Slavery
Critic:-
Islam propagates slavery whereas Christians abolished it.
Comment:-
We have to be clear about what is being discussed.
Slavery can be defined as the domination and control of one person by another. It may be defined more strictly as involving, but not always, the advantages of the controller and the disadvantage of the one being controlled. There many be many degrees of this. Though modified, it has certainly not been abolished anywhere in the world
Slavery can be defined even more broadly as a state of subjection or being under control of something. Obsessions, addictions, fixations, hypnosis, greed, mental conditioning and manipulation by propagandists, publicity agents, the media and governments which control, suppress, invent and distort information etc. all these are sources of enslavement.
There is a difference between a teaching and people who might adhere to it to different degrees. Islam is a teaching, which advocates the kind treatment of slaves and tries to abolish slavery. But it is people who try to propagate it. Muslims did, indeed, indulge in enslaving people but that is not because of Islam. Christians probably indulged in this to a much greater extent and with greater cruelty.
Many Christians, including priests have certainly supported slavery and opposed its opposition using the bible:-
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling; in singleness of heart as to Christ. Not in the way of eye service as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not men knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same again from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free." Ephesians 6:5
Jesus had nothing to say about slavery.
Islam did tolerate slavery because it was a fact of the time and because it was a way of dealing with prisoners of war. If the enemy was the aggressor (and Islam does not allow aggression but self-defense) then it was a way of making the enemy pay for their aggression and the destruction they did as well as a deterrent.
But Islam requires the freeing of slaves, though they should not be suddenly released to fend for themselves without means and without considering the economic consequences as was done in the USA.
It has to be noted, however, that a Muslim is called "a slave of Allah" and is not to be a slave of anyone else.
Here are some quotations from the Quran regarding slaves:-
"Righteousness is not that ye turn your faces towards the East or the West, but it is righteousness to believe in Allah, and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers, and to spend of your wealth for love of Him, for your kindred, and orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer, for those who ask, and to ransom those in captivity.........." 2:177
"And what will explain to thee the ascent? It is freeing captives (prisoners, slaves)..."90:12-13
"And serve Allah; associate nothing with Him; show kindness to parents, and to kindred, and orphans, and the needy, and to the neighbour who is a kin, and the neighbour who is a stranger, and the fellow traveler, and the wayfarer, and those whom your right hands possess (slaves). Verily, Allah loves not him who is proud and boastful..." 4:36
"It is not for a believer to kill a believer save by mistake; and whosoever kills a believer by mistake then let him free a believing slave and compensation must be paid to his people, unless they remit it as charity. But if he be from a tribe hostile to you and yet a believer, then let him free a believing slave. And if he comes from a people betwixt whom and you there is an alliance, then let the compensation be paid to his folk and let him also free a believing slave. But he who cannot find the means, then let him fast for two consecutive months - a penance this from Allah, for Allah is Knower, Wise." 4:92
"Allah will not take you to task for the unintentional (or futile) word in your oaths (or promises), but He will take you task for oaths ye swear in earnest. The expiation thereof is to feed ten poor men with the average food ye feed your families with, or to clothe them, or to free a slave..." 5:89
"And let those who cannot find a match keep chaste until Allah gives them means from His grace. And if any of your slaves asks for a Deed in writing (an agreement to purchase their freedom), write it for them if ye know any good in them; yea, give them something yourselves from out of the wealth Allah has given you. But force not your slave girls to prostitution when they desire chastity, in order to make a gain in goods of this world. But if any one compels them, then, after they are compelled, verily, Allah will be to them (the slave girls) Forgiving, Merciful...." 24:33
"But if those who divorce their wives by Zihar and then wish to recall what they said, they should free a captive (slave) before they touch each other; to this are you admonished to conform; and Allah is Aware of what you do." 58:3
If people had followed the Quran, then Slavery should have been abolished long ago.
