Islam News Room - Slavery In Bible? Or Quran?

Jewish - Christian - Muslim (compare)

Get Ready for a Real BIG SURPRISE - SLAVERY IS IN THE HOLY BOOK (of who?)

A Recent Study on Slavery

There is a book by Bernard Lewis entitled Race and Slavery in the Middle East An Historical Enquiry, it was published in 1990 by Oxford University Press. It features color plate illustrations that date all the way back to 1237 and up to the 1500's with 80 pages of notes to back up its contents. These intriguing paintings were discovered in famous libraries in London, Paris, and Istanbul. They depict the variety of slaves and their livelihoods - SLAVES for the CHRISTIAN 'Slave Traders'.

Islamic law must be compared to these ancient and colonial systems in order to see the vast difference between what has been acceptable by the Biblical, Christian mentality throughout those many centures.

Islamic Law (people fear the word 'Shar'iah' because they don't know it means 'Divine Law') offers a huge reward to anyone who frees a slave or makes a way for a slave to gain their freedome through honest and just means. It also provides protection along with certain legal rights and status as a citizen, while it makes demands and obligations on a slave owner - as well as offering certain rights.

When anyone buys the freedom of a slave or releases a slave it is considered a highly appreciated and greatly rewarded act. It is also a source of salvation on the Day of Judgment.

The Sharia (Islamic Law based on God's Commandments) also places clear restrictions on servitude and slavery, although it was not totally abolished.

A domestic servant in the Muslim society has a more respected position than in the classical antiquity or the Americas in the last centuries. Life for a servant or slave, according to Islamic Law, was in many ways better than that of the free people who were poor. Poverty in those days was a life of misery and outcast, often ending in a miserable death.

According to certain Muslim scholars Almighty God (Allah) did not forbid slavery at the time of revelation. In fact they claim, slavery was authorized because it had been mentioned to the extent of being regulated by the Islamic Law. The strongest opposition against doing away with traditional slavery seems to come from the most remote areas geographically and from the minds of individuals still living in days gone by. They assert their influence in upholding an institution they say is sanctified by scripture and tradition and for them it is a necessary to maintain their social structure in their circles.

Lewis' book also deals with the huge majority of white slaves coming from the Caucasian lands to the east. It was during the days of the Ottoman Empire that laws were established forbidding the trafficing of slaves.

Arabia had been at one time, a major center for slave trade. Servitude remained a source of inexpensive labor, provided proper treatment and respect, according to religious law, were observed. Slaves from Africa were brought into Arabia and Iran for some time.

The French, British and Italians controlled the main ports all the way from the Horn of Africa (Somalia and Kenya) to the south. This gave Europe and Britian easy access to slave trading to the New World.

Muslim servitude differed greatly from the European and New World version of slavery, in that the only really bad part was being captured and transported away from the orginal home land. Which in many cases, was an absolute improvement in environment.

HISTORICAL FACT: When any slave came under Islam Law, they received excellent opportunites for work, education and even a way to gain their freedom while providing necessary contributions to society. A large number of them went on to become tradesmen, merchants, businessmen and even scholars of Islam, in Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah and many other places throughout the Muslim empire.

