A Dictionary of Islam / Being a cyclopedia of the doctrines, rites, ceremonies, and customs, together with the technical and theological terms, of the Muhammadan religion.

by Thomas Patrick Hughes

But although this testimony of Mr. Lane’s will be borne out with regard to the treatment of slaves in Islām in all parts of the Muḥammadan world, the power which a Muslim possesses over the persons of his bondsman or bondsmaid is unlimited. For example, according to the Hidāyah (vol. iv. p. 282), “A master is not slain for the murder of his slave,” nor “if one of two partners in a slave kill the slave is retaliation incurred.” In this the law of Muḥammad departs from that of Moses. See [Exodus xxi. 20]: “And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall be surely punished. (Heb. avenged.) Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.”

Slaves have no civil liberty, but are entirely under the authority of their owners, whatever may be the religion, sex, or age, of the latter; and can possess no property, unless by the owner’s permission. The owner is entire master, while he pleases, of the person and goods of his slave; and of the offspring of his female slave, which, if begotten by him or presumed to be so, he may recognise as his own legitimate child, or not: the child, if recognised by him, enjoys the same privileges as the offspring of a free wife, and if not recognised by him is his slave.

He may give away or sell his slaves, excepting in some cases which have been mentioned, and may marry them to whom he will, but not separate them when married. A slave, however, according to most of the doctors, cannot have more than two wives at the same time. Unemancipated slaves, at the death of their master, become the property of his heirs; and when an emancipated slave dies, leaving no male descendants or collateral relations, the former master is the heir; or, if he be dead, his heirs inherit the slave’s property. As a slave enjoys less advantages than a free person, the law, in some cases, ordains that his punishment for an offence shall be half of that to which the free is liable for the same offence, or even less than half: if it be a fine, or pecuniary compensation, it must be paid by the owner, to the amount, if necessary, of the value of the slave, or the slave must be given in compensation.

The owner, but not the part owner, may cohabit with any of his female slaves who is a Muḥammadan, a Christian, or a Jewess, if he has not married her to another man; but not with two or more who are sisters, or who are related to each other in any of the degrees which would prevent their both being his wives at the same time if they were free: after having so lived with one, he must entirely relinquish such intercourse with her before he can do the same with another who is so related to her. He cannot have intercourse with a pagan slave. A Christian or Jew may have slaves, but not enjoy the privilege above mentioned with one who is a Muḥammadan. The master must wait a certain period (generally from a month to three months) after the acquisition of a female slave before he can have such intercourse with her. If he find any fault in her within three days, he is usually allowed to return her.

When a man, from being the husband, becomes the master of a slave, the marriage is dissolved, and he cannot continue to live with her but as her master, enjoying, however, all a master’s privileges; unless he emancipates her, in which case he may again take her as his wife, with her consent. In like manner, when a woman, from being the wife, becomes the possessor of a slave, the marriage is dissolved, and cannot be renewed unless she emancipates him, and he consents to the reunion.

There is absolutely no limit to the number of slave-girls with whom a Muḥammadan may cohabit, and it is the consecration of this illimitable indulgence which so popularizes the Muḥammadan religion amongst uncivilized nations, and so popularizes slavery in the Muslim religion.

In the Ak͟hlāq-i-Jalālī, which is the popular work upon practical philosophy amongst the Muḥammadans, 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.”

Some Muslim writers of the present day (Syed Ameer Ali’s Life of Mohammed, p. 257) contend that Muḥammad 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 Islām 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 Muḥammadanism.

Slavery is in complete harmony with the spirit of Islām, while it is abhorrent to that of Christianity. That Muḥammad 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.

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.