Is Slavery Legal under Islamic Social Norms Today?

Is Slavery Legal Under Islamic Social Norms Today?

      It is understood that not everyone who says they are Muslim has the read Qur'an. It is also accepted that not every Muslim has read Sharia. But for those who claim this religion as their own, they must understand that certain beliefs come with the claim, irregardless with if they knew of the belief, accept the belief personally or not. This is the same for all faith structures.  When people come from countries where shariah is stated as the ruling authority in their country to your country, they bring those political beliefs.

Under Western Civilization slavery, which had existed for centuries no matter the race, was outlawed in the mid 19^th century. It is now the 21^st century. Throughout the world, slavery is considered to be one of the most heinous crimes. Prostitution is often seen as a form of slavery, when someone controls how much the woman/man sells their body for and determines how much they will give them if anything at all. But is actual slavery of a person is akin to the 19^th century slaves on American plantations is permissible under Islam today? Read on for the answer?

The Quran has several references in it to slaves and the treatment of them. Most of these references are to those serving as sex slaves.

Sura 23:1-6: “Certainly will the believers have succeeded: Certainly will the believers have succeeded: They who are during their prayer humbly submissive And they who turn away from ill speech And they who are observant of zakah And they who guard their private parts Except from their wives or those their right hands possess, for indeed, they will not be blamed.”

Sura 33:52: “Not lawful to you, [O Muhammad], are [any additional] women after [this], nor [is it] for you to exchange them for [other] wives, even if their beauty were to please you, except what your right hand possesses. And ever is Allah , over all things, an Observer.

Sura 70:29-31: And those who guard their private parts Except from their wives or those their right hands possess, for indeed, they are not to be blamed  But whoever seeks beyond that, then they are the transgressors –

The phrase right hand possesses, refers directly to the female slaves owned by Muslims. Muhammad was a slave owner. He had numerous slaves both white and black. There are recorded in the Hadiths.

 

Narrated `Umar: I came and behold, Allah's Apostle was staying on a Mashroba (attic room) and a black slave of Allah's Apostle was at the top if its stairs. I said to him, "(Tell the Prophet) that here is `Umar bin Al- Khattab (asking for permission to enter)." Then he admitted me. (Bukhari 7263).

 

Allah's Messenger  was on a journey and he had a black slave called Anjasha, and he was driving the camels (very fast, and there were women riding on those camels). Allah's Messenger said, "Waihaka (May Allah be merciful to you), O Anjasha! Drive slowly (the camels) with the glass vessels (women)!" (Bukhari 6161)

         

It was narrated that Abu Hurairah said: "We were with the Messenger of Allah in the year of Khaibar, and we did not get any spoils of war except for wealth, goods and clothes. Then a man from Banu Ad-Dubaib, who was called Rifa'ah bin Zaid, gave the Messenger of Allah a black slave who was called Mid'am. The Messenger of Allah set out for Wadi Al-Qura. When we were in Wadi Al-Qura, while Mid'am was unloading the luggage of the Messenger of Allah, an arrow came and killed him. The people said: 'Congratulations! You will go to Paradise,' but the Messenger of Allah said: 'No, by the One in Whose hand is my soul! The cloak that he took from the spoils of war on the Day of Khaibar is burning him with fire.' When the people heard that, a man brought one or two shoelaces to the Messenger of Allah and the Messenger of Allah said: 'One or two shoelaces of fire.'" (Sunan an-Nasa'i 3827)

         

In Pakistan on May 31, 2010, talk show host Mubasher Lucman, interviewed Islamic clerics Maulana Naeemi, Mohammed Siddiqui, and Allama Zaheer on Pakistani television channel Express News on various topics. Amongst them the topic of slavery came up.

Screen shot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJK470Mavj4 

 

Mubasher Lucman: "I have a question. I will move to the details later. Does Islam allow slave trading?"

