Slavery in Islam: An Islamic Sufi Approach

Bijan Bidabad,Mehdi Tabatabaei

doi:10.46281/ijscgr.v2i2.305

Abstract

In this paper, the history of slavery in the pre-Islamic era is considered first, and then the definitions used in that period are compared with the Islamic definition of slavery. Generally, in concept and reality, the definition of slavery from the Islamic viewpoint has essential differences with slavery in the ancient world, and the treatment with slaves was also totally different. Unlike the abolition of slavery in most countries which accompanied with war, roughness and social damages, the decided policies of Islam were based on the gradual deletion of slavery from the society to achieve the least social turbulence. Actually, because the input to the slavery system in Islam was narrow, and the output of the slavery system was wide; the phenomenon of slavery was gradually deleted in Islamic nations.

Highlights

Captivity and slavery is an ancient prevailed tradition in almost all the world’s nations and the people whose job were agriculture used to apply slavery and people living in deserts and tribes kept slaves
Before slavery formation, because of more than the needs of facilities, land, hunting, animals existed abundantly, and there was no war or fight to catch them. In itself this issue ensued from selfishness and private ownership and was the result of crimes and penalties of the prehistory human beings who ate from their fellow creatures’ bodies and later on they got to know the economic profit and ethical intuition and complementarily development of keeping human captive alive resulted in slavery and started as a value, not anti-value
When the slavery system was established, and its profits were disclosed, the scope of slavery extended and other than the war captives, those who couldn’t repay their debts or the traitors were considered as slaves or servants and attacks to catch slaves became customary and in this way the slavery which had resulted from the wars went on to create wars itself

Summary

Introduction

Captivity and slavery is an ancient prevailed tradition in almost all the world’s nations and the people whose job were agriculture used to apply slavery and people living in deserts and tribes kept slaves. Before slavery formation, because of more than the needs of facilities, land, hunting, animals existed abundantly, and there was no war or fight to catch them In itself this issue ensued from selfishness and private ownership and was the result of crimes and penalties of the prehistory human beings who ate from their fellow creatures’ bodies and later on they got to know the economic profit and ethical intuition and complementarily development of keeping human captive alive resulted in slavery and started as a value, not anti-value. Development of agriculture and natural inequality of people made powerful people to take the weak as their servants One day those who won the war understood that the slave is profitable; the one who was taken alive and from that very day the killings and eating human being declined, and taking captives and servants extended. Vol 2, No 2; 2019 of people's thinking, the equality among people of primary societies gradually deteriorated, and slavery and class hierarchy substituted it."

History of Slavery

Slavery and International Law

Slavery from the Islamic Sufi Viewpoint

Summary and Conclusion