Islam and the Abolition of Slavery

Abstract

This book delves into Islam and its connection with slavery in historical andetiological terms by presenting the synthesis in an almost axiomatic mannerthat “slavery has always been a part and parcel of the basic core and a centraltenet of Islam.” The author relies on various scholarly sources, including theQur’an and the hadiths, with the bulk of information coming from non-Islamic sources. Providing quotes from various scholars (e.g., Lewis, Muir,Berlioux, Hughes, Garrett, Margoliouth, Roberts, and DeJong) (pp. 16-17),Clarence-Smith brings out of a set of synergistic syllogisms on the assumptiveplane that the Qur’an failed to eliminate slavery, that removing this practicewould shake the faith itself, that the Prophet was totally unaware of theconcept of abolition as an idea as well as in practice, and, importantly, thatthe whole Islamic social structure with its attendant system was based on atype of slavery associated with the organization of the harem.Hence, from the author’s point of view, Islam in essence kept slaverywithin a massive infrastructure and played a negligible role in its demise.Moreover, the system was abolished mostly due to western effort rather thanany purely religious guidelines or impetus. This organized form of slaveryincluded singing girls, concubines, common soldiers from the ranks of warcaptives as well as non-war captives, cannon fodder, bond maidens, haremguards, and chattel similar to livestock – collectively often reaching into themillions. While there were examples of slaves rising to the position of amir,such instances are exceptions and extremely rare.The author defends his argument’s basic propositions in eleven highlycondensed chapters. The first chapter, “Introduction,” basically details hiscentral thesis with supporting arguments, including the intensity of the slavesystems as highlighted above. The concluding segment, “Envoi,” outlinesthe current responsibilities of different religious groups for a greater cooperationand unity toward the process of slavery’s final elimination and apologizingfor past misdeeds ...