of justice and equality.

Contemporary

By the 1950s–1960s, a majority of Muslims had accepted the abolition of slavery as religiously legitimate. Islam as a whole has never preached the freedom of all men "as a doctrine" up to the current day. However, by the end of the 20th century, all Muslim countries had made slavery illegal, and the vast majority of Muslim organizations and interpretations of sharia firmly condemn modern-day slavery. In 1926, the Muslim World Conference meeting in Mecca condemned slavery. Proceedings from an Organization of Islamic Conference meeting in 1980 upheld human freedom and rejected enslavement of prisoners. Most Muslim scholars consider slavery to be inconsistent with Quranic principles of justice. Bernard Freamon writes that there is consensus (ijma) among Muslim jurists that slavery has now become forbidden. However, certain contemporary clerics still consider slavery to be lawful, such Saleh Al-Fawzan of Saudi Arabia.

Sayyid Qutb (1906–1966) wrote in Fi Zilal al-Quran (a tafsir) that slavery was adopted by Islam at a time it was practiced world-wide for a period of time "until the world devised a new code of practise during war other than enslavement." Qutb's brother, Muhammad Qutb, contrasted sexual relations between Muslim slave-owners and their female slaves with what he saw as the widespread practice of pre-marital sex in Europe.

Abul A'la Maududi (1903–1979) wrote:

Islam has clearly and categorically forbidden the primitive practice of capturing a free man, to make him a slave or to sell him into slavery. On this point the clear and unequivocal words of Muhammad are as follows:

"There are three categories of people against whom I shall myself be a plaintiff on the Day of Judgement. Of these three, one is he who enslaves a free man, then sells him and eats this money" (al-Bukhari and Ibn Majjah).

The words of this Tradition of the Prophet are also general, they have not been qualified or made applicable to a particular nation, race, country or followers of a particular religion. ... After this the only form of slavery which was left in Islamic society was the prisoners of war, who were captured on the battlefield. These prisoners of war were retained by the Muslim Government until their government agreed to receive them back in exchange for Muslim soldiers captured by them ...

Sayyid Qutb

William Clarence-Smith criticized the above two as: "dogged refusal of Mawlana Mawdudi to give up on slavery" and the notable "evasions and silences of Muhammad Qutb".

Taqiuddin al-Nabhani.

Taqiuddin al-Nabhani, a shariah judge and founder of Hizb ut-Tahrir movement, gives the following explanation:

When Islam came, for the situations where people were taken into slavery (e.g. debt), Islam imposed Shari’ah solutions to those situations other than slavery. ... It (Islam) made the existing slave and owner form a business contract, based upon the freedom, not upon slavery ...  As for the situation of war, ...  it clarified the rule of the captive in that either they are favoured by releasing without any exchange, or they are ransomed for money or exchanged for Muslims or non-Muslim citizens of the Caliphate.

The website of the organization stresses that because sharia historically was responding to a contract, not the institution of slavery, a future caliphate could not re-introduce slavery.

In 2014, ayatollah Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi met with Pope Francis and other religious leaders to draft an inter-faith declaration to "eradicate modern slavery across the world by 2020 and for all time." The declaration was signed by other Shi'ite leaders and the Sunni Grand Imam of Al Azhar. In 1993, ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi declared that "Islam has devised solutions and strategies for ending slavery, but that does not mean that slavery is condemned in Islam". He argued that ordinances of slavery could apply to prisoners of war. Iranian ayatollah Mohsen Kadivar has used an Islamic legal technique called naskh aqli (abrogation by reason) to conclude that slavery is no longer permissible in Islam.

Further information: Slavery in 21st-century jihadism

In response to the Nigerian extremist group Boko Haram's Quranic justification for kidnapping and enslaving people, and ISIL's religious justification for enslaving Yazidi women as spoils of war as claimed in their digital magazine Dabiq, 126 Islamic scholars from around the Muslim world, in late September 2014, signed an open letter to the Islamic State's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, rejecting his group's interpretations of the Quran and hadith to justify its actions. The letter accuses the group of instigating fitna – sedition – by instituting slavery under its rule in contravention of the anti-slavery consensus of the Islamic scholarly community.

