Is it true that prophet Muhammed encouraged slavery?

Question

I heard many Muslims say that Islam have been trying to end slavery (for more than 1400 years). However, I found many prophetical statements (Hadith) told by prophet Muhammed that threatens any slave who tries to escape slavery that god would send him to hell and would never accept any of his/her good deeds!

Some of those Hadiths can be found in Sahih Muslim (101) and Musnad Ahmad (18446). Can anyone tell me how come Muslims say that Islam was trying to end slavery while those statements were given by prophet Muhammad?

Answer 1

http://www.islam1.org/khutub/Equal.among_People.htm

this site should answer your question fully.

also, i recently watched Malcolm X and I highly recommend it if you want to learn about slavery in Islam.

Answer 2

First, it is important to know that thousands of years ago life was different than today. Today, people wouldn't accept slavery for any reason. The reason for this is because people are a lot more independent both financially, education wise, mentally, etc... But people back then were different. When a tribe or a group of people lose a major battle and their money is mostly, if not all, is taken as war booty by the other side, then people could and would accept being slaves for the following reasons:

1- Both financial and social security. When their country or tribe lost the war, they also lost most or all of their money as war booty. Being out of money and food, it becomes necessary for an individual to find the means for basic survival in life. Living as a slave would provide this.

2- Protection from hostile individuals. Even under the Islamic rule, you can still find hostile individuals who violate the Law and take matters into their own hands. An enemy family can be sometime in danger if they don't have a "protector".

3- Widows, Orphans, and the extremely poor of the enemy side need the financial and social protection from a Master. Back then, there were no governments with good social system that protects everyone. Slavery back then was that social system in special cases.

There are probably more points I can add, but I think these are sufficient enough.



Islam and Slavery:

Islam is a religion that came to fight slavery and end it once and for all. During Judaism and Christianity, slavery was at its highest peak in the Middle East. People were enslaved and they and their children were inherited and passed down to generations for ever. This tradition came from Leviticus 25:44-46 in the Bible's Old Testament, and further continued in the New Testament in 1 Timothy 6:1, 1 Peter 2:18, and Colossians 3:22.

Now keep in mind that the entire Bible is corrupted and unreliable and is mostly filled with man-made cultural laws and corruption!

GOD Almighty Said: "`How can you say, "We [the Jews] are wise, for we have the law of the LORD," when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?' (From the NIV Bible, Jeremiah 8:8)"

The Revised Standard Version makes it even clearer: "How can you say, 'We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us'? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. (From the RSV Bible, Jeremiah 8:8)"

In either translation, we clearly see that the Jews had so much corrupted the Bible with their man-made cultural laws, that they had turned the Bible into a lie!

See Also Deuteronomy 31:25-29 where Moses peace be upon him predicted the corruption/tampering of the Law (Bible) after his death. The Book of Moses predicted that the Law (Bible) will get corrupted. The Book of Jeremiah which came approximately 826 years after did indeed confirm this corruption.

So Leviticus 25:44-46, 1 Timothy 6:1, 1 Peter 2:18, and Colossians 3:22 above are highly doubtful to be Divine Revelations from GOD Almighty, the Most Just, Most Merciful, and Most Wise. Please visit Just who were the real authors of the Bible? You will see comments from the commentary of the NIV Bible (one of the most used Bibles world wide) itself admitting that most of the Books and Gospels of the Bible are corrupted. No one ever claimed ownership of the current Books and Gospels. The owners/writers are unknown.

When Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him received the Divine Revelations of Islam, slavery among the Pagan Arabs, Jews and Christians was quite common. When he came with Allah Almighty's True Religion of Islam, he gradually eliminated slavery. He couldn't enforce it all at once, because it would've caused Islam to be an unsuccessful religion toward freeing slaves, and would certainly have broken Islam's system for ending slavery.

By gradually freeing slaves and making it be acceptable to the society of many different pagan cultures and traditions, the idea of eliminating slavery became powerful enough that after Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him died, the freed slaves remained free and non of them was ever enslaved again.

Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said:

Narrated Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari: "The Prophet said, "Give food to the hungry, pay a visit to the sick and release (set free) the one in captivity (by paying his ransom)." (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Food, Meals, Volume 7, Book 65, Number 286)"



Always remember!

It was not Islam that started slavery, but it was Islam that ultimately ended it. Please visit The liberation of slaves in Islam to see the Noble Verses from the Noble Quran and the Sayings of Prophet Muhammad that command the Muslims to free all slaves.

Answer 3

No, Islam does not encourage slavery. One on the first muslims was a slave. Slavery is not allowed (FORBIDDEN) and there are clear hadiths about that. In Islam it's not your skin color or what you work with or how much money you got that matters.

