Slavery: A past and present Tragedy -Omer Suleiman

Slavery - a new angle of criticism against Islam has gained grounds. Both based on the practices of the past and the present revival of this practice by some groups. 
1. What are the origins of slavery? 
2. How was slavery practiced in the early days of Islam? 
3. Does slavery still exist in the Muslim world? 
4. What is the ruling on slavery and concubines in present times? 

Firstly, it should be borne in mind that slavery was not something that was introduced by Islam; on the contrary, it was something that had its roots planted long before the advent of Islam. It would not be an exaggeration to state that slavery is probably as old as war itself, because it is one of the consequences of war. Thus, slavery apparently first reared its head with the first wars that took place on the face of earth. Those who were not killed in warfare, used to be taken as prisoners of war. The pages of history will show that many alternative, expedient methods were used through the ages to deal with prisoners of war. Some used to be executed while others would be set free, with or without a ransom. Then, there were others who were neither executed nor set free. These were enslaved.

Slavery is not a thing of the past but it is a present tragedy in the form of human trafficking, bonded labour, child labour, forced prostitution,debt slavery,selling children into slavery etc. Slavery and concubines are as old as human history. It was part of all cultures in all parts of the world. Slavery on the whole had nothing to do with race, but in some areas slavery was on the basis of colour.

PRISONERS OF WAR
RIGHTS OF CONCUBINES

In fact, possession of a slave woman resembles a marriage ceremony in many ways and both have a lot in common with each other. One similarity is this that just as a free woman cannot have two husbands simultaneously, a slave woman cannot be used for intercourse by two owners. 

Another similarity is that a free woman whose marriage is on the rocks, cannot marry another man until her previous marriage is nullified through divorce, etc. 

Similarly, if a slave woman was married previously in enemy territory to a non-Muslim, and is then captured alone, i.e. without her husband, it is not permissible for any Muslim to have relations with her until her previous marriage is nullified, and that is done by bringing her to an Islamic country and making her the legal possession of a Muslim. Bringing her into Islamic territory necessitates the rendering of her previous marriage as null and void by Islamic law because with her husband in enemy territory and she in Islamic territory, it becomes virtually impossible for them to meet and live as man and wife. That is why it is not permissible to have intercourse with a woman whose husband is also taken into captivity and put into slavery with her.

Another resemblance between the two is that, just as a divorcee has to spend a period called "Iddat" before another man is allowed to marry her, similarly, a slave woman has to spend a period called "Istibraa" before her owner can have coition with her. 

Another similarity between marriage and possession of a slave woman is that just as the wife becomes a dependant of the husband and he has to provide a home, food and clothing for her, a slave woman also becomes a dependant of her owner and he has to provide a home, food and clothing for her.

Just as marriage makes the close relatives of the wife Haraam upon the husband; i.e. he cannot get married to his wife's mother, grandmother, sister, etc., similarly if a man has copulated with a slave woman the slave woman's close relatives also become Haraam upon the owner.

"If a slave woman becomes pregnant from her owner, and delivers his child, she automatically gets her freedom after the death of her master whose child she gave birth to.  

Although the owner himself cannot get married to his slave woman, without giving her freedom, he can get her married to someone else. If he gets her married to someone else, then only her husband can now have intercourse with her and the owner's right of having intercourse with her comes to an end.

Islam ensured that the slave girl's duties were not restricted merely to domestic chores but also gave her master permission to copulate with her. This concession created an atmosphere of love and harmony between the slave girl and her master. Islam thereby raised the status of the war captive-maidens close to that of wives. 

Remember that morality is relative and whatever we consider morally incorrect now may have been correct in another age. At the time of Islam, slavery and concubinage were universally acceptable and the laws related to them were ruthless. Islam resonated most with the poor, oppressed, slaves and downtrodden people. Islam was a universal religion that appealed to everyone. Usually religions spread when people from the elite accept that religion, but Islam spread through the weak community.  The slaves at that time felt empowered because they were freed from slavery of people and became slaves of the Lord of people.

The one slave RasulAllah SAWW had was Zaid bin Harith, and he freed him and made him his adopted son. Zaid loved RasulAllah SAWW so much that he did not want to leave him and go back to his family. He had been abducted as a child and sold into slavery and his family had found him after a long time but he did not want to leave the RasulAllah SAWW. RasulAllah SAWW treated him better than any family could have.

RasulAllah SAWW abolished every form of slavery that could have been abolished in that context without causing a greater harm. Islam abolishes debt slavery. There are so many a hadith about how we should be kind to the debtor, and forgive them, and to aid them and be lenient to them, and to help them pay off their debt.