Notable enslaved people and freedmen

See also

References

Notes

  1. The term's translations has many variations:
    • Abdullah Yusuf Ali: "those whom your right hands possess".
    • M. H. Shakir: "those whom your right hands possess".Shakir, M. H. (Ed.). (n.d.). The Quran. Medford, MA: Perseus Digital Library. Surah 4:24
    • Thomas Patrick Hughes: "that which your right hand possesses".Hughes, T. P. (1885). In A Dictionary of Islam: Being a Cyclopædia of the Doctrines, Rites, Ceremonies, and Customs, together with the Technical and Theological Terms, of the Muhammadan Religion. London: W. H. Allen & Co.
    • N. J. Dawood: "those whom you own as slaves."N. J. Dawood, "The Koran," Penguin Classics, Penguin Books, 1999 edition.
    • Dr Kamal Omar: "as except those whom your right hands held in trust'" Archived 2021-03-22 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, a Nigerian extremist group, said in an interview "I shall capture people and make them slaves" when claiming responsibility for the 2014 Chibok kidnapping. ISIL claimed that the Yazidi are idol worshipers and their enslavement part of the old shariah practice of spoils of war.

Citations

  1. ^ Brockopp, Jonathan E., “Slaves and Slavery”, in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC.
  2. Brunschvig, R., “ʿAbd”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.
  3. ^ Lewis 1994, Ch.1 Archived 2001-04-01 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Dror Ze’evi (2009). "Slavery". In John L. Esposito (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2017-02-23. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  5. Jane Hathaway, The Chief Eunuch of the Ottoman Harem, Cambridge University Press, 2018 ISBN 9781107108295
  6. Segal 2002, p. 4.
  7. Chase 2003, p. 98-99.
  8. Lapidus 2014, p. 195.
  9. Clarence-Smith 2006, pp. 2–5.
  10. Segal 2002.
  11. Wilson, Jean D.; Roehrborn, Claus (1999). "Long-Term Consequences of Castration in Men: Lessons from the Skoptzy and the Eunuchs of the Chinese and Ottoman Courts". The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 84 (12): 4324–4331. doi:10.1210/jcem.84.12.6206. PMID 10599682.
  12. https://boris.unibe.ch/186051/1/Naming_eunuchs_BCDSS.pdf
  13. https://sunnah.com/nasai:4736
  14. Lewis 1990, p. 13–14.
  15. "Development of History and Hadith Collections". www.al-islam.org. 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  16. "Sahih Bukhari | Chapter: 48 | Manumission of Slaves". ahadith.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  17. ^ "BBC - Religions - Islam: Slavery in Islam". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  18. ^ Jonathan E. Brockopp (2000), Early Mālikī Law: Ibn ʻAbd Al-Ḥakam and His Major Compendium of Jurisprudence, Brill, ISBN 978-9004116283, pp. 131
  19. Levy (1957) p. 77
  20. ^ La Rue, George M. (17 August 2023). "Indian Ocean and Middle Eastern Slave Trades". Oxford Bibliographies Online. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OBO/9780199846733-0051. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  21. "Focus on the slave trade". May 25, 2017. Archived from the original on May 25, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  22. ^ Montana, Ismael (2013). The Abolition of Slavery in Ottoman Tunisia. University Press of Florida. ISBN 978-0813044828.
  23. Clarence-Smith 2006, pp. 120–122.
  24. Erdem, Y. Hakan (1996). Slavery in the Ottoman Empire and its Demise, 1800-1909. Macmillan. pp. 95–151. ISBN 0333643232.
  25. Clarence-Smith 2006, pp. 110–116.
  26. Martin A. Klein (2002), Historical Dictionary of Slavery and Abolition, Page xxii, ISBN 0810841029
  27. Segal, page 206. See later in article.
  28. Segal, page 222. See later in article.
  29. Robinson, David (2004-01-12). Muslim Societies in African History. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-53366-9.
  30. "University of Minnesota Human Rights Library". 2018-11-03. Archived from the original on 2018-11-03. Retrieved 2024-08-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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  32. Cite error: The named reference eoq was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. Ali 2006, pp. 53–54: "...the practical limitations of the Prophet’s mission meant that acquiescence to slave ownership was necessary, though distasteful, but meant to be temporary." harvnb error: no target: CITEREFAli2006 (help)
