Slavery and Right Hand Possession between Islam and other Beliefs, Ideas and Doctrines

Introduction and Preface:

Praise be to Allah, the Revealer of the laws for the benefit of His servants and countries, and prayers and peace be upon the One who liberated mankind from injustice and tyranny, and upon his pure and good family and companions who spread the principles of justice, monotheism, freedom and knowledge, and upon those who called to their call and were guided by their guidance with goodness until the Day of Judgment. Now then:

The enemies of Islam, both ancient and modern, are trying to stir up a mirage of accusations and a flood of doubts around Islam. This is a path they have become accustomed to and have persisted in with a malicious purpose, deep hatred and known goals, the purpose of which is to plant atheism and disbelief, to cause doubt among uneducated youth and to push the nation towards wicked permissiveness and reprehensible atheism.

Among the doubts and questions raised by these ignorant people is that Islam permits the system of slavery and right-hand possession, which in their view is an explicit enslavement of human freedom. They took this unjust doubt as a pretext to cast doubt on Islam and attack it.

We find that there are those who were influenced by this wave of uneducated and uninformed youth, so they had questions about this subject. Among their questions were the following:

How did Islam permit slavery and make it part of its system?

Did Islam intend to divide people into masters and slaves?

Would a human being, whom God Almighty has honored, be satisfied to be bought and sold in the markets as a worthless consumer commodity?

These are the most severe and horrific questions that we can derive either from uneducated Muslim youth or perhaps from atheists, communists, and followers of other religions such as Christianity and Judaism.

Therefore, after this introduction, we will proceed to explain Islam’s position on slavery so that those who want to know will know how Islam treated slaves? How did it put in place positive means to liberate them? And how did it establish traditions that would reduce the sources of slavery and even eliminate it.

This research will include a number of chapters to cover the subject from all sides:

Chapter One: A historical overview of slavery.

Chapter Two: How Islam treated slaves.

Chapter Three: The position of the followers of other religions and sects on slavery.

Chapter Four: Women between Islam and the followers of material civilizations.

Chapter Five: O seekers of the truth.

Chapter One:

A Historical Overview of Slavery

1Islam came and slavery in the world was a legitimate process and a system recognized all over the world, rather it was a common economic and social process that no one denounced.

2The treatment of slaves in the Roman, Persian, Indian, Chinese and Greek states was brutal, dirty and cruel, and their humanity was wasted, their dignity violated and their responsibilities at work were heavy.

Here are pictures of the treatment of slaves in Roman society: -

The horrors of Roman slavery in the ancient world were never known in the history of Islam, and a simple review of the conditions in which slaves lived in the Roman Empire is enough to show us the enormous shift that Islam transferred to the slave, even if it did not work to free him - and this is not true!

The slave in the Romans’ view was a “thing” not a human being.. something with no rights at all, even if he had all the heavy duties. Let us first know where these slaves came from? They came through conquest.. and this conquest was not for an idea or a principle.

The slaves worked in the fields while they were shackled with heavy chains that were enough to prevent them from escaping.

The Romans fed their slaves only what was enough to keep them alive, to keep them working for them like beasts, as forced slaves.

They slept in dark, foul-smelling dungeons where insects and rats lived, fifty or more in one cell, and they were shackled.

While working, they were whipped for no reason other than the wicked pleasure the master felt while torturing the slaves.

They were put in rings to duel with swords and spears, where the masters would gather to watch the slaves duel with sword blows and spear thrusts without caution or precaution in killing. Rather, the masters’ joy reached its peak, throats rose in cheers, hands clapped, and loud, happy laughter erupted when one of the duelists completely defeated his colleague, throwing him to the ground, lifeless!

Roman law gave the master the absolute right to kill, torture, enslave and exploit the slave without the slave having the right to complain or having a body to look into this complaint because the slave in the eyes of the Romans was an animal or less than an animal, so the master could do with him whatever he wanted!!!

The condition of slaves in all countries other than the Romans was not the best, their condition was also low and they faced a lot of suffering and humiliation.

This is a quick look at the condition of slaves in all countries of the world before the advent of Islam, and you will find, my honorable brother, the difference between this brutal treatment of slaves and the honorable treatment that Islamic law commanded.
As they say….. (Things are distinguished by their opposites) .

Chapter Two

How Islam treated the slave

Islam came to restore the humanity of these people. There is no global system in the world that treats slaves like the way Muslims treat them.

We can summarize this treatment of slaves under the Islamic system in three main points: -

The first point: - Considering the slave as a human being who has the right to dignity and life: -

Islam came to return to human beings, regardless of their races, colors, classes, and conditions, their origin and to decide for them the unity of origin, origin, and destiny.

It came to say… 

{O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most honorable of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.}

It came to clarify, on the tongue of the bearer of the message, our master Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, that there is no superiority of a master over a slave, nor of an Arab over a non-Arab, nor of a white over a black, as he says in the hadith narrated by Muslim and al-Tabari on the authority of someone who heard the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, during the Hajj: Al-Wadaa explains these principles by saying… (You are the children of Adam, and Adam was made of dust, and there is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab, nor of a black person over a red person, nor of a red person over a black person, except by piety.)

From the previous texts, we can conclude that the slave is a living being with his dignity, which Islam preserved and protected for him, and that there is no difference between him and any other human being except by piety.

Article Two: Equality of slaves in the human race in rights and duties:

Islam stipulates equality for slaves in punishments and limits…. Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Al-Tirmidhi, and Abu Dawud narrated on the authority of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, that he said….. (Whoever kills his slave, we will kill him. Whoever mutilates his slave, we will mutilate him. Whoever castrates his slave, we will castrate him.)
Knowing that Islam reduced the punishment of limits for slaves by half for psychological, social, and humanitarian considerations.

- Islam establishes for slaves the principle of Islamic brotherhood in its clearest forms and meanings, as they are loving brothers with their masters. Al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: (Your brothers are your servants. So whoever has his “brother” under his hand, let him feed him from what he eats, and let him dress him from what he wears, and do not burden them with what they cannot bear. If you burden them, then help them.)

- Islam establishes for them the principle of the afterlife reward, and that they are equal to their free brothers in reward. God Almighty said: {Whoever does an evil will not be recompensed except with the like thereof. And whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer - those will enter Paradise and will be provided for therein without account.}

Article Three: Treating slaves with special humane treatment that makes them feel humane in their encounters with people:

Islam has established practical systems and Islamic commandments for the good treatment of slaves that Muslim generations throughout history and time are proud of.

