Muhammad and slavery

Muhammad is regarded by Muslims as the last prophet of God. Secularly, he was also regarded as a political figure who unified many of the tribes and city states of Arabia and brought many reforms to pre-Islamic Arab society. One was slavery which, although he did not abolish, was instituted in a different fashion and with various reforms than other civilizations.

Islam and slavery

The major juristic schools of Islam have historically accepted the institution of slavery.^[1] Muhammad and those of the Sahaba (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 Byzantium 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 enslaved to 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]. One of Muhammad's slaves was reportedly employed as his tailor.^[5] He took, purchased, sold, and gave away slaves. According to Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya, he 'had many male and female slaves, he used to buy and sell them, and he purchased more slaves than he sold'.^[6]

Female slaves

• Safiyya bint Huyayy,^[7] according to Islamic account 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 a Byzantine official. She gave birth to Ibrahim ibn Muhammad^[7] whom Muhammad loved dearly. Some sources indicate that she was freed and became Muhammad's wife, while other sources dispute this.^[8]
• 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.^[7]

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.^[9]

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. ^ Vol. 7-#344 and #346
6. ^ Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, "Zad al-Ma'ad", part 1, p160
7. ^ ^{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
8. ^ from "Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir" (Book of the Major Classes) by Ibn Sa'd's
9. ^ 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