Reddit reviews The Legacy of Arab-Islam in Africa: A Quest for Inter-religious Dialogue

"When Islam was reveled to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), slavery was a worldwide common social phenomenon; it was much older than Islam. Slavery was deeply rooted in every society to the extent that it was impossible to imagine a civilized society without slaves."

A lot of other things were acceptable in the past, but that does not make them any more moral or right.
Drinking alcohol and gambling were both permitted activities in pre-Islamic Arabia, yet Muhammad chose to ban these relatively harmless "cultural norms" Why did he not do the same for slavery or pedophilia? My guess is he made everything up so he could get as many women as he wanted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu_quoque This is cultural relativism and not any objective morality. you can't have it both ways and you sound like christians. It's either right to own a human being or not. If muhmmaed was a messenger for all times then we should still have slaves today.


I know muhammed gaves slaves certain rights but he never tried to abolish slavery that's just some apologetic bullshit you have been fed. He himself was a slave owner and a slave trader. There are many verses from the Quran and the Hadith that are dedicated to telling people how to deal with the slaves

Under Islamic law people can only be legally enslaved in two circumstances: as the result of being defeated in a war that was legal according to sharia if they are born as the child of two slave parents like you said.

This includes the many women that were captured by the Muslims at war and used as sex slaves, or as they would call them… “those whom your right hands possess”.

There might have been a couple times where Muslims were told to treat their slaves nicely, or promised a great reward in heaven if they choose to free a slave. But there is not a single verse in the Quran or Hadith that abolishes slavery! (It's not haram to own a slave like drinking or gambling)

In fact, the only times that Muslims were required to free one slave (with no payment) is as a punishment for a sin they have committed! That is not abolishing slavery! That is saying that if you are good, you can keep your slaves. A slave might be allowed to buy his freedom only if his master agrees to some kind of payment. That should be a crime! You should not have to buy your freedom.

Slaves who convert to Islam are not automatically freed. Children born to legally enslaved Muslims are also slaves Dhimmis.

Islamic law allows slaves to get their freedom under certain circumstances. It divides slaves with the right to freedom into various classes:

The mukatab: a slave who has the contractual right to buy their freedom over time

The mudabbar: a slave who will be freed when their owner dies (this might not happen if the owner's estate was too small)

The umm walid, a female slave who had borne her owner a child
Also Slaves must accept Owners are allowed to have sex with their female slaves
All the attempts to justify slavery has failed. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/slavery/ethics/justifications.shtml


All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (In islam not all people are born free this is my problem)


Article 1, Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 3, Universal Declaration of Human Rights
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms

Article 4, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

You should read this book http://www.amazon.com/The-Legacy-Arab-Islam-Africa-Inter-religious/dp/1851682732

/u/American-Negro, have you heard about A Legacy Arab-Islam in Africa by John Azumah?

Dr. John Azumah (Ph.D. University Birmingham) researched and covered it extensively in one of his books.

http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Arab-Islam-Africa-Inter-religious-Dialogue/dp/1851682732?ie=UTF8&qid=1465411740&ref_=sr_1_1&refinements=p_27%3AJohn%20Azumah&s=books&sr=1-1

That's a good question. Several short videos turn up with a cursory Google search, but they aren't documentaries. Dr. John Azuma wrote a book on it. The author is interviewed [here:]((https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV-KAyW7pI8)

>The Fulani in West Africa in particular were very fond of conquering and imposing Islamic rule on other tribes.

>>What about the Arab conquest of North Africa? Was that a form of colonization?

>Absolutely. The Arab conquest of North Africa was a form of colonization that took place in the seventh century, when Arab Muslims based out of Saudi Arabia conquered Egypt, and went on to conquer the whole of North Africa. There were a lot of Berber tribes there; the Egyptian Copts were the original indigenous of the land, as well as the Berbers, and they were all conquered and Islamized and Arabized. That was also a form of colonization, definitely.

Good luck finding any modern anti-colonialist crusaders willing to say a peep about the treatment of the Berbers or Egypt's indigenous Copts.

>>Now, do Muslims today acknowledge this? Are they self-critical about this?

>Not to the extent that the West has become very critical. In fact, many Muslims don't even admit that there was any form of colonization--even though, if you talk to the Berbers (and let's be also aware that many of the Berbers have become Muslim), the Berbers will tell you they have been colonized. There's been Arab imperialism. The same thing in Egypt. The Copts know that they are the original--the indigenous of the place. They feel like they have been colonized. The same thing happened--when you talk to Sudanese, they will tell you that Sudan was colonized by Arab and Muslim invaders. So yes, they will not admit it, but there is that kind of history there.

>>Okay. Thanks for that. I want to move on to the topic of slavery now.

>>Did the Muslim empires practice slavery?

Islam's approach to slavery added the idea that freedom was the natural state of affairs for human beings and in line with this it limited the opportunities to enslave people, commended the freeing of slaves and regulated the way slaves were treated:

Islam greatly limited those who could be enslaved and under what circumstances (although these restrictions were often evaded)

Islam treated slaves as human beings as well as property

Islam banned the mistreatment of slaves - indeed the tradition repeatedly stresses the importance of treating slaves with kindness and compassion

Islam allowed slaves to achieve their freedom and made freeing slaves a virtuous act

Islam barred Muslims from enslaving other Muslims

But the essential nature of slavery remained the same under Islam, as elsewhere. It involved serious breaches of human rights and however well they were treated, the slaves still had restricted freedom; and, when the law was not obeyed, their lives could be very unpleasant.

Look around the world you can still it today the effects of slavery & the legacy that it left behind.

Here is some reasons why slavery is wrong.

The slave-owner treats the slaves as the means to achieve the slave-owner's ends, not as an end in themselves

Slavery exploits and degrades human beings it's wrong to own another human being. It's wrong to buy/sell slaves. This is my problem. Obviously you don't see any problem with slavery so I guess we just have to agree to disagree.



Slavery violates human rights: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights explicitly forbids slavery and many of the practices associated with slavery.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms


Slavery leaves a legacy of discrimination and disadvantage

Slavery is both the result and the fuel of racism, in that many cultures show clear racism in their choice of people to enslave

Slavery is both the result and the fuel of gender discrimination

Slavery perpetuates the abuse of children.


You should read this book

The mortality rate for slaves being transported across the Atlantic was as high as 10%, the percentage of slaves dying in transit in the Trans Sahara and East African slave trade was between 80 and 90%!

Also it was common to castrate them and make them enuchs

i would recommend this book written by John Azumah
https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Arab-Islam-Africa-Inter-religious-Dialogue/dp/1851682732

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjsLmv1N7i4