Sahl bin Hunaif (RAA) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

“He who assists a Mujahid for Allah’s sake, a debtor who is in distress (being unable to pay his debt) or a slave who had made an agreement to buy his freedom, Allah will shade him, with His Shade, on the Day when there will be no shade but His.” Related by Ahmad and Al- Hakim graded it as Sahih.(Bulugh ul Maram)

Salman Farsi RA was also abducted by a tribe and sold into slavery like Zaid RA. It was very common in that era to abduct child and sell them into slavery. RasulAllah SAWW said I will testify against a man on the day of judgement who captures another man and sells him into slavery.

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah, the Exalted, says: 'I will contend on the Day of Resurrection against three (types of) people: One who makes a covenant in My Name and then breaks it; one who sells a free man as a slave and devours his price; and one who hires a workman and having taken full work from him, does not pay him his wages."'

[Al- Bukhari].

The idea of selling your own children into slavery was also abolished. Labour slavery was also abolished. You are supposed to pay the laborer his wages before his sweat dries. If you give a slave a hard job, you have to assist him in that.

It was narrated from 'Abdullah bin 'Umar that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

“Give the worker his wages before his sweat dries.”(Sunan Ibn Majah)

There was also a concept of statutory slavery. If you committed a mistake or a crime, the punishment was often to become slave of that community. Islam also abolished that.

Forced marriage was also a form of slavery. Islam opposed the idea of forced marriage. 

It is very necessary in Islam to remove injustice in society. On top of that, Islam encourages compassion. e.g. In capital punishment, Islam does prescribe capital punishment but this is not on the state level. Islam completely removes capital punishment from the state's authority and gives the right to the family affected, and encourages forgiveness and financial settlement. But if the family demands capital punishment, then the state merely has the job of executing it. The family cannot be forced to forgive. 

Sahih International: Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah , the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakah; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous. (2:177)

Abu Dharr narrated that the Messenger of Allah said :

"Allah has made some of your brothers as slaves under your care. So whoever has his brother under his care, then let him feed him from his food, and let him clothe him from his clothes. And do not give him a duty that he cannot bear, and if you give him a duty he cannot bear, then assist him with it."(Tirmidhi)

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Whoever frees a Muslim slave, Allah will save all the parts of his body from the (Hell) Fire as he has freed the body-parts of the slave." (Sahih Bukhari)

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "If somebody manumits a Muslim slave, Allah will save from the Fire every part of his body for freeing the corresponding parts of the slave's body, even his private parts will be saved from the Fire) because of freeing the slave's private parts." (Sahih Bukhari)

Al-Bara' said, "A bedouin came and said, 'Prophet of Allah! Teach me an action which will enable me to enter the Garden.' He said, "The question is a broad one, even though you have asked it in only a few words. Free someone. Set a slave free.' He said, 'Are they not the same thing?' 'No,' he replied, 'Freeing someone is setting someone free yourself. Setting a slave free is to contribute to the price of setting him free. Lend an animal for milking which has a lot of milk and treat your relatives kindly. If you cannot do that, then command the good and forbid the bad. If you cannot do that, then restrain your tongue from everything except what is good." (Al adab al mufrad)

Abu Hurairah reported the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) as saying:

A son does not repay what he owes to his father unless he buys him and emancipates him if he finds him in slavery. (Sunan Abi Dawud)

Abu Bakr As-Siddiq narrated that the Messenger of Allah said :

"The one who treats his slaves badly will not enter paradise."(Tirmidhi)

Jabir ibn 'Abdullah said, "The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, advised that slaves should be well-treated. He said, 'Feed them from what you eat and clothe them from what you wear. Do not punish what Allah has created.'"(Al Adab Al Mufrad)

All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor does a black have any superiority over a white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. (The last sermon of RasulAllah SAWW)

He who slaps his slave or beats him, the expiation for it is that he should set him free.(Sahih Muslim)

Narrated AbuHurayrah:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: None of you must say: "My slave" (abdi) and "My slave-woman" (amati), and a slave must not say: "My lord" (rabbi or rabbati). The master (of a slave) should say: "My young man" (fataya) and "My young woman" (fatati), and a slave should say "My master" (sayyidi) and "My mistress" (sayyidati), for you are all (Allah's slave and the Lord is Allah, Most High. (Sunan Abi Dawud)

Hazrat Umar RA said: How can you enslave a man who was born free?

For slavery, Islam set the bare minimum that slaves were treated humanely with mercy and compassion and considered a member of the family. On top of that, Islam encouraged that the slaves be freed and set a lot of rewards for that.  Islam did not outright prohibit slavery but set so many rewards for freedom of slaves that it would eventually be abolished. 

