Figure 1.--

The history of the slave trade has focused on the European Atlantic slave trade. Much less attention has been given to slavery in the Muslim world. There are several reasons for this. One, the long history of Muslim slavery dating from the very early years of the Arab expansion. Few records are availabe from the early historical periods which bega in the early medieval era. This makes it especially difficult to assess the dimensions of slavery in early Muslim society. Two, the fact that slavery is firmly rooted in the Koran means that it cannot be question and thus Islamic scholars have tended to avoid the question. Three, slavery is not something Muslim historians want to honestly address. Western scholars now address a range of historical issues (colonialism, war, racism, nationalism, religion, ect.) with often brutal honesty, even if reflects poorly on their society/country. Thi is not a common practice among Muslim scholars. Nor isf it a safe practive. Muslim writers who publish books which reflect poorly on Islam or even Muslim society can be putting their lives in danger. Another fator here is that some in West see work on Arab/Muslim slaveryas an attempt to lessen the onus placed upon the Atlantic slave trade. Here another facror is the extensive documentary evidence available on the Atlantic slave trade compared to the must more limited information available on the Arb slave trade. Historians in paticular have widely different estimates on the dimensions of the Arab African slave trade.

Limited Sources

The long history of Muslim slavery dating from the very early years of the Arab expansion. Few records are availabe from the early historical periods which bega in the early medieval era. This makes it especially difficult to assess the dimensions of slavery in early Muslim society.

Holy Koran

While the European Atlantic slave trade was conducted over four centuries, the Arab African slave trade was conducted over 14 centuries, and has not finally ended even in the 21st century. A factor here is that slavery is clearly scationed in the Koran and many Arabs and othet Muslims believe that the Koran is the literal word of God which can not be questioned by our more enlightened modern attitudes on social values and human rights. There are many references to slavery in the Koran. Some authors desribe this as Mohammed's attitude toward slavery, but this is not how many Muslims view it. Remember that Mohammed was a prophet, God's messenger. More correctly, the Koranic verses to many Muslims provide a statement of God's views on slavery. The clear conclusion from all these passages is that God saw slavery as a natural aspect of human relations. This explains why there was been no abolitionist movement within Islam and why it was the Brirish Royal Navy that ended the slave trade in the Indian Ocean. The many passages in the Koran mentioning slavery are rather ambigious, not unlike the Bible. Often the point of the passage is not clear. We can offer some suggestions as to the meaning. But we certainly do not pretend to be Islamic scholars. Reader comments are invited to help us better understand these various passages. One interesting aspect here is the number of references to which a Muslim might free a slave as the consequence for violating a Koranic injuction. This would make holding slaves a useful practice beyond the actual services they might render. It is notable the number of the 114 surah/sura (chapters) of the Koran that have refences to slavery. The fact that slavery is firmly rooted in the Holy Koran means that it cannot be questioned and thus Islamic scholars have tended to avoid the question. This creates a significant theological problem, because few Muslims today would say that slavery is moraly acceptable.

Christianity and Slavery

Christianity also confronted the issue of slavery. Slavery is a recognized institution in the Old Testement and is not condemned in the New Testment. This would not have been posible because the New Testament was written during the Roman Imperial period when slavery was a cetral economic institution. Even so the thrust of Christian teaching promting the importance of the individual worked against slavery. As a result, after the fall of the Empire, slavery gradually disappeard in most of Cristian Europe. Feudal serfdom was another formed of forced labor, but it was not slavery. The Spanish who helped estanlish slavery in the Americas had a profound, albeit largely academic debate over slavery. The Christianity of the European powers did not prevent them from turing to African slavery in their colonial empires. It was, however, from the Christian (mostly Protdstant churches, that the abolition movements in Britain and America rose. Christans face the same problem as Muslims because of Old Testament references to slavery. Modern Christians have solved it by moving away from a literal interpretation of scripture. The prevlence of a literal interpretation of the Koran in Muslim society creates a more formidable theological problem.

Muslim History

slavery is not something that many Muslim historians want to honestly address. Western scholars now address a range of historical issues (colonialism, war, racism, nationalism, religion, ect.) with often brutal honesty, even if reflects poorly on their society/country. Thi is not a common practice among Muslim scholars. Nor isf it a safe practive. Muslim writers who publish books which reflect poorly on Islam or even Muslim society can be putting their lives in danger. As a result, Muslims who see books on Aran or Muslim slavery commonly view this as an attack on Islam, making such work contriversial in Muslim countries.

Islamaphobia

Many Muslims who see books on Arab or Muslim slavery commonly view this as an attack on Islam, making such work contriversial in Muslim countries. Some raise the charge of Islamaphobia. [Shahadah] This is not impossible. But not every historical question raised about Islam can be dismissed by the charge of Islamaphobia. And slavery is one of those questions. While there is a lack of historical evidence, there is enough to conform that slavery in the Muslim world was widespread and involved large numbers of people. Added to this is the clear acceptance of slavery in the Koran. Thus the investigation of Muslim slavery is a historical phenomenon that merits serious study.

Black American Critics

Historical studies of slavery have focused on the European Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Most surviving descendants of enslaved people are Americans, Brazilians, and other Latin Americans. Afro-Americans in particular have sought to better understand their origins. And this invilved the Trans-Atlantic slave trade abd the tribes of Western and Southern Africa. The interest has concentrated on the Europeans involved. Musch less interest has been shown in the Aran involvement, both in the Trans-Atlabtic slave trade and in the Indian Ocean slave trade. Relatively few American slaves were transported from Indian Ocean ports. Some in West, especially black authors, see work on Arab/Muslim slavery as an attempt to lessen the onus placed upon the Atlantic slave trade. Here another facror is the extensive documentary evidence available on the Atlantic slave trade compared to the must more limited information available on the Arb slave trade. Historians in paticular have widely different estimates on the dimensions of the Arab African slave trade. This is compounded because some black Americans have adopted Muslim names abnd adopted Islam, in part because they saw slavery as a white, European creation. To be presented with the fact that not oknly were the Arabs deeply involved in the slave trade, but that the Koran accepts abd even justifies slavery is inconvenient to say the least.

Demographic Questions

Scholars albeit on more limited documentation tend to believe that the dimensions of the Arab slave trade was comparable to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Some believe that it was even larger. This raises a demographic question. The evidence of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade is clearly vissible in the African origins of millions of people in the United statesxand Latin America. Yet the same demographic cohart is not obsereable to nearly the same degree in the Arab world. I am not entirely sure why this was. Perhaps there was a smaller European population in the Americas to belend into. Perhaps the historians studying Muslim slavery are wrong about the dimensions of the trade. Or another alternative is that the Africans enslaved by the Arabs were less likekly to survive. While records or incomplete. This is a question that could be addressed by modern DNA studies.

Sources

Shahadah, Owen 'Alik. Myths Regarding the Arab Slave Trade.

Created: 12:21 AM 4/19/2007
Last updated: 12:21 AM 4/19/2007