Why did prophet Muhammed protect slavery?

Question

There is a prophetic statement told by prophet Muhammed that says that any slave try to escape from his/her owner would be damned and god would send him/her to hell.

I was surprised to read that statement because I have always thought that prophet Muhammed discouraged slavery, but that statement assures that he instead incouraged slavery.

Does anyone have any explanation for that statement?

oh yes. Here are the original statements (in their original language, Arabic):
http://hadith.al-islam.com/Display/Display.asp?hnum=101&doc=1

http://hadith.al-islam.com/Display/Display.asp?hnum=3987&doc=3

Answer 1

This hadith does not mean what you stated, in fact I never heard it B4. The Prophet has a very well known ones, but some are rarely heard while others are falsely attributed to him. The proof is that, God told us (in the Quran) about many ways to pay a penalty. Examples: if you are unable to fast Ramadhan, if you kill non-intentionally, if you take a false oath.....ect, one of the ways is to free a slave. If you don't have one, buy one and free him/her. This shows that Islam abhorred purchase of humans.
Another very hadith: "How can you make humans slaves when their mothers gave birth to them as free men??" Now, how can the same man make contradictory statements?

Answer 2

At the time that Islam appeared, slavery was a normal aspect of everyday life, including in Jewish and Christian areas and amongst those people. Islam was the first religion to prohibit practices associated with slavery. No Muslims or orphans who lived in Islamic areas were allowed to be slaves. Rather than being regarded as property, Islam stipulated that slaves were to be regarded as people with legal rights. Slaves could not be murdered, prostituted or separated from their children/mothers and must be treated with kindness and justice. If someone's father or mother was free while the other was a slave, that person was free rather than also a slave as was usually the case. Bilal, the first Muslim to sound the azan, was a freed slave. Muhammed stated that to free a slave is one of the holiest acts that a person can do.

The status of slaves was therefore by no means perfect, but Islam went some way to improving it. Additionally, the Qur'an continuously stipulates that all people are equal, particularly in terms of race.

Answer 3

That statment is wrong but if it is true then i ask my self why doesnt my dad have a slave in Pakistan? Why dont i keep a slave?

If Islam was just a tiny little bit bad then i wouldnt be Muslim. However there are explanation for everything said in the Quran and Hadith thus allowing us to understand why certain things are allowed and not allowed.

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Even though you have given the website to find this Prophetic statement i suggest you to cross reference it first. Not overything on the inernet is true.

These claims are false without any real evidance, even if it is true you still have to study more upon what you learn however what you has said seems to be all bad. I suggest you read authentic Quran and Hadith (that are interprated)

Answer 4

I think you are lying because I studied hadith, I never came upon this statement and Islam was the first religion to get rid of slavery!

Answer 5

I'm not going to bother reading that. But Muhammed(PBUH*) said a slave should be treated like an equal to his master.

Answer 6

First of all, it should be realized that, when Islam came, slavery was prevalent throughout the world as an acknowledged fact of socio-economic existence. In fact, the economy of many regions during that period depended on a system where slavery played an integral part. It would have been impractical to eradicate slavery with a command to stop it altogether.

As in the case of liquor, salvery's prohibition could have been effected only gradually. In the matter of alcohol, it was possible to ban it altogether during the life time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

But slavery was so deep-rooted in the social structure of the time that it had far-reaching social and economic implications. Therefore, its abolition required a period of time far longer than the life of the Prophet. This was the reason why there was no categorical ban of slavery during his time.

Moreover, when we say that Islam is a religion for all mankind and for all times, we do not at all mean that it has once and for all laid down all the rules for all times and climes in full detail. What is meant is that Islam has laid down enough general principles and guidelines that would help solve the problems that may arise from time to time.

In the matter of slavery, Islam gave a sound basis for the freeing of slaves through voluntary enfranchisement by charting a course to a permanent resolution of the complicated problem. It also presented strict conditions that made it extremely difficult for people to enslave others.

It was not that God wanted to miraculously transmute men into angels; rather He made them men and as such He knows their potentialities and weaknesses, as well as the time necessary for them to understand and adopt an injunction that has far-reaching effects. However, it is noteworthy that Islam was the first to initiate the emancipation movement that took the world some seven centuries to adopt and enforce.

Under the Islamic system, we see slaves exalted to the position of military commanders and leaders. When the Prophet sent out an army that consisted of the closest of the Companions — the Muhajirun (Immigrants) and the Ansar (Helpers), the acknowledged leaders of the Muslims — he entrusted Zaid, a former slave, with the generalship of the army. After the death of Zaid, the Prophet appointed Zaid's son Osama as the commander of the army consisting of such illustrious men as Abu Bakr and `Umar, his two principal Companions.

Only in Islamic history do we find slaves being elevated to the highest positions of power, such as commanders-in-chief and kings, and indeed whole dynasties like the Mamluks of Egypt and the Slave Dynasty of India.

Thus slaves were given not only a status equal and similar to others, but were at the same time raised to the exalted positions of leading the armies of free men. In this regard the Prophet commanded the believers: "You should listen to and obey your ruler even if he was a black Ethiopian slave whose head looks like a raisin" (Al-Bukhari).

