Slavery
Slavery, the institution that allowed one human being to own another is an affront to all that is humane. We take it for granted today that the immoral nature of slavery is self-evident. But it was not self-evident in the past. In this section we will show that Christianity was actually an active instrument in continuing the practice of slavery.
The Bible on Slavery
The Early Christians on Slavery
Black African Slavery
The Bible on Slavery
Despite what Easton claimed in his Illustrated Bible Dictionary, slavery, as an institution was never criticized in the Bible. We find that the Old Testament, far from condemning slavery, actually laid down precise laws for slave ownership:
Leviticus 25:44-46
As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are round about you. You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their families that are with you, who have been born in your land; and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons after you, to inherit as a possession for ever; you may make slaves of them, but over your brethren the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness.
Exodus 21:2,4
When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh he shall go free for nothing ... If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's and he shall go out alone.
These passages above actually give explicit sanction for slavery. The New Testament is no better. The gospels of Mark, Luke, Matthew and John are silent concerning slavery, but the epistles of Paul gives clear-cut sanctions for its practice. In his epistles to the Colossians, Paul had this to say to Christian slaves:
Colossians 3:22
Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord.
In his first epistle to the Corinthians, Paul gave what must surely be the religious justification for maintaining the status quo:
I Corinthians 7:21-22
Were you a slave when called? Never mind. But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity. For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ.
With the freedom in God's eyes defined as all-important, there is no longer any need for the Christian to challenge slavery. The Christian teaching of a life hereafter must surely had contributed to the lack of social action on the part of Christians against the institution.
Paul's epistle to Philemon is actually a letter that accompanies Philemon's runaway slave, Onesimus, whom Paul was sending back to his master. Although he urged Philemon to be kind to Onesimus, the tone of his letter is obviously one that accepts slavery as a valid social institution.
The Early Christians on Slavery
The acceptance of slavery as part of the fabric of society was so engraved in the social psyche of the era of nascent Christianity that very few voices of protest were raised against it. But whatever protest made against slavery, and whatever attempts to alleviate the position of slaves, were done, not by Christians, but by pagans.
The pagan Roman Republic took many steps to alleviate the lot of slaves. In 82 BCE murder of slaves were forbidden by the Cornelian Law. Around 30 BCE the Petronian Law forbade the sending of slaves to fight in the amphitheater. The Stoic teaches Seneca (c 5 BCE-65 CE), while he still had influence over the insane emperor, Nero (37-68 CE) managed to induce him to pass a law to forbade the cruel treatment of slaves. The Emperor Hadrian (76-138), an Epicurean, revived the laws prohibiting the murder of slaves and of sending them to the amphitheater. He also suppressed the inhuman practice of housing slaves underground. Hadrian was also known to have banished a wealthy Roman lady, named Umbricia, for cruelty to her slaves. By the second century slaves had already acquired the right, under certain circumstances, to bring legal action against their masters. The Emperor Antoninus Pius (86-161) issued an imperial decree which gives freedom to a slave running from a cruel master; on the condition that the runaway slave must embrace a statue of the emperor before he is considered a free man.
