Slavery and freedom
Family: Peoples, minorities and protected groups · 31 entries
Entries on this theme
Person
Sumayya bint Khayyat
c. 560 CEAn elderly woman of the first converts, tortured in Mecca for her faith; the tradition counts her the first martyr of Islam, mother of the Companion Ammar ibn Yasir.Umm Ayman (Baraka bint Tha'laba)
c. 560 (approx.) CEAn Abyssinian freedwoman of the Prophet's family who cared for him as a child and again after his mother's death, and is counted among the Companions.Salman al-Farisi
c. 568 CEA Persian seeker who passed through Zoroastrianism and Christianity before reaching Muhammad; freed from slavery in Medina, he is remembered for proposing the trench at the siege of 627.Umayya ibn Khalaf
c. 570 CEA headman of the clan of Jumah remembered above all as the owner who tortured Bilal — one of the named persecutors of the weak converts, killed at Badr.Bilal ibn Rabah
c. 580 CEAn Abyssinian-born slave in Mecca, among the earliest converts; freed by Abu Bakr and remembered as the first muezzin of Islam — the voice that called the community to prayer.Zayd ibn Haritha
c. 580 (approx.) CEA freedman of the Prophet, once adopted by him, who became one of the earliest Muslims and commanded the expedition to Mu'ta, where he was killed; the only Companion named in the Qur'an.Wahshi ibn Harb
c. 600 CEAn Abyssinian slave famous for his javelin: promised his freedom for killing Hamza at Uhud, he later became a Muslim and, in the tradition's account, also killed the false prophet Musaylima at Yamama.Yasar, herdsman of the Prophet's milch-camels
A slave the Prophet acquired in the raid on Muharib and Banu Tha'laba and set over his milch-camels grazing near al-Jamma'; a party of Qays Kubba of Bajila who had been cured by the camels' milk slaughtered him and drove thorns into his eyes, and the Prophet punished them with amputation and blinding.Molla 'Abd al-Karim al-Rumi
A freed slave who rose to be mufti of Constantinople under Mehmed II — studied under al-Tusi and Sinan al-'Ajami (Molla Fenari's pupil), taught at one of the Eight Madrasas founded at the conquest, then judge of the 'askar, then mufti until his death in 901; author of hashiyas on the opening of al-Talwih.Abu Bakra Nufay' ibn al-Harith
A slave of Thaqif who descended from the besieged fortress of Ta'if on a pulley (bakra) in response to the Prophet's proclamation of freedom; the Prophet manumitted him as a 'freeman of God', and he became a prominent Companion and hadith transmitter in Basra.Abu Fakiha
One of the earliest weak converts, a client of Safwan ibn Umayya (or of the Banu Abd al-Dar), said to be of Azd origin. Umayya ibn Khalaf tied a rope to his foot and dragged him onto the scorching sand until he was thought dead; Abu Bakr bought and freed him. His name is given as Yasar, or Aflah ibn Yasar.Hatim al-Ta'i's daughter (Saffana)
Hatim al-Ta'i's daughter and Adi's sister; the Prophet's cavalry took her among the captives of Tayy after Adi fled to Syria, and three times she addressed the Prophet, the father is dead and the envoy absent, be gracious to me, until he released her, clothed her, mounted her and gave her provision. She joined her brother in Syria, rebuked him, then advised him to hasten to the Prophet. The sira leaves her unnamed; al-Suhayli, as the editors report, identifies her as Saffana, Hatim's only known daughter.Thawban, freedman of the Prophet
A well-known Companion said to be of the Hakam ibn Sa'd of Himyar, or from the Sarat; the Prophet bought and freed him, and he served him until his death, then lived in al-Ramla and Homs, where he died in 54 AH.