  34. "ISIS and Their Use of Slavery". International Centre for Counter-Terrorism - ICCT. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  35. ^ Brunschvig. 'Abd; Encyclopedia of Islam
  36. ^ Lewis (1992) p. 4
  37. ^ Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, Slaves and Slavery
  38. Mendelsohn (1949) pp. 54—58
  39. ^ John L Esposito (1998) p. 79
  40. ^ Quran 2:177,9:60
  41. "Bernard Lewis on Slavery in Islam (An Analytical Study)" (PDF). Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-03-30. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  42. Gad Heuman and James Walvin (2003), The Slavery Reader, Volume 1, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415213042, pp. 31-32
  43. ^ Gordon, Murray (1989). Slavery in the Arab World. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 18–39. ISBN 9780941533300. Archived from the original on 2023-02-26. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  44. Lovejoy, Paul (2000). Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa. Cambridge University Press. pp. 16–17. ISBN 978-0521784306. The religious requirement that new slaves be pagans and need for continued imports to maintain slave population made Africa an important source of slaves for the Islamic world. (...) In Islamic tradition, slavery was perceived as a means of converting non-Muslims. One task of the master was religious instruction and theoretically Muslims could not be enslaved. Conversion (of a non-Muslim to Islam) did not automatically lead to emancipation, but assimilation into Muslim society was deemed a prerequisite for emancipation.
  45. ^ Brunschvig, R. (1986). "ʿAbd". In P. Bearman; Th. Bianquis; C.E. Bosworth; E. van Donzel; W.P. Heinrichs (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Brill. p. 25. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0003. 2. The Kor'an. The Religious Ethic. a.—Islam, like its two parent monotheisms, Judaism and Christianity, has never preached the abolition of slavery as a doctrine, but it has followed their example (though in a very different fashion) in endeavouring to moderate the institution and mitigate its legal and moral aspects. Spiritually, the slave has the same value as the free man, and the same eternity is in store for his soul
  46. ^ Olayinka Kudus Amuni. Pade Badru, Brigid M. Sackey (ed.). Islam in Africa South of the Sahara: Essays in Gender Relations and Political Reform. Scarecrow Press. pp. 48–9. The Qur'anic injunctions were such as to mitigate the effects of slavery and to provide considerable encouragement for manumission. Kindness to slaves is enjoined in the following verse: . In this verse, kindness to slaves is enjoined along with goodness to parents, kindsmen and orphans. Elsewhere the Qur'an says .
  47. ^ Bernard Lewis. Race and Slavery in the Middle East. Oxford University Press. p. 6. recommends, without requiring, his liberation by purchase or manumission. The freeing of slaves is recommended both for the expiation of sins (IV:92; V:92; LVIII:3) and as an act of simple benevolence (11: 177; XXIV:33; XC:13).
  48. ^ Jonathan E. Brockopp. "Slaves and slavery". In Jane Dammen McAuliffe (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the Quran. Vol. 5. p. 59. Finally, the important role played by slaves as members of this community may help explain the Quran's emphasis on manumission and kind treatment.
  49. ^ Bernard K. Freamon. Possessed by the Right Hand: The Problem of Slavery in Islamic Law and Muslim Cultures. Brill. pp. 122–3. Before embarking on the typological analysis it is also important to note at the outside that all of the important Quranic rules on slavery are emancipatory. None of the Quran provisions actively further, promote, or counsel the continuation of the pre-Islamic institutions of slavery. Rather, as I and others have argued elsewhere, the message of the Quran appears to be one that exhorts humankind to work toward the attainment of a slavery-free society.