The voices of conscience raised against slavery was also pagan. The pagan Dio Chrysostom, who was the greatest orator of his age, delivered a speech around AD100 in a public hall in the Forum of Rome where he explicitly and at great length condemned slavery as unjust. [1]
The same spirit of humanism was not present in the early Christians. As Joseph McCabe stated:
The plain fact is that down to the year 1000 ... no Christian leader, much less a pope or Council, condemned slavery. [2]
When the Christian theologians took the trouble to discuss slavery, they were supportive of it. St. Augustine (354-430), in his most famous work, The City of God (426) presented the theological justification of slavery. He taught that God created man free but through sin, that freedom had been lost. Slavery is therefore the punishment for man's sin. As Augustine himself puts it:
The first cause of slavery, then, is sin - that a man should be put in bonds by another; and this happens only by the judgement of God, in whose eyes it is no crime.[Italics mine-PT] [3]
Thus, in one fell swoop, Augustine not only accepted slavery but gave it divine sanction. As the historian Emil Reich stated in his History of Civilization:
It is an historical fact, supported by the most positive of evidence that slavery in the Roman Empire was mitigated by the noble philosophy of the Stoics and not by the teachings of the church fathers, who never thought of recommending the abolition of slavery. [4]
The first Christian Roman Emperor, Constantine (c274-337) actually undid most of the humane laws to alleviate the position of slaves laid down by his pagan predecessors. He permitted parents to sell their children into slavery and allowed finders of abandoned children to bring them up as slaves. He also issued a decree which stipulates the death penalty for any Christian woman who had sexual intercourse with a slave; that the slave would also be put to death is a foregone conclusion. [5]
The Roman pontiffs made many remarks about slaves and slavery. none of which helped to abolish the practice. Pope Leo The Great (d.461) ruled that no slaves can become priests because their "vileness" will "pollute" the sacred order. Pope Gregory the Great (c540-604), who was the richest slave owner in sixth century Europe, forbade the marriage of Christian women to slaves. [6] In the eleventh century, Pope Benedict VIII (d1024), in an effort to stop priests from having sex, decreed that all children produced by these unlawful coupling should be made slaves. Pope Paul III (1468-1549) decreed that all Englishmen who supported the errant King, Henry VIII should be reduced to slavery. In the fifteenth century, the papacy gave the king of Portugal permission top conquer "heathen" countries and reduced their population in "everlasting slavery." [7]
The churches and the monasteries, far from being a haven for escaping slaves, actually owned slaves. When ancient slavery ended, the monasteries were among the last to give up their slaves. [8] Ancient slavery ended in the twelfth century, or more correctly evolved into serfdom, not because of any concerted Christian action but for purely economic reasons. It became cheaper for the wealthy to have serfs working their land and feeding themselves than to own dependent slaves. [9]
Black African Slavery
The next stage in the history of servility is black African slavery. It was without a doubt one of the worst form of slavery known to history. It was started in the fifteenth century by the Christian countries of western Europe. It was used mainly in the colonies to supply much needed manpower in the plantation of cotton, rice and sugar. [10]
Significantly, the beginnings of black slavery can be traced to the request of a Christian bishop, the Catholic Bishop of Chiapa in Mexico, Bartoleme de las Casas. In 1517 Padre Las Casas (he was not yet a bishop then) implored the King of Spain, Charles V, to allow the import of African slaves into the continent. Charles granted the request, made ostensibly on humanitarian grounds.[a] Thus began the infamous Asiento, an "import" license for slave trade to Spanish controlled America. Eventually this trade expanded to North America. By 1860 a census in the US counted almost four and a half million slaves. [11]
The treatment of these slaves, from their capture to the life in the plantation, were barbaric. As the historian, H.A.L. Fisher notes:
It is a terrible commentary on Christian civilization that the longest period of slave raiding known to history was initiated by the actions of Spain and Portugal, France, Holland and Britain after the Christian faith had for more than a thousand years been established in western Europe; and it the graver since the new slavery was worse and more inhuman than the old. [12]
The call for the abolition of black slavery came not from Christians but from freethinkers generally. Slavery was abolish in France in 1791, not by the church, but by the atheistic founders of the revolution. In the U.S. the early critics of slavery, Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), George Washington (1732-1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) and John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), were all either freethinkers or Deists. Later the abolitionist cause was taken up by such people as Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), a Deist, Raplh Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), a Unitarian minister turned free-thinker, and William Lyold Garrison (1805-1879), an agnostic. In England, the battle for the abolition of slavery was fought mainly by free-thinkers such as Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). [13]