Allah the Almighty has commanded the Muslim to treat the slave as he treats his father and mother and to be good to them. Allah the Almighty said in His Noble Book: 

{And worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, and to parents do good, and to kindred, orphans, the needy, the neighbor who is a relative and the neighbor who is a stranger, the companion by your side, the wayfarer, and those whom your right hands possess. Indeed, Allah does not like anyone who is arrogant and boastful.}

Among these commandments is also that the master should feed him from what he eats and dress him from what he wears.
Al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: And peace be upon him said… (Your brothers are your servants. So whoever has his “brother” under his hand, let him feed him from what he eats, and let him wear from what he wears, and do not burden them with what they cannot bear, and if you burden them, then help them.)

Among these commandments is that the master should not burden them with work that they cannot bear: -
This was mentioned in the previous hadith…., and do not burden them with what they cannot bear, and if you burden them, then help them.

Among these commandments is also addressing the slave in a way that makes him feel that he is among his family and relatives: -
The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said… (Let none of you say this is my slave and this is my female slave, but say my boy and my girl.)

Islam warned against mistreating slaves, and here are many hadiths that warned against this matter: -
Muslim also narrated from the hadith of Ibn Umar 

And the Messenger of Allah was asked how often should we pardon the servant? He said seventy times a day.

One day, the Prophet had a toothpick in his hand, so he called one of his servants, but he was slow to reach him. So he said, “If it were not for retaliation, I would have struck you with this toothpick .”

In the two Sahihs, it is narrated that the Messenger of God said, “ Whoever accuses his slave while he is innocent of what he said will be flogged on the Day of Resurrection as a prescribed punishment, unless it is as he said.” The

Prophet forbade a male or female slave from being starved. The Messenger of God said , “It is enough of a sin for a man to withhold food from someone he owns.”

It was narrated that Uthman ibn Affan, may God be pleased with him, stroked the ear of his slave for a sin he had committed, then he said to him, “Go ahead and pinch my ear.” The slave refused, so he insisted. He began to pinch lightly, but the slave said to him, “Pinch well, for I cannot bear the punishment of the Day of Resurrection.” The slave said, “And so, my master: I also fear the day that you fear.”
When Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) walked among his slaves, none of them could distinguish him, because he did not go ahead of them and did not wear anything other than their clothing.

A group of people entered upon Salman al-Farsi (may Allah be pleased with him) when he was the governor of al-Madain and found him kneading dough for his family. They said to him, “Why don’t you leave the slave girl kneading?” He (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “We sent her on some work and we did not want to add another work to

her.” Abu Mas`ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “I was whipping a slave of mine when I heard a voice behind me saying, ‘Know, Abu Mas`ud, that Allah has more power over you than you have over this slave boy.’ I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I will never beat a slave of mine after him

.’” This was one of the last commandments of the Prophet (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him) before his death. (Allah, Allah, in prayer and those whom your right hands possess. Feed them from what you eat and clothe them from what you clothe yourself and do not burden them with work that they cannot bear. But if you burden them, then help them and do not torment Allah’s creation, for He has made them your masters. If He willed, He could have made them your masters.)

Indeed, Islam has reached an amazing level in its practical application in good treatment and restoring human dignity. Here are some examples as narrated by Professor Muhammad Qutb in the book of doubts: -

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was between some of the clients and the free men from the leaders of Quraish: -

He established brotherhood between Bilal bin Rabah and Khalid bin Ruwaiha Al-Khathami.
He established brotherhood between Zaid bin Haritha and Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq
. He also established brotherhood between Zaid bin Haritha and his uncle Hamza bin Abdul Muttalib.

This brotherhood was a true connection that is equal to the bond of blood and kinship.

From these methods and commandments, after the spiritual liberation of slaves, came the stage of their actual liberation, because the great fundamental rule of Islam is complete equality among people, and it is the complete liberation of all people; therefore, it actually worked to liberate slaves, through two major means: manumission and correspondence. As for

manumission, it is the volunteering of masters to free the slaves in their hands, and Islam greatly encouraged this, and the Noble Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, was the first example in this, as he freed the slaves he had, and his companions followed him in this.

Abu Bakr used to spend huge sums of money buying slaves from the infidel masters of Quraysh, to free them and grant them freedom,

and the treasury used to buy slaves from their owners and free them whenever he had extra money. Yahya bin Saeed said: “Umar bin Abdul Aziz sent me to collect the alms of Africa, so I collected it and then asked for the poor to give it to, but we did not find any poor people and we did not find anyone to take it from us, because Umar bin Abdul Aziz enriched the people, so I bought slaves with it and freed them.”

The Prophet (peace be upon him) would free slaves who taught ten Muslims to read and write, or provided a similar service for Muslims.

The Holy Quran stipulated that the expiation for some sins is the freeing of slaves. It made the expiation for accidental killing a blood money paid to the family of the victim and the freeing of a slave: “And whoever kills a believer by mistake, the freeing of a believing slave and a compensation payment to his family .” The person killed by mistake is a human soul that his family has lost, as has society, without any right. Therefore, Islam stipulates compensation for him from two aspects: compensation for his family by the blood money paid to them, and compensation for society by freeing a believing slave! It is as if freeing slaves is the revival of a human soul that compensates for the soul that was lost by accidental killing,

as the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, urged freeing slaves as an atonement for any sin that a person commits, in order to work on freeing the largest possible number of them, for sins do not cease, and every son of Adam is a sinner, as the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, said on the

authority of Abu Hurairah, may God be pleased with him, on the authority of the Prophet, who said: “Whoever frees a believing slave, God will free for every limb of his from the Fire, until He frees his private parts with his private parts.” Narrated

by Al-Bukhari on the authority of Abu Umamah, may God be pleased with him, on the authority of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, “Any Muslim man who frees a Muslim man, it will be his release from the Fire, each limb of his will be compensated for by his private parts. Any Muslim man who frees two Muslim women, it will be his release from the Fire, each limb of theirs will be compensated for by his limb. Any Muslim woman who frees a Muslim woman, it will be her release from the Fire, each limb of hers will be compensated for by her.” Narrated by Al-Tirmidhi.

