Slavery should be abolished
The excerpt below is from an old article of mine:
"The ancient world was deeply entrenched into slavery, and the Arab society in Muhammad’s (S) time was no exception. The pagan aristocracy in Makkah, Jewish landowners and merchants in Madinah and many wealthy Christian Arabs were slave owners. [15] Most of the early believers in Muhammad’s (S) message of pure monotheism, on the other hand, were slaves, who were brutally tortured for their faith by their non-Muslim slavers. It became, thus, incumbent upon the Prophet (S) and his Companions (notably Abu Bakr and Uthman – may Allah be pleased with them) to free those slaves. Muhammad (S) bought freedom of 63 former slaves, A’isha (RA) 67, Abbas (RA) 70, Abdullah ibn Umar (RA) 1000 and Abdur Rahman ibn Awf 30,000. [16] It was no wonder that some of the best-known Muslims and soldiers in the defense of Islam were these former slaves and their children. [17]
The Qur’an unequivocally makes it clear that no man, irrespective of his status (including a prophet), can enslave any other human being: “It is not (possible) for any human being unto whom Allah had given him the Scripture and wisdom and ‘Nabuwah’ (Prophethood) that he should afterwards have said unto mankind: Be slaves of me instead of Allah …” [3:79]
Thus, Islam’s credit lies in being the only major religion to curtailing slavery and encouraging emancipation of slaves. (See the Qur’an for many such references, e.g., 4:92, 5:89, 58:3, 90:13, 24:33, 9:60, 2:177, 2:221, 4:25, 4:36.) Following the dictates of the Qur’an, personal and public wealth from zakat fund and the Baitul-Mal was used for manumitting slaves. [18] Here are some relevant Traditions (ahadith) encouraging emancipation of slaves, Muslims and non-Muslims alike:
“A person who frees a Muslim slave, Allah will deliver every one of his limbs from the fire of Hell in return for each of the limbs of the slave, even his private organs for the sake of the freed slave’s organs.” - Muhammad (S) [Bukhari and Muslim: Abu Hurayrah (RA)]
“The atonement for beating or slapping a slave (Muslim or non-Muslim) on the face, for no fault of his, is that he should be set free.” - Muhammad (S) [Muslim: Ibn Umar (RA)]
“Give food to the hungry, pay a visit to the sick and release (set free) the one in captivity (by paying his ransom).” - Muhammad (S) [Bukhari: Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari (RA)]
“Allah the Most High said, I will be the opponent of three persons on the Day of Resurrection. They are the one who makes a covenant in My name and then prove treacherous. Or the one who sells a free person (Muslim or non-Muslim) as a slave and appropriates his price for himself. And the one who hires a laborer and having taken full work from him, fails to pay him his wages.” - Muhammad (S) [Hadith Qudsi, Bukhari: Abu Hurayrah (RA)]
“There are three people whose prayers are not accepted. And one of these three is a man who enslaves a free person (Rajulun iitabada muharraran).” – Muhammad (S) [Abu Dawud]
“No son can repay his father unless he finds him as a slave and purchases him and sets him free.” – Muhammad (S) [Muslim: Abu Hurayrah (RA)]
As hinted earlier, many of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (S) were freed slaves who went on to become great leaders of the Islamic community. Bilal the Abyssinian became the first caller to Islam [note: the position of mu’addhin is next to the imam]. Ammar ibn Yathir was from Yemen, Salman al-Farsi was from Persia, Suhayb al-Rumi was from Byzantium. Many of the rulers in Muslim territories were freed slaves and their descendants.
On the other hand, throughout our known history, many of the notorious slave traders (including those involved in the Atlantic slave trade) were Christians and Jews. [19] To them, the fate of dark-skinned (African) race was sealed with Genesis 9:25: “And he [Noah] said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.” (See also Joshua 16:10.) The Church did not believe that Africans possessed human souls. [20] Not surprisingly, when the British Crown asked the Christian clergy for supporting documents to justify the slave trade, they readily found them within the Bible. [21]
Dr. George Best, a non-Muslim historian, says, “Christianity did not object to slavery. Politically or economically, it did not encourage the believers to oppose the traditions of their generations as regards slavery. Christianity did not even discuss the problem and said nothing against the rights of slave owners. It did not urge slaves to demand their freedom and did not basically ask to free the slaves.”
