13. How does Islam attest slavery?
Some people criticize Islam as to why this divine religion, with all its
distinguished human values, did not abrogate slavery in its entirety
and announce the freedom of all slaves by means of one decisive
and general decree.
It is true that Islam has made numerous recommendations with
respect to slaves, but what is of prime importance is their
unconditional liberty and freedom. Why should a human be owned
by another human and lose his freedom - the greatest divine gift?
In one short sentence it can be said that Islam has chalked out an
accurate schedule for the freedom of slaves such that eventually not
only would all of them gradually become free, but at the same time,
this would take place without causing any adverse reaction within
the society.
Islam’s Strategy for Liberating Slaves
Something that is not usually taken into account is that if an
erroneous system penetrates into a society, it takes time to uproot
it, and any uncalculated step would only yield an opposite result.
This is similar to a person, who is afflicted with a dangerous disease
which has reached a very advanced stage of its existence, or an
addict, who has been addicted to drugs for decades; in such cases, it
is imperative to employ phased and scheduled programs.
Speaking more plainly, if Islam, by means of one general order, had
ordered the people to free all the slaves in one stroke, it was
possible that most of the slaves might have possibly perished since,
at times, they constituted nearly half of the population of the
society. Coupled with this was the fact that, they had no source of
income, no independent work, no dwelling and no means to lead
their lives.
If all the slaves were to have become free on one day and at one
particular hour, a huge unemployed group would have suddenly
manifested itself within the society such that not only would it have
placed itself in difficulty and endangered its own existence, but
would have also thrown the entire discipline and order of the
society into disarray. This is because when they experienced the
pressures of deprivation, they would have had to resort to violence
and aggression, and this would have led to dissension, skirmishes
and bloodshed.
Therefore, it was vital that they became free and got absorbed into
the society, gradually, so that neither did their own lives fall into
peril nor did they threaten the peace and security of the society -
and it was this calculated strategy that Islam pursued.
There are several parts to this strategy and the most important
points from each of them shall be listed here, although briefly, since
a detailed explanation demands that a separate and independent
book is written for the purpose.
The First Part: Eliminating the Sources of Slavery
Throughout the ages, there have been numerous factors and causes
of slavery. Debtors who were unable to pay off their debts, and
prisoners of war, landed up as slaves. Power and strength provided a
license for procuring slaves. Powerful nations would send their
forces armed with various weapons to the backward nations of the
African continent and other such regions, subjugate their
inhabitants into captivity, transferring them in groups, by means of
ships, to the markets of Asian and European countries.
Islam put its foot down upon these means and approved only one
instance for slavery - prisoners of war. In addition, even this was not
obligatory; it granted permission that, in accordance with the general welfare and expediencies they could be set free, either unconditionally or after payment of ransom.
In those days there were no prisons in which the prisoners of war
could be held till their affairs were sorted out and hence, there lay
no alternative except to retain them, by distributing them amongst
the families as slaves.
It is self-evident that when these circumstances change, there exists
no reason for the leader of the Muslims to adhere to the ruling of
slavery in connection with the prisoners of war; rather, he is at
liberty to set them free by way of favour or ransom. In this regard,
Islam has authorized the leader of the Muslims to take into
consideration the general welfare and all-round interests and then
choose the course of action necessary. In this manner, the causes
leading to further slavery were almost completely eliminated.
The Second Part: Opening the Door Towards freedom
Islam has chalked out an elaborate program for the freedom of
slaves, and had the Muslims acted upon it, it would not have been
very long before all the slaves had become free and absorbed within
the Islamic society.
The main points of this program:
1. One of the eight instances in which zakat can be expended in
Islam is purchasing slaves and setting them free. In this manner, a
perpetual and continuous budget from the Public Treasury has been
allocated for this purpose and which shall continue till the complete
freedom of all slaves is achieved.
2. In pursuance of the objective, provisions exist in Islam which
permit the slaves to enter into an agreement with their masters and
purchase their freedom by paying them from the wages which they earn (in Islamic jurisprudence, an entire chapter titled Mukatabah, has been devoted to this issue).
3. Freeing slaves is regarded as one of the most important acts of
worship in Islam and the Infallibles always led the way in this
issue, to the extent that in connection with Imam Ali it has
been recorded that:
"He freed a thousand slaves by means of his wages (which he used to
earn)"
4. The Infallibles used to free slaves at the slightest of excuses
so that it serves as an example for the others, to the extent that
when one of the slaves of Imam Baqir performed a good deed,
the Imam said:
"Go, you are now free for I do not approve of a person from the
inmates of Paradise to be my slave (and serve me)."71
It has been narrated in connection with Imam Sajjad that once,
his servant was in the process of pouring water over his head
when the vessel slipped from his hand and injured the Imam .
The Imam looked up at the servant whereupon, the servant
recited:
"…and those who restrain (their) anger."
Hearing this, the Imam said: I have restrained my anger. The
servant recited further"
"…and pardon other people."
The Imam said: May Allah forgive you. The servant continued:
"…and Allah loves the doers of good (to others)"
whereupon the Imam said: ‘Go. For the sake of Allah, you are
(now) free.
5. In some of the traditions it has been stated that the slaves,
after a period of seven years, would become free automatically, as
we read in a tradition that Imam Sadiq said: One, who is a
believer, becomes free after seven years - irrespective of whether
his master approves of it or not. It is not permissible to extract
services from a slave, who is a believer, after seven years.
In this very chapter there is a tradition from the Noble Prophet
wherein he says
"Jibra`il used to make recommendations to me, with respect to the
slaves, so often that I was given to suppose that he would shortly
stipulate a time-period after which they would (automatically)
become free."
6. If a person, who owns a slave in partnership, liberates him in
the ratio of his share in the partnership, he is obliged to purchase
the remaining part of the slave and liberate him fully.
Moreover, if a person who owns a slave fully, frees a portion of the
ownership, this freedom permeates into the other portions too and
the slave becomes completely free, automatically!
7. Whenever one becomes the owner of one’s father, mother,
grand-fathers, sons, paternal and maternal uncles and aunts,
brothers, sisters or nephews, they immediately (and automatically)
become free.
8. If a master fathers a child by way of his slave-girl, it is not
permissible for him to sell her and she must be later set free by
utilizing the son’s share of the inheritance.
This issue became a cause for the freedom of a great number of
slave-girls, since many of the slave-girls were like wives for their
masters and had children from them.
9. In Islam, expiation of many of the sins has been stipulated by
freeing slaves (expiation for unintentional murder, intentional
abandonment of fasts, and for (breaking an) oath are some examples
of this).
10. Some exceptionally harsh punishments have been singled out
(by Islam) whereby if a master were to subject his slave to any of
these, the slave would automatically become free.
- 180 Questions Vol 1 - Extracted from the writings of Ayatullah Nasir Makrim Shirazi. Compiler: Syed Husain Husaini. Translater: Shahnawaz Mahdavi