Many mistakes in Islam have compensation in the form of slavery e.g. breaking a fast, breaking an oath. Islam encouraged giving zakat to freeing slaves. Islam seeks to reach a point where not a single person would need zakat and the institution of slavery would be established. It could not have been legislated abruptly as much of the world's economy was dependent on slavery at that time.

Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam himself freed 63 slaves, Hazrat Abu Bakr Radhiallahu Anhu freed 63, Hazrat Abdur-Rahman bin Auf Radhiallahu Anhu 30,000; Hazrat Hakim bin Huzam Radhiallahu Anhu 100; Hazrat Abbas Radhiallahu Anhu 70; Hazrat Ayesha Radhiallahu Anha 69; Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar Radhiallahu Anhu 100; Hazrat Uthman Radhiallahu Anhu used to free one slave every Friday and he would say that he would tree any slave who performed his prayers with humility. Hazrat Zul-Kilah Radhiallahu Anhu freed 8,000 slaves in a single day. 

Bilal RA was a slave and he was selected as the Muazzin after he accepted Islam. An ex slave was given such a great honour! RasulAllah SAWW also eradicated racism and discrimination on the basis of race. Islam reintegrated slaves into the society and gave them dignity. One of the freed slaves of Abdullah Ibn Umar was Nafay RA who went on to become the teacher of Imam Malik RA. So, the freed slaves assumed position of authority. There was a man Saalim who was the Imam of Masjid Quba and he was the freed slave of Huzaifa RA. When Umar RA was going to pass away, he said I would have made Saalim the Khalifa after me even without any Shu'ra. So there were plenty of opportunities for slaves in Islam. Other societies eradicated slavery gradually but they could never let slaves become their equal and they did not think of them as people born free. 

When Islam came and prospered, its power was challenged by the enemies of Islam and the need to go to war arose. By that time, slavery had virtually become an international custom. It was also rife among the Arabs from the days of darkness and ignorance. Thus, abolishing it instantateously would have caused chaos and pandemonium among the Arab people. Hence, a process of gradual extirpation had to be implemented. Moreover, if the Muslims would set all their enemy-prisoners free and tolerate their fellow Muslims being captured and enslaved by the enemies, it would have lead to a sharp decrease in the Muslim military force and given a great advantage to the enemy forces which was something that the Muslims could not afford. Furthermore, it is a well known fact that warfare tactics used by one side are often countered by the opposing side in order to maintain a balance of power. Hence, wartime diplomacy necessitated the enslaving of prisoners. 

The only slavery not abolished by Islam was the prisoners of war. In the day of Jahiliyyah, a captive had no rights and was at the mercy of captors. People would have to make a living through begging or prostitution.

One of the strategic points of the incredibly humane treatment towards prisoners of war was that the enemy would more easily submit in battle, as they would not fear brutality. They chose to stay alive and be taken as prisoners rather than die on the battlefield. 

RasulAllah SAWW only used to take prisoners of war when the enemy army would also take POW. This was an act of justice as some tribes had the conditions of taking POW after battles. There was a tribe Bani Mustaliq which lost badly in a battle and this tribe used to take POW as captives. RasulAllah SAWW took some of their people as captives. Their ruler fled away but the ruler's daughter Jawariya was also caught as a captive. RasulAllah SAWW gave her the choice, that he can give her the money and set her free, or she can marry her. She chose to marry RasulAllah SAWW and the wisdom behind this was that her entire tribe was freed as a result. Sahaba did not want to keep RasulAllah SAWW's family as POW so all of them were set free as a result of this marriage and they were over a 1000 people. This tribe went on to become an ally of Muslims.

In the battle of Hunain, 6000 captives were taken, and an old, dishevelled woman came to RasulAllah SAWW. She told RasulAllah SAWW that her name was Shayma bint Harith and she was the daughter of Haleema Sa'diyah(Foster sister). RasulAllah SAWW embraced her and sat her down under the shade. He asked her if she wanted to stay with RasulAllah SAWW or go back to her people. She chose to go back as she had family there. She was given a camel and wealth to go back to her tribe. All of the captives were freed seeing this action of RasulAllah SAWW and loaded with goods!

Banu Quraidha was a tribe that committed treason in the Battle of trench. This tribe attacked muslims from within the city and especially targeted women. RasulAllah SAWW laid siege on them for many days. Banu Quraidha knew that the penalty for treason is death. They were losing so they decided to kill their own women and children, or collectively commit suicide or pretend to have accepted Islam. They approached RasulAllah SAWW and he allowed them to choose their own arbitrator based on their own laws. The arbitrator judged them on the basis of their own law of Judaism, so the punishment was that men were killed and women and children were taken as captives.