History mentions that a huge number of slaves were freed through freeing, and that this huge number is unparalleled. In the history of other nations, neither before Islam nor after it by several centuries until the beginning of the modern era. Also, the factors of their emancipation were purely human, stemming from the consciences of people seeking to please God, and nothing but to please God.

I quote to you the testimony of Gustave Le Bon in “The Civilization of the Arabs” (pp. 459-460):
“What I see as true is that slavery among Muslims is better than among others, and that the condition of slaves in the East is better than the condition of servants in Europe, and that slaves in the East are part of the family, and that the clients who desire emancipation obtain it by expressing their desire, and despite this they do not resort to using that right…” End

The verse that explains the expenditures of zakat says:…. (Zakat expenditures are only for the poor and the needy and those employed to collect [zakat] and those whose hearts are to be reconciled and to free slaves and those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the wayfarer - an obligation imposed by Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Wise.) It is established that zakat is spent from the public treasury - which is the public treasury in modern usage - to help slaves who are freed from slavery to pay the price of their freedom, if they are unable to pay it through their own earnings.

Thus, freeing slaves is a way of drawing closer to Allah Almighty, as Allah has commanded that zakat funds be spent on this item.

With this and that, Islam has taken broad, effective steps towards the liberation of slaves, and has preceded all historical development by at least seven centuries. It has added to this development elements - such as state care - that the world did not respond to until the beginning of its modern history. And other elements that it never responded to, whether in the good treatment of slaves, or in their voluntary emancipation, without pressure from economic or political developments that forced the West to emancipate slaves, as will come.

As for the contract of manumission, it is granting freedom to the slave whenever he requests it himself, in exchange for a sum of money agreed upon by the master and the slave. Emancipation here is compulsory and the master does not have the right to refuse it or postpone it after paying the agreed upon sum. Otherwise, the state (the judge or ruler) intervenes to enforce the emancipation by force, and grant freedom to the one who requests it.

Allah the Almighty said: (And those who seek a contract from among those whom your right hands possess, then make a contract with them if you know there is good in them, and give them from the wealth of Allah which He has given you.)

This principle has been established by Allah the Almighty in His Noble Book

, and by establishing the contract of manumission, He has in fact opened the door of manumission in Islam for those who feel within themselves the desire for manumission, and do not wait for their master to volunteer to free them at an opportunity that may or may not arise over time.

From the first moment they request the contract of manumission - and the master does not have the right to refuse the contract when the slave requests it, and there is no danger to the security of the Islamic state in freeing him - his work for his master becomes for pay, or he is given the opportunity - if he wishes - to work outside for pay, until he collects the agreed upon amount.

The same thing happened in Europe in the fourteenth century - that is, seven centuries after Islam established it - with a major difference that did not exist in any other country except Islam, which is the state’s sponsorship of slaves who were in debt - in addition to Islam’s huge effort in freeing slaves voluntarily without compensation, as a way of drawing closer to God and fulfilling its worship of Him.

Here, a question that puzzles minds and consciences arises: If Islam took all these steps towards freeing slaves, and preceded the whole world in doing so voluntarily, without being forced or pressured, then why did it not take the decisive remaining step, and declare with complete frankness the abolition of slavery in principle?

To answer this question, we must realize the social, psychological, and political facts that surrounded the subject of slavery, and made Islam establish the principles that would guarantee the liberation of slaves, and let them work in the long term.

We must first mention that freedom is not given, but taken. Emancipating slaves by issuing a decree, as some imagine, would not have freed the slave! The American experience of emancipating slaves with the stroke of a pen by Abraham Lincoln is the best witness to what we are saying. The slaves whom Lincoln freed - from the outside - through legislation, could not bear freedom, and returned to their masters, begging them to accept them as slaves as they were, because - from the inside - they had not yet been freed.

The issue, as strange as it is, is not strange when viewed in the light of psychological facts. Life is usually the circumstances in which a person lives that shape his feelings and formulate his sensations and psychological apparatus. The psychological entity of a slave differs from the psychological entity of a free person, not because he is of another gender as the ancients thought, but because his life under permanent slavery made his psychological apparatus adapt to these circumstances, so the apparatus of obedience grows to the maximum extent, and the apparatus of responsibility and tolerance of consequences shrinks to the maximum extent.

The slave is good at doing many things when his master orders him to do them, so he has nothing to do but obey and implement; but he is not good at anything that falls under his own responsibility, even if it is the simplest of things, not because his body is unable to do it, nor because his mind - in all cases - is unable to understand it; but because his soul cannot bear to bear its consequences, so he imagines imaginary dangers and problems with no solution, so he flees from them to protect himself from the dangers!

Perhaps those who look closely at Egyptian and Eastern life in recent times will realize the impact of this hidden slavery that the malicious colonialism has placed in the souls of Easterners to enslave them to the West. They realize it in the stalled projects that are often stalled only by cowardice in facing their consequences!

And the well-studied projects that governments do not implement until they bring in an English or American expert, etc., to take responsibility for the project and issue the permit for implementation! And the horrific paralysis that looms over employees in the bureaucracies and restricts their production with rigid routine, because none of the employees can do anything except what the “master” the senior employee orders him to do, and this in turn has no choice but to obey the “master” the minister, not because all of these are incapable of working, but because their system of responsibilities is stalled and their system of obedience is bloated, so they are more like slaves, even if they are officially free!

This psychological adaptation of the slave is what enslaves him.. It naturally arises in its origin from external circumstances, but it becomes independent of them, and becomes something in itself like a tree branch that hangs down to the ground, then extends its own roots and becomes independent of the origin. This psychological adaptation is not removed by a declaration issued by the state to abolish slavery, but it must be changed from within, by establishing new circumstances that condition the feelings in a different way, and develop the atrophied systems in the slave’s soul, and create a normal human entity from his distorted and deformed entity.

And that is what Islam did..

It began first with good treatment of the slave.. and nothing restores the balance of the deviant soul and restores its dignity like good treatment, so it feels its human entity and its innate dignity, and then it senses the taste of freedom and savors it, and does not reject it as the freed slaves of America rejected.

Islam has reached an amazing level in good treatment and restoring human dignity to the slave, examples of which we have given before in the verses of the Qur’an and the hadiths of the Messenger, and here we will list other examples in practical application.