While it cannot be denied that some Christians were involved in abolitionists movements, they were the exception rather than the rule. In some cases these Christians acquired their anti-slavery beliefs not from their religion. Take the example of the name most used by Christian apologists to show that Christians were opposed to slavery: William Wilberforce (1759-1833). Wilberforce was a Christian and the universal claim is that his Christian conscience showed him the evils of slavery. But this claim is easily shown to be false. As a child, Wilberforce never had any affinity for the religion. For a long time he avoided taking a degree at Cambridge University because he could not sign the 39 Articles of the Church of England. It was in this skeptical mould that Wilberforce remained for the first thirty years of his life. Yet it was during these agnostic times that he developed his sense of abhorrence towards slavery. (For, as a boy of fourteen, he had written to a newspaper attacking slavery.) He was, at that time a Deist, as were his closest associates. [14] Furthermore, his chief allies in his battle for abolitionism were Quakers, dissenters and free-thinkers, not the mainstream Christians. The support from the established churches for his actions was described by Wilberforce himself as "disgracefully lukewarm." In fact, many conservative members of the clergy actively tried to suppress and obstruct his anti-slavery cause. [15]
The record is worse for the churches in America. The Christians there did not stop to think whether the institution of slavery is, in itself immoral. Their chief concern was whether the Bible condoned or condemned it. The answer, as we have seen, was obvious. Thus the Christians in the U.S. supported slavery. In 1836 the South Carolina Methodist Conference declared that:
The Holy ******ures, so far from giving any countenance to [the] delusion [of abolitionism] do unequivocally authorize the relation of master and slave. [16]
In the same year, the editor of the journal of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, Charles Hodge wrote:
The assumption that slave holding is in itself a crime ... is an error fraught with evil consequences. It not merely brings its advocates into conflict with the ******ures, but it does much to retard the progress of freedom: it embitters and divides the members of the community and it distracts the Christian Church. [17]
A couple of years later, Hodge wrote that the abolitionists "consider their own light as more sure than the word set down in ******ure." [18]
Of course the Bible was also used to specifically justify black slavery. The passage was Genesis 9:20-27. In this passage the story is told of how Ham, one of Noah's sons saw him naked. Upon discovering this Noah pronounced his curse to Ham: "the lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers" (Genesis 9:25). Since the black Africans are generally believed to be the descendents of Ham (Genesis 10:6-20)[b], this was intepreted to mean that African slaves are a natural result of this curse.[19]
The clergy and Christian laity did nothing to further the cause of anti-slavery. When the abolitionists Lyold Garrison wanted to deliver a public speech on abolition in Boston, the only building he could obtain to speak in was that of Abner Kneeland, the editor of the Boston Investigator, who was once jailed for blasphemy. Most of the other available buildings belonged to the various Christian churches, all of which refused him permission to use them. Some clergymen actually went as far as attempting to get Lyold Garrison hanged! [20]
When abolition was first advocated in the U.S. in 1790, the politicians from the south used religious arguments against it. Some said that, correctly, the southern clergy "did not condemn either slavery or the slave trade." while others asserted that the whole tone of the Bible "from Genesis to Revelation" was favorable to slavery. [21]
It cannot be denied, therefore, that Christian churches on both sides of the Atlantic generally supported slavery. The Finnish anthropologist, Edward Westermark (1862-1939) in his book The Origin and Development of Moral Ideas (1908) stated that:
this system of [black] slavery, which at least in the British Colonies and the slave states, surpassed in cruelty the slavery of any pagan country, ancient or modern, was not only recognized by Christian governments, but was supported by the large bulk of the clergy, Catholic and Protestant alike. [22]
Slavery was finally abolished in Christian England in 1833, in Christian America in 1865. The last Christian country to abolish slavery was Abyssinia, in 1942. [23]
Notes
a. Prior to this native Americans were used as slaves but they were less "amenable" to slavery which results in many deaths from massacres and from mere captivity. Black African slaves, some were already used by that time on the island of Haiti, had proven to be more hardy than the natives. While las Casas request did not start slavery, it certainly opened the floodgates.