Islam also had a system of Mukaatiba. A slave had to pay a certain reasonable ransom and he would be set free as a result. It was a bilateral agreement between the slave and the master. There are so many laws about this system. The master cannot change his mind after the agreement has been done, and he cannot choose to sell his slave to someone in exchange of money. There were many laws to protect this slave. Allah says then when you set the slaves free after receiving the ransom, give them some money out of generosity to help them.

There were many slaves set free by Muslims but they still wanted to be part of the family. Umar RA's slaves would cry if they were set free as they wanted to stay with him. Nafay RA did not want to leave Abdullah Ibn Umar's family.

The concept of "what your right hands possess" is limited to captives. In the days of ignorance, when women were captured they either escaped and earned through prostitution, or their captors would force them into prostitution. Multiple people could own and abuse women.

Sahih International: But let them who find not [the means for] marriage abstain [from sexual relations] until Allah enriches them from His bounty. And those who seek a contract [for eventual emancipation] from among whom your right hands possess - then make a contract with them if you know there is within them goodness and give them from the wealth of Allah which He has given you. And do not compel your slave girls to prostitution, if they desire chastity, to seek [thereby] the temporary interests of worldly life. And if someone should compel them, then indeed, Allah is [to them], after their compulsion, Forgiving and Merciful. (24:33)

Sahih International: And marry the unmarried among you and the righteous among your male slaves and female slaves. If they should be poor, Allah will enrich them from His bounty, and Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.(24:32)

Abu Dawud reported the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) as saying “Anyone who sets his slave girl free and then marries her, will have a double reward.” (Sunan Abi Dawud)

Narrated Abu Musa:

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "He who has a slave-girl and educates and treats her nicely and then manumits and marries her, will get a double reward."(Sahih Bukhari)

In Islam, the bare minimum is removal of injustice. Allah prohibited the compelling of slave girls into prostitution. The mustahab thing was to educate the captives and free them and marry them. This was the process of integrating them into the society. Another way was to get them married to themselves or to someone else. When the slaves were set free, they had the choice to get married to whoever they wanted.


Concubines had no rights before Islam. Concubine literally means "to lie with". They were mistresses and used for fulfilling the desires and for children.But their concept was different in Islam. Islam did not set any reward for intimacy with concubines. Islam set certain conditions for concubines: If the woman was taken as a captive along with the husband, then she could not be separated from her husband and their marriage was intact. The concubines could only be from the Muslims or Ehl e Kitaab. The concubines also had an iddah for protecting the lineage. Only one person could be intimate with her and that person was officially given the concubine. It wasn't a secret. The concubine cannot be in a state of Mukatiba(if she is in a contract, she cannot be used for this purpose). If the concubine has a child, the child is not born into slavery but is free and considered a legitimate son, and the woman is considered an UMME WALAD, and this women is automatically set free when the master passes away. A man could only keep a maximum of 4 wives(including concubines).

Each soldier was then entitled to have relations ONLY with the slave girl over which he was given the RIGHT OF OWNERSHIP and NOT with those slave girls that were not in his possession. This RIGHT OF OWNERSHIP was given to him by the "Ameerul-Mu'mineen" (Head of the Islamic state.) In other words, this LEGAL POSSESSION is, in effect, a SUBSTITUTE of the MARRIAGE CEREMONY.

If a man acquires a slave girl by force, and he forces himself on her, and he is from the people of Islam and is not Majnoon, the girl is set free, and the punishment of adultery is applied to him, and he must pay her something(as compensation). Imam Shafi RA

One question that still remains is whether slavery still legally prevails anywhere in the Islamic world and whether it can be successfully implemented in this age.

Well, there is no prevalence of lawful slavery in the Islamic world today and it would be difficult to implement it because of the stringent conditions attached to it. Firstly, the prisoners have to be captured in 'Jihaad' in the true sense of the word. Then again, If true 'Jihaad' did break out somewhere, there are still a number of other laws and conditions to abide by which are far too stringent for any Islamic country in the world to abide by in this time and age when people's personal gains and whims and desire are being given preference to over Islamic Law. According to Islamic Law, captive female prisoners are also part and parcel of the booty. One fifth of the booty has to be first distributed to the needy, orphans, etc. The remaining four-fifths should then be distributed among the soldiers who participated in the war. The distribution can only take effect after the booty is brought into Islamic territory. The Ameerul-Mu'mineen (Head of the Islamic State) remains the guardian of the female prisoners until he allocates them to the soldiers. Only after a soldier has been allotted a slave girl, and made the owner of her, will she become his lawful possession. After she spends a period called 'Istibraa', which is the elapse of one menstrual period, It becomes permissible for her owner to have relations with her. After possession of the slave too there are a number of other laws that affect the master and slave. 

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