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) used to establish brotherhood between some of his clients and some of the free Arab leaders. He established brotherhood between Bilal ibn Rabah and Khalid ibn Ruwaiha al-Khathami, between his client Zaid and his uncle Hamza, and between Kharijah ibn Zaid and Abu Bakr. This brotherhood was a true bond that was equal to a blood bond and reached the level of sharing in the inheritance!

He did not stop at this level…

He married his cousin Zainab bint Jahsh to his client Zaid. Marriage is a very sensitive issue, especially on the part of a woman. She would accept to marry someone who was superior to her in status, but she would refuse to have a husband who was below her in lineage, ancestry, and wealth. She felt that this would diminish her status and diminish her pride. However, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) was aiming for a higher meaning than all of that, which was to raise the slave from the abyss into which unjust humanity had pushed him to the level of the greatest Arab leaders from Quraysh.

He did not stop there..

He sent his master Zaid at the head of an army that included the Ansar and Muhajireen from the leaders of the Arabs. When he was killed, he appointed his son Usama bin Zaid to lead the army, which included Abu Bakr and Umar, the ministers of the Messenger and his two successors after him. Thus, the master was not given mere human equality, but he was given the right of leadership and presidency over the “free people”.

He went so far as to say: “Listen and obey, even if an Ethiopian slave whose head is like a raisin is appointed over you, he will not uphold the Book of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, among you.” Thus, he gave the Mawali the right to the highest positions in the state, which is the leadership of the Muslims.

Umar said when he was appointed as caliph: “If Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhayfah, were alive, I would appoint him.” He followed the same principle that the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had established.

Umar gave another wonderful example of respecting the Mawali; when Bilal bin Rabah opposed him on the issue of the spoils of war, he became so vehement in his opposition that he found no way to respond except to say: “O Allah, spare me from Bilal and his companions ! ” This is the Caliph who had the power, if he wanted, to give orders and be obeyed!

These models that Islam established were intended to liberate the slave from within, as we said at the beginning of this chapter, so that he would feel his being and seek freedom, and this is the true guarantee of liberation.

It is true that it encouraged emancipation and urged it by all means, but this itself was part of the psychological education of the slave, so that they would feel that they could obtain freedom and enjoy all the rights that masters enjoy, so their desire for freedom would increase and they would accept the consequences for its sake, and here it would hasten to grant it to them, because then they would deserve it and be able to maintain it.

There is a big difference between a system that encourages people to seek freedom and prepares the means for it, then gives it to them the moment they seek it themselves, and systems that let matters become complicated and awkward, until economic and social revolutions occur and hundreds and thousands of lives are lost, then it does not give freedom to its seekers except reluctantly and unwillingly.

One of the great virtues of Islam in the issue of slavery is that it was keen on the true liberation of slavery from within and without. It did not suffice with good intentions, as Lincoln did, by issuing legislation that had no basis in people’s hearts; which proves the depth of Islam’s understanding of human nature, and its astuteness in the best means of dealing with it. This is in addition to its volunteering to give rights to their owners, while raising them to adhere to them and bear their consequences - on the basis of love and affection between all groups of society - before they fight for these rights, as happened in Europe, that hateful conflict that dries up feelings and breeds grudges. It spoils all the good that humanity can attain along the way.

Islam dried up all the sources of ancient slavery, except for one source that it could not dry up, which was war slavery. Let us go into some detail.

The prevailing custom at that time was to enslave prisoners of war or kill them. This custom was very old, deeply rooted in the darkness of history, almost dating back to the first man, but it remained attached to humanity in all its stages.

Islam came while people were in this state. Wars broke out between it and its enemies, so Muslim prisoners were enslaved by the enemies of Islam, their freedoms were taken away, and the men among them were treated with the same oppression and injustice that was done to slaves at that time, and the honor of women was violated by every claimant, and the man, his children and his friends shared one woman with whoever wanted to enjoy them, without any control or system, and no respect for the humanity of those women, whether they were virgins or not. As for the children - if they were taken prisoner - they grew up in the abhorrent humiliation of slavery.

At that time, it was not appropriate for Muslims to release any of the enemy prisoners who fell into their hands. It is not good politics to encourage your enemy against you by releasing his prisoners, while your family, your clan and the followers of your religion are treated with humiliation and torture by these enemies. Reciprocity here is the fairest law you can use, or it is the only law. However, we should note the profound differences between Islam and other systems regarding war and prisoners of war.

Wars outside the Islamic world were and still are intended only for conquest, slaughter and enslavement. They were based on the desire of a nation to subjugate other nations and expand its territory at its expense, or to exploit its resources and deprive its people of them; or for a personal lust that arose in the soul of a king or war leader, to satisfy his personal vanity and swell with pride and arrogance, or for the lust for revenge… or other lowly earthly goals. The prisoners who were enslaved were not enslaved because of a difference in belief, nor because they were lower in moral, psychological or intellectual level than their captors, but only because they were defeated in the war.

Likewise, this war had no traditions that prohibited the violation of honor or the destruction of peaceful cities, or the killing of women, children and the elderly, and this is logical given that it was not based on belief, principle or lofty goal.

When Islam came, it abolished all of that and prohibited all wars. Unless it is a jihad in the way of Allah.. a jihad to repel aggression against Muslims, or to destroy the oppressive forces that tempt people away from their religion through coercion and violence, or to remove the deviant forces that stand in the way of the call and conveying it to the people so that they see and hear the truth.. (And fight in the way of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress. Indeed. Allah does not like transgressors.) .. (And fight them until there is no more persecution and religion is for Allah alone.) It is a peaceful call that does not hate anyone:(There is no compulsion in religion. The right path has become distinct from error.) The fact that Jews and Christians in the Islamic world have remained faithful to their religion until this moment is conclusive evidence that does not accept debate or argument, proving that Islam did not force others to embrace it by force of the sword.

If people accept Islam and are guided to the religion of truth, there will be no war, no hostility, no submission from one nation to another, no discrimination between Muslims on the face of the earth, and no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab except in piety.

Whoever rejects Islam and wants to preserve his faith under the Islamic system - with Islam’s belief that it is better than this faith and the most upright path - may do so without compulsion or pressure, provided that he pays the jizya in return for Islam’s protection of him, such that the jizya is dropped or returned if the Muslims are unable to protect him. If they reject Islam or the jizya, then they are stubborn and arrogant, not wanting the peaceful call to take its path, but rather wanting to stand with material force in the path of the new light, blocking it from the eyes of a people who might have been guided if they were left to the light.