COMPARE: JEWISH - CHRISTIAN - ISLAM BOOKS

Jewish	Christian	Islam
Although slavery is now universally condemned as a crime against humanity, it was customary in antiquity, and taken for granted as part of the economy and society of the time.The Bible does not regard it as an abomination, but there is some regulation of slavery. Sometimes the Bible even compels making slaves of other people.	The early Christians (300 years before the Catholic take-over) were the victims, themselves of slavery and suffered gross and inhumane punishments and torture by the Roman government.	Islam *rewards* those who free slaves and condemns those who enslave others unjustly. The highest form of Islam (means: submission to Go in peace) is "slavery to God" The word 'Abd, means "a slave" and Allah is the Master, while Mu-Slims are the "slaves of Allah".The name Abdullah means 'Slave of Allah'
The original Judaic slavery laws found in the Jewish Bible similar to the laws of Hammurabi in 18th century B.C. Regulations changed over time, and in some cases the regulations contradict each other. Scholars are not certain to what extent the laws were generally followed, and some scholars suggest that some of the laws were aspirational guidelines.	After the Council of Nisea in 325 A.D. those who joined the Roman Catholic Church were in a reversed position, no longer slaves, but now empowered to enslave others.	4:36 "(Show) kindness unto parents, and unto near kindred, and orphans, and the needy, and unto the neighbor who is related and the neighbour who is not related, and the fellow-traveller and the wayfarer and servants whom your right hands control."
The Jewish Bible contained two sets of laws, one for Canaanite slaves, and a more lenient set of laws for Jewish slaves.	Slavery in many different forms existed within Christianity for well over 14 centuries. In the early years of Christianity, slavery was a normal way of making money. Even the Catholic Church played a role in the slave trade market.	4:92 "It is not for a believer to kill a believer unless only by mistake. He who killed a believer by mistake must set free a believing slave, and pay the blood- money to the family of the slain, unless they remit it as a charity. If he (the victim) be of a people hostile unto you, and he is a believer, then (the penance is) to set free a believing slave."
In later eras, the laws designated for Canaanites were applied to all non-Jewish slaves. The Talmud's slavery laws, which were established following the biblical era, contain single set of rule for all slaves, although there are a few exceptions where Jewish slaves are treated differently from non-Jewish slaves	Most Christian figures in that early period, such as Augustine of Hippo, supported continuing slavery whereas a few, like Saint Patrick opposed it.	23:5-6 "And who guard their modesty - Except from their wives or the servants that their right hands control."
One of the few rules that distinguished between Jewish and non-Jewish slaves regarded found property: Any items found by Jewish slaves were owned by the slave, but items found by a non-Jewish slave belonged to the slave owner.	Centuries later, as the abolition movement took shape across the globe, groups who advocated slavery's abolition worked to harness Christian teachings in support of their positions. They now used the same Bible but different verses against other verses that promoted slavery, trying to make Christianity look better.	24:31 "And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only what is apparent, and to draw down their veils over their chests, and not to reveal their adornments expect to their own husbands or fathers or husbands' fathers, or their sons or their husbands' sons, or their brothers or their brothers' sons or sisters' sons, or their women, or their servants ."
Another change was that the Talmud explicitly prohibits the freeing of a non-Jewish slave, which was stricter that the biblical law which was silent on the issue, and simply permitted slaves to be owned indefinitely. However, non-Jewish slaves could be converted to Judaism and then freed, in some circumstances.	The issue of Christianity and slavery is one that has seen intense conflict. While Christian abolitionists were a principal force in the abolition of slavery, the Bible sanctioned the use of slavery in the Old Testament and whether or not the New Testament condemned or sanctioned slavery is strongly disputed.	24:58 "O ye who believe! Let your servants, and those of you who have not come to puberty, ask permission from you during three times (before they enter into your presence)."
It is apparent that Jews still owned Jewish slaves in the Talmudic era, because Talmudic authorities tried to denounce the biblical permission that Jews could sell themselves into slavery if they were poverty-stricken. In particular, the Talmud said that Jews should not sell themselves to non-Jews, and if they did, the Jewish community was urged to ransom or redeem the slave.	Passages in the Bible have historically been used by both pro-slavery advocates and slavery abolitionists to support their respective views. The Old Testament provides the exact same evidence for Christians as it does for the Jews, if translated and interpreted the same way. 2,000 years ago slave trade was the daily method of operating the society in the Roman Catholic Empire, and this remained well into the Middle Ages and beyond.	33:55 "It is no sin for them (wives to talk freely) with their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their brothers sons. or the sons of their sisters or their own women or servants."
JEWISH	CHRISTIAN	ISLAM

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