b. One of Hem's sons,(Genesis 10:6) was named Cush- which is Hebrew for "black". By Hebrew tradition Cush was believed to be the ancestors of the Cushites, a black African tribe that settled in the south of Egypt. [24]
References
1. Knight, Honest to Man: p137
McCabe, The Social Record of Christianity: p20-21
2. ibid: p23
3. ibid: p23-24
4. ibid: p24
5. ibid: p25
6. ibid: p27
7. Ward, A Dictionary of Common Fallacies I: p235
8. Knight, Honest to Man: p139
McCabe, The Social Record of Christianity: p27
9. Knight, Honest to Man: p139
McCabe, The Social Record of Christianity: p26
10. Knight, Honest to Man: p139
11. Mack, The Christian Myth: p184
Mannix, Black Cargoes: p2-3
12. Fisher, A History of Europe: p1121
13. Knight, Honest to Man: p142
McCabe, The Social Record of Christianity: p111-112
Phelips, The Churches and Modern Thought: p27
14. McCabe, The Social Record of Christianity: p110-111
15. Knight, Honest to Man: p142
16. Ibid: p143
17. Ibid: p143
18. Knight, Honest to Man: p143
19. Mack, The Christian Myth: p185
20. Bradlaugh, Humanity's Gain From Unbelief: p10
21. Ibid: p10
22. Phelips, The Churches and Modern Thought: p296
23. Knight, Honest to Man: p141,143,144
24. Comay & Brownrigg: Who's Who in the Bible: p77
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Killing all the men and enslaving all the women in Deuteronomy 20:13-14.
Human equality and the liberation of slaves in Islam:
The sections of this article are:
1- How does Islam view slaves?
2- The liberation of Slaves in Islam.
3- Can a Slave request his freedom from his Muslim owner?
4- Conclusion.
The religion of Islam is a very beautiful religion when it comes to human equality and to liberation of slaves. When Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him brought Islam to his people from Allah Almighty, they used to practice the Judeo-Christian and Pagan slavery. They used to buy and sell slaves, abuse them, and flog them to death if slaves disobey. The Muslims had fought long and bloody battles against the Pagan Arabs to liberate slaves and women.
1- How does Islam view slaves?
Islam commands the Muslims to love and respect slaves and to treat them with kindness.
Let us look at Noble Verse 2:177 "It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces Towards east or West; but it is righteousness to believe in God and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity; to fulfil the contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth, the God-fearing." In this Noble Verse, we see that Allah Almighty orders Muslims to spend from their money and wealth and to give with love and respect the kin, orphans, the needy, the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for slaves. Muslims have to help those who need it in their community.
Let us look at Noble Verse 2:221 "Do not marry unbelieving women (idolaters), until they believe: A slave woman who believes is better than an unbelieving woman, even though she allures you. Nor marry (your girls) to unbelievers until they believe: A man slave who believes is better than an unbeliever, even though he allures you. Unbelievers do (but) beckon you to the Fire. But God beckons by His Grace to the Garden (of bliss) and forgiveness, and makes His Signs clear to mankind: That they may celebrate His praise." In this Noble Verse, we see that Allah Almighty in some cases considers a slave to be better than a free human being. Allah Almighty orders Muslims not to marry from the Pagans, and He tells us that a slave Muslim (who is owned by a non Muslim) is better than a non believer, even if that non believer was beautiful.
Let us look at Noble Verse 24:31 "And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye Believers! turn ye all together towards God, that ye may attain Bliss." In this Noble Verse, we see that Allah Almighty orders the Muslim women to guard their modesty and not to display their beauty to strangers. However, the Muslim women are allowed to display their beauty to their husbands, relatives, other women, and their slaves. This Noble Verse clearly shows a full respect to the slaves by allowing the Muslim women to display their beauty to them.
