XLII.—SLAVERY.
Slavery (ʾubudíyat) has been consecrated by Muhammadan law, and some of its provisions have been taken from the Mosaic code. The traces of heathenism are, however, observable in most of the Muslim laws with reference to this question. For example, according to Jewish law,[1] if a master slew his slave he was liable to punishment, whereas the Islamic code[2] annexes no worldly punishment for the murder of a slave.
There is no limit to the number of slave girls with whom a Muslim may cohabit, and it is the consecration of this illimitable indulgence which so popularizes slavery amongst Muhammadan nations. Some Muslim writers[3] of the present day contend that Muhammad looked upon the custom as temporary in its nature, and held that its extinction was sure to be achieved by the progress of ideas and change of circumstances; but the slavery of Islám is interwoven with the Law of marriage, the Law of sale, and the Law of inheritance, of the system, and its abolition would strike at the very foundations of the code of Muhammadanism.
Slavery is in complete harmony with the spirit of Islám, whilst it is abhorrent to that of Christianity. That Muhammad ameliorated the condition of the slave, as it existed under the heathen laws of Arabia, we cannot doubt; but it is equally certain that the Arabian legislator intended it to be a perpetual institution.
The following traditions,[4] with reference to the action of the Prophet in this matter are notable:—
"ʾImrán-ibn-Husain said a man freed six slaves at his death, and he had no other property besides; and the Prophet called them, and divided them into three sections, and then cast lots; he then ordered that two of them should be freed, and he retained four in slavery, and spoke severely of the man who had set them free."
"Jábir said we used to sell the mothers of children in the time of the Prophet, and of Abu Bakr; but Omar forbade it in his time."
For certain sins the manumission of slaves is the legal penalty, and a slave may purchase his own freedom with the permission of his owner.
In the Akhlák-i-Jilálí,[5] which is the popular work upon practical philosophy amongst the Muhammadans, it is said that "for service a slave is preferable to a freeman, inasmuch as he must be more disposed to submit, obey, and adopt his patron's habits and pursuits."
Although slavery has existed side by side with Christianity, it is undoubtedly contrary to the spirit of the teaching of our divine Lord, who has given to the world the grand doctrine of universal brotherhood.
Mr. Lecky believes[6] that it was the spirit of Christianity which brought about the abolition of slavery in Europe. He says, "The services of Christianity were of three kinds. It supplied a new order of relations, in which the distinction of classes was unknown. It imparted a moral dignity to the servile classes. It gave an unexampled impetus to the movement of enfranchisement."
- ↑ Exodus xxi. 20.
- ↑ Hidáya, bk. xvi.
- ↑ Life of Muhammad, by Sayyid Ameer Ali, p.257. It is often said that the buying and selling of slaves is not sanctioned by Islám; this is not correct, as will be seen upon reference to the Muhammadan Law of Sale.
- ↑ Mishkát, bk. xiii. chap. xx. pt. 1.
- ↑ Akhlák-i-Jalálí, by Fakír Jáni Muhammad Asaʾad, sect. 6.
- ↑ History of European Morals, vol. ii. p. 70.