Slavery in Islam notes
Slavery in Islam: Islamic Law vs Western Systems Explained
This page collects useful resources on the topic of slavery in Islam, including scholarly lectures, articles, hadith references, and answers to common objections about slave treatment, emancipation, concubinage, and rape.
Main Lectures and Articles
Yaqeen Institute:
This lecture discusses one of the main problems in modern discussions about slavery: people often assume they already know what slavery means, while the historical reality is more complex. Dr. Jonathan Brown addresses the definitions, assumptions, and historical categories involved in the discussion.
Video Resources
Hadiths on Slavery
Islam did not leave enslaved people without rights. The hadith literature contains several narrations commanding good treatment, prohibiting mistreatment, encouraging emancipation, and attaching spiritual reward to freeing slaves.
“The Messenger of Allah said: ‘They are your brothers whom Allah has put under your control, so feed them with the same food that you eat, clothe them with the same clothes you wear, and do not burden them with so much that they are overwhelmed; if you do burden them, then help them.’”
Source: Sunan Ibn Majah 3690
“No person who mistreats his slave will enter Paradise.”
Source: Sunan Ibn Majah 3691
“The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Whoever sets free his share of a slave, and he has sufficient wealth to set him free completely by paying the price of the slave, then he should set him free with his own wealth.’”
Source: Sunan an-Nasa’i 4705
“The Prophet ﷺ ordered us to free slaves at the time of solar eclipses.”
Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 2519
“I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying: ‘Whoever frees a believing slave, then Allah frees a limb from the Fire for each of his limbs, such that He frees his private parts in lieu of his private parts.’”
Source: Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 1541
Additional hadith references:
Islamic Law and Slave Reparations
This article discusses whether Islamic law has any framework relevant to the modern question of reparations for slavery.
Concubinage and Intimacy with Slave Women
Concubinage was a legal category connected to war captivity and ownership under pre-modern legal systems. It was not identical to modern illegal trafficking, nor was it identical to free marriage. Any serious discussion must distinguish between historical legal categories and modern assumptions.
Slavery and Rape in Islam
The question asks whether Islam allows sexual relationships with female slaves and whether this means rape is permitted.
The answer states clearly that slavery is detestable and rape is prohibited in Islam. It explains that slavery existed before Islam and was usually connected to war captives in pre-modern societies. Islam regulated the institution, gave rights to enslaved people, prohibited abuse, encouraged liberation, and treated concubinage as a legal category with rights and responsibilities under law.
The key point is that rape is not permitted in Islam, and concubinage cannot be equated with unrestricted sexual violence.
Historical Images and Supporting Material
The following images may be useful for visual or historical sections connected to slavery, abolition, Ottoman history, or Muslim legal responses.
This image can be used in a historical discussion of slavery, abolition, or legal reforms in Muslim societies.
This image appears to be supporting visual material for the broader slavery discussion.
This image appears to continue the same visual or historical theme.
This image may be used when discussing abolition or slavery-related reforms in Tunisia.
This scan should be placed next to the specific argument it supports.
This scan should be placed next to the specific argument it supports.
This scan should be placed next to the specific argument it supports.
This scan should be placed next to the specific argument it supports.
Conclusion
The strongest approach is to distinguish between pre-modern slavery, Western colonial chattel slavery, war captivity, concubinage, manumission, and modern human trafficking. Mixing all of these into one category creates confusion and leads to weak objections.
The resources above provide a foundation for answering common claims about slavery in Islam, especially accusations involving abuse, rape, concubinage, and the claim that Islam allegedly preserved slavery without reform.
May Allahسُبْحَـٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَـٰلَىٰ have mercy on Syed Ali for making this
Haytham talaat based videos about this:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bvR2F7SfpiI&t=410s
{Embed}
د. هيثم طلعت Dr. Haitham Talaat
Slavery and Right Hand Possession in Islam: Debunking Don’tConvert2…
A true conversation with a newly converted Christian girl: http://www.mediafire.com/file/xcw618aaf938k1h/Islam_Triumph_-_Dr._Haitham_Talaat.pdf/file
Contact Me: haithamsrour41@gmail.com
At this video we EXPOSE Don’tConvert2Islam Ishmael and his naive suspicion about slavery, concubine, right hand possession, captivity, and Ma malakat aymanukum i…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BqM3AyNZjL0&t=7s
{Embed}
د. هيثم طلعت Dr. Haitham Talaat
الرد على شبهة سبايا أوطاس || ومقدمة قصيرة عن ملك اليمين {والمحصنات …
1- نسف شبهة السبي:
2- كتاب الإلحاد يسمم كل شيء؛ الكتاب على هذا الرابط: http://www.mediafire.com/file/0sei4s5qscxojgt/_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AF+%D9%8A%D8%B3%D9%85%D9%85.pdf
أو هذا: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FYp8JuuGcPWuBCZinZrYYq6zRRa2M-rp/view?usp=sharing
لا تنسوا عمل إعجاب للم…
For the Question why didn’t Islam ban slavery ?
Answer: Muslims fought every empire slavery was only through captives if we stop simple we gonna get fd at war because every time they come they know they are going to come back or live
Here is what Gustave Le Bon and Bernard Lewis (who wasn’t a big admirer of Islam) said regarding slavery under Islam.
Here is what an Orientalist, R.V.C. Bodley said regarding the Prophet’s instructions on how to treat the slaves
Elaborating furthermore from the image above.
There is a huge difference in how slavery was practiced in the post-colonial secular West and slavery in general before this time, going back to the ancient Arabs, Romans and Greeks (treated like members of the family, even being adopted). For example, a worker in post-industrial England could be sent to jail for showing up late to work.
Source: Eltis, David, and Stanley L. Engerman. “Dependence, servility, and coerced labor in time and space.” The Cambridge world history of slavery, AD (2011), page 3
Much of post-slavery Europe still wasn’t free despite them “banning slavery” they still treated those “freemen” as slaves. All that happened is that they became serfs (pretty much the same as a slave; just not property, but still bound by contracts).
(Eltis, 2009, pg 6)
Meanwhile under Islam, unlike in the West, a slave could become a king if he had the merits to do so, and this happened frequently. All the intelligent ones were appointed to positions of power.
Source: Levy, Reuben. The social structure of Islam. CUP Archive, (1957). page 74
In the Islamic/devshirme system, slaves could occupy any hierarchy in society even one above a freeman. A concept unthinkable to the West, where slaves only occupied the very bottom
Source: Erdem, Y. Slavery in the Ottoman Empire and its Demise 1800-1909. Springer, (1996). page 1
It was normal for Muslim masters to help their slaves secure a future by getting them connections.
Source: Kunt, Metin Ibrahim. “Ethnic-regional (cins) solidarity in the seventeenth-century Ottoman establishment.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 5.3 (1974). page 233
Their masters would help them build their careers, and then those slaves would also help other slaves build their careers once they were successful. Many of them who held government positions, reinvested back in their original homeland.
(Kunt, 1974, pg 235-236)
attachments/clig-bf5f378e149e81f6.png
While slaves in the Ottoman Empire had the right to healthcare. Slaves under Europeans were forced to work in poisonous mines without any breaks. European slavers were enslaved back in return by Barbary pirates.
(Etlis, 2011b, pg 143-144)
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/779881680608821278/779897569223376916/EPlIU5WU0AEDCo0.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/779881680608821278/779897580506972221/EPlIU9GVAAEEgZM.png
Fun fact, the Mamluks were the mighty “slave” warriors who converted to Islam, then fought and defeated the notorious Mongols and the crusaders, they established a very successful dynasty that for lasted 300 years.
