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Name
Bashar
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Profession
Question
Salam alaykum, dear brother. I really don't understand why al-ulama say that slavery should be eradicated while Allah says nothing about this. Although it is clear that He made things in order to avoid it, and on the other hand making the same ijtihad, al-ulama don't say that the inheritance share of women it is not the same as the men, because although Allah doesn't say it clearly, says women and men are equal!!! So, I think that if we make ijtihad in some fields and that makes a society with more justice why don't we make ijtihad for things so important as the women?? Moreover, in some women fields al-ulama make ijtihad... For example, the fact that Qaradawi says that nowadays if there is no fear it doesn't matter how many days a woman should go out... While the hadith says 3... Please shed some light about!!
Answer
Salam alaykum, dear brother. I really don't understand why al-ulama say that slavery should be eradicated while Allah says nothing about this. Although it is clear that He made things in order to avoid it, and on the other hand making the same ijtihad, al-ulama don't say that the inheritance share of women it is not the same as the men, because although Allah doesn't say it clearly, says women and men are equal!!! So, I think that if we make ijtihad in some fields and that makes a society with more justice why don't we make ijtihad for things so important as the women?? Moreover, in some women fields al-ulama make ijtihad... For example, the fact that Qaradawi says that nowadays if there is no fear it doesn't matter how many days a woman should go out... While the hadith says 3... Please shed some light about!!
I don’t believe that the Qur’an is silent on the eradication of slavery for two reasons: first, most of slaves were prisoners of war. When the Qur’an spoke about the prisoners of war, it says: “thereafter (is the time for) either generosity or ransom” (Surat Muhammad: 4) thereby making freeing prisoners of war based on either generosity or ransom, and rejecting the prevailing custom of taking them as slaves. From this aya we understand that taking prisoners of war as slaves is unacceptable in Islam.
The second reason, slavery that was considered as part of social order, was regulated by Islam under a system called mukatabah that was mentioned in surat an-Nur, aya 33 where Allah SWT says: “And if any of your slaves ask for a deed in writing (to enable them to earn their freedom for a certain sum), give them such a deed if ye know any good in them; yea, give them something yourselves out of the means which Allah has given to you.”
The aforementioned aya contains three things: 1) it was the right of every slave to buy his freedom through entering into a contract with his master; 2) it was incumbent upon the master to accept the contract, therefore accepting his freedom; 3) and it was the obligation of the society to provide the money needed for such freedom purchase, and this is the meaning of “give them something yourselves out of the means which Allah has given to you”.
Therefore, I need to express two reservations in this regard:
1. The Qur’an ideal on this issue was lost and was not applied properly in Muslim societies. Unfortunately, some Muslim societies followed the pre-Islamic customs of taking prisoners of war as slaves and had forsaken the teachings of the Qur’an.
2. Some fuqaha have interpreted the command to buy freedom for slaves (mukatabah) as non-binding for the master, even though this interpretation is against the explicit imperative command of the Qur’an and the hadith mentioned in sahih al-Bukhari that Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, used to lash those masters who didn’t accept mukatabah and he would force them to do it.
Name
Shadi
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Profession
Question
As-salamu alaykum. Pls. tell me how Islam managed to abolish slavery, and why Islam didn't forbid it totally in the first place.
Answer
I hope you can refer to the previous question, which explains that Islam deals with slavery in two ways: 1) the prevention of taking prisoners of war as slaves; thereby considering prisoners of war as captives and not slaves; 2) establishing the mukatabah system that secures freedom for the slave and puts a command on the master to accept it.
At to why slavery was not banned at one step in the beginning, the reason is simply the fact that slavery was deeply-rooted in culture and social order or ancient societies before Islam. Since Islam adopts a reformist approach, it has regulated a gradual process of putting an end to slavery so that people would not continue practicing it.
Name
MA
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Profession
Question
Salam. Why Islam allowed men to have sexual intercourse with their slave-girls?
Answer
Looking at the Qur’anic ideal on this issue, we read in surat an-Nisa’: “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: they should be chaste, not lustful, nor taking paramours: when they are taken in wedlock, if they fall into shame, their punishment is half that for free women. This (permission) is for those among you who fear sin; but is better for you that ye practise self-restraint. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (aya 25)
This aya clearly states that if the free person wanted to marry a slave girl, it was the same as if he wanted to marry a free one: he had to seek the permission of the parents, pay the dowry similar to the free woman, and the relationship was meant to be that of marriage and not illicit affairs.