Only then does fighting begin, but it does not begin without a warning or announcement, to give a final chance to stop the bloodshed and spread peace throughout the land: (And if they incline to peace, then incline to it and trust in Allah).

However, it has traditions; the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, says in his will: “Fight in the name of God, in the way of God… Fight those who disbelieve in God… Fight and do not betray, do not mutilate, and do not kill a child .

” There is no killing of anyone other than a warrior who stands with weapons fighting Muslims, no sabotage, no destruction, no violation of honor, and no unleashing of the desire for evil and corruption: (Allah does not love corrupters) .

The Muslims observed these noble traditions in all their wars, even in the treacherous Crusades, when they were victorious over their enemy who had in a previous round violated the sanctities and attacked Al-Aqsa Mosque, attacking those who had taken refuge in it under the protection of Allah - Lord of all - and their blood flowed in it like rivers. They did not take revenge for themselves when victory came to them, and they had permission from the religion itself to treat them in kind: (So whoever attacks you, attack him in proportion to his attack on you) . But they set the highest example that non-Muslims in all the world are unable to achieve until the modern era.

This is a fundamental difference in the objectives of war and its traditions between Muslims and non-Muslims. Islam could have, had it wanted - and truth supports it in this - considered the prisoners who fell into its hands - those who defy guidance and insist on their base idolatry and senile polytheism - as people lacking in humanity, and enslaved them in this sense alone. No human being would insist on this superstition - after seeing the light - unless there is a decline in his soul or a deviation in his mind. He is lacking in his human being, unworthy of the dignity of human beings and the freedom of free people among mankind.

However, Islam did not enslave prisoners merely because it considered them lacking in humanity, but rather because - and this was their case - they came to attack the sanctity of Islam, or stood with armed force to prevent divine guidance from the hearts of people.

Even so, the permanent tradition of Islam was not to enslave prisoners. The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, released some of the prisoners of Badr from the polytheists as a favor without ransom, and released some of them in exchange for ransom, and took a tribute from the Christians of Najran and returned their prisoners to them, thus setting an example for what he wanted humanity to be guided to in its future.

What is worth noting here is that the only verse that addresses prisoners of war is: (Then either a favor from us afterwards or ransom until the war lays down its burdens) It did not mention enslaving prisoners, but rather mentioned ransom and releasing them without compensation, so that slavery would not be a permanent legislation for humanity or a permanent blow, but rather it was something that the fighting Islamic army would resort to if circumstances and conditions required it.

In addition to that, the prisoners who fell into the hands of Islam were treated with the honorable treatment that we described before, and they were not subjected to humiliation and torture, and the door of liberation was opened before them when their souls sought it and could bear its consequences, even though most of them were not actually free before their capture, but were slaves whom the Persians and Romans enslaved and sent to fight the Muslims.

So it was as if the matter in reality was not slavery for the sake of slavery, nor was slavery a permanent principle that Islam aimed to preserve, so Islam’s tendency towards freeing slaves is the prominent tendency that all evidence points to.

Rather, it is a temporary situation that ultimately leads to liberation.

War breaks out between Muslims and the enemies of Islam, and some of the infidel prisoners fall into the hands of Muslims, and they become - in some cases, not in all cases and not necessarily - slaves of war, and they live for a period of time in the atmosphere of Islamic society, seeing closely the image of divine justice applied in the reality of the earth, and the merciful spirit of Islam encompasses them with its good treatment and humane considerations, so their souls are imbued with the radiance of Islam, and their insights are opened to the light.. Then Islam liberates them by emancipation in some cases, or by correspondence if their souls yearn for freedom and strive for it.

Thus, the period they spend in slavery becomes in reality a period of psychological and spiritual treatment, based on treating them kindly, making them feel their wasted humanity, and directing their souls to the divine light without coercion.. Then in the end comes liberation.. And all of this is in the case of slavery.. And it is not the only path that Islam takes, as is clear from the verse of legislation, and from the practical conduct of the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, in the various battles.

As for women, He honored them - even in their slavery - from what they used to encounter in non-Islamic countries. Their honor was no longer a permissible prey for any seeker through prostitution (and this was the fate of female prisoners of war in most cases). Rather, He made them the property of their master alone, and no one else could enter upon them. He made it their right to gain freedom through correspondence, just as a woman who bore a child to her master would be freed and her child would be freed with her. They would receive the good treatment that Islam recommended.

This is the story of slavery in Islam… an honorable page in the history of humanity. Islam did not make slavery one of its origins, as evidenced by the fact that it sought to liberate it by all means, and dried up all its sources so that it would not be renewed, except for the one source that we mentioned, which is the slavery of war declared for jihad in the way of Allah. We have seen that slavery in it is not a permanent blow, and that - if it happened - it would be for a temporary period that would eventually lead to liberation.

As for what happened in some Islamic eras of slavery other than prisoners of religious wars, and of slave trade, kidnapping and buying of Muslims who should not be enslaved in the first place, attributing it to Islam is not more truthful or just than attributing the rulers of Muslims today to Islam with the heinous crimes and sins they commit!

Chapter Three:

The Position of the People of Other Religions and Sects on Slavery

After reviewing the position of Islam on slavery and how it dealt with this problem radically, realistically and gradually, let us see how other sects and religions dealt with this issue.

The position of Judaism on the issue of slavery:

Judaism welcomed this issue with great enthusiasm and we did not find in the folds of the Jewish books anything that opposed this matter. All that we found were specific laws for slaves and approved of this matter, so how could they raise a matter in which they are up to their chins? In the

twenty-first chapter of the Book of Exodus there is a specific law for slaves…. Look,

if you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, free of charge. If he goes in alone, he shall go out alone. If he has a wife, his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall be his master’s, and he shall go out alone. But if the servant says, I love my master, and my wife, and my children; I will not go out free; then his master shall bring him before God and bring him near to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.

And let us look at the Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter Twenty-One: “

When you go out to fight against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hand, and you take some of them captive, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you cleave to her and take her as your wife, then when you bring her into your house, you shall shave her head and trim her nails and strip her of her captive clothes, and she shall remain in your house and mourn her father and mother for a full month; and after that you may go in to her and take her as your wife, and she shall be your wife. But if you do not desire her, then you shall let her go to herself. You shall not sell her for money, nor make her a slave, because you have humbled her .

