-
Enslavement Of Persians Vs. Quranic Abolition: History Or Religion?
Assalam-o-Alaikum,I am struggling to reconcile the Quranic command (47:4) to release war captives with the historical fact that early Arab conquests involved the mass enslavement of thousands of Persian men and women.My questions are:Ghamidi Sahab teaches that the Quran abolished new slavery. Why, then, did the companions apparently ignore this directive during the conquest of a civilized society like Persia?Can we categorize these actions as “human/cultural errors” or Arab imperial baggage rather than part of the Religion (Deen)?Does my faith in the Quran require me to defend these historical actions, or am I free to criticize them based on my moral conscience (Fitrah)?If I find the “pure” ethical heritage of Ancient Persia (e.g., Cyrus the Great/Zulqarnain) more aligned with justice than these historical practices, does this critique affect my standing as a believer?I seek a response that distinguishes between the divine message and fallible human history.JazakAllah.
-
3 Replies
-
Enslavement Of Persians Vs. Quranic Abolition: History Or Religion?
updated 2 months ago
2 Members
·
3
Replies
-
No free men were enslaved by the prophet and his companions. They were set free after they paid their ransom or in exchange for prisoners. Only the slaves of enemies were taken and distributed among the Muslims.
The slaves were allowed to make a pact with their masters to get free. That is called Mukatabat. And the society was supposed to help them from the zakat fund. A special category was introduced in the Zakat fund, i.e., Riqaab, which means to set the slaves free from the zakat fund.
-
“I am writing to seek a deeper clarification on the answer regarding the enslavement of Persians. While I understand the Ghamidi school’s position that the Qur’an (47:4) effectively abolished the enslavement of free people, I am struggling to reconcile this with established historical facts from early Islamic sources like Tarikh al-Tabari and Futuh al-Buldan (by al-Baladhuri).
Specifically:
Enslavement of Free Non-Combatants: Historical records state that after the Battle of Jalula (637 CE), tens of thousands of captives—who were not soldiers but Persian civilians—were taken as Ghanima (spoils) and distributed as slaves. Tabari records that the number of captives was so large that Umar ibn al-Khattab reportedly expressed concern over the sheer number of ‘non-Arab’ children being born to these slave women.The Status of the Captives: The previous response claimed ‘only the slaves of enemies were taken.’ However, primary sources clearly identify many of these captives as freeborn Persians, including members of the nobility. For example, the daughters of the Persian Emperor Yazdegerd III were reportedly taken as captives. If they were free before the war, how is it historically accurate to say ‘no free men were enslaved’?The Case of Abu Lu’lu’a: The very person who assassinated Umar ibn al-Khattab, Abu Lu’lu’a Firuz, was a free Persian artisan captured at Nihawand. He was not a slave of the Persians; he was a free man who became a slave only because of the Arab conquest.I feel a deep sense of conflict between the ‘Ideal Islam’ being presented here and the ‘Historical Islam’ practiced by the Companions. If the Companions were the best of generations, why did they seemingly ignore the instruction of Surah 47:4 to only release captives via ‘grace or ransom’ and instead participate in a massive system of chattel slavery of freeborn people?I ask this sincerely: Was the historical practice of the Sahaba a violation of the Qur’an, or is the modernist interpretation that ‘no free men were enslaved’ factually incomplete?”
-
The prisoners of war, who were the free men, were captured and distributed too. There were no huge jails then to keep them in. They were kept unless they paid their ransom or released as an act of generosity or exchanged for Muslim prisoners of war. Some of them never returned to their homelands and lived in Madian, Kufa, Basra, and other parts of Arabia. That is why you never found them sold and resold, unlike other slaves.
Sponsor Ask Ghamidi
