Refuting Islam

No Abolition Movement Within Islam: How Slavery Persisted for Centuries Under Islamic Rule

Introduction: A System Without Reform

Slavery is universally condemned in the modern world, recognized as a grave violation of human rights. Yet within Islamic history, slavery persisted for over a thousand years without any organized abolition movement. While other civilizations — from the British Empire to the United States — experienced intense debates and movements for abolition, the Muslim world remained largely silent. Slavery was not just tolerated in Islam; it was institutionalized, regulated, and even sacralized by Islamic law (Sharia).

This post will explore how slavery was embedded in Islamic doctrine, how it persisted under Islamic empires for centuries, and why there was never an abolition movement from within the Muslim world itself.

1. Slavery in Islamic Doctrine: A System Blessed by Religion

1.1. Slavery in the Quran: Sanctified by Revelation

The Quran explicitly permits slavery and provides rules for the treatment of slaves:
- Quran 16:75:
  - "Allah sets forth the parable of a slave under the control of his master..."
- Quran 4:3:
  - Allows Muslim men to marry slave women if they are unable to afford free women.
- Quran 4:24:
  - Permits Muslim men to have sexual relations with their female slaves (concubines).
- Quran 23:5-6:
  - "And those who guard their private parts, except from their wives and those their right hands possess."
Slaves were categorized as "those whom your right hands possess," a term used repeatedly in the Quran to describe slaves.

1.2. Slavery in the Hadith: Muhammad as a Slave Owner

The Hadith collections confirm that Muhammad owned and traded slaves:
- Sahih Muslim 3901:
  - Muhammad traded two black slaves for one Arab slave.
- Sahih Bukhari 2227:
  - Muhammad had a slave named Anas, who served him for ten years.
- Sahih Muslim 3371:
  - Muhammad gifted slave women to his companions.
Muhammad’s status as a slave owner is seen as a justification for slavery within Islamic law.

1.3. Slavery in Sharia Law: Institutionalizing Human Ownership

Islamic jurisprudence (Sharia) not only permits slavery but provides detailed rules for the buying, selling, and treatment of slaves:
- A Muslim cannot be enslaved. Only non-Muslims can be taken as slaves.
- Female slaves can be used as concubines. Muslim men are permitted to have sexual relations with their female slaves.
- Slaves are considered property. They can be bought, sold, and inherited.
- The children of slaves are also slaves. A child born to a slave woman is automatically a slave.

2. The Expansion of Slavery Under Islamic Empires

2.1. The Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates: Slavery as a Tool of Expansion

After Muhammad's death, the first Caliphs expanded Islamic territory through a series of brutal wars:
- The Ridda Wars (632–633): Arab tribes that tried to leave Islam were defeated, and their women and children were enslaved.
- The Conquest of Persia (633–651): Persian women and children were taken as slaves.
- The Conquest of North Africa: Berbers were enslaved and sold in Arab markets.
The Caliphs used slavery to reward their soldiers, creating a system where war and slavery were directly linked.

2.2. The Abbasid Caliphate: The Rise of the Mamluks (Slave Soldiers)

The Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258) institutionalized the use of slave soldiers known as Mamluks.
- Mamluks were non-Muslim boys captured or bought from foreign lands, forcibly converted to Islam, and trained as elite soldiers.
- These slave soldiers became so powerful that they eventually took control of entire regions, including Egypt, where they established the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517).

2.3. The Ottoman Empire: A Slave Society

The Ottoman Empire (1299–1922) continued the practice of slavery on an industrial scale:
- The Devshirme System: Christian boys from the Balkans were taken as slaves, converted to Islam, and trained as Janissaries (elite soldiers).
- The Harem System: Female slaves were kept in the Sultan’s harem, where they were used as concubines.
- The Slave Markets of Istanbul: Thousands of slaves were bought and sold each year.
Slavery was not an illegal practice — it was an integral part of the Ottoman economy and society.

3. The Slave Trade in the Muslim World: A Global Network

3.1. The Arab Slave Trade: The Forgotten Holocaust

The Arab slave trade lasted for over 1,400 years and was one of the largest slave trades in history:
- Over 17 million Africans were enslaved and transported to the Middle East.
- Millions of slaves were castrated to serve as eunuchs, a brutal practice that resulted in a high death rate.
- Many female slaves were taken as concubines, and their children were often enslaved.
The Arab slave trade targeted not only Africans but also Persians, Turks, Indians, and Europeans.

3.2. The Barbary Slave Trade: European Slaves in North Africa

The Muslim states of North Africa (Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, and Morocco) engaged in a thriving slave trade:
- Barbary Pirates: Muslim corsairs raided European coastal towns, capturing thousands of Europeans who were sold as slaves.
- White Slaves: Between the 16th and 19th centuries, over 1 million Europeans were captured and enslaved in North Africa.
- Christian Slaves in Ottoman Istanbul: European Christians were captured in wars and sold as slaves in Ottoman markets.

3.3. The Indian Ocean Slave Trade: An Ignored Tragedy

The Indian Ocean slave trade, operated by Muslim merchants, enslaved millions of Africans and Asians:
- African slaves were transported to Arabia, Persia, and India.
- Southeast Asians were enslaved and sold in Muslim markets.
- The slave trade continued until the 20th century in many Muslim regions.

4. Why No Abolition Movement Ever Emerged Within Islam

4.1. Slavery as a Divine Institution

Unlike Christianity, where abolitionists could argue that slavery contradicted the teachings of Jesus, Islamic abolitionists faced an impossible challenge:
- Slavery is explicitly permitted in the Quran.
- Muhammad himself was a slave owner, making slavery a part of his "perfect example" (Sunnah).
- Islamic scholars declared that ending slavery would be "abrogating the word of Allah."

4.2. The Silence of the Ulema (Islamic Scholars)

Islamic scholars (Ulema) never led an abolitionist movement because they were the defenders of Sharia, which permitted slavery:
- Challenging slavery meant challenging the Quran and the Hadith.
- Scholars who questioned slavery risked being declared heretics or apostates.
The few Muslim thinkers who did question slavery (like Jamal al-Din al-Afghani) were ignored or persecuted.

4.3. The Role of Colonialism: Abolition Imposed from Outside

Slavery in the Muslim world only ended because of Western pressure:
- The British abolished the slave trade in 1807 and pressured Muslim rulers to do the same.
- French colonial authorities abolished slavery in North Africa.
- The Ottoman Empire abolished slavery in the 19th century under pressure from European powers.
There was never an Islamic abolition movement — only Western intervention.

5. The Verdict: A Religion That Never Condemned Slavery

While the rest of the world moved toward abolition, the Muslim world clung to slavery as a sacred institution. Islamic doctrine not only permitted slavery but sanctified it, transforming human ownership into a religious virtue. For over 1,000 years, Islamic scholars defended slavery, and even today, some Muslim clerics continue to justify it.

For those who value human rights, Islam’s failure to produce an abolition movement is a damning indictment of its moral authority.