It is noteworthy that the slavery once practiced in the Muslim world cannot be compared to the form it had assumed in the Roman Empire, for instance. Islamic legislation subjected slave-owners to a set of precise obligations, first among which was the slave's right to life, which in other cultures was of no significance. So under Islam, the murder of a slave was punished like that of a free man.

Above all, we should not lose sight of the fact that it was Islam that first declared the equality of all human beings, including slaves: equality in origin, in values, and in destiny. Thus it was in the Islamic Ummah that for the first time ever, slaves became brothers and sisters of their masters.

The Prophet said, "Your servants and your slaves are your brothers. Anyone who has slaves should give them from what he eats and wears. He should not charge them with work beyond their capabilities. If you must set them to hard work, in any case, I advise you to help them" (Al-Bukhari).

Freeing a slave has always been regarded as one of the most meritorious of all acts, and many passages of the Qur'an require it, particularly as a means of expiation for serious faults. Traditional legislation lays down the methods of voluntary liberation of slaves by their masters, and there were many Muslims who observed these, so as not to die and appear before God without having given full freedom to the human beings placed in their power during their earthly lives.

Slavery was never praised or encouraged in Islam. One of the Companions, `Umar ibn Al-Khattab, berated Muslims in a famous khutbah (sermon), asking them "When did you enslave people while Allah the Almighty created them free?"

This means that the Muslims from the very beginning advocated the freedom of all human beings and were against the oppression and enslavement of free people.

i explained the status of slavery in islam, so what do u think of that?!

ps: piece of advice to u: when u read any hadith or a verse from the Quran u should know when and why they were descended , i mean the circumstances to understand themand epend on reliable sources like bukhari and muslim famous narrators of the prophet's hadiths,!!coz i see u have so many confusions !!!

Answer 7

I don't think you are right about Muhammed, but Jesus didn't condemn slavery either. It was the time that it was.

Answer 8

Prophet Muhammad is the father of slavery. If he protested against, then Islam wouldn't have born!

Answer 9

I will give your some of the Prophet's statements on slavery,

ook 008, Number 3326:

This hadith has been narrated through another chain of transmitters on the authority of Anas that Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) emancipated Safiyya, and her emancipation was treated as her wedding gift, and in the hadith transmitted by Mu'adh on the authority of his father (the words are):" He (the Holy Prophet) married Safiyya and bestowed her emancipation as her wedding gift."

Book 008, Number 3327:

Abu Musa reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said about one who emancipated a slave woman, and then married her, that for him there are two rewards.

Volume 3, Book 46, Number 698:

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar:

Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever frees his share of a common slave and he has sufficient money to free him completely, should let its price be estimated by a just man and give his partners the price of their shares and manumit the slave; otherwise (i.e. if he has not sufficient money) he manumits the slave partially."

Volume 3, Book 46, Number 699:

Narrated Ibn 'Umar:

Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever manumits his share of a slave, then it is essential for him to get that slave manumitted' completely as long as he has the money to do so. If he has not sufficient money to pay the price of the other shares (after the price of the slave is evaluated justly), the manumitted manumits the slave partially in proportion to his share.

olume 1, Book 3, Number 97:

Narrated Abu Burda's father:

Allah's Apostle said "Three persons will have a double reward:

1. A Person from the people of the scriptures who believed in his prophet (Jesus or Moses) and then believed in the Prophet Muhammad (i .e. has embraced Islam).

2. A slave who discharges his duties to Allah and his master.

3. A master of a woman-slave who teaches her good manners and educates her in the best possible way (the religion) and manumits her and then marries her."

Volume 3, Book 46, Number 722:

Narrated Ibn 'Umar:

Allah's Apostle said, "If a slave is honest and faithful to his master and worships his Lord (Allah) in a perfect manner, he will get a double reward."

Volume 3, Book 46, Number 723:

Narrated Abu Musa Al-Ashari:

The Prophet said, "He who has a slave-girl and teaches her good manners and improves her education and then manumits and marries her, will get a double reward; and any slave who observes Allah's right and his master's right will get a double reward."

Volume 3, Book 46, Number 724:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle said, "A pious slave gets a double reward." Abu Huraira added: By Him in Whose Hands my soul is but for Jihad (i.e. holy battles), Hajj, and my duty to serve my mother, I would have loved to die as a slave.

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 239:

Narrated Ibrahim Abu Isma'il As-Saksaki:

I heard Abu Burda who accompanied Yazid bin Abi Kabsha on a journey. Yazid used to observe fasting on journeys. Abu Burda said to him, "I heard Abu Musa several times saying that Allah's Apostle said, 'When a slave falls ill or travels, then he will get reward similar to that he gets for good deeds practiced at home when in good health."

One last thing about Jesus's descent I found this hadith while searching for your answer

Book 001, Number 0289:

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger or Allah (may peace be upon him) observed: I swear by Allah that the son of Mary will certainly descend as a just judge and he would definitely break the cross, and kill swine and abolish Jizya and would leave the young she-camel and no one would endeavour to (collect Zakat on it). Spite, mutual hatred and jealousy against one another will certainly disappear and when he summons people to accept wealth, not even one would do so.

You can see that slavery, was allowed (just as here in America for a very long time), but that good care was taken of them and if you freed them, married them, and educated them it was more reward.

Answer 10

Islam is not the right religion to believe in thats for sure.