Nor should we forget that the movement to abolish slavery in Europe and America is rather a new phenomenon and dates back only to the 19th century, [22] nearly 1200 years after Islam forbade taking any free man as a slave (see Imam Bukhari’s chapter: Baab Ithm man ba’a hurr wa akala thamanahu). Even with the passage of the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 in the British Parliament, the practice of owning slaves continued for another century in the West. The Grand Larousse of the 19th century reads: “Man does not wonder at the presence of slavery and its being common among the Christians till now. The religious representatives approve it and believe that it is legal. In brief Christianity approves it completely till our time and it is very hard to prove that Christianity tried to abolish slavery.”
Unfortunately, modern-day slavery still exists today in one form or another, e.g., sex labors in many parts of the world, captives or prisoners of war held in many parts of the world, forced labor in Burma and China, and slave camps run by the SPLA and Lord’s Army."
=============
An excellent article on this subject is written by Mufti Taqi Usmani. https://www.deoband.org/2013/01/hadith/hadith-commentary/slavery-in-islam/
He said: "It was from the intense concern of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) for slaves that the last word he spoke before his death was encouragement towards fulfilment of their rights. Thus, Anas ibn Malik (Allah be pleased with him) narrates: “The general will of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) when death came to him and he was giving up his soul was: ‘[Be steadfast on] prayer, and [take care of] what your right hands possess.’” Ibn Majah transmitted it in Abwab al-Wasaya (1:198), and he transmitted from ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (Allah be pleased with him): “The last statement of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) was: ‘[Be steadfast on] prayer, and [take care of] what your right hands possess.’” Abu Dawud also transmitted it in al-Adab, Bab Haqq al-Mamluk (2:701), and his wording is: “[Be observant of] Salah, [be observant of] Salah! And fear Allah in what your right hands possess.”
This is why we see the Sahabah hastening towards freeing slaves, and seizing opportunities for it. Thus it was narrated that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) gave Abu al-Haytham ibn al-Tayhan (Allah be pleased with him) a slave and he said: “Accept the advice of kindness to him.” Abu al-Haytham proceeded to his wife and informed her of the statement of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace), so she said: “You will not reach what the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said about him unless you free him.” He said: “He is free.” Al-Tirmidhi transmitted it in Abwab al-Zuhd, Bab ma ja’a fi Ma‘ishat Ashab al-Nabi sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam.
And it is narrated from Abu Hurayrah (Allah be pleased with him) that when he came with the intention to accept Islam and he had with him a slave, they were each parted from the other. Afterwards, he came while Abu Hurayrah was sitting with the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), so the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “O Abu Hurayrah! This is your slave who has come to you.” He said: “Take notice, verily I make you witness that he is free!” Al-Bukhari transmitted it in Bab idha qala li ‘abdihi huwa liLlahi wa nawa l-‘itq (1:343). And the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) gave Abu Dharr a slave, and he said: “Accept the advice of kindness to him,” so he freed him. Al-Bukhari transmitted it in al-Adab al-Mufrad, Bab al-‘Afw ‘an al-Khadim (no. 163).
Whenever Ibn ‘Umar became overly attracted to some form of wealth, he would take it [i.e. emancipating slaves] as a means of attaining closeness to Allah (Exalted is He), and his slaves would know this of him. Once, one of them stayed constantly in the mosque, so when Ibn ‘Umar saw him in that beautiful condition, he freed him. His companions said to him: “They are deceiving you.” He said: “Whoever deceives us by means of Allah we will fall prey to him.” Al-Nawawi narrated it in Tahdhib al-Asma’ wa l-Lughat (1:280), and Ibn Sa‘d transmitted it in the biography of Ibn ‘Umar in his Tabaqat (4:167). And from what is known about ‘Uthman (Allah be pleased with him) is that he would free a slave from the slaves every Friday.
Thus, these are a few examples from those beautiful incidents which adorn Islamic history, which we cannot exhaust in this place. We only cited them so a picture of the Islamic society may be gleaned. We should relate here what ‘Allamah al-Nawwab Siddiq Hasan Khan narrated from al-Najm al-Wahhaj that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) freed 63 people, the number of years of his life, and he enumerated their names. He said:
And ‘A’ishah freed 69, and she lived for that number of years, and Abu Bakr freed many, and al-‘Abbas freed 70 slaves. Al-Hakim narrated it. ‘Uthman freed twenty when he was besieged, and Hakim ibn Hizam freed a hundred loading them with silver, and ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar freed a thousand, and he performed a thousand ‘umrahs, and he performed sixty Hajjs, and he kept 1000 horses for [fighting] in the path of Allah, and Dhu l-Kala‘ al-Himyari freed 8000 slaves in one day, and ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Awf freed 30,000 people. See: Fath al-‘Allam Sharh Bulugh al-Maram, Kitab al-‘Itq (2:332).
These are only eight men, who had freed 39322 slaves! You can deduce from this the extent of the generosity of the Muslims in freeing their slaves."
"The ancient world was deeply entrenched into slavery, and the Arab society in Muhammad’s (S) time was no exception. The pagan aristocracy in Makkah, Jewish landowners and merchants in Madinah and many wealthy Christian Arabs were slave owners. [15] Most of the early believers in Muhammad’s (S) message of pure monotheism, on the other hand, were slaves, who were brutally tortured for their faith by their non-Muslim slavers. It became, thus, incumbent upon the Prophet (S) and his Companions (notably Abu Bakr and Uthman – may Allah be pleased with them) to free those slaves. Muhammad (S) bought freedom of 63 former slaves, A’isha (RA) 67, Abbas (RA) 70, Abdullah ibn Umar (RA) 1000 and Abdur Rahman ibn Awf 30,000. [16] It was no wonder that some of the best-known Muslims and soldiers in the defense of Islam were these former slaves and their children. [17]
The Qur’an unequivocally makes it clear that no man, irrespective of his status (including a prophet), can enslave any other human being: “It is not (possible) for any human being unto whom Allah had given him the Scripture and wisdom and ‘Nabuwah’ (Prophethood) that he should afterwards have said unto mankind: Be slaves of me instead of Allah …” [3:79]
Thus, Islam’s credit lies in being the only major religion to curtailing slavery and encouraging emancipation of slaves. (See the Qur’an for many such references, e.g., 4:92, 5:89, 58:3, 90:13, 24:33, 9:60, 2:177, 2:221, 4:25, 4:36.) Following the dictates of the Qur’an, personal and public wealth from zakat fund and the Baitul-Mal was used for manumitting slaves. [18] Here are some relevant Traditions (ahadith) encouraging emancipation of slaves, Muslims and non-Muslims alike:
“A person who frees a Muslim slave, Allah will deliver every one of his limbs from the fire of Hell in return for each of the limbs of the slave, even his private organs for the sake of the freed slave’s organs.” - Muhammad (S) [Bukhari and Muslim: Abu Hurayrah (RA)]
“The atonement for beating or slapping a slave (Muslim or non-Muslim) on the face, for no fault of his, is that he should be set free.” - Muhammad (S) [Muslim: Ibn Umar (RA)]
“Give food to the hungry, pay a visit to the sick and release (set free) the one in captivity (by paying his ransom).” - Muhammad (S) [Bukhari: Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari (RA)]
“Allah the Most High said, I will be the opponent of three persons on the Day of Resurrection. They are the one who makes a covenant in My name and then prove treacherous. Or the one who sells a free person (Muslim or non-Muslim) as a slave and appropriates his price for himself. And the one who hires a laborer and having taken full work from him, fails to pay him his wages.” - Muhammad (S) [Hadith Qudsi, Bukhari: Abu Hurayrah (RA)]
“There are three people whose prayers are not accepted. And one of these three is a man who enslaves a free person (Rajulun iitabada muharraran).” – Muhammad (S) [Abu Dawud]
“No son can repay his father unless he finds him as a slave and purchases him and sets him free.” – Muhammad (S) [Muslim: Abu Hurayrah (RA)]
As hinted earlier, many of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (S) were freed slaves who went on to become great leaders of the Islamic community. Bilal the Abyssinian became the first caller to Islam [note: the position of mu’addhin is next to the imam]. Ammar ibn Yathir was from Yemen, Salman al-Farsi was from Persia, Suhayb al-Rumi was from Byzantium. Many of the rulers in Muslim territories were freed slaves and their descendants.
On the other hand, throughout our known history, many of the notorious slave traders (including those involved in the Atlantic slave trade) were Christians and Jews. [19] To them, the fate of dark-skinned (African) race was sealed with Genesis 9:25: “And he [Noah] said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.” (See also Joshua 16:10.) The Church did not believe that Africans possessed human souls. [20] Not surprisingly, when the British Crown asked the Christian clergy for supporting documents to justify the slave trade, they readily found them within the Bible. [21]
Dr. George Best, a non-Muslim historian, says, “Christianity did not object to slavery. Politically or economically, it did not encourage the believers to oppose the traditions of their generations as regards slavery. Christianity did not even discuss the problem and said nothing against the rights of slave owners. It did not urge slaves to demand their freedom and did not basically ask to free the slaves.”
Nor should we forget that the movement to abolish slavery in Europe and America is rather a new phenomenon and dates back only to the 19th century, [22] nearly 1200 years after Islam forbade taking any free man as a slave (see Imam Bukhari’s chapter: Baab Ithm man ba’a hurr wa akala thamanahu). Even with the passage of the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 in the British Parliament, the practice of owning slaves continued for another century in the West. The Grand Larousse of the 19th century reads: “Man does not wonder at the presence of slavery and its being common among the Christians till now. The religious representatives approve it and believe that it is legal. In brief Christianity approves it completely till our time and it is very hard to prove that Christianity tried to abolish slavery.”
Unfortunately, modern-day slavery still exists today in one form or another, e.g., sex labors in many parts of the world, captives or prisoners of war held in many parts of the world, forced labor in Burma and China, and slave camps run by the SPLA and Lord’s Army."
=============
An excellent article on this subject is written by Mufti Taqi Usmani. https://www.deoband.org/2013/01/hadith/hadith-commentary/slavery-in-islam/
He said: "It was from the intense concern of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) for slaves that the last word he spoke before his death was encouragement towards fulfilment of their rights. Thus, Anas ibn Malik (Allah be pleased with him) narrates: “The general will of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) when death came to him and he was giving up his soul was: ‘[Be steadfast on] prayer, and [take care of] what your right hands possess.’” Ibn Majah transmitted it in Abwab al-Wasaya (1:198), and he transmitted from ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (Allah be pleased with him): “The last statement of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) was: ‘[Be steadfast on] prayer, and [take care of] what your right hands possess.’” Abu Dawud also transmitted it in al-Adab, Bab Haqq al-Mamluk (2:701), and his wording is: “[Be observant of] Salah, [be observant of] Salah! And fear Allah in what your right hands possess.”
This is why we see the Sahabah hastening towards freeing slaves, and seizing opportunities for it. Thus it was narrated that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) gave Abu al-Haytham ibn al-Tayhan (Allah be pleased with him) a slave and he said: “Accept the advice of kindness to him.” Abu al-Haytham proceeded to his wife and informed her of the statement of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace), so she said: “You will not reach what the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said about him unless you free him.” He said: “He is free.” Al-Tirmidhi transmitted it in Abwab al-Zuhd, Bab ma ja’a fi Ma‘ishat Ashab al-Nabi sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam.
And it is narrated from Abu Hurayrah (Allah be pleased with him) that when he came with the intention to accept Islam and he had with him a slave, they were each parted from the other. Afterwards, he came while Abu Hurayrah was sitting with the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), so the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “O Abu Hurayrah! This is your slave who has come to you.” He said: “Take notice, verily I make you witness that he is free!” Al-Bukhari transmitted it in Bab idha qala li ‘abdihi huwa liLlahi wa nawa l-‘itq (1:343). And the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) gave Abu Dharr a slave, and he said: “Accept the advice of kindness to him,” so he freed him. Al-Bukhari transmitted it in al-Adab al-Mufrad, Bab al-‘Afw ‘an al-Khadim (no. 163).
Whenever Ibn ‘Umar became overly attracted to some form of wealth, he would take it [i.e. emancipating slaves] as a means of attaining closeness to Allah (Exalted is He), and his slaves would know this of him. Once, one of them stayed constantly in the mosque, so when Ibn ‘Umar saw him in that beautiful condition, he freed him. His companions said to him: “They are deceiving you.” He said: “Whoever deceives us by means of Allah we will fall prey to him.” Al-Nawawi narrated it in Tahdhib al-Asma’ wa l-Lughat (1:280), and Ibn Sa‘d transmitted it in the biography of Ibn ‘Umar in his Tabaqat (4:167). And from what is known about ‘Uthman (Allah be pleased with him) is that he would free a slave from the slaves every Friday.