Slavery flourished in the West until recently and its prosperity and power has been built largely on the work of slaves imported from Africa to work the plantations in America, but also the exploitation of conquered peoples. Though the more conspicuous kinds of slavery have been legally abolished in the West there is still a considerable amount of illegal slavery in the form of exploitation of foreign workers from poorer countries and the trafficking of women for sexual purposes. Slavery is also illegal in Muslim countries.
However, It is necessary to understand that there are many kinds of slavery - Political, economic, cultural, educational, emotional, mental, and psychological. A person can be slave to habit, to superstition, ignorance, his own lusts, obsessions, addictions and inner compulsions. Most human beings are in fact economic slaves in so far as they are compelled to do what the employer dictates on pain of dismissal and unemployment. In so far as they are in debt, most people in the West are slaves to the money lenders for their houses and goods. A person can be mentally conditioned by the Society or those in power, or through propaganda, advertisements, publicity agents, journalists and cultural hypnosis, and even to accept and like the tethers that bind him and the prejudices that imprison him. He feels free because of this.
Slavery is a much wider subject than is normally discussed, has many subtle but much more insidious and dangerous forms and is much more widespread than is commonly realized.
It can be shown that that far from having been abolished a much more virulent form of this disease is overtaking the world, spreading from the West. Egotism, ambition and materialism, Slavery of Type A, are causing psychologically, socially and physiologically destructive rivalries and struggles for wealth, power and prestige. But these propagate and are propagated by social conditioning, Slavery of Type B, through the media of communication by advertisement, shop displays, publicity agents, radio television, magazines, various game shows and competitions, in short by the whole culture. The ambition so created lead further to borrowing money and life long slavery to finance companies. This is Slavery of Type C.
In order to repay these people, the borrowers must earn money by selling themselves to the large industrial and commercial corporations. These not only own and dictate their time and actions, but also their thoughts, motives, interactions, ranks and their values and conscience as well. It is the Companies that creates the personality and the image it projects. They increasingly dictate what clothes and uniforms the employees will wear, what friends they have, who they marry, what kind of houses they have, where they go on holidays, what kinds of sloganized thoughts they have, and how they conduct themselves. They employee is increasingly regimented, trained into robotic behaviour deprived of his individuality and made to conform to a standard with exclusive loyalty to a company or firm all for the sake of increase in profits. We now have Slavery of Type D. The work people do is not determined by themselves as to suitability or health, but by instruction from a source remote from the work place which has little knowledge of the situation. Stresses and strains, therefore, increase causing all kinds of psychological, psycho-somatic and organic diseases, and by debilitating the immune system, all kinds of infectious diseases. Attempts are made to cure these with drugs which suppress the symptoms leaving the causes to make things worse. We have Slavery of Type E. These stresses lead to the desire for ever more bizarre forms of psychological release and entertainment. We get Slavery of Type F.
These requirements for entertainment and pleasure, as well as those for counteracting disease, and for paying back debts, add to the costs of living. This together with the original materialism and desire to outdo the neighbours ensures the long hours of work needed to earn a sufficient income. But these long hours of work and the need for outside entertainment tend to destroy domestic life where love, security and significance are found and relaxation and recuperation could take place. This adds to the tension that requires the entertainment and the desire for goods as a substitute for love, significance and security, thereby creating a vicious circle, a prison in which people become trapped. We have Slavery of Type G. It is not possible to escape the system because any non-conformity leads to dismissal and unemployment. The employees must please and obey their superiors because their fate is in their hands. They could be dismissed and find no other employment because other employers demand a good report from previous employers. We have Slavery of Type H.
All this is made unprecedentally much more dangerous than in the past because people are not only unaware of their slavery and so do not do anything to counteract it, but most accept it as normal and even like their slavery. And the masters are in no better position. They have been equally conditioned and because they owe their position to the system, often having risen in the ranks through the system, they wish to maintain it. We now have Slavery of Type I. The System maintains itself and controls affairs using human beings as agents. Human beings have no control over it.
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