Teaching of the Holy Prophet (sa) to Prevent Future Slavery — Seal of the Prophets Vol. 2
Introduction
In this discourse from The Life & Character of the Seal of the Prophets (Volume 2), Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra) details the historical events and scholarly insights surrounding Teaching of the Holy Prophet (sa) to Prevent Future Slavery.
Book Series: The Life & Character of the Seal of the Prophets (Volume 2)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra)
Section: V – Conduct of the Holy Prophet (sa) with Slaves and His Teachings on the Issue of Slavery
Pages: Book pp. 213–216 (PDF pp. 237–240)
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: [A Final Testament of the Holy Prophet (sa) Regarding Slaves] | Next: [Issue of Prisoners of War] »
Historical Account
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equal treatment of existing slaves and their freedom, and an outline of which has been presented above, is sufficient evidence to substantiate that Islām could not possibly support the cruel practice of slavery. On the one hand it has been mandated that slaves should be considered as brothers, kept as members of the household and their education and moral training should be especially facilitated. Then, as their state begins to improve and they become capable of living a free life, they should continue to be set free. Therefore, common sense cannot accept that in the presence of this doctrine, Islām could also teach that it is lawful to completely deprive a free person of his legal right to freedom and take him as a real slave. These two teachings are poles apart and can never coexist as part of a single person’s teaching. Hence, if one contemplates, in actuality, the teaching that has been outlined in the exposition above, is sufficient to substantiate that Islām has not endorsed real slavery.
The second argument which proves that Islām has not considered real slavery as being lawful, is that no order is present anywhere in Islāmic literature which states that it is lawful to deprive a free person of his legal right to freedom and make him a real slave, or if someone desires to turn another free person into a slave, he should do so in the following manner. On the other hand, however, very detailed injunctions pertinent to other issues such as the treatment of slaves, the safeguarding of their rights, and manumitting them are present. Therefore, although many other precepts relevant to slavery exist, not a single legalizing injunction can be found regarding the issue of enslavement. This very fact leaves no room for doubt at all, that in actuality, Islām does not consider real slavery to be permissible in the first place. I have searched extensively, but have not been able to find a single commandment of God or His Messenger in any Qur’ānic verse or narration, which states that it is lawful to make a free person into a real slave, or that if someone desires to turn another free person into a slave, he should do so in the following manner. Although, if it was permissible to turn a free person into a real slave, among all the precepts on slavery, the most significant, most widespread in its influence and most delicate issue, which was worthy of clarity and elaboration, and which required a most clear and explicit injunction, was this very issue of enslavement. However, far from elaboration and clarity, there is not even the slightest indication of this in the Qur’ān or Aḥādīth, which is a conclusive argument of the fact that it is not permissible to make a free person into a real slave.
However, as we have mentioned above, the basis of our claim is not merely established by defensive arguments. Rather, by the Grace of God, there are very clear and explicit commandments in the Islāmic Sharī‘at, which state that it is absolutely forbidden and unlawful to deprive a free person from his legal right to freedom, and take him as a slave. Furthermore, such a person would be severely punished on the day of resurrection by God. As such, it has been mentioned in a Ḥadīth:
َعَنْ اَبِیْ ھُرَیْرَةَ عَنِ النَّبِیِّ صَ لَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَسَ لَّمَ قَالَ قَالَ اللّٰهُ ثَلَاثَةٌ اَنَا خَ صْ مُھُمْ یَوْم
�أكَلَ ثَمَنَهٗ وَرَجُ لٌ اِسْ تَاٴْجَ رَ اَجِ یْرًاَالْقِیَامَةِ رَجُ لٌ اَعْطیٰ بِیْ ثُمَّ غَدَرَ وَرَجُ لٌ بَاعَ حُ رًّا ف
ٗفَاسْ تَوْفیٰ مِنْهُ وَلَمْ یُعْطِهِ اَجْ رَه
Meaning, “Ḥaḍrat Abū Hurairahra relates that the Holy Prophetsa would say, ‘Allāh the Exalted addressed me saying, ‘There are three types of people who I shall be at war against on the day of resurrection. Firstly, a person who makes a covenant in My name but does not fulfill his agreement. Secondly, a person who enslaves a free person, sells him and consumes his value. Thirdly, a person who employs an individual, benefits from his labour, but does not pay him his wage.”
[Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-Buyū‘, Bābu Ithmi Man Bā‘a Ḥurran, Ḥadīth No. 2227]
In another narration it is related:
عَبْدِ اللّٰهِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ ….. لَا تُقْبَلُ مِنْھُمْ صَ لَاةٌ وَرَجُ لٌ اِعْتَبَدَ مُحَ رَّرًا۔ الخ
Meaning, “Ibni ‘Umarra relates that the Holy Prophetsa would say, ‘Allāh the Exalted addressed me saying, ‘There are three types of people whose obligatory prayer shall not at all be acceptable in My estimation, and I shall fight him on the day of resurrection. Firstly, a person who makes a covenant in My name but does not fulfill his agreement. Secondly, a person who enslaves a person who had been granted freedom by Allāh. Thirdly, he who employs the services of a labourer, but does not pay him his wage.’”
[Fatḥul-Bārī Sharḥu Ṣaḥīḥil-Bukhārī, By Al-Imām Aḥmad bin Ḥajar Al-‘Asqalānī, Volume 4, p 526, Kitābul-Buyū‘, Bābu Ithmi Man Bā‘a Ḥurran, Qadīmī Kutub Khānah, Ārām Bāgh, Karachi]216
In these Aḥādīth, the clear, precise and emphatic manner in which real slavery has been abolished does not require an elaboration. Then, these Aḥādīth are those, which have been classified as Ḥadīth-e-Qudsī in the terminology of the Muḥaddithīn. They are narrations, which have been related by the tongue of the Holy Prophetsa, but the commandments and words are of God Himself. Now, in the presence of this clear and lucid teaching, for someone to assert that Islām has deemed real slavery as being lawful, i.e., Islām permits that a free person may be deprived of his legal right to freedom and taken as a real slave, is a grave injustice, which no honest person can dare to commit.
Book Series: The Life & Character of the Seal of the Prophets (Volume 2)
Section: V – Conduct of the Holy Prophet (sa) with Slaves and His Teachings on the Issue of Slavery | Navigation: « Previous: [A Final Testament of the Holy Prophet (sa) Regarding Slaves] | Next: [Issue of Prisoners of War] »