Event
Kurz ibn Jabir's detachment against the men of Bajila who killed Yasar
c. 627 CE · c. 6 AHIbn Hisham tells it from a scholar, from Muhammad ibn Talha, from Uthman ibn Abd al-Rahman: in the raid on Muharib and Banu Tha'laba the Prophet acquired a slave named Yasar and put him in charge of his milch-camels grazing near al-Jamma'; a party of Qays Kubba of Bajila came to Medina, fell sick and their spleens swelled, so the Prophet told them to go out to the camels and drink their milk and urine; when they recovered they attacked Yasar, slaughtered him, drove thorns into his eyes and drove off the camels. The Prophet sent Kurz ibn Jabir after them; he caught them and brought them to the Prophet on his return from the Dhu Qarad raid, and he cut off their hands and feet and put out their eyes.Zayd ibn Haritha's detachment to Madyan and the captives
c. 628 CE · c. 6 AHIbn Hisham tells it from Abdullah ibn Hasan ibn Hasan from his mother Fatima bint al-Husayn: the Prophet sent Zayd ibn Haritha towards Madyan with Dumayra, the client of Ali ibn Abi Talib, and a brother of his; he took captives from the people of Mina', the coasts, who were sold and separated; the Prophet came out as they wept, asked what ailed them, was told they had been separated, and said: sell them only together. Ibn Hisham: he meant mothers and children.The capture and release of Hatim al-Ta'i's daughter
c. 631 CE · c. 9 AHA cavalry force of the Prophet took Hatim's daughter among the captives of Tayy after her brother Adi fled to Syria, and she was held in the enclosure by the mosque door. For three days she addressed the Prophet, the father is dead and the envoy absent, be gracious to me, until Ali ibn Abi Talib signalled her to speak again; the Prophet released her, told her to wait for trustworthy kin, then clothed her, mounted her and provisioned her, and she joined her brother in Syria.The Unleashing of Egypt's Slaves in al-Fustat, 411
c. February 1021 CE · Shawwal 411 AHOn a Tuesday, two nights before the end of Shawwal 411, a written placard appeared in Egypt, with slips scattered along the lanes asking the state to unleash the slaves in Egypt for three days. Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah feared it, as did the commanders and soothsayers, that they would burn Egypt, kill and plunder. So they let the slaves of Egypt take their camp, and the sultans' women pressed it until it weakened. The fighting lasted three days. People cried out to the slaves, saying that if their aims were achieved, nothing mighty or humble would remain unhumbled. Women, children and the city's notables gathered, crying out to the slaves, and [the spoils] were sold in the seized markets. Then al-Hakim went out himself, rode, halted before a line of them and called out 'Ya Aghatiyy', and they turned back. He had burned a third of Egypt, and a third of it had gone to plunder.
Concept
Captives in a religious war and married women (Q. 4:24)
The commentary on the Qur'anic verse about married women and those whom the right hand possesses, a point of disagreement on whether capture ends a marriage and on the conditions for lawful captivity. Rashid Rida reports the majority reading as an exception, and the Hanafi and some Hanbali view on women captured with their husbands. With Muhammad Abduh he holds that captivity is lawful only in a religious war and not in a war for worldly gain.Emancipation of enemy slaves upon fleeing to Muslim lines
A legal principle in Islamic law of war established during the siege of Ta'if when the Prophet proclaimed: 'Whichever slave descends from the fortress to us is a free man', freeing over a dozen men including Abu Bakra as 'freemen of God' and refusing to return them upon Ta'if's submission.Hujna (hybridness, in the fiqh sense: spoils shares and speech)
Hujna is defect and ugliness in the lexical sense; the hajin among horses is the foal of a non-Arab mare by a stallion, and among people the one born of an Arab father and a non-Arab mother. Good speech avoids naming disgusting defects directly and uses euphemism. On the share of a hybrid horse in the spoils, the Hanafis, Malikis and Shafi'is give it the same share as an Arab horse; the Hanbalis distinguish: an Arab horse (ateeq) earns its rider three shares, while a hajin, a muqraf and a birdhawn earn two shares, one for the rider and one for the horse. The Hanbali position relies on a report from Khalid ibn Ma'dan, transmitted as mursal in Abu Dawud's Marasil.The free person (hurr)