Allama Zaheer: "Islam allows to trade slaves where there are established markets for this purpose. Taking new [i.e. free] men as slaves is neither allowed in Islam nor does Islam encourage it."

Mubasher Lucman: "The offspring from a slave is a slave, isn't it?"

Allama Zaheer: "No. There are a number of conditions under which an offspring of a slave is free. If the owner wants to set him free, he is... If somebody marries a concubine and she gets pregnant, the offspring is not a slave. After marrying a concubine either the master can set her free or can marry her to another man, but cannot sell her again...It's not that slave of a child is always slave..."

Mubasher Lucman: "What are the conditions in your eyes?"

Maulana Naeemi: "...First it is important to note that slaves were sold and markets were established even before Islam... How were they enslaved? They were captured in conditions of wars; were abducted from roadsides; children were kidnapped by force and sold; slaves were leading a miserable life before Islam.

"The conception of slavery in Islam is not to continue its practice, but the concept of slavery was allowed because it existed at that time; ending it suddenly could have resulted in a host of problems. Therefore, the concept of slavery was adopted but a number of steps were stipulated so that it is not thought that slavery is permitted in Islam, that slavery will continue; rather, along with those steps, slavery began moving toward its end from society.

"Insofar as the question is how the people were enslaved... and how those slaves were treated is concerned; during the times of the prophet (peace be upon him) a battle was fought from where war booty was brought; among them was a beautiful lady. She was given to a companion of the prophet (peace be upon him). The prophet took her back from him, sent her to Mecca and a few Muslim prisoners there were gotten free in exchange for her. There are a number of similar examples where slaves brought from wars were used for prisoner exchange, or were set free against some payment, or most importantly were set free as a goodwill gesture."[1]

 

This interview included a question about how they would get slaves since many believed if they had signed an alliance with the United Nations that they would be forbidden from taking slaves from any country that had also become part of the UN. This left many questions indeed. There was also an exception to this rule. That will shock you!

Screen Shot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mIkSujeXws

           

Mubasher Lucman: "Suppose today, if we go to war against Kufr [infidel world] on the Kashmir issue, win it, and bring slave men and women..."

Mohammed Siddiqui: "You should consult religious scholars; they are of the opinion that the countries which have signed the Charter of the United Nations Organization are not permitted to take the citizens of other member countries as slaves."

Mubasher Lucman: "I am talking about the perspective of Islam, not of the UN as the UN is not following Islam."

Mohammad Siddiqui: "Why are you arguing about it?"

Mubasher Lucman: "I am not arguing about it. I am trying to understand it."

[Interruptions...]

Mubasher Lucman: "How are UN and Islam linked?"

Mohammed Siddiqui: "The link between the UN and Islam is that we have been ordered by the Koran to keep our accords. If an accord is not against Islam, we are bound by it."

Allama Zaheer: "Maulana Mohammed Siddiqui has rightly said that we cannot take the citizens of the countries as slaves who have diplomatic relations with us."

Mubasher Lucman: "What if we go to a war against Israel, can we take slaves and concubines as we don't have diplomatic relations with them...?"

Allama Zaheer: "Yes, we can. It is permitted to have concubines [from Israel]."

Mubasher Lucman: "What do you say Maulana Aslam Siddiqui? Did you listen to Maulana Ibtisam Zaheer?"

Mohammed Siddiqui: "No, I could not."

(Mubasher Lucman repeats the statement by Ibtisam Elahi)

Mohammed Siddiqui: "We do not have any accord with the countries with which we have no diplomatic relations..."

[Interruptions...]

Mubasher Lucman: "So, we can take [slaves] from Israel, if we achieve victory over Israel and get manpower?"

Mohammed Siddiqui: "Imagine! I am surprised how far-fetched you think..."

[Interruptions and laughter...]

Maulana Naeemi: "Islamic laws are very old and true. The law from the times of the caliphs is that you have to keep your promises. If you have an accord of prisoner exchange with a country, you have to give the war captives back to them."