Some teachings from Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him:
Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: "When the slave of anyone amongst you prepares food for him and he serves him after having sat close to (and undergoing the hardship of) heat and smoke, he should make him (the slave) sit along with him and make him eat (along with him), and if the food seems to run short, then he should spare some portion for him (from his own share) - (another narrator) Dawud said:" i. e. a morsel or two". 4097. (Translation of Sahih Muslim, The Book of Oaths (Kitab Al-Aiman), Book 015, Number 4096)"
Narrated Al-Ma'rur: "At Ar-Rabadha I met Abu Dhar who was wearing a cloak, and his slave, too, was wearing a similar one. I asked about the reason for it. He replied, "I abused a person by calling his mother with bad names." The Prophet said to me, 'O Abu Dhar! Did you abuse him by calling his mother with bad names You still have some characteristics of ignorance. Your slaves are your brothers and Allah has put them under your command. So whoever has a brother under his command should feed him of what he eats and dress him of what he wears. Do not ask them (slaves) to do things beyond their capacity (power) and if you do so, then help them.' (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Belief, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 29)"
Narrated Anas: "The Prophet said, 'None of you will have faith till he wishes for his (Muslim) brother [this includes slaves, since a slave is considered a brother as shown above] what he likes for himself.' (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Belief, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 12)"
Narrated Abu Musa: "Some people asked Allah's Apostle, 'Whose Islam is the best? i.e. (Who is a very good Muslim)?' He replied, 'One who avoids harming the Muslims with his tongue and hands.' (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Belief, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 10)"
Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Amr: "A man asked the Prophet, 'What sort of deeds or (what qualities of) Islam are good?' The Prophet replied, 'To feed (the poor) and greet those whom you know and those whom you do not Know.' (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Belief, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 11)"
Please visit: The gradual ending of slavery in Islam.
2- The Liberation of Slaves in Islam:
The reason why Muslims had slaves is because when Islam was still weak and growing, the Arab Pagans' tribes used to launch continuous attacks on the Muslims to destroy Islam once and for all. Muslims had entered many bloody and vicious battles against the non believers which had cost both sides many lives from the men. When the Muslims used to enter a city after defeating its army, they would face a new dilemma. They often meet hundreds of non believing women and young children and elderly left without any support because their men had died in the battle field.
For this reason, Allah Almighty allowed for the Muslims to take those people as slaves to help them survive. Keep in mind that during that time, the Muslims didn't have an Islamic government and welfare system to take care of the orphans and widows from the non believers. The Muslims had to take care of them from their own means.
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him ordered the Muslims to be very sensitive to their slaves. He ordered the Muslims to buy the slave young boys and girls the same quality of clothes and gifts that they would buy for their children. He also ordered Muslims not to hit or be violent to adult slaves. He ordered Muslims to be loving and caring for them.
Prophet Muhammad also urged wealthy Muslims to buy slaves from the Pagan Arabs and to let them free after that. One of Prophet Muhammad's best friends was a slave from Africa called Bilal Al-Habashi. Bilal was bought from his Pagan master by Abu Baker Al-Siddeek, one of Muhammad's best friends. After Abu Baker bought Bilal, he set him free.
Islam as I mentioned in the introduction came to fight slavery. Allah Almighty ordered the Muslims to gradually liberate slaves and to give them their freedom in many cases.
Let us look at Noble Verse 4:92 "Never should a believer kill a believer; but (If it so happens) by mistake, (Compensation is due): If one (so) kills a believer, it is ordained that he should free a believing slave, and pay compensation to the deceased's family, unless they remit it freely. If the deceased belonged to a people at war with you, and he was a believer, the freeing of a believing slave (Is enough). If he belonged to a people with whom ye have treaty of Mutual alliance, compensation should be paid to his family, and a believing slave be freed. For those who find this beyond their means, (is prescribed) a fast for two months running: by way of repentance to God: for God hath all knowledge and all wisdom." In this Noble Verse, we see that Allah Almighty ordered to free a believing slave if a Muslim accidentally kills another Muslim. This Noble Verse came to encourage Muslims to liberate slaves.
Let us look at Noble Verse 5:89 "God will not call you to account for what is futile in your oaths, but He will call you to account for your deliberate oaths: for expiation, feed ten indigent persons, on a scale of the average for the food of your families; or clothe them; or give a slave his freedom. If that is beyond your means, fast for three days. That is the expiation for the oaths ye have sworn. But keep to your oaths. Thus doth God make clear to you His signs, that ye may be grateful." This Noble Verse is also another proof that Allah Almighty did encourage Muslims to liberate slaves.