” In the Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter Twenty, it is stated as follows: “

But the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourself, and you shall use the spoil of your enemies which the Lord your God has given you.”

And this is the prophet of God, David, peace be upon him, the Holy Bible says about him in the Book of Samuel II as follows: “

And David also took concubines and wives from Jerusalem after he came from Hebron, and sons and daughters were born to David. ”

Sometimes we find that God makes captivity a punishment for blasphemy and polytheism: -

All your shepherds the wind feeds, And your lovers go into captivity. Then you will be ashamed and confounded for all your wickedness …. Jeremiah 22:22

Therefore thus says the Lord: Your wife shall commit adultery in the city, And your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, And your land shall be divided by rope, And you shall die in an unclean land, And Israel shall be carried away captive out of his land. … Amos 7:17

And seek not Bethel, nor go unto Gilgal, And do not pass over to Beersheba; For Gilgal shall surely be carried away captive, And Bethel shall be desolate. … Amos 5:5

This is with regard to the position of the Jews on slaves, and we find that Judaism approved of this matter and did not provide solutions to get rid of slavery and deal with the matter in a practical way as Islam did.

Christianity’s position on the issue of slavery: -

Christianity came and approved of slavery that the Jews had approved before, as there is no text in the Bible that forbids or denounces it, but rather Christ approved of the Jewish law in full, as he says…. (Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.) Matthew 5:17

Christ, according to Christian belief, is the Lord of the Old and New Testaments, and thus all the legislation issued regarding slaves in the Torah or the Old Testament was issued by Christ.

Paul commanded slaves to obey their masters as they obey Christ. He said in his letter to the Ephesians, chapter six (5-9): “Slaves, obey your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as to Christ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, serving with good will, as to the Lord and not to men; knowing that whatever good each one does, he receives from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.”

In the great dictionary of the nineteenth century (Larousse):

“One should not be surprised by the survival and continuation of slavery among Christians to this day, for the official representatives of the religion acknowledge its validity and accept its legitimacy.”

It also says: “The conclusion: The Christian religion has fully accepted slavery, to this day, and it is difficult for a person to prove that it has sought to abolish it.”

The saints acknowledged that nature has made some people slaves.

The churchmen did not forbid slavery or oppose it, but rather supported it, until the philosopher Saint Thomas Aquinas came and combined the opinion of philosophy with the opinion of the religious leaders. He did not object to slavery, but rather approved of it because - according to his teacher Aristotle - it is a state of affairs in which some people were created by nature, and it is not contrary to faith for a person to be satisfied with the easiest share of this world.

The Dictionary of the Holy Bible by Dr. George Youssef:
“Christianity did not object to slavery from its political or economic aspects, and did not incite believers to oppose their generation in their morals regarding slavery, or even discuss it, and did not say anything against the rights of slave owners, nor did it move slaves to seek independence, nor did it research the harms of slavery, nor its cruelty, and did not order the immediate release of slaves, and by consensus it did not change the legal relationship between master and slave in any way, but on the contrary, it established the rights and duties of each party.”

Therefore, Christianity did not offer anything in the issue of slaves and did not even work to liberate them, but rather acknowledged the situation and did not address finding serious solutions as Islam did.

The position of the owners of materialistic and atheist civilizations: -

The reader has the right to ask, while he is in the ages of renaissance and progress, about the pioneer of progress in these ages, and the number of those who died due to fishing methods, and on the way to the shores where the ships of the English company and others docked, then the rest died due to weather changes, and about 4% died during shipping, and 12% during the journey, in addition to those who died in the colonies!!!

The slave trade remained in the hands of English companies that obtained the right to monopolize it with a license from the British government, then the hands of all British subjects were released into slavery, and some experts estimate the total number of slaves that the British seized and enslaved in the colonies from 1680/1786 AD to be about 2,130,000 people.

When Europe came into contact with black Africa, this contact was a human tragedy, in which the Negroes of this continent were exposed to a great calamity for five centuries. The countries of Europe organized and their minds came up with malicious ways to kidnap these people and bring them to their countries to be the fuel of their renaissance, and to assign them tasks they could not bear. When America was discovered, the calamity increased, and they began to serve in two continents instead of one!!

The Encyclopedia Britannica (2/779) under the article Slavery says: “The hunting of slaves from their villages surrounded by jungles was done by lighting fires in the straw from which the pens surrounding the village were made, so that when the villagers fled into the open, the English would hunt them down with the means they had prepared for them . ”

One million African Negroes were transported to America, while nine million died during the hunting, shipping and transportation process, between 1661 and 1774 AD. That is, only one-tenth of those they hunted remained alive and were transported to America, not to find comfort and pleasure, but to find forced labor and torture!!

And they had laws in this regard that would make sane people ashamed!

Among their dark laws in this regard was: Whoever assaulted his master was killed, and whoever escaped had his hands and feet cut off and branded with hot iron, and if he escaped a second time he was killed! And how could he escape when his hands and feet had been cut off!!
Among their laws: Education is forbidden for black men, and colored people are forbidden from white jobs.

In the laws of America: If seven slaves gather together, it is considered a crime, and a white person may, if he passes by them, spit on them and flog them twenty lashes.

Another law states: Slaves have no soul or spirit, and they have no intelligence, no cleverness, and no will, and life exists only in their arms.

The bottom line is that the slave, in terms of duties, service, and use, is a rational, responsible person who is punished for negligence. In terms of rights, he is something without a soul or entity, but only his arms!!

The colonists said: Blacks and Indians are not descendants of Adam, their souls are derived from a lesser origin than man, and in the midst of industrial development and the treatment of the working classes, Darwin’s theory of the evolution of the species and the survival of the fittest emerged, and Mendel’s theory of heredity prevailed, and many writings appeared that sought the idea of inequality between human races and the supremacy of the Aryan race, and a school was formed with its theories led by the French Count Gobineau, as well as the German musician Wagner, and like him (Stewart Chamberlain) the Englishman, and also (Lothrop Stoddard) the American, and these said: The white race is the only creator of civilization, and it is the Aryan race descended from the north of the world. The tunes appeared: East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.

There are many examples of modern racism: -

Despite the issuance of resolutions against racial discrimination in successive international conferences since the beginning of the nineteenth century, the League of Nations Agreement of 1926 AD, which was signed by thirty-eight countries, and despite the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations on December 10, 1948 AD, racial discrimination is still practiced in some modern countries such as America and others.