Thus, these are a few examples from those beautiful incidents which adorn Islamic history, which we cannot exhaust in this place. We only cited them so a picture of the Islamic society may be gleaned. We should relate here what ‘Allamah al-Nawwab Siddiq Hasan Khan narrated from al-Najm al-Wahhaj that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) freed 63 people, the number of years of his life, and he enumerated their names. He said:
And ‘A’ishah freed 69, and she lived for that number of years, and Abu Bakr freed many, and al-‘Abbas freed 70 slaves. Al-Hakim narrated it. ‘Uthman freed twenty when he was besieged, and Hakim ibn Hizam freed a hundred loading them with silver, and ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar freed a thousand, and he performed a thousand ‘umrahs, and he performed sixty Hajjs, and he kept 1000 horses for [fighting] in the path of Allah, and Dhu l-Kala‘ al-Himyari freed 8000 slaves in one day, and ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Awf freed 30,000 people. See: Fath al-‘Allam Sharh Bulugh al-Maram, Kitab al-‘Itq (2:332).
These are only eight men, who had freed 39322 slaves! You can deduce from this the extent of the generosity of the Muslims in freeing their slaves."
==============
What's the stand of Judaism and Christianity on the subject of slavery? Probably a reading of the Bible can help us to understand how it promotes slavery:
“You may possess slaves, but make sure they are foreigners. You may also make slaves of the natives who dwell among you and from their children who are born and reared in your land. You may own them as chattels and leave them to your sons as their hereditary property, making them slaves forever. But you should not lord it over your own countryman, your own kinsmen.” [Lev. 25:44-46] (See also: Deut. 21:10) Even in the NT, not a single statement can be found in Jesus’s mouth that comes close to uprooting slavery. (See also: 1 Timothy 6:1, 1 Peter 2:18, Col. 3:22 for endorsement of slavery.)
What's the stand of Judaism and Christianity on the subject of slavery? Probably a reading of the Bible can help us to understand how it promotes slavery:
“You may possess slaves, but make sure they are foreigners. You may also make slaves of the natives who dwell among you and from their children who are born and reared in your land. You may own them as chattels and leave them to your sons as their hereditary property, making them slaves forever. But you should not lord it over your own countryman, your own kinsmen.” [Lev. 25:44-46] (See also: Deut. 21:10) Even in the NT, not a single statement can be found in Jesus’s mouth that comes close to uprooting slavery. (See also: 1 Timothy 6:1, 1 Peter 2:18, Col. 3:22 for endorsement of slavery.)
=============
Slavery, as I see it, is forbidden in Islam. All human beings should do everything possible to abolish this practice.
Slavery, as I see it, is forbidden in Islam. All human beings should do everything possible to abolish this practice.
===========
References:
14 Edward Peters, Heresy and Authority in Medieval Europe; R. Dean Peterson, A Concise History of Christianity; James A. Haught, Holy Horrors; J.N. Hillgarth, Christianity and Paganism; Malcolm Lambert, Medieval Heresy.
15 A study of the lives of many former slaves who became the Companions of the Prophet (S) is sufficient to prove this. For instance, Salman al-Farisi’s (RA) slave master was a wealthy Jew from Banu Qurayza. (See also Maulana Rumi’s masterpiece - Mathnabi.)
16 Human Rights in Islam by Abul ‘Ala Mawdudi.
17 Read this author’s – The Book of Devotional Stories – (in print) for stories of some of these early Muslims.
18 See Fethullah Gulen’s article: How is it that Islam, a religion inspired by God for the good of humanity, allows slavery? - Islam Herald.
19 According to some historians, eighteen million Africans are estimated to have died during the Atlantic slave trade. In American Holocaust (1992), David Stannard estimates that some 30 to 60 million Africans died being enslaved. Howard Zinn puts the number at 40 million.
20 See, this author’s “An anatomy of racism” and “White Man’s Burden: the never-ending saga.”
21 St. Augustine (c. 354-430) taught that slavery was God’s will and that Christianity did not make slaves free but made good slaves out of bad ones. (The City of God 19.5)
22 The only real exception is Portugal (1761), however, the practice continued for decades in its colonies.
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