The free man is the opposite of the slave; in the jurists' usage he is one whose person is free of any trace of bondage or ownership, and freedom is either firmly established or judged by appearance, as with a found child. A partly freed person, half free and half owned, is treated under the rules of partial manumission. The principle is freedom: bondage is accidental, and the law is addressed chiefly to free persons, slaves sharing most of its rules. A maxim holds that a free person cannot be taken as property, so he is not sold or bought, and that the free person's clothing is not within a usurper's liability.Running away (ibaq) of a slave
The Kuwaiti encyclopedia defines running away (ibaq) as a slave's flight in rebellion from the one who holds him, without fear or hardship in the work, and records it as forbidden by consensus. It then takes its rules one by one through the four Sunni schools: taking up a runaway and his upkeep, liability for his wrongdoing, his blood-money, sale, defect, manumission, and the reward owed to whoever returns him.Contract of manumission by instalments (mukataba)
A mukataba is a contract between a slave and his master in which the slave is freed on paying a sum due in instalments; it attaches manumission to a condition within a specific exchange. It was known before Islam and Islam kept it, the jurists citing the Qur'an in Surat al-Nur. Most jurists hold it recommended; Ikrima, 'Ata', Masruq and 'Amr ibn Dinar held it obligatory when the slave asks. Its pillars are the master, the slave, the formula and the consideration. The jurists differ on the slave's majority, on the formula and on deferred consideration. The paid-up slave is freed and his walā' goes to his former master, and he may be aided from zakat.Ta'jiz (declaring a party unable: a slave under a writing, or a party who fails to produce proof)
Ta'jiz is ascribing inability to a person; the jurists use it only for a slave under a writing of manumission and for a party who cannot produce proof. The Hanafis, Shafiis and Hanbalis let the master cancel the writing after default, the Malikis through the judge; the Malikis have the judge declare a claimant unable when the set terms run out, while the Shafiis and Hanbalis give a defendant no more than three days.Tadbir (manumission effective after death)
Tadbir is freeing a slave to take effect after his master's death; it is a form of manumission and an act of piety. Most scholars hold that the freedman comes from a third of the estate after death. The schools differ on its effects: the Hanafis and Malikis do not sell the tadbir slave; the Shafi'is allow sale, and a later sale is allowed for debt. Killing the master and debts that consume the estate void it.Tarsim (restriction of a person's movement)
In the jurists' usage tarsim is narrowing a person's freedom and limiting his movement so that he cannot go from one place to another. Testimony to the confession of one who is imprisoned or under tarsim is not accepted, since coercion is presumed, and his confession of a right that carries a penalty is not valid.Tasarri (lawful relations with an owned slave woman, and its rules)
Tasarri is a master's lawful relations with a woman he owns, and it is allowed by the Qur'an, the Sunna and agreement, subject to conditions: ownership, a woman who is a Muslim or a People of the Book, and no bar of kinship or marriage. Its rules cover the waiting period, the bars by marriage and kinship, the descent of the child, and the joining of two sisters in ownership. The schools differ on the descent of a child born of such relations.
Screening Room
Prince Among Slaves
2007 CE · 1428 AH†Andrea Kalin's documentary on Abdul Rahman Ibrahima — the Fulani prince enslaved in Mississippi who won back his freedom — from Terry Alford's biography.Bilal: A New Breed of Hero
2015 CE · 1436 AH†The Emirati animated feature on Bilal ibn Rabah, from enslavement to becoming Islam's first muezzin — the first animated feature of its scale on a Companion.Ceddo
1977 CE · 1397 AH†Ousmane Sembène's Senegalese classic about a village resisting Islam, Christianity and colonialism alike — a pillar of African cinema portraying Islam's arrival with a critical eye.
Work
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