captured, and owned slaves himself. But he insisted that slave owners
treat their slaves well and stressed thevirtue of freeing slaves.
There are two different ways of interpreting this:
*. some modern writers believe that Muhammad intended his teachings to
lead to the gradual end of slavery by limiting opportunities to
acquire new slaves and allowing existing slaves to become free. This
idea doesn't appear in early writings.
*. others writers argue that by regulating slavery the Prophet gave
his authority to its continued existence, and that by having slaves
himself he showed his approval
Muhammad treated slaves as human beings and clearly held some in the
highest esteem.
For example, he personally ensured the freedom of Bilal, an African
slave who had convertedto Islam. Bilal was chosen as the first muezzin
of Islam because ofhis beautiful voice. A muezzin is the person who
calls the community to the daily prayers, and is a position of great
prominence and responsibility.
Zayd was a young boy who had grown up in the household of the Prophet
as a slave, and remained with the household, almost as an adopted son,
even after he was freed. He was amongst the first four people to adopt
Islam. Indeed when Zayd'sfather (a wealthy nobleman) tracked his son
down and offered to buy his freedom from Muhammad, Muhammad told Zayd
that he was free to go withhis father with no money changing hands,
and to his father's astonishment Zayd chose to stay with Muhammad.
The Prophet also married a Coptic Christian slave girl.
In his lifetime the Prophet introduced the following rules about slavery:
*. Stated that freeing slaves was the act that God found most acceptable
*. Zakat (charity - the third Pillar of Islam ) was often used by the
state to free slaves
*. Stated that freeing a slave was the appropriate way to gain
forgiveness for certain wrongs
*. Ordered that those who committed certain wrongs should be penalised
by having to free their slaves
*. Stated that slaves should be allowed to buy their freedom, and if
necessary should be given the opportunity to earn money, or be lent
money by the state, in order to do so
*. Allowed slaves to be freed in certain circumstances
*. Stated that slaves' contracts should be interpreted in favourof the slaves
*. Stated that the duty of kindness towards slaves was the same of
that towards family, neighbours and others
*. Stated that when a slave owner had a child with a female slave, the
child should be freed and could inherit from their father like any
otherchild (as in the case of Ibrahim )
There are a number of hadith that show that the Prophet treated slaves
well and expected others to do the same...
He will not enter Paradise who behaveth ill to his slaves. The
Companions said, 'O Apostle of God! have you not told us, that there
will be a great many slavesand orphans amongst your disciples?' He
said, 'Yes; then be kind to them as to your own children, and give
them to eat what you eat yourselves. The slaves that say their prayers
are your brothers.
Be kind to slaves as to your own children...and those that say their
prayers are your brethren.
They (slaves or servants) are your brothers, and Allah has put them
under your command. So the one under whose hand Allahhas put his
brother, should feed him of what he eats, and give him dresses of what
he wears, and should not ask him to do a thing beyond his capacity.
And ifat all he asks him to do a hard task, he should help him
therein.'
'There are three categories of people against whom I shall myself be a
plaintiff on the Day of Judgement. Of these three, one is he who
enslaves a free man, then sells him and eats this money'.
al-Bukhari and Ibn Majjah
Narrated Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari:"The Prophet said, 'Give food to the
hungry, pay a visit to the sickand release (set free) the one in
captivity (by paying his ransom).'"
Bukhari/
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