(A) In America now there are about twenty million colored people, most of whom live in the southern states, and the governments of the North and South were established from 1860 to 1865 AD under the leadership of (Lincoln), the owner of the idea of freeing slaves, and he was killed by a racist named (Booth) on April 14, 1985. The South was determined to maintain racial discrimination to ensure the use of its farms, and the North was determined to free him so that he could immigrate to the North and work in its factories, and from here it is known that the reason for this war was economic exploitation and not a revolution against human dignity.

Although the war ended with the establishment of equality, discrimination is still practiced in practice and stipulated in the laws of the Constitution of the State of Mississippi in Chapter Eight on Education (Article 207): -
In this field, it is taken into account that Negro children should be separated, so that each group has its own schools.

And in Chapter Fourteen (General Provisions), Article 263: The marriage of a white person to a Negro person is considered illegal and void. Rather, the law of this state states states: Whoever demands social equality and intermarriage between whites and blacks, by nature, publication, or any means, his action is considered a crime punishable by law.

These laws are applied in several American states, as stated in a report submitted to the United Nations in 1947.

However, the church itself participated in establishing this injustice, as Negroes have their own churches, and it is not right for them to worship their Lord in the churches of whites, although the One who created them all is God Almighty.

The Ku Klux Klan was founded in the South to terrorize people of color, and it spread throughout the United States, building on the ruins of a society to terrorize Catholics and prevent their immigration.

The book The Death of Democracy in the New World, published by Dar Al-Ilm Lil-Malayin in Beirut, contains many of these images that indicate the control of racist tendencies over the souls of Americans.

Incidents of discrimination in America are still evidence that this world, which claims to protect freedoms, lives on hypocrisy and deception, far from the resolutions of the United Nations and the rules of morality and humanity.

b) In South Africa, there was blatant racial discrimination. The Dutch, called the Boers, or farmers, occupied this country and founded the city of Cape of Good Hope in 1752 AD. Then the British occupied it in 1806 AD, and pursued the Boers to Natal, then Orange and the Transvaal. The Boers had brought workers from Malaya and India to farm, and did not recognize their rights as their own. When the British conquered this country, they enabled their men to colonize it until the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910 AD after long wars, one of its most famous men was (Cecil Rhodes), who tried to create a better life for whites at the expense of Africans. This was racial discrimination that England did not try to do anything to limit.

According to the 1952 census, there were about 14.5 million people in South Africa, including 10 Africans, 3 Europeans, a million colored people, and half a million Asians. However, the Europeans control the rest of the population, applying racial discrimination in its most severe manifestations, which appear in: restricting the freedom of contracting work for coloreds, not allowing them to visit cities except for seventy-two hours, requiring permission for anything more than that, determining the number of those residing in cities, preventing whites from entering churches, not treating them in sanatoriums except in cases of extreme necessity, preventing them from holding a public meeting, prohibiting them from owning white property, preventing intermarriage between Europeans and them, determining the number of African school students, and depriving them of political rights.

The problem of this discrimination was raised in the United Nations in 1947, but England and America pressured the members, so the resolution did not win the required majority, and several revolutions took place demanding the prevention of this harsh treatment, but they did not find a listening ear.

On April 1, 1960, the Security Council issued a resolution calling on South Africa to abandon the policy of racial discrimination. On October 11, 1961, the United Nations General Assembly issued a resolution blaming it. However, the government did not respond to all of this. The issuance of these resolutions was prompted by a series of violent incidents, the most important of which was the Sharpeville incident on March 21, 1960, when Africans protested against the pass permit system. The police opened fire on them and killed a large number of them.

This is the story of slavery in materialistic societies until the twentieth century: the slavery of men, women, nations and races. Slavery with multiple sources and renewable resources, without any pressing necessity, except for the baseness of the West and its decline from the level appropriate for human beings.

Forget the communist state’s enslavement of its people so that no one has the freedom to choose the work he wants, or the place where he works, and the enslavement of workers by capitalists in the capitalist West so that no one has anything to do but choose the master who enslaves him.

Leave this and that, you may find those who argue about it and defend it. It is enough what we have listed of the blatant and explicit forms of slavery, which are carried out in the name of civilization and social progress! Then look, has humanity progressed in fourteen centuries, far from the revelation of Islam, or has it continued to decline and fall behind, to the point that it needs today a spark of the guidance of Islam, to pull it out of the darkness it is in?!

Chapter Four:

Women between Islam and the Owners of Materialistic Civilizations

Islam had permitted the master to have a number of female slaves from the war captives to enjoy alone, and sometimes to marry them if he wished. Europe today denounces this and refrains from this hideous animalism that considers female slaves as permissible goods, and bodies without sanctity or dignity, whose only mission in life is to satisfy the abhorrent bestial pleasure of a man who does not rise above the level of an animal.

The real crime of Islam in this matter is that it does not permit prostitution! Female prisoners of war in other countries were drawn to the mire of vice because they had no breadwinner, and because their masters did not feel any protection for their honor, so they employed them in this abhorrent task, and profited from this dirty trade: the trade of honor. But Islam - the later one - did not accept prostitution, and was keen to keep society clean from crime, so it restricted these female slaves to their master, who was responsible for feeding them, clothing them, and protecting them from crime, and satisfying their sexual needs - incidentally - while he relieved himself.

Europe’s conscience cannot stand this animalism… That is why it permitted prostitution and granted it the protection and care of the law! And it deliberately began to spread it in every country it colonized. So what changed in slavery when its name changed? And where is the dignity of the prostitute when she does not have the power to respond to a seeker - and no one seeks her except for the filthiest meaning to which humanity can descend: the pure physical impulse that is not tempered by emotion, nor elevated by the spirit? And where is this sensual and moral filth between masters and concubines in Islam?

Islam was frank with itself and with people, and said: This is slavery. And these are concubines. And the limits of their treatment are such and such. But the fake civilization does not find this frankness in itself, for it does not call prostitution slavery, but rather says about it that it is a “social necessity”!

And why is it a necessity?

Because the civilized European man does not want to support anyone: neither a wife nor children. He wants to enjoy himself without bearing the consequences. He wants a woman’s body in which to discharge his sexual charge. He does not care who this woman is, nor does her feelings towards him or his feelings towards her. He is a body that lusts like an animal, and she is a body that receives this lust without choice, and receives it not from a specific person, but from any passerby.

