Slaves in Quran and Islam
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Dear friends on this forum,
Peace and happiness for everyone.
This is my first post on this forum. I have been somewhat troubled by the situation of slavery in Quran and Islam. It seems that slavery (having slaves, selling and buying human beings as slaves) has continued to remain legal. By that I mean that Quran left it as legal till the end of the life of the Prophet. There may be some reason behind this situation, though I do not know of it. If there is a reason why the practice of slavery remains legal in Quran, please share that with me.
Thank you in advance.
Ma'assalaam -
Salam whisper2045
The concept of slavery is substantiated by mullahs with a phrase in the Quran which is MA MALAKAT AIMANUKUM. In this phrase MALAKAT is in past tense so it cannot be taken for present/future times. The phrase means what you right hands POSSESSED or who WERE under your vows.
G A Parwez explains in the Lughat'ul Quran that slavery was practiced in Arabia before Islam. Those slaves were allowed under the phrase to protect them from becoming homeless and creating problems in the society. He explains that this phrase could have different meanings depending upon context
It could be subordinates working under someone including domestic servants; See 436 1671 2431 2458 and 3028
It could be women in the contract of marriage like in 424 6010
It could be captives of wars before the Quran abolished slavery in 474
Sura Muhammad abolished slavery once for all
QXP by Dr Shabbir
474If you meet the disbelievers in battle, strike at their command centers, until you
have subdued them, then, bind them firmly. And thereafter, there must be
an act of kindness or ransom when the battle lays down its weapons. If God
willed, He could punish them Himself, but that He may let you be tested by
means of one another (as to who remains steadfast.) As for those who are
slain in the way of God, He does not render their actions vain.Hope this helps
Peace -
Dear Novice and Wakas,
Thanks for your response which I do appreciate.
By looking at the Ayahs that you referred to, I did not see that these Ayahs Abolish slavery as it was practiced among those people. Yes there are many mentions to freeing the slaves usually together with the mentions to feed the poor or to fast. These statements do not at all equate to abolishing the practice of slavery among the Arabs of the time of Mohammad.
I think to use these quranic Ayahs in an attempt to infer the abolishment of the practice of slavery are quite contrived, and less than honest. The historical data also seem to indicate that the practice of slavery continued throughout the time of Mohammad and beyond. Did Mohammad himself not have male and female slaves? Did his close companions not have male and female slaves. Did they not buy and sell humans as slaves? This practice would not be possible if any Ayah of Quran would have abolished slavery! We can not close our eyes to what Quran has explicitly stated or not stated. We cannot wish the content of Quran away simply because they would not fit into our world-view.
This is what I have seen in the Ayahs that were quoted by Novice and Wakas. In fact 47-4 does not even have the word slave in it, and to infer the abolishment of slavery from this Ayah seems to be an unwarranted attempt by the translator.
If I missed a point in this context, please do let me see it. -
Peace be upon you.
In that age, muhammad was faced torah culture which still allowing slavery. By direct confrontation with such a decent system, it would be bad for the future if it was clash. That is why the quran does not directly ban the slavery system. But the quran destroy the slavery system step by step by making liberating a slave as a fine when muslims making mistake.
9010
And have shown him the two ways?
9011
But he has not broken through the difficult pass.
9012
And what can make you know what is the difficult pass?
9013
It is the freeing of a slave
9014
Or feeding on a day of severe hunger -
Dear Farabi,
That was my understanding too. For whatever reason, Quran decided to keep the practice of slavery as a legal thing. It appears as though Quran was trying to weaken the practice of slavery by gradual inducement to free slaves and to treat them well. However that conjecture is not borne out if you look at the practice of the Prophet himself and the practice of his close and great companions. Each of them had male and female slaves. If the religion is trying to weaken the practice of slavery, would it not be appropriate for the prophet of the religion and his close companions to refrain from practicing slavery?
