Muhammad's slaves
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Muhammad is regarded by Muslims as the last prophet of God. He was also a political figure who unified many of the tribes and city states of Arabia, and owned slaves.
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[edit] Islam and slavery
The major juristic schools of Islam have historically accepted the institution of slavery.[1]Muhammad and those of his companions who could afford it themselves owned slaves, freed many, and some of them acquired more from prisoners of war. Arabian slaves did benefit from the Islamic dispensations, which enormously improved their position through the reforms of a humanitarian tendency both at the time of Muhammad and the later early caliphs.[1] In Islamic law, the topic of Islam and slavery is covered at great length. The legal legislations brought two major changes to the practice of slavery inherited from antiquity, from Rome, and from Byzantium, which were to have far-reaching effects.[1] The Qur'an considers emancipation of a slave to be a highly meritorious deed, or as a condition of repentance for many sins. The Qur'an and Hadith contain numerous passages supporting this view. Muslim jurists considered slavery to be an exceptional circumstance, with the basic assumption of freedom until proven otherwise. Furthermore, as opposed to pre-Islamic slavery, enslavement was limited to two scenarios: capture in war, or birth to two slave parents (birth to parents where one was free and the other not so would render the offspring free).[2]
[edit] People personally enslaved to Muhammad
Muhammad encouraged manumission of slaves, even if one had to purchase them first. Traditional biographies of Muhammad give many examples where Muhammad's companions, at his direction, freed slaves in abundance. Abul A'la Maududi reports that Muhammad freed as many as 63 slaves, and that Aisha freed 67.[3] Meer Ismail, a medieval historian, writes in Buloogh al Muram that his household and friends freed 39,237 slaves.[4]. One of Muhammad's slaves was reportedly employed as his tailor.[5]
[edit] Female slaves
- Safiyya bint Huyayy [6][7], according to Islamic account she adopted Islam and became a wife of Muhammad. She lived more than a decade after him as a widow and became involved in the first power politics of the early Muslim community and left a large inheritance to her Jewish family.
- Maria al-Qibtiyya, a Coptic slave given to Muhammad by a Byzantine official. She gave birth to Ibrahim ibn Muhammad [6] whom Muhammad loved dearly. Some sources indicate that she was freed and became Muhammad's wife, while other sources dispute this.
- Maria's sister Sirin. He gave her to Hasan Thabit, the poet. Ibn Sa'd says that Muhammad "liked Mariyah, who was of white complexion, with curly hair and pretty."[8]
- Rayhana bint Zayd.[9][6] Captured after a battle. She tried to poison Muhammad.
[edit] Male slaves
- Zayd ibn Haritha. Zayd was freed and became Muhammad's adopted son.[10]
Some other reported slaves of Muhammad were:
[edit] References
- Levy, Reuben (Professor of Persian at the University of Cambridge). "The Social Structure of Islam". Cambridge University Press, 1969.
- Schacht, Joseph. An Introduction to Islamic Law. Clarendon Paperbacks, 1982. ISBN 0-19-825473
- ^ a b c Lewis 1994, Ch.1
- ^ Brunschvig. 'Abd; Encyclopedia of Islam
- ^ 'Human Rights in Islam'. Published by The Islamic Foundation (1976) - Leicester, U.K.
- ^ Nadvi (2000), pg. 453
- ^ Vol. 7-#344 and #346
- ^ a b c Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya recorded the list of some names of Muhammad's female-slaves in Zad al-Ma'ad, Part I, p. 116
- ^ Al-Bukhari, Al-Sahih, vol. 7.1, as cited Hekmat, Anwar (1997). Women and the Koran The Status of Women in Islam. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 209. ISBN 1-57392-162-9
- ^ from "Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir" (Book of the Major Classes) by Ibn Sa'd's
- ^ http://www.muslimhope.com/WhyDidMohammedGetSoManyWives.htm#_Toc137729560
- ^ http://www.islamicity.com/dialogue/Q20.HTM
- ^ Imam Bukhari Vol. 5-#541
- ^ Malik's Muwatta, Book 21, Number 21.13.25
