Misconception about Slavery
The slavery system among Muslims in many aspects was different from other societies, and what many people envision about slavery according to practices among the Greeks, Romans and European colonialists. Islam initially accepted the slavery system because it was an accepted and necessary part of the economic and social conditions in those times. The system of slavery was a worldwide phenomenon with many vital sectors of livelihood dependent on slave labor. Slavery was accepted and recognized in the previous religions. As it is stated in the Bible:
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When you come neigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.
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And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.
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And if it will make no peace with thee, but it will make war against thee, then thou shall besiege it.
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And when the Lord Thy God has delivered it into thine hands, thou shall smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword.
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But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shall you take unto yourself, and you shall eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God has given thee.
Thus shall you do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.
But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God does give you for an inheritance, you shall save alive that breathes.
But you shall utterly destroy them.. [Deuteronomy 20:10-17] And a master in the Judaic Law could even beat his slave to death as this next text states:
And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he [the slave] continue [to live] a day or two, he [the slave owner] shall not be punished: for he [the slave] is his money [property].. [King James Version Exodus 21:20-21]
Nowhere are there any indications in the Bible about the prohibition of slavery and this lead many to boldly proclaim, as Jefferson Davis the president of the Confederate States of America said: “[Slavery] was established by decree of Almighty God…it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation…it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts..126 Considering this world environment, the Islamic law followed a long-term and gradual plan to eliminate slavery from society.
In brief, we can say that Islam did not legalize and encourage slavery but rather established laws and regulations that contributed significantly and effectively to help restrict the sources of slavery and liberate slaves once and for all.