It sometimes appears to me that Muslims are just too embarrassed about this practice and they are going about in an incredible way to circumvent it. Muslims generally put forward this untenable hypothesis that Quran/Islam weakened the practice of slavery by encouraging the freeing of slaves, and conveniently forgetting to look at the practice of their role models with respect to keeping slaves for themselves. And the Quran-only people are it seems to me even less credible when they distort the Quranic Ayahs to claim that Quran abolishes slavery, thus inviting a schism between their book and the practice of their prophet.
Why can't Muslims, Quran-only and others, be honest about it? Admit that Quran did not abolish the practice of slavery nor did it indirectly intend to do so, considering that slavery was practiced by the close companions of the prophet and the prophet himself.
I am baffled by the inability of the Muslims to be honest about this. Are they embarrassed? Are they stubborn? Are they confused? Are they incapable of open-minded free thinking? If the conduct of the prophet and his companions is something worthy of our emulating it, then the practice of slavery, it would seem, is their conduct. And if their conduct is against their book, then it is a big problem for Muslims.
Ma'assalaam -
Peace whisper2045
There cannot be a contradiction in the Quran.
482
Sahih International Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an? If it had been from other than Allah , they would have found within it much contradiction.
All human beings are honored by the Creator and slavery is not an honor. Everyone has a right to live this life in honor. So how can the Creator permits slavery.
1770Sahih International And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with preference.
Brother Wakas has given two references which explain the issue very nicely. You are referring to history written long after the death of the Prophet which is most of the time in opposition to Quranic commands. So we have to choose between the Quran and man made stories.
474 does not mention the word slave but it does mention war captives and there are only two options given to decide the future of captives after the war is over. There is no third option in this regard.
Peace Wakas and thanks for the link. It summarize the issue very nicely.
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Dear Farabi,
That was my understanding too. For whatever reason, Quran decided to keep the practice of slavery as a legal thing. It appears as though Quran was trying to weaken the practice of slavery by gradual inducement to free slaves and to treat them well. However that conjecture is not borne out if you look at the practice of the Prophet himself and the practice of his close and great companions. Each of them had male and female slaves. If the religion is trying to weaken the practice of slavery, would it not be appropriate for the prophet of the religion and his close companions to refrain from practicing slavery?
It sometimes appears to me that Muslims are just too embarrassed about this practice and they are going about in an incredible way to circumvent it. Muslims generally put forward this untenable hypothesis that Quran/Islam weakened the practice of slavery by encouraging the freeing of slaves, and conveniently forgetting to look at the practice of their role models with respect to keeping slaves for themselves. And the Quran-only people are it seems to me even less credible when they distort the Quranic Ayahs to claim that Quran abolishes slavery, thus inviting a schism between their book and the practice of their prophet.
Why can't Muslims, Quran-only and others, be honest about it? Admit that Quran did not abolish the practice of slavery nor did it indirectly intend to do so, considering that slavery was practiced by the close companions of the prophet and the prophet himself.
I am baffled by the inability of the Muslims to be honest about this. Are they embarrassed? Are they stubborn? Are they confused? Are they incapable of open-minded free thinking? If the conduct of the prophet and his companions is something worthy of our emulating it, then the practice of slavery, it would seem, is their conduct. And if their conduct is against their book, then it is a big problem for Muslims.
Ma'assalaamWhere did the information of the prophet had a wive come from? It is from hadist. And this forum is community where we doesnot believe in hadist.
I dont know about you, but when I first reading surrah 90 above, I think it was telling us to free slaves.
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peace whisper,
I recommend re-reading the link I gave. It does not say The Quran abolished slavery.
Put simply, Quran does not sanction a way of gaining new slaves, and provides multiple ways of freeing existing slaves, thus where would this eventually lead?
The history you speak of is based on non-Quranic sources, which may or may not be true. Having slaves is different to gaining new slaves.
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I have been somewhat troubled by the situation of slavery in Quran and Islam. It seems that slavery (having slaves, selling and buying human beings as slaves) has continued to remain legal. By that I mean that Quran left it as legal till the end of the life of the Prophet. There may be some reason behind this situation, though I do not know of it. If there is a reason why the practice of slavery remains legal in Quran, please share that with me.
Slavery is (by definition) the state of one bound in servitude as the property of a holder.
The main message of the Quran is to "serve G-D alone"! ... need I say more? -
Dear Farabi, Wakas, and Hicham9
Salaam.
Farabi
Yes it is a Quran only forum. The fact that prophet's companions had slaves obtains from historical books. Are you saying the only source that is admissible for this forum is Quran? Are books, science papers, archaeology, history, geography, biology etc not admissible? Yes the information is also in Hadith, but do you reject all information from Hadith, rejecting the role of Hadith as a historical document? Quran-only is a phrase that can be meaningful only in the religious context.
Wakas
First thing is then settled, namely that Quran does not abolish slavery. Is that what you are asserting?
Then you are saying that Quran does not sanction a method for acquiring new slaves. Yes it does not tell you how you should go to the slave market and buy a slave or sell your slave. True. But it is also true that Quran does not telll you how to go to the vegetable market and how to buy an avocado. Quran also does not tell you how to go to market and buy a bottle of Johny Walker. Things that are commonly practiced in a society their mechanics are not described in the Quran. Buying and selling of the slaves was a common practice in the society. IIt did not need to be sanctioned in the Quran for the society to continue practicing it. And indeed the society continued to practice it.
Your point that new slaves were not acquired by the Muslims at the time of the Prophet is a fabrication worse than the worst fabrication in Hadith. It is simply false. They continued to acquire new slaves.. One mechanism for that was through enslaving prisoners of war. Even Quran is vocal on that point. But to cllaim that there was no slave trade practiced by the companions of the Prophet is false also.
Hicham9
What you say is true but it is disconnected from the topic of discussion. We are here talking about humans buying and selling other humans as slaves.
Ma'assalaam -
What you say is true but it is disconnected from the topic of discussion. We are here talking about humans buying and selling other humans as slaves.
Your argument is invalid.
Isn't the subject of the thread "Slaves in Quran and Islam"!?
I'm simply telling you that There is no slavery in the Quran . -
Keeping slaves is not specifically permitted by God/Allah. You should only keep people under captivity to prevent them from doing mischief. And if someone agrees on a servant contract for no salary but for exchange for shelter, food and drink then it is a noble deed and not slavery, but it must be mutual, and the servant must be treated well, and an upright master will not leave the servant empty handed when the contract runs out. This was often how it worked in the past.
Even elder human customs said that a servant should serve for 7 years (could be allegorical for several) and then be let go free, but not go empty handed.
Moses served his father-in-law under a similar contract and got his wife through this. And he seems not have left empty handed and not only his new wife. And Moses had previously prayed for provisions for he had none.
Those from upright communities had laws or rules like this. It can be regarded as an old form of employment. Only unrighteous communities a'la mainstream Quran interpretation and the people who wrote hadith kept permanent slaves who had mere trade value.
We must know that slave and servant are not synonymous.
Slaves only tyrants like Pharaoh and ISIS (Islamic Satans InSane) keep.
Have faith -
peace whisper,
Things that are commonly practiced in a society their mechanics are not described in the Quran.
The Quran discusses the "mechanics" of many common practices, e.g. marriage, trading, inheritance, wills, contract, greeting one another, provision when travelling, charitable giving etc.
Your point that new slaves were not acquired by the Muslims at the time of the Prophet is a fabrication worse than the worst fabrication in Hadith.
Please quote where I said the above if you speak the truth, otherwise retract your statement.
One mechanism for that was through enslaving prisoners of war. Even Quran is vocal on that point.
What Quranic evidence are you referring to here? If it is 474 then this has already been discussed.
If you want further discussion, I recommend reading this thread
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9600888.0 -
Dear Wakas, Salaam
I think I had read an article by one author called Wakas about How To Read Quran. I thought it was a nice compilation and I further thought the topic was worth being developed into a book. That article had brought me to this forum.
But I find here a different situation from what impression I had in joining this forum. I might not continue.
Before I go I invite you to read your own post
//
Put simply, Quran does not sanction a way of gaining new slaves, and provides multiple ways of freeing existing slaves, thus where would this eventually lead?The history you speak of is based on non-Quranic sources, which may or may not be true. Having slaves is different to gaining new slaves.
//As it reads it pointed out
- Quran asks us to free slaves, and Quran does not tell us to acquire new slaves. Hence slavery should go away.
- That you do not consider having slaves as implying that new slaves were acquired.
#1 obviously did not happen. #2 seemed to claim that new slaves were not acquired and that is what I was referring to as a fabrication. If that was not your intention, despite how your post was worded, then I do apologize, and perhaps you should clarify as to what you did mean.
This is perhaps my last post on this forum. It was a short but revealing experience. I thank everybody.
Ma'assalaam
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peace whisper,
The problems arise when you read more into what I wrote than what I actually wrote.
For example, I had already said non-Quranic sources of info may or may not be true, thus why would I then say or imply no slaves were acquired - since this info would be based on non-Quranic sources. I do not know what people calling themselves Muslims did post-Quran.
We are discussing what The Quran says with regard to this subject. The thread I referred to in my last post discusses this in more detail, which you may find helpful.
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Yes it is a Quran only forum. The fact that prophet's companions had slaves obtains from historical books. Are you saying the only source that is admissible for this forum is Quran? Are books, science papers, archaeology, history, geography, biology etc not admissible? Yes the information is also in Hadith, but do you reject all information from Hadith, rejecting the role of Hadith as a historical document? Quran-only is a phrase that can be meaningful only in the religious context.
Im not rejecting science papers, archaeology, history, geography, biology et, Im only rejecting the hadist as a valid history. If you read the hadist you will have a conclusion that quran is incomplete. Do you know that on hadist God giving salvation that are not written on the quran? And there is some verse on the quran is lost eaten by a goat? While the quran itself said it was complete and was complied by the angel?
The thing you said was a history cannot be true. Yes its true before the surrah 90 I mentioned above muslims could be have slave, but still, it told the people to release slave. -
peace,
will anyone accept to be a slave. the answer will be "no". "no" for becoming a slave - this is the guidance from Quran / heart.
anyone who asks for a slave, will he be ready to be a slave? then the act or asking a question which goes against his own consciousness is against God.
whatever we see or hear or read about things which are against our heart, clearly those are at error, they are waging war against God. the lesson for us from that is be one with God never against God.
peace
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'To The Divine (One) we belong, and to Him we will return'
2156Did ye then think that We had assigned ye in vain (ie. for no specific prupose) and that ye would not be returned to Us?
23115
Contrary to what is falsely propagated, slavery is NEVER permissible in the Quran. Traditionalists have mistranslated the Quranic text in order to justify slavery and concubinage (among other abhorrent practices)! The Quran teachs us that humans (whether believers or not) are the property of One Master The Master of tellurians ( ). Hence the divine commandment "Serve G-D alone" (221, 364, 1240, 4364, 3661, etc) Those who enslave others are no different than Pharaoh (2622)!
SLM
2623
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Peace All.
I hear the word "slave" crop up time and time again. Yet people think they are free?
Do you know we are all "slaves" to systems/countries/governments/companies/masters.... When we should only have one master, our Creator?!!!!!
Do you know we serve one another in this life? The systems of today and yesterday may differ ,but slavery takes a different course and disguise?
Who do you really serve? How do you make your living? Who is your master?
I tell you , unless we free ourselves from all the other masters and remain loyal to our only true and just Master,we will remain slaves forever?!!!!
GOD bless you all.
Peace.
