Slavery Sanctioned and Regulated in Islam 

A Divine Endorsement of Human Ownership

One of the clearest moral advancements of modern civilization is the abolition of slavery.
The idea that one human being can own another is now recognized globally as a fundamental violation of human rights.

But in Islam, slavery isn’t condemned — it’s legalized, regulated, and sanctified.

And not just historically.
It’s enshrined in the Qur’an.
Modeled by the Prophet.
And preserved in Sharia.

---

📖 The Qur’an: Slavery Written Into Revelation

The Qur’an doesn’t merely mention slavery — it normalizes it:

• Permits sexual relations with female slaves:

  “...those your right hands possess...” — Qur’an 4:3, 4:24, 23:6, 70:30

  These repeated references mean this:
  👉 A man may have sex with his female slave — no marriage, no consent required.

• Treats freeing slaves as a commendable act, but never calls for abolition:

  “...freeing a slave...” is expiation for various offenses (Qur’an 5:89, 58:3, 90:13)

This is not condemnation. It’s management.
Islam’s God did not outlaw slavery. He regulated and preserved it.

---

🧔 Muhammad: A Slave Owner and Slave Trader

According to the most authentic hadith and sira sources:

• Muhammad owned multiple slaves — male and female.

• He bought, sold, and gifted slaves (see Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim).

• He had concubines (e.g., Maria al-Qibtiyya), with whom he had sexual relations outside of marriage — because they were his property.

“There is no blame on you... concerning those whom your right hands possess.”
— Qur’an 33:50, justifying Muhammad's concubine Maria

That’s not peripheral. That’s the prophet’s example. And in Islam, his behavior is binding.

---

📚 Sharia Law: Slavery Institutionalized

All four Sunni schools of Islamic law, as well as major Shi’a jurisprudence, accept slavery as lawful under conditions:

• Slaves can be bought, sold, inherited, and gifted.

• Masters can have sexual access to female slaves.

• Slaves are legally inferior: they cannot marry freely, own property, or testify equally.

• Children born to slave women become the master’s property — unless he frees them.

The only limit: Muslims cannot enslave other Muslims. Non-Muslims? Fair game in war.

---

🗺️ Islam’s Historical Slave Trade

The Islamic world operated one of the largest, longest-running slave trades in human history:

• Arab slave trade began in the 7th century and lasted over 1,200 years.

• Enslaved millions from Africa, Europe, Central Asia, and India.

• Castration of male slaves was common, especially African boys.

• Female slaves were often trafficked for sexual purposes — concubines and harems.

Unlike the transatlantic slave trade, Islamic slavery had no abolitionist movement from within.

Why? Because it was theologically protected.

---

🧼 Modern Apologetics — Still Defending the Indefensible

Common defenses include:

• “It was part of the time.”
  → Yet Islam claims to be timeless. If slavery was merely tolerated then, why is it still lawful in the text?

• “Islam encouraged freeing slaves.”
  → Encouraging manumission while keeping the system legal is not moral reform — it’s window dressing.

• “Slaves were treated kindly.”
  → Ownership with “kindness” is still ownership. A master-slave dynamic is inherently unjust.

No prophet should ever own human beings.
No god should ever allow it.

---

🎯 Final Word

A religion that legalizes human ownership cannot be divine.

Slavery in Islam is not a footnote.
It’s foundational. It’s in the Qur’an. It’s in the Sunnah. It’s in Sharia.

It was never abolished. Only suspended under pressure from the outside world.

And that’s the point:

Moral progress came not from Islamic doctrine — but in spite of it.

Until this is confronted honestly, Islam remains burdened with a system that declared owning human beings to be not only acceptable — but righteous.