Let us look at Noble Verse 58:3 "But those who divorce their wives by Zihar, then wish to go back on the words they uttered, (It is ordained that such a one) should free a slave before they touch each other: Thus are ye admonished to perform: and God is well-acquainted with (all) that ye do." This Noble Verse is another proof that Allah Almighty did encourage Muslims to liberate slaves.
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)"
Narrated Asma: "No doubt the Prophet ordered people to manumit slaves during the solar eclipse. (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Eclipses, Volume 2, Book 18, Number 163)"
"'Abdullah b. 'Umar reported that 'Umar b. Khattab asked the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) as he was at ji'rana (a town near Mecca) on his way back from Ta'if: Messenger of Allah, I had taken a vow during the days of Ignorance that I would observe I'tikaf for one day in the Sacred Mosque. So what is your opinion? He said: Go and observe I'tikaf for a day. And Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) gave him a slave girl out of the one-fifth (of the spoils of war meant for the Holy Prophet). And when Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) set the war prisoners free. 'Umar b. Khattab heard their voice as they were saying: Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) has set us free. He (Hadrat 'Umar) said: What is this? They said: Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) has set free the prisoners of war (which had fallen to the lot of people). Thereupon he (Hadrat 'Umar) said: Abdullah, go to that slave-girl and set her free. (Translation of Sahih Muslim, The Book of Oaths (Kitab Al-Aiman), Book 015, Number 4074)"
If a Muslim beats his slave or slaps him on the face, then he must set him free:
"Zadhan reported that Ibn Umar called his slave and he found the marks (of beating) upon his back. He said to him: I have caused you pain. He said: No. But he (Ibn Umar) said: You are free. He then took hold of something from the earth and said: There is no reward for me even to the weight equal to it. I heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: He who beats a slave without cognizable offence of his or slaps him, then expiation for it is that he should set him free. (Translation of Sahih Muslim, The Book of Oaths (Kitab Al-Aiman), Book 015, Number 4079)"
"Abu Mas'ud reported that he had been beating his slave and he had been saying: "I seek refuge with Allah, but he continued beating him, whereupon he said: I seek refuge with Allah's Messenger, and he spared him. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: By Allah, God has more dominance over you than you have over him (the slave). He said that he set him free. This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Shu'ba with the same chain of transmitters, but made no mention of (these words) of his: I seek refuge with Allah, I seek refuge with Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him). (Translation of Sahih Muslim, The Book of Oaths (Kitab Al-Aiman), Book 015, Number 4089)"
More on freeing slaves:
Narrated Salamah ibn Sakhr al-Bayadi: "I was a man who was more given than others to sexual intercourse with women. When the month of Ramadan came, I feared lest I should have intercourse with my wife, and this evil should remain with me till the morning. So I made my wife like my mother's back to me till the end of Ramadan. But one night when she was waiting upon me, something of her was revealed. Suddenly I jumped upon her. When the morning came I went to my people and informed them about this matter. I said: Go along with me to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). They said: No, by Allah. So I went to the Prophet (peace be upon him and informed him of the matter. He said: Have you really committed it, Salamah? I said: I committed it twice, Apostle of Allah. I am ******* with the Commandment of Allah, the Exalted; so take a decision about me according to what Allah has shown you. He said: Free a slave. I said: By Him Who sent you with truth, I do not possess a neck other than this: and I struck the surface of my neck. He said: Then fast two consecutive months. I said: Whatever I suffered is due to fasting. He said: Feed sixty poor people with a wasq of dates. I said: By Him Who sent you with truth, we passed the night hungry; there was no food in our house. He said: Then go to the collector of sadaqah of Banu Zurayq; he must give it to you. Then feed sixty poor people with a wasq of dates; and you and your family eat the remaining dates. Then I came back to my people, and said (to them): I found with you poverty and bad opinion; and I found with the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) prosperity and good opinion. He has commanded me to give alms to you. Ibn al-Ala' added: Ibn Idris said: Bayadah is a sub-clan of Banu Zurayq. (Translation of Sunan Abu-Dawud, Divorce (Kitab Al-Talaq), Book 12, Number 2207)"