(P.18, Cambridge Press. Mongols and Mamluks(
Slavery and Islam: What is Slavery?-By Abdullah Hamid Ali & Jonathan Brown
https://yaqeeninstitute.org/jonathan-brown/slavery-and-islam-what-is-slavery
What does Islam teach about slavery?-By Abu Amina Elias
https://abuaminaelias.com/islam-and-slavery/
What does Islam teach about concubines?-By Abu Amina Elias
https://abuaminaelias.com/islam-and-concubines/
Sexual consent, marriage, and concubines in Islam-By Abu Amina Elias
https://abuaminaelias.com/consent-marriage-concubines/
ISLAM AND SLAVERY - UNSHACKLING THE TRUTH-By MercifulServant
{Embed}
https://yaqeeninstitute.org/jonathan-brown/slavery-and-islam-what-is-slavery
Slavery and Islam: What is Slavery? | Yaqeen Institute for Islamic …
Is there slavery in Islam? When people pose this question they usually assume it’s the Islam part that needs clarification. Everyone already knows what slavery is. Actually, it’s quite the opposite.
Kufrcleaner Library 📚 - ■Refutations - slavery [1311391131765968896].txt_Files\i.yaqeeninstitute-2613d307aea044ce.org
{
How Islam abolished pre-Islamic & Western colonial chattel slavery-By Abdullah al Andalusi
Hadiths on slavery:
https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah/33/34
https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah/33/35
https://sunnah.com/nasai/44/251
https://sunnah.com/bukhari/49/3
https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi/20/20
https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah/9/140
Al Imam Al Shafii says in Al Umm:
وَإِذَا اغْتَصَبَ الرَّجُلُ الْجَارِيَةَ ثُمَّ وَطِئَهَا بَعْدَ الْغَصْبِ وَهُوَ مِنْ غَيْرِ أَهْلِ الْجَهَالَةِ أُخِذَتْ مِنه الْجَارِيَةُ وَالْعُقْرُ وَأُقِيمَ عَلَيْهِ حَدّ الزِّنَا
“If a man forcefully acquired a slave girl and then has intercourse with her thereafter, and he is not ignorant, the slave girl is taken away from him, he is fined, and he is punished for adultery.”
{Embed}
Muslim Debate Initiative
How Islam abolished pre-Islamic & Western colonial chattel slavery …
Did Islam Abolished Slavery in the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammed (saaw)?
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
24th March 2017
Lecture by Abdullah al Andalusi
{Embed}
https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah/33/34
It was narrated that Abu Dhar said:
“The Messenger of Allah said: ‘(Slaves are) your brothers whom Allah has put under your control, so feed them with the same food that you eat, clothe them with the same clothes you wear, and do not burden them with so much that they are overwhelmed; if you do burd
{Embed}
https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah/33/35
It was narrated from Abu Bakr Siddiq(RA) that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said:
“No person who mistreats his slave will enter Paradise.” They said: ” O Messenger of Allah, did you not tell us that this nation will have more slaves and orphans than any other nation?” He said: ” Yes, so be as kind to
{Embed}
https://sunnah.com/nasai/44/251
It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar said:
“The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Whoever sets free his share of a slave, and he has sufficient wealth to set him free completely by paying the price of the slave, then he should set him free with his own wealth.”’
{Embed}
https://sunnah.com/bukhari/49/3
Narrated Asma’ bint Abu Bakr:
The Prophet (ﷺ) ordered us to free slaves at the time of solar eclipses.
Imam Malik said in Al Muwatta:
وَالْعُقُوبَةُ فِي ذَلِكَ عَلَى الْمُغْتَصِبِ وَلَا عُقُوبَةَ عَلَى الْمُغْتَصَبَةِ فِي ذَلِكَ كُلِّهِ
The legal punishment is applied to the rapist and there is no punishment for the woman who was raped in any case.
He said this in the chapter on treating ones slave.