Answer 4

NOPE...it does not!!!
the accurate book of ahadith is SAHIH BUKHARI....
abu bakar (the first caliph n father in law of prophet) freed many slaves
usman (the 3rd caliph n son in law of the prophet (Peace be upon him) ) used to free 2 slaves every friday!!!!!
at that time slavery was common n islam tried to finish it...
"once a comapanion of the prophet slapped a slave girl ... he told this to the prophet ... he got reallly angry n told him to free her"

Answer 5

Can't help you...but Muhammad is the same guy that had sex with many women while preaching against infidelity...so can you honestly believe anything he says? And thank you for putting prophet in lower case letters. It just reminds us that he was not a REAL prophet.

Answer 6

no islam does not encourage slavery....and for your information muhammed NEVER threatened anyone in his life......He was the one threatened by others
and whoever this leeceed is.....shame on you......you're just jealous that so many ppl respect Muhammed.......but sometimes you need to control yourself....you know....too much jealousy is not good....maybe you lost some boyfriend named mohammed who had sex with many women and now that you're angry you're planning to accuse PROPHET Muhammed

Answer 7

Yes, because like its' equally fictional cousin the bible, the koran and the hadiths were written by men who owned slaves.

Answer 8

Dear questioner, thank you very much for having confidence in us and we hope our efforts, which are purely for Allah’s Sake, meet your expectations.

When Islam was reveled to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), slavery was a worldwide common social phenomenon; it was much older than Islam. Slavery was deeply rooted in every society to the extent that it was impossible to imagine a civilized society without slaves.

In spite of this social fact, Islam was the first religion to recognize slavery as a social illness that needed to be addressed. Since slavery was deeply rooted in the society, Islam did not abolish it at once. Rather, Islam treated slavery in the same manner it treated other social illnesses. Islam followed the same methodology of gradual elimination in dealing with this social disease as it did with other social illnesses, for example: the prohibition of alcohol in three steps.

Concerning having slave women, we would like to let you know that it happens to be a practice necessitated by the condition in which early Muslims found themselves vis-a-vis non-Muslims, as both parties engaged in wars. Slave women or milk al-yameen are referred to in the Qur'an as “Those whom your right hand possess” or “ma malakat aymanukum”; they are those taken as captives during conquests and subsequently became slaves, or those who were descendants of slaves.

Thus, it was a war custom in the past to take men and women as captives and then turn them into slaves. Islam did not initiate it, rather, it was something in practice long ago before the advent of Islam. And when Islam came, it tried to eradicate this practice, bit by bit. So it first restricted it to the reciprocal practice of war, in the sense that Muslims took war captives just as the enemies did with Muslims.

But as it aimed at putting an end to such issue, Islam laid down rules which would eventually lead to eradicating the practice. So it allowed Muslims to have intercourse with slave women taken as captives of just and legitimate wars. In so doing, the woman would automatically become free if she got pregnant. What's more, her child would also become free.

Not only that, Islam also ordered a Muslim to treat the slave woman in every respect as if she were his wife. She should be well fed, clothed and given due protection. In the family environment, she had the opportunity to learn about Islam and was free to accept it or reject it. She also had the opportunity to earn her freedom for she could be ransomed.

In the light of the above-mentioned facts, and the nature of the question posed by people, it's clear that some people misunderstand the wisdom behind the permissibility of having female slaves and think that it is meant to unleash men’s desires and give them more enjoyment. Never! That is not the point! It is, rather, means of freeing slaves; and this is clarified above in the fact that if a master got a female slave pregnant, then he could neither sell her nor give her away as a present. And if he died, she would not be considered part of his property. She'd receive her freedom and her baby would also be free.

But, we have to stress that this case should not be confused with that of female servants or maids, for they are free and not slaves. Therefore, it is forbidden to engage in sexual relations with them except through an Islamic marriage.

Slavery has been abolished by international conventions, and goes in line with aims and objectives of Islam, as it has called for centuries ago.

As for marrying slaves, it is something permissible under two conditions: first, if one is unable to pay the dowry of a free woman. Second, if there is fear of committing adultery if one doesn’t get married. This is clarified by the following verse: “And whose is not able to afford to marry free, believing women, let them marry from the believing maids whom your right hands possess. This is for him among you who feareth to commit sin. But to have patience would be better for you.” (An-Nisaa’: 25)

This verse shows that Muslim men should abstain from illicit relations and seek enjoyment through marriage to free women or through their female slaves.

In conclusion, Allah has forbidden certain types of behavior and permitted other kinds of behavior as a safeguard to the individual and to the society. Allah has forbidden fornication and adultery. However, in the case of captives whom your right hands posses, it's something necessitated by the special circumstances which were created when the Muslims were at war.”

You can also read:

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?cid=1119503543640&pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaEAskTheScholar