Slavery
is a concept that existed since pre-recorded history. However the way
it was practiced in the Islamic world differs greatly than how it was
practiced in the rest of the world. Even in the more recent times,
centuries after the introduction of Islam, the non-Muslims have
practiced slavery in the most barbaric manner. The whole Trans-Atlantic
nonsense that was practiced by the Americans is one of the worst forms
of slavery man has witnessed. The slaves were not treated as humans and
did not have any rights. This way was much similar to the form practiced
before the advent of Islam in the Times of Ignorance (Ja’hilah). Islam
indeed came as a blessing to all Mankind and it was seen that slaves
were given rights, something which the rest of the world never gave
them.
Treatment of Slaves
Apart
from giving the slaves their rights, Islam also took it a step ahead
and discouraged slavery from being practiced. It is seen in history that
slaves were mistreated in the non-Islamic world. Not only were they
verbally abused, they were physically abused as well. The master would
overburden the slave and make them work all day. Slaves would wear torn
and tattered clothes while the masters would dress with the finest
threads available.
When
it would come to food, the slaves would get leftovers or if not, very
little food which would certainly not include good quality food. Some
would not even get meat or fruits which their masters ate. Prophet
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) with Divine
Inspiration from Allah(SWT) forbade such acts. Masters could not abuse
their slaves and had to give them the same that they ate and wore.
Narated
by Al-Ma’rur: At Ar-Rabadha I met Abu Dhar who was wearing a cloak, and
his slave, too, was wearing a similar one. I asked about the reason for
it.
He replied, “I abused a person by calling his mother with bad names.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to me,
‘O
Abu Dhar! Did you abuse him by calling his mother with bad names you
still have some characteristics of ignorance. Your slaves are your
brothers and Allah has put them under your command. So whoever has a
brother under his command should feed him of what he eats and dress him
of what he wears. Do not ask them (slaves) to do things beyond their
capacity (power) and if you do so, then help them.’” – [Bukhari,
The
introduction of Islam and with the application of Islam by Muslims,
slavery had a new meaning altogether. It no longer meant that you have a
beast under your control and hence you could abuse it, make it work
like a donkey all day and at the end of the day give it crumbs to eat so
that it stays alive. Islam made it clear to every follower that a human
being who is a slave is yet the brother of a Muslim and the slave had
their rights which is compulsory for a Muslim to fulfill. It taught that
slaves and masters are equal in the sights of Allah(SWT) and if a
Muslim was given a brother under his command then he had to make sure
that the brother was given the rights which Islam prescribed.
In another narration the importance of giving slaves education and teaching them good manners is stressed by Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):
Narrated Abu Burda’s father: Allah’s Apostle (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said “Three persons will have a double reward:
1.
A Person from the people of the scriptures who believed in his prophet
(Jesus or Moses) and then believed in the Prophet Muhammad (i .e. has
embraced Islam).
2. A slave who discharges his duties to Allah and his master.
3.
A master of a woman-slave who teaches her good manners and educates her
in the best possible way (the religion) and manumits her and then
marries her.”
Here
it is seen that not only education has been given importance but
slavery is also discouraged. It is well known that a person belonging to
the People of the Book would receive a double reward for accepting
Islam. Similarly the same double reward is offered to a person who would
free his woman-slave and marry her after giving her education and
teaching her good manners. This way slavery is discouraged in the
Islamic world. The Muslims were also forbidden from forcing their
slave-girls into prostitution so that they would earn money out of it.
There was an incident when the slave-girl of an Ansari was forced after
which a verse relating to the act was revealed by Allah (SWT).
Narated
by Jabir ibn Abdullah: Musaykah, a slave-girl of some Ansari, came and
said: My master forces me to commit fornication. Thereupon the following
verse was revealed: “But force not your maids to prostitution (when they desire chastity).”
The Lessons of Equality
There
can be found numerous evidences in the Islamic traditions which teach
us that slaves are to be treated like any other human being. Prophet
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has taught us that
slaves are equal to everyone else. People belonging to the days of
ignorance would not stand next to a slave while Muslims stand next to
them in prayers showing a sign of unity and uniformity in their status
in front of Allah (SWT).