This is the social “necessity” that permits the enslavement of women in the West in the modern era. And it is not a necessity if the European man rises to the level of “humanity” and does not give his selfishness all this power over him.

The countries that abolished prostitution in the civilized West did not abolish it because their dignity hurt them, or because their moral, psychological and spiritual level has risen above crime. No! But because amateurs have made professionals richer. And the state no longer needs to intervene!

And then the West finds in its boasting what it finds fault with the system of concubines in Islam, that system which 1,300 years ago - although it was a system that was not required to last - was much more generous and much cleaner than the system that exists today in the twentieth century, and civilization considers it a natural system, which no one denounces, no one seeks to change, and no one objects to it remaining until the end of life!

And no one should say: These “amateurs” volunteer without being coerced by anyone and they are the owners of their complete freedom. The point is in the system that pushes people with its economic, social, political, intellectual and spiritual conditions to accept slavery or fall into it. And there is no doubt that European “civilization” is what pushes towards prostitution and approves of it, whether it is official prostitution or the prostitution of volunteer amateurs!

Chapter Five:

O seekers of truth!

This is the system of slavery in Islam, an honorable page in the history of humanity that all who belong to this true religion are proud of. You have seen how Islam sought to liberate slaves by all positive means and legislative principles, and even worked hard to dry up all sources of slavery for more than fourteen centuries, while the pedants of modern materialistic civilizations are trying to follow in its footsteps. But there is a great difference between human legislation and divine legislation.

You have seen the greatness of Islamic legislation in that it gave Muslims broad authority to choose one of four things in the issue of prisoners: either to grant them release, ransom, killing, or enslavement. Based on this, the Imam can agree with the rest of the countries of the world to prevent slavery in all wars, just as Imam Muhammad al-Fatih agreed with the countries of his time to end slavery.

And at the moment this agreement occurs, Islam returns to its great principle that it has decided with complete frankness (freedom for all, equality for all, and the right to human dignity for all).

This confirms to everyone that Islam preceded the liberation of slaves seven centuries ago: before the French Revolution boasted about liberating slavery in Europe, before Abraham Lincoln boasted about liberating slavery in America, and before the Imamate announced the principles of human rights in the world.

This is what increases the firmness of the wise and insightful person that Islam is the religion of liberation and freedom, and the law of dignity and life… until God inherits the earth and those on it.

So let the enemies of Islam, from orientalists and westernizers, communists and atheists, understand that this Islam is the eternal religion of God and His comprehensive legislation and its renewed system that God Almighty revealed to His Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, to achieve dignity for the individual, happiness for the family, unity for society, and stability for humanity under the shadow of the principles of freedom, brotherhood and equality.

So let every Muslim know that the truth is clear and explicit, and falsehood is undoubtedly extinct and degraded, and God is true when He says in His Noble Book: … (Rather, We cast the truth upon falsehood, and it destroys it.) Know that when the truth casts falsehood, it hits it in the brain, and hitting the brain is fatal and ends the matter quickly.

We ask Allah to teach us what will benefit us, to benefit us with what He has taught us, and to increase our knowledge.

Then you will remember what I say to you, and I entrust my affair to God. Indeed, God is Seeing of His servants.

References:
1- The book Kashf al-Shubuhat by Professor Muhammad Qutb, pp. 31-55.
2- The book The System of Slavery in Islam by Dr. Sheikh Abdullah Naseh Alwan, may God have mercy on him.
3- The fatwa of His Eminence the scholar Attiya Saqr, may God have mercy on him, in 1997 on the meaning of racial discrimination and Islam’s position on it.
4- A collection of distinguished articles and writings on this subject.

Slavery of the Gentiles
( non-Hebrews ):

They were mostly prisoners of war
(Num. 9:31 + 2 Kings 2:5)

(Gen. 27:17) or purchased

or by birth

.
But we do not sense from the Bible or from history that there was a market for slavery among the Jews .
And we see
how Abraham intended to leave his wealth to his servant Eliezer of Damascus .
The law preserved
the rights and humanity of slaves :

1. Whoever steals a person and sells him or finds him in his possession shall be put to death (Exodus 21:16) . 2. The crime of killing a slave is equal to killing a free person ( Leviticus 22 and 24:17) . According to the Talmud, if a master kills his slave, the master shall be put to death, but the modern Jews said that blood money should be paid for him . 3. If a slave loses his eye or hand, he shall be freed (Exodus 21:27 and 26:21) . This protects the slave . 4. The law gave slaves the right to worship their own gods ( freedom of belief ) even if they were wrong, although it was the right of the Hebrew master to circumcise his slaves . 5. It gave them the right to participate with their masters in the holidays (Exodus 23:12 and 20:10) . Christianity and the system of slavery : Christianity did not want to incite slaves against their masters, as slaves represented half the population of the Roman Empire . Rather, it demanded Slaves were to obey their masters (Ephesians 6:5-8, 1 Peter 2:18-21) , but she demanded this from the slaves so that they would be a good example and their holy lives would be influential on their masters so that they might believe . Paul the Apostle returned the runaway slave to his master Philemon, and the message to Philemon the master was to love his slave and treat him as a brother and free him by his own free will and not by inciting the slave Onesimus to revolt and escape . Philemon actually freed him . Therefore, the system of slavery began to collapse and this was one of the reasons for the Roman revolt against Christianity . We summarize the Christian view of the slavery system as follows : ( 1. The Church obligated its children to treat slaves as brothers (1 Cor. 7:21, 22 + Gal. 3:28) . 2. Masters who lived in the spirit of the Gospel freed their slaves without an explicit order . 3. Many slaves attained high church ranks , such as Onesimus, the slave of Philemon, who became a bishop . Some slaves became martyrs and the Church honored them and asked for their intercession . 4. Church writings encouraged the collapse of this system by demanding that the slave be considered a brother . Augustine saw that slavery is the fruit of sin , so for the first time we hear about slavery (

It was with the fall of Canaan in his sin
(Genesis 25:9)

Interpretation of the Book of Exodus by Antonius Fikry, pages 116 to 119
Note: The page number is what appears to you in the Acrobat browser and not on the pages of the book for ease of searching.

Interpretation link:

http://www.4shared.com/file/59884483…57/Exodus.html