Slavery and Islam by Jonathan A.C. Brown
❤️
On the authority of isaq : i was a slave to omar ibn al-khattab he used to tell meto become muslim, but i refuse. So he would recite the verse ‘Let there be no compulsion in religion” (Qur’an 2:256) and he then tells me if you were to become muslim we would have seeked your help for some of our muslim things”
(Narrated by ibn abi hatim in his tafsir 2/589 no.2760 mentioned by ibn kathir in his tafsir of 2:256 with a hassan isnad also check tababqat al-kubra by ibn sa’d, 6/158-159)
from this hadith we understand that it is impermissible to force a slave to islam, islamweb agrees
The source of slaves is only captures of war (Sahih al-Bukhari 2227), The non Muslims such as old people people who didn’t participate in war like farmers aren’t to be enslaved. The ruler isn’t obligated to enslaved (47:4) the non Muslims dhimis aren’t enslaved (Sahih al-Bukhari 3052)
“The wisdom behind slavery is breaking the evil of the disbelievers and getting them away of fighting field”
[Al-Musu’ah al-fiqhiyah al-Kuwaitiyah 4/196]
Imam an-nawawi writes:
“And the scholars have agreed that it is permissible to free a non Muslim slave they differed in al-kaffarat (expantion of sins) that are non related to killing the jumhoor said it isn’t permissible although Abu Hanifa and the kufiun said it is permissible”
[Al-Minhaj fi Sharh Sahih Muslim Bin Hajaj (5/34)]
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Lor8ltQE0vo
{Embed}
Sirat Al Mustaqeem
Girl Asks Does Quran Permit Intercourse With Maiden Slaves Without …
Question :
Does Islam permit having intercourse with maiden slaves (those whom right hand possess)?
Referenced from Surah Al Ma’rij 70:30
In Islamic Fiqh, Female Slaves are divided into categories..
-
Amah (a female slave)
-
Milkul Yameen (that which right hand process)
-
Ummul Walad (mother of child)
The master of the female slave h…
Abdullah ibn Amr reported: Zinba’ Abi Rawh found his servant boy with a servant girl, so he maimed his nose and castrated him. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, came and he said, “Who did this to you?” The boy said, “Zinba’.” The Prophet summoned Zinba’ and he said, “What made you do this?” Zinba’ said, “He was misbehaving in such a way.” The Prophet said to the slave, “Go, for you are free.” Zinba’ said, “Am I not his guardian?” The Prophet said, “His guardian is Allah and His Messenger.”
Source: Musnad Aḥmad 6710
Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Ahmad Shakir
Ruling on the child of the slave
Generally the slave follows the mother in slavery and father in freedom if the master and slave get a child he is free if he is from another guy he is freed when the master dies and he has the choice to free him. This is because if he was freed he would have no one up to take care of him as a child and he can’t be taken away from his mother. Although if the slave made it a condition then all of her children being free they’ll be free.
Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Uthaymīn (d. 1421 AH) states:
” also if his mother was a slave and he is the son of the owner he is free, and also if his mother was a slave and a free man had intercourse with without knowing he is a slave he is free, and if she made it a condition that all her children be free then he is free ”
-📓 [Al-Mumti’ | 14/137]
And if it is with a contracted slave (mukatibah) and she died before paying the duty then he continues paying it then he is free.
An important thing to mention the same concept exists in war captives if we can justify slavery through war captives then this is justified.
We should also keep this in mind that anything that is going to cause greater harm should obligatory be avoided if not freeing them at a time causes chaos then it is obligatory to free them.
Why don’t you go enslave people today if slavery is permissible
Slavery is not mandatory for a Muslim to practice. In Islam the only way a slave can be obtained nowadays is through warfare. Even then the Imam or leader of the country can say “no slavery” just like how Umar ra didn’t chop the thieves’ hands while he was caliph due to the circumstances of the time
” it isn’t permissible to capture those who there is no fear of leaving, the school of thought of the hanafis and hanbalis and the most apparent in the shaf’i school: that those who cause no harm aren’t to be captured like the old man the zamin the blind and the priest. ” from this we understand those who didn’t fight on the battle field for example are in their homes aren’t to be enslaved
Even if enslaving isn’t an obligation as we mentioned