Hazrat
Bilal was one of the first slaves to accept Islam. He was tortured by
the pagans so that he would renounce Islam and come back to the pagan
ways. However he did not reject Islam and adhered to the teachings of
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). He was also the first person to stand on top of the Ka’aba and give the Adhan (the Muslim call for prayer).
It
is also important to note that further evidence for the equality and
recognition of slaves as normal human beings is seen in the numerous
ahadith narrated by the slaves and freed slaves that are considered as
true and followed by millions of Muslims in the world today. This means
that their testimony is also recognized and accepted. We can also see
from the traditions that slaves would not only stand shoulder to
shoulder with others Muslims during prayer but would also lead the
prayers.
Narrated Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): When
the earliest emigrants came to Al-’Usba a place in Quba’, before the
arrival of the Prophet- Salim, the slave of Abu Hudhaifa, who knew the
Qur’an more than the others used to lead them in prayer. – [Bukhari, Vol.1, Book 11, #661]
In
the Quran one can see clearly that the woman-slaves and man-slaves who
have accepted Islam are better than the free women and men from the
disbelievers. Muslims are advised to get the son or daughter married to a
woman-slave or man-slave rather than a free woman or man from among the
idolaters.
Do
not marry unbelieving women (idolaters), until they believe: A slave
woman who believes is better than an unbelieving woman, even though she
allures you. Nor marry (your girls) to unbelievers until they believe: A
man slave who believes is better than an unbeliever, even though he
allures you. Unbelievers do (but) beckon you to the Fire. But Allah
beckons by His Grace to the Garden (of bliss) and forgiveness, and makes His Signs clear to mankind: That they may celebrate His praise.– [Quran 2:221]
Islam
goes a step ahead in giving respect to the slaves and it is narrated
that Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) asked
people not to refer to a slave saying “this is my slave” but rather to say “this is my man” or “this is my woman”.
Islam Stresses on Freeing Slaves
Importance
was stressed upon manumitting slaves a lot by Allah (SWT) through his
last and final prophet(saw). Even if a disbeliever practiced
slave-manumitting before accepting Islam, it is told that he would yet
be rewarded for this good deed after accepting Islam. In Islam there is a
concept that all good done for the sake of Allah (SWT) will be rewarded
and all those done for other causes e.g. fame, fortune etc will not be
rewarded in the Hereafter. Manumitting slaves is among those good deeds
which are rewarded even if done before accepting Islam.
Narrated Hakim bin Hizam: I said to Allah’s Apostle (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), “Before
embracing Islam I used to do good deeds like giving in charity,
slave-manumitting, and the keeping of good relations with Kith and kin.
Shall I be rewarded for those deeds?” The Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him)replied, “You became Muslim with all those good
deeds (Without losing their reward).”
Allah
(SWT) through His prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
stressed the good in freeing a slave. A person once came to Prophet
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saying that he had
sexual intercourse with his wife while he was fasting and thus wished to
seek guidance in that matter. The first form of compensation which
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) informed him
of was the freeing of a slave.
Narrated
by Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him): While we were sitting
with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) a man came
and said, “O Allah’s Apostle (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)!
I have been ruined.” Allah’s Apostle (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him)asked what was the matter with him. He replied “I had sexual
intercourse with my wife while I was fasting.” Allah’s Apostle (peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him)asked him, “Can you afford to manumit
a slave?”
He
replied in the negative. Allah’s Apostle (peace and blessings of Allah
be upon him) asked him, “Can you fast for two successive months?” He
replied in the negative. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him)asked him, “Can you afford to feed sixty poor persons?” He
replied in the negative. The Prophet kept silent and while we were in
that state, a big basket full of dates was brought to the Prophet. He
asked, “Where is the questioner?”
He
replied, “I (am here).” The Prophet said (peace and blessings of Allah
be upon him) (to him), “Take this (basket of dates) and give it in
charity.” The man said, “Should I give it to a person poorer than I? By
Allah; there is no family between its (i.e. Medina‘s) two mountains who
are poorer than I.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him)smiled till his pre-molar teeth became visible and then said, ‘Feed
your family with it.”