Allama Zaheer [interrupts]: "You gave the example of Israel very positively. They are Jews. We could have married with their women in case of a victory, but we don't need that as we don't have diplomatic relations; so if we win and get slave women, and if the emir of the army distributes concubines, we can keep them as concubines if we get some of our share of war booty. And we should be thankful to Allah for that. But we cannot steal a woman from war booty..."

(Break)

Mubasher Lucman: "I have an important question that demands a detailed answer... any of you can answer it... It appears that there is a grey area where we are no defining zina [rape/adultery] as zina, as it is."

Maulana Naeemi: "No, it's not so..."

Mubasher Lucman: "You said, it can be without nikah"

[Interruptions...]

Maulana Naeemi: "We have to follow Koran. We cannot question the Koran. If the Koran says it is black, we have to say it is black; we cannot think if it is black or not. If the Koran says it is white it is white. The Koran says when you have women in war booty, you are allowed to have sexual relations with them. This is what the Koran says, not you and I."

Allama Zaheer: "There is no grey area. What the Koran allows is allowed, what the Koran forbids us from is forbidden..."[2]

 

In 2011, Salaw al-Mteiri, a Kuwaiti political activist woman discovered an issue she wanted to push. She made not one video to express her opinion on the issue, but two!  The Middle East Media Research Institute translated these speeches and shared them. In 2011, the world that saw the video translated was horrified. Those who understand Islam were not surprised about anything except that a Muslim woman was on video and talking politics. In her first video which aired on May 25^th, 2011, she said:

           

I asked [a Saudi mufti]: What is the law with regard to slave girls? The mufti told me that the law requires there to be a Muslim country raiding a Christian country – sorry, a non-Muslim country – and taking POWs. I asked him whether it was forbidden [to turn them into slaves], and he said that Islam does not prohibit keeping slave girls – on the contrary.

The law pertaining to slave girls is not the same as for free women. Free women must cover their bodies, except for their hands and faces. The slave girl must cover up from the belly button down.

There is a big difference between slave girls and free women. With a free woman, the man must make a marriage contract, but with a slave girl – all he has to do is buy her. It's as if he married her. So there is a difference between slave girls and free women.

Here in Kuwait too, I asked religious scholars and experts about this, and they said that for the average, good religious man, the only way to avoid forbidden relations with women is to purchase slave girls.[3]

Later in July she was interviewed on July 1 on Al-Hayat TV. Her political activities seemed to fascinate the interviewer. His first question addressed her opinion and research on slavery.

 

Salwa Al-Mteiri: "I thought that if the age of slave-girls was restored in a proper legal fashion, it could be a solution [to many problems], Allah willing."

Interviewer: "Will women and wives in Kuwait welcome the idea of slave-girls, and have their husband go to some office and buy a slave-girl or two? How will they accept it?"

Salwa Al-Mteiri: "The believing woman is content with the law of Allah, and with what her religion requires her to do. In my opinion, this is the best solution to reduce the rate of marital betrayal and the spread of disease. This is a problem not only in Kuwait, but throughout the world."

Keep in mind this is before ISIS became the Islamic State and enslaved hundreds of Yazidi and Christian girls as sex slaves. There are little hundreds of articles out there from those who survived and were freed somehow either by their own escape or the military squashing of the Islamic State.

The reason that slavery is still legal under Islam is that Muhammad owned slaves. In order to be a good Muslim you must imitate Muhammad in every way, so this is one thing that is currently not permissible in most non-Islamic countries. Some Islamic countries also do not permit slavery—according to their posted laws. But keep in mind that each Islamic country states in their constitution that the country is subject to shariah, so while a law may exist banning slavery, under shariah it is permissible.

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[1] (Pakistan TV Debate on Concubines and Slavery in Islam, 2010)

[2] (Pakistan TV Debate on Concubines and Slavery in Islam, 2010)

[3] (Al-Mteiri, 2011)

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