The
teachings of Islam are designed to gradually eliminate evil practices such as
slavery. While all Muslims cannot absolve themselves of not indulging in slave trade in the past, Islam as practiced by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) certainly envisions a social order designed to reflect the sublime
spiritual values it espouses: live in
this world with a wider consciousness about your duties towards the Creator and
the fellow beings. Learn to recognize the essential unity and common
brotherhood of all mankind. Discharge your responsibilities towards fellow
human beings. Empathy and understanding, compassion and consideration for
people who are in need of assistance is a Qur’anic obligation on believers,
reminds the Khalifatullah Hadhrat
Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) in a recent article on the subject in “Le Socialiste” Newspaper of
Mauritius on February 15, 2012.
Read the Article:
The advent of Islam was
to be known as the absolute way of life of a human being. Islam verily means
complete submission to the Creator of the Universe, the Supreme God, our Master
and Guide.
As a Creator, Almighty
God does not differentiate between His servants and thus, so as to guide us all
to His path, He sends from time to time His elects to make people understand
His Divine Message. Muhammad (saw) was such an Elect, who through his
perseverance and absolute obedience to Almighty God received the distinction of
Seal of Prophethood, the Best of Mankind and the best example and role model to
follow. He indeed was the personification of the divine laws as established in
the Holy Quran.
To know Islam, one must
analyse deeply the life of Muhammad (saw). In fact, his life reflect many
aspects of life as lived by both the poor and the rich, and among the poor
there was of course the slaves who were devoid of rights in the pre-Islamic
times. Muhammad’s (saw) compassion to the poor and the slaves knew no bound.
As a young man he was
ever ready to help the needy and poor, wanting to remove them from their lives
of miseries. This profound sentiment of pity and mercy applied also to the
slaves whom he did not lose time to liberate once he got the opportunity to
become their master. This occasion presented itself when after his wedding to
his pious, rich and beautiful wife Khadija (ra), the latter offered him all her
riches and along with these properties there were also slaves in dozens.
Muhammad (saw) did not
hesitate to manumit them all. He was so caring that he could not tolerate that
humans like himself be treated worst than animals. After their manumission, the
majority left, grateful for such kind consideration from their new master. Only
a handful stayed behind, especially the young Zaid bin Harith (ra) who could
not bear separation from such a kind human being as Muhammad (saw). Therefore
Zaid stayed with him, not as a slave or domestic but as an equal, a liberated
person.
With the advent of
Islam, the compassion of this religion reached such heights that it made
provisions for the liberation of slaves at every opportunity. The Holy Quran
states:
“Righteousness is not that you turn your faces
toward the east or the west, but righteousness is one who believes in Allah
(Almighty God), the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives
wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the
traveller, those who ask (for help), and for freeing slaves…” (2: 178)
Moreover, as way
of expiation (of sins) of believers, Almighty God ordains His servants “to manumit a slave.” (4: 93; 5: 90; 58: 4-5)
Moreover, as a Prophet
of God, Muhammad (saw) is reported to have said: “When the slave of anyone
amongst you prepares food for him and he serves him after having sat close to (and
undergoing the hardship of) heat and smoke, he
should make him (the slave) sit along with him and make him eat (along with
him), and if the food seems to run short, then he should spare some portion for
him (from his own share).” (Muslim)
“Your slaves are your
brothers and Allah has put them
under your command. So whoever has
a brother under his command should
feed him of what he eats and dress him of what he wears. Do not ask
them (slaves) to do things
beyond their capacity (power)
and if you do so, then help
them.” (Bukhari)
The Holy Prophet’s
sincere consideration for slaves is shown also in the reminiscence of the
excellent way he and his closest companion Abu Bakr (ra) went to buy a slave (with
the purpose of liberating him) by
the name of Bilal bin Rabah Al-Habashi who suffered all kind of tortures from
his master due to the fact that he believed in the message of the Prophet of
God (saw). The story of his liberation from the clutches of slavery is a
heart-melting one. This same person, a former slave became the first “Muezzin”
(Caller to Prayer) in Islam.
Now a question can be
asked as to why Islam did not put a stop to slavery at once. When the divine
messages were first revealed upon Muhammad (saw), this was done little by
little, in a measure so that these commandments can act as spiritual cure to
the people, much like “serum” being administered to a patient, drop by drop.
Therefore, slavery could not be eradicated at once, but little by little,
because first it was the perception of man which had to change, and Islam
through its teachings succeeded in promoting the liberation of slaves little by
little till it disappeared.
The life of Muhammad
(saw) is in every facet a model for not only Muslims, but for all humans.
Whatever knowledge we have, we share, and we embrace compatibility for the sake
of unity. Rich and poor are meant to be…brothers for eternity, if only we could
peep in the book of life, and get rid of slavery to this beautiful but oh so
temporary world!