Narrated Khuwaylah, daughter of Malik ibn Tha'labah: "My husband, Aws ibn as-Samit, pronounced the words: You are like my mother. So I came to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him), complaining to him about my husband. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) disputed with me and said: Remain dutiful to Allah; he is your cousin. I continued (complaining) until the Qur'anic verse came down: "Allah hath heard the words of her who disputeth with thee concerning her husband...." till the pre******ion of expiation. He then said: He should set free a slave. She said: He cannot afford it. He said: He should fast for two consecutive months. She said: Apostle of Allah, he is an old man; he cannot keep fasts. He said: He should feed sixty poor people. She said: He has nothing which he may give in alms. At that moment an araq (i.e. date-basket holding fifteen or sixteen sa's) was brought to him. I said: I shall help him with another date-basked ('araq). He said: You have done well. Go and feed sixty poor people on his behalf, and return to your cousin. The narrator said: An araq holds sixty sa's of dates. (Translation of Sunan Abu-Dawud, Divorce (Kitab Al-Talaq), Book 12, Number 2208)"
There are a lot more Noble Verses from the Noble Quran and Sayings from our beloved Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him that push for freeing of slaves. The Islamic attitude toward slaves is very clear and straight forward: All slaves are eventually to be freed! And they were all freed during the times of Islam from the Judeo-Christian and Pagan slavery.
Again, please visit: The gradual ending of slavery in Islam.
3- Can a slave request his freedom from his Muslim owner?
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. Let us now see the Islamic System toward Slaves:
Slaves can request and get their freedom from their Muslim Masters:
Yes slaves were taken from the blood-thirsty and hostile enemies, but they were also given the right to get their freedom when ever they want. The Noble Quran not only allows slaves to request their freedom from their Muslim masters, but also orders the Muslim masters to pay the slaves money to help them stand on their feet and to be able to face life with a good jump start.
Let us look at Noble Verse 24:33 "Let those who find not the wherewithal for marriage keep themselves chaste, until God gives them means out of His grace. And if any of your slaves ask for a deed in writing (to enable them to earn their freedom for a certain sum), give them such a deed if ye know any good in them: yea, give them something yourselves out of the means which God has given to you. But force not your maids to prostitution when they desire chastity, in order that ye may make a gain in the goods of this life. But if anyone compels them, yet, after such compulsion, is God, Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful (to them)," In this Noble Verse, we see that if a slave requests his freedom from his Muslim master, then his master not only must help him earn his freedom if there is good in the Slave, but also pay him money so the slave can have a good start in his free life.
"The law of slavery in the legal sense of the term is now obsolete. While it had any meaning, Islam made the slave's lot as easy as possible. A slave, male or female, could ask for conditional manumission by a written deed fixing the amount required for manumission and allowing the slave meanwhile to earn money by lawful means and perhaps marry and bring up a family. Such a deed was not to be refused if the request was genuine and the slave had character. Not only that, but the master is directed to help with money out of his own resources in order to enable the slave to earn his or her own liberty." [2]
Again, the Prophet 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)"
4- Conclusion:
Islam is a very merciful religion on slaves. Islam came and fought many bloody battles against the Arabs who believed in slavery and who brutally enslaved many people. Islam also sees the importance of liberating slaves, and had helped to gradually liberate slaves until all of them were ultimately freed. Islam allows for any slave to request from his Muslim owner his freedom, and orders the Muslim owner to grant that slave his freedom and to pay him money on top of it to help him get a good start in his new free life.
Please visit: Slavery in the Bible. Total humiliation and despising to slaves in both the Old Testament and the New Testament in the Bible.
Bibliography:
1- The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an.
Author: Abdullah Yusuf Ali.
Published by: Amana Publications, 10710 Tucker Street, Suite B, Beltsville, Maryland 20705-2223 USA.
Telephone: (301) 595-5777.
Fax: (301) 595-5888.
ISBN: 0-91597-59-0 (HC).
2- The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an [1]. Foot note #2991, page 875.
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