Did Islam really discourage slavery?

Question

Many Muslims say that Islam discouraged slavery and that Islam had a long-term plan to end slavery on the long run. However, I realize that slavery did not end in Saudi Arabiya (the birth place of Islam and the most holy country for Muslims) until 1962.

Is that what Muslims meant by saying "long-term" plan?

Answer 1

Don't take Saudi Arabia as a scale for muslims. They make everything complicated and most or their actions are more cultural than Islamic. Islam does discourage slavery and actually bans it.

Answer 2

That's interesting. In the days of international slave trade, it was mainly British (theoretically Christian) Slavers taking black slaves to America. The Slaver Captains were regarded by Christians of the day as sinners and beyond the pale because of their profession.
They is turn bought the newly captured or bred slaves from Muslim slave traders in slave Bazaars in places like Madagascar. It's nonsense to say muslims weren't slavers.
If you read the "Scheherazade - the 1001 Nights" you will find slavery, including the gelding of men to make eunuchs, was embedded in the Arab culture well before Muhammad raised his army of conquest and cooked up recycled Judaism into the Koran as propaganda for his troops. Slavery was part of every Muslim country until very recent times. To be fair it was only in the last 200 years that white Christians developed the idea that slavery was wrong. The Bible doesn't specifically forbid it, and in fact tells sllaves to serve their masters faithfully, and only says masters should treat their slaves fairly and with kindness. That was was a big enough call in 20AD, and did eventually lead to the end of slavery.

Answer 3

Slavery already ended during the re emergence of Islam 1400 years ago.Maybe what you see is just a remnant of the culture.Human slavery is not allowed in Islam and take note that not all Saudis are devouted Muslims.They are only Saudis.Do not compare Islam/Muslims between Saudis.Majority of the Muslims can be found in different part of the world and condemn slavery.Take note also that not whole Saudi Arabia is holy place.ONLY MAKKAH AND MADINAH IS THE HOLY PLACE.Many people are coming to Saudi Arabia to work.
In addition to this: To be employed abroad is just like to be slave abroad.This is modern slavery SYSTEM everywhere in the world today.NOT ONLY HERE IN SAUDI ARABIA.However to become slave for the service of your Almighty is higly recommended.

Allah Bless you.

Answer 4

Slavery hasn't ended in Muslim dominated countries, that's all lip service. The main modern day slave trade runs right through the Middle East.

Answer 5

The long-term plan to which you refer involves having to free a slave in expiation for a variety of sins, and in various other situations. Even at the time of Prophet Muhammad (God bless him and grant him peace) Muslims competed in buying slaves in order to set them free, so that they could qualify for Divine rewards.

This set of rules was implemented in the 7th century AD. Slavery was legal in North America until the mid 1800's.

Answer 6

Will tell u that....

u know a slave couldn't be free unless his owner accepted to free him, in return of money or anything else...

Islam gave slaves the right to free themselves, by paying the money to the owner, and even if he didn't accept, they are free to go...

And a hint for u, Saudi Arabia ain't exactly the perfect mirror for Islam, specially nowadays, they are too far away from true Islam coz they r too busy counting the money and extracting fuel....

Answer 7

they discouraged slavery for those that followed the book like Christians, Jews, an old religion i can't spell, and fellow muslims

Answer 8

edit to my answer:

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.

wish that helps.

peace!

Answer 9

Here's a link for you:-
http://www.answering-christianity.com/ac18.htm#links

Will answer your question on how Islam dealt with slavery. Browse through it. Very good site.

Answer 10

slavery was taken and treated in different ways.

one kind is where u beat the persons flesh out to make them work hard to the maximum,

while there are the others hu are considered slaves just being in the house and helping out with housework.

some peoples heartz andminds wer just in the rong place, during the long-run.



slavery is discouraged in Islam because we are slaves of God, and keeping the power over one of our former slaves of God is meaning ur trying to put higher status over God.