What Does Islam Say About Slavery?

Slavery does not originate from Islam. Instead, upon Islam's arrival it was the prevailing practice around the world. During this time in Arabia, when tribes attacked each other, either the prisoners were killed or men and women were enslaved in order to punish each other. Many areas were also attacked just to take slaves - hence making slavery a part of the socio-economic system of the time.

This is one of the reasons why Islam did not abolish the system of slavery immediately but gradually improved their conditions. As mentioned before, slavery was a necessity in the socio-economic system of that time, so if abolished, the set-up of the entire society would have deteriorated. A large number of freed slaves would have been difficult to serve actively in the society, so rather than completely abolishing the practice, the status of slaves was increased and their rights were protected. This way, they were taken care of and the balance of society was prevented from being disturbed.

The basic reforms that Islam made in the institution of slavery made a world of difference in the conditions of the slaves. They were no longer seen as a commodity and a unit of production, but rather were recognized as human beings. Their feelings, needs and rights as human beings were also then protected. This is a brief overview of what these reforms were:

1. The enslavement of a free person was forbidden, even dhimmis (non-Muslims living under Islamic rule) could not be enslaved. Slaves can only be captured by war, and war cannot be initiated solely to take prisoners. It is also not necessary that prisoners should be made slaves, they can be freed by doing favors or in exchange for ransom.
Various measures were taken for the welfare of the slaves.

2. Slaves must be treated better, and this was emphasized many times in the hadiths. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) repeatedly commanded the Companions to treat them well, and even his last advice while leaving this world was related to this. It was said that they should not be burdened more work than they can handle, the owner should feed them with what they eat themselves, clothe them in the clothes that they wear, and it was forbidden to beat them.

3. Slaves were given many rights. They could also marry with their master's permission. They had the right of ownership. They could also carry out their own business or part-time work. The slave or slave girl could go to the judge in order to complain about their owner. The judge had the authority to issue an order to set the slave free if they felt that the owner had mistreated them.

4. The law stated that in the event of a slave committing a crime, their punishment will be half that of a free individual.

5. It was also stated that in worldly terms, although they were considered inferior to the free, slaves and concubines could be better in virtue than free men and women. It was also said that a slave girl and a Muslim slave can be better for marriage than a non-Muslim. He SAW also forbade anyone to call a slave my slave. 

6. In those days, it was common to earn money by procuring slave women. Prostitution was prohibited. No one can take sexual advantage of a slave except her master. If a child is born from a concubine, that child will be considered free. He will inherit from his father. She will be called a concubine mother son. The owner will not be able to sell her and she will be free after the death of the owner.

7. Freeing the slaves was said to be a reward. One of the eight aspects of Zakat is freedom of the slave. The way to their freedom was opened by keeping the freedom of slaves as an option for the expiation of many sins.

8. Islam also introduced the method of correspondence. Mukatbat is a contract under which a slave can buy his freedom by making a deal with the owner, i.e. he can be freed after a fixed period of time by working part-time jobs and paying the owner in installments or a lump sum. Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) called such a contract mandatory in his time, that is, if the slave wants to make such a contract with the master, then it is necessary for the master to make such a contract of freedom with him.

The result of these teachings of Islam was that slaves began to be treated as members of the family in Muslim households and the worst treatment that had been done to them in the world for centuries was remedied, at least in the Islamic world, although some areas And in some times, the Muslims did not take into account the teachings of the religion and treated them badly, but in general, the chain of oppression with them ended. The status of slaves continued to rise day by day until the Mamluk rulers ruled empires in Egypt and India in Muslim history. It was the achievement of Islam that this crushed class became the ruling class.

The benefit of Islam's slavery reforms was that when non-Muslim slaves came into the homes of Muslims, they had the opportunity to see Muslims and the blessings of Islam closely. It was ready. Due to the good behavior of the Muslims, they soon became a part of the society and then eventually they gained independence by taking advantage of the law of correspondence. These were the blessings and fruits of the reforms made in the slavery system of Islam.