There
were times when a slave was jointly owned by two people. In such cases
there were times when one owner, for the sake of Allah (SWT) would want
to manumit his share in the joint ownership. Under such circumstances it
was told that the person manumitting his share of the ownership should
also pay for the remaining share to ensure that the slave is freed
completely. However if he could not do so, the remaining price would
then be estimated and the slave had the right to work and pay the amount
required for his freedom to the other owner.
Narrated Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him): The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Whoever
manumits his share of a jointly possessed slave, it is imperative for
him to get that slave manumitted completely by paying the remaining
price, and if he does not have sufficient money to manumit him, then the
price of the slave should be estimated justly, and he is to be allowed
to work and earn the amount that will manumit him (without overburdening
him)”. – [Bukhari, Vol.3, Book 44, #672]
Further
in the Quran it is seen that people are encouraged to marry the slaves.
If a person cannot marry a free woman for whatever reason, to prevent
him from committing sin, the Quran asks them to marry from among the
slave women.
If
any of you have not the means wherewith to wed free believing women,
they may wed believing girls from among those whom your right hands
possess: And Allah hath full knowledge about your faith. Ye are one from
another: Wed them with the leave of their owners, and give them their
dowers, according to what is reasonable. –[Quran 4:25]
They
can take the permission of the master and marry the slave. This was yet
another example of Allah (SWT) ensuring that slaves would be freed as
marriage with the slave of another would make the slave a free person.
Why Gradual Elimination?
There
is no doubt that Islam encouraged the freeing of slaves. However one
would ask that as slavery is a social disease, why Islam did not make it
forbidden. Firstly slavery as seen in Islam is poles apart than the one
practiced by those who do not follow the guidelines presented by Islam.
Secondly slavery could not have been forbidden in those days. Islam did
not allow the selling of free people as slaves. Majority of the slaves
were the people captured in the wars fought by the Muslims against the
non-Muslims.
Due
to the lack of prison systems in those days, it was important to keep
the captured people as slaves. If these people would be allowed to live
freely within the Muslims, they would have regrouped and not only
attacked the Muslims but probably would have also tried to assassinate
the Sahabah or even Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him). By giving these people as slaves, they were distributed and
thus could not regroup and attack the Muslims.
Islam
never started slavery and it is well known that slavery was practiced
much before the introduction of Islam. Islam actually laid down all the
rules so that eventually slavery would be eliminated completely. There
are many great rewards for freeing a slave. Allah (SWT) has given man
all the incentive to free slaves which would in return eventually
eradicate slavery completely. Another narration goes as follows:
Narrated Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him): The Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 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.” Said
bin Marjana said that he narrated that Hadith to ‘Ali bin Al-Husain and
he freed his slave for whom ‘Abdullah bin Ja’far had offered him ten
thousand Dirhams or one-thousand Dinars.
Islam’s Stand on Slavery
Islam
teaches its followers to respect all Mankind regardless of their color,
race or their bank balance. Slaves were given rights which were not
heard of in other societies. Islam gave them protection and asked people
to treat them as brothers and give them to eat of what they ate and to
wear what they wore. The Bible too speaks about slaves and lays down
laws regarding the treatment of slaves.
“If
a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a
direct result, he must be punished, but he is not to be punished if the
slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property.”– [Exodus 21:20-21]
As
it can be seen, the Bible allows a person to beat their slave and the
master will not be punished unless the slave dies. The slave is treated
as a personal property of the master. Islam came to correct such manmade
rules regarding not only slavery but a lot of concepts. Islam has been
the original advocate for humanity and has always taught men the
importance of humanity.
With
the introduction of Islam slaves were treated as human beings rather
than personal property. Moreover Islam made sure that gradually people
will not perform this act and encouraged the freeing of slaves.
Manumitting a slave was encouraged for the smallest of reasons. If there
was a solar eclipse, people were recommended to free a slave – If there
was a lunar eclipse, people were recommended to free a slave. It can be
seen that Muslims were encouraged to free slaves for any and every
reason. Islam gave security to the slaves and laid down directions so
that slavery would eventually be eliminated completely.
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