Muhammad's views on slavery

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Muhammad's views on slavery were distinct from those of pre-Islamic Arab society. Because of his influence, slavery began to be practiced differently both from previous Arab practice and from that of other civilizations.

Islam and slavery

Main articles: Islam and slavery, Ma malakat aymanukum, and Ma malakat aymanukum and sex

The major juristic schools of Islam have historically accepted the institution of slavery.^[1] Muhammad and those of the Sahabah (companions) who could afford it themselves owned slaves, freed many, and some of them acquired more from prisoners of war. Arabian slaves did benefit from the Islamic dispensations, which enormously improved their position through the reforms of a humanitarian tendency both at the time of Muhammad and the later early caliphs.^[1]

In Sharia (Islamic law), the topic of Islam and slavery is covered at great length. The legal legislations brought two major changes to the practice of slavery inherited from antiquity, from Ancient Rome, and from the Byzantine Empire, which were to have far-reaching effects.^[1] The Qur'an considers emancipation of a slave to be a highly meritorious deed, or as a condition of repentance for many sins. The Qur'an and Hadith contain numerous passages supporting this view. Muslim jurists considered slavery to be an exceptional circumstance, with the basic assumption of freedom until proven otherwise.

Furthermore, as opposed to pre-Islamic slavery, enslavement was limited to two scenarios: capture in war, or birth to two slave parents (birth to parents where one was free and the other not so would render the offspring free).^[2]

People personally freed by Muhammad

Muhammad encouraged manumission of slaves, even if one had to purchase them first. Traditional biographies of Muhammad give many examples where Muhammad's companions, at his direction, freed slaves in abundance. Abul Ala Maududi reports that Muhammad freed as many as 63 slaves.^[3] Meer Ismail, a medieval historian, writes in Buloogh al Muram that his household and friends freed 39,237 slaves.^[4]

It was a practice and tradition of Muhammad to release from captivity those females who would face the risk of being disgraced or humiliated as a result of being held as captives or slaves, and those who came from respected backgrounds that were known for their philanthropic contributions to the general masses, regardless if their charitable deeds benefited Muslims or non-Muslims.

During the lifetime of Muhammad, the tribe of Tayy that lived to the northeast of the city of Medina, engaged in banditry and highway robbery, and came in conflict with the Muslims of Medina, which led to battles between them that led to the Tayy's defeat, and the subsequent captivity of some of their tribes folk.

Abū Ḥāmed Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Ghazālī narrated in his Ihya' ulum al-din (Ihya'e Ulumuddin, The Revival of Religious Sciences), that when the daughter of Hatim al-Tai, Safana bint Hatem, was taken as a captive, she came to Muhammad asking for her release, and not to be made a subject of humiliation amongst the various Arab quarters, as her father, Hatim al-Tai, was a person who used to aid the needy, feed the hungry, spread greetings, free slaves, and never refused an assisting request; to which Muhammad replied that these described qualities of her father are those of the believers, and if her father was a Muslim then indeed he would have asked for (Divine) mercy on him. He then asked his companions to release her stating that her father loved the noble-character, and God loves the noble-character.

Female slaves

• Safiyya bint Huyayy,^[5] according to Islamic accounts she adopted Islam and became a wife of Muhammad. She lived more than a decade after him as a widow and became involved in the first power politics of the early Muslim community and left a large inheritance to her Jewish family.
• Maria al-Qibtiyya, a Coptic slave given to Muhammad by Muqawqis, a Byzantine official. She gave birth to Ibrahim ibn Muhammad^[5] whom Muhammad loved dearly. Some sources indicate that she was freed and became Muhammad's wife, while other sources dispute this.^[6]
• Sirin, Maria's sister. He gave her to the poet Hassan ibn Thabit who later freed and married her.
• Rayhana, captured after siege of Banu Qurayza.^[5]

Male slaves

• Zayd ibn Harithah, was freed to become Muhammad's adopted son, until adoption was replaced with guardianship in Islam, upon which Muhammad became his guardian.^[7]
• Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi, was an Abyssinian slave that first belonged to Umayyah ibn Khalaf until he was freed by Abu Bakr after converting to Islam. He then became Islam's first Muezzin.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Lewis 1994, Ch.1
2. ^ Brunschvig. 'Abd; Encyclopedia of Islam
3. ^ 'Human Rights in Islam'. Published by The Islamic Foundation (1976) - Leicester, U.K.
4. ^ Nadvi (2000), pg. 453
5. ^ ^{a b c} Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya recorded the list of some names of Muhammad's female-slaves in Zad al-Ma'ad, Part I, p. 116
6. ^ from "Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir" (Book of the Major Classes) by Ibn Sa'd's
7. ^ Q20

• Levy, Reuben (Professor of Persian at the University of Cambridge). "The Social Structure of Islam". Cambridge University Press, 1969.
• Schacht, Joseph. An Introduction to Islamic Law. Clarendon Paperbacks, 1982. ISBN 0-19-825473