Name
Muhajir
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Profession
Question
As-salamu alaykum. Now, international conventions disallowed slavery. Why Islam didn't precede these man-made laws in forbidding and disallowing slavery totally?
Answer
Islam has set principles for the eradication of slavery fifteen hundred years ago, but unfortunately, many Muslims did not put them into practice. Therefore, we should distinguish between the law and its application, the deal and the reality. Unfortunately, these were not the only Islamic ideals that were lost; other political principles such as shurah, justice, etc. were replaced by monarchy, tyrannical rules and dictatorship. So, while we are trying to rejuvenate these principles, we need to free ourselves from the historical interpretations of some scholars and fuqaha who were influenced by the social and cultural contexts in which they lived, thereby misinterpreting Islamic principles.
Name
halima
- France
Profession
receptioniste
Question
I believe that slavery in Islam is acknowledged in a decent manner. the slave have to eat, drink and share the same wisdom,practice abide by the same rules of Allah (swt). if these conditions are respected then there is no sin in having a slave as this was since our first prophrt Ibrahim right on to Mohammed (peace of Allah be on him ; his companions and family)
Answer
It is true that Islam has set many laws for respecting the rights of slaves before they are granted freedom. Islam has considered the maltreatment of slaves to be a ground for granting them freedom by the law force. However, the point we are trying to make today goes way beyond the respect and good treatment of slaves. I don’t agree with you that since these conditions are fulfilled there is no harm in taking slaves; slavery must come to a total end and no one has the right to keep slaves. That is what I understood from the stance of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) when he forced the masters to accept mukatabah contract; had it been optional for the masters to keep their slaves, Umar, with his well-known piety and fairness, would not have punished them for refusing to accept mukatabah.
Name
Mahmoud
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Profession
Question
Slavery goes against the right of freedom which is basic right in Islam. Then why some Muslims-including Sahabis--had slaves?
Answer
We should distinguish between the ideals and realities. Muslim practices are to be evaluated in the light of Qur’anic teachings and principles, and not vice versa.
Name
Sayyed
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Profession
Question
Salam. Why Islam allowed slavery in times of wars?
Answer
Islam has not approved of taking prisoners of war as slaves, but as “captives”. These are extremely different terms: the captive is temporarily held until released by either generosity or ransom, as the Qur’an says: “thereafter (is the time for) either generosity or ransom” (Surat Muhammad: 4)
Islam has also only demanded fair treatment of captives and prisoners of war, but preferring them to one’s own soul in quest of Allah’s pleasure. The Qur’an mentions that some of the characteristics of true believers that they: “give food despite their need for it the poor and the orphan and the captives. Saying,"We feed you for the sake of Allah alone: no reward do we desire from you, nor thanks.” (Al-Insan: 8-9)
Name
Bashir
- Nigeria
Profession
Question
Assalam Alaikum,
Kindly shed more lights on the stand of slavery in Islam on todays world?
Answer
Muslims are bound Islamically by the international laws that ban slavery. They are even supposed to take the initiative in this regard. It is a shame that with all these Islamic teachings on slavery eradication, there is still some who talk about slavery in Muslim countries, including my own.
Name
abdurahman
- Ethiopia
Profession
management consultant
Question
Should slaves always come from African descent?
Answer
Slavery in Islamic history was not a racial issue. In fact, in the first few centuries of Islam most of slaves in Muslim societies were light-skin people (Romans, Turkish, etc.). Some of black Muslims used to have slaves as well. So it was not a racial issue the same way we saw in the seventeenth and eighteenth century in Europe and America.
Name
Eiyad
-
Profession
Question
What is the legal opinion of war slaves in the present time?
Answer
I am against the war slavery even in ancient times, how about today?! Even the fuqaha that said it was legitimate to take slaves in times of war, they explained that that was a reciprocal procedure and not as an Islamic teaching. As we explained earlier, Islam has given only two options with regard to prisoners of war: freeing with generosity or with ransom.
Name
Editor
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Profession
Answer
Finally, we would like to thank our guest for speaking to Islamonline viewers today, and we also thank all those who participated in this dialogue. We request our readers to join us in the upcoming sessions.