  50. ^ Tamara Sonn (6 October 2015). Islam: History, Religion, and Politics. John Wiley & Sons. p. 18. ISBN 9781118972311. The Quran clearly recognizes that slavery is a source of inequity in society becaise it frequently recommends freeing slaves, along with feeding and clothing the poor as part of living a moral life (90:12-19)...the Quran does not abolish the institution of slavery...slavery was an integral part of the economic system at the time the Quran was revealed; abolition of slavery would have requires an overhaul of the entire socioeconomic system. Therefore, instead of abolishing slavery outright, virtually all interpreters agree that the Quran established an ideal toward which society should: a society in which no one person would be enslaved to another.
  51. (Quran 2:177, 24:33, 90:13)
  52. (Quran 4:92, 5:92, 58:3)
  53. ^ Jonathan E. Brockopp. "Slaves and slavery". In Jane Dammen McAuliffe (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the Quran. Vol. 5. p. 58.
  54. Omer Faruk Senturk (2007). Charity in Islam: A Comprehensive Guide to Zakat. Tughra Books. p. x. ISBN 9781597841238.
  55. ^ Jonathan E. Brockopp. "Slaves and slavery". In Jane Dammen McAuliffe (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān. Vol. 5. p. 57. The Qur'an, however, does not consider slaves to be mere chattel; their humanity is directly addressed in references to their beliefs (q 2:221; 4:25, 92), their desire for manumission and their feelings about being forced into prostitution (q 24:33)...The human aspect of slaves is further reinforced by reference to them as members of the private household, sometimes along with wives or children (q.v.; q 23:6; 24:58; 33:50; 70:30) and once in a long list of such members (q 24:31). This incorporation into the intimate family is consistent with the view of slaves in the ancient near east and quite in contrast to Western plantation slavery as it developed in the early modern period.
  56. ^ Tamara Sonn (6 October 2015). Islam: History, Religion, and Politics. John Wiley & Sons. p. 18. ISBN 9781118972311. The Quran acknowledges that slaves do not have the same legal standing as free people; instead they are treated as minors for whom the owners are responsible. But it recommends that unmarried Muslims marry their slaves (24:32), indicating that it considers slaves and free people morally equal.
  57. ^ Jonathan E. Brockopp. "Slaves and slavery". In Jane Dammen McAuliffe (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān. Vol. 5. p. 57. In one case, the Qur'an refers to master and slave with the same word, rajul (q 39:29). Later interpreters presume slaves to be spiritual equals of free Muslims. For example, q 4:25 urges believers to marry "believing maids that your right hands own" and then states: "The one of you is as the other" (ba'dukum min ba'din), which the Jalalayn interpret as "You and they are equal in faith, so do not refrain from marrying them".
  58. Sikainga (2005), p.5-6
  59. Clarence-Smith 2006, p. 198.
  60. ^ Bernard Lewis. Race and Slavery in the Middle East: An Historical Enquiry. Oxford University Press. p. 5. But Qur'anic legislation, subsequently confirmed and elaborated in the Holy Law, brought two major changes to ancient slavery which were to have far-reaching effects. One of these was the presumption of freedom; the other, the ban on the enslavement of free persons except in strictly defined circumstances.
  61. Quran 24:33
  62. Gordon 1989, page 37.
  63. www.alhakam.org/what-is-the-meaning-of-those-whom-your-right-hand-possesses-milk-al-yamin
  64. ^ Jonathan E. Brockopp (2006). "Slaves and slavery". In Jane Dammen McAuliffe (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān. Vol. 5. Brill. pp. 57–58.
  65. ^ Bernard Freamon. Possessed by the Right Hand: The Problem of Slavery in Islamic Law and Muslim Cultures. pp. 129–130.
  66. Clarence-Smith 2006, pp. 198–200.
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    Shaikh Salih alFawzaan: These are words of falsehood (baatil) ... despite that many of the writers and thinkers -- and we do not say scholars -- repeat these words. Rather we say that they are thinkers (mufakkireen), just as they call them. And it is unfortunate, that they also call them `Du'at' (callers). ... These words are falsehood ... This is deviation and a false accusation against Islaam. And if it had not been for the excuse of ignorance we excuse them on account of (their) ignorance so we do not say that they are Unbelievers because they are ignorant and are blind followers .... Otherwise, these statements are very dangerous and if a person said them deliberately he would become apostate and leave Islaam. ..."
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