Islam and Slavery
A Line-by-Line Rebuttal of “Islam Attacks Slavery”
Slavery in Islam is one of the most hotly contested subjects in religious apologetics. On the one hand, the Qur’an, Hadith, and Sharia law clearly preserve and regulate slavery. On the other hand, modern Muslim apologists—embarrassed by the incompatibility of slavery with human rights—scramble to recast Islam as an “abolitionist” faith. One such attempt comes from the website al-islam.org in an essay titled “Islam Attacks Slavery.”
This blog post will dismantle that essay line by line, exposing the cherry-picking, contradictions, and whitewashing it deploys. Each quotation from the essay will be followed by a detailed rebuttal grounded in primary sources and historical reality. By the end, it will be clear that Islam never abolished slavery—it institutionalized it.
Quote 1: The Introduction
“The institution of slavery has existed throughout human history, and Islam found it deeply rooted in the social and economic fabric of 7th-century Arabia. Islam, however, attacked this system and initiated a gradual program of liberation.”
Rebuttal
This is the standard apologetic sleight of hand. Yes, slavery existed before Islam. But the key issue is: what did Islam do with it? The Qur’an and Hadith did not abolish slavery. They absorbed it, legitimized it, and gave it divine sanction. Far from “attacking” slavery, Islam transformed it into a permanent institution under Sharia.
A truly abolitionist religion would have done what Jesus did in principle (“there is neither slave nor free… for you are all one” – Galatians 3:28) or what the later abolitionist movements did explicitly: declare slavery a moral evil and outlaw it. The Qur’an never once says “do not own slaves.” Instead, it assumes their existence (e.g., Qur’an 4:3, 23:6, 70:30) and regulates how they may be bought, sold, and used sexually.
SEO Commentary
Slavery in Islam was not abolished by Muhammad. It was legitimized. Apologetic claims that Islam “attacked” slavery are misleading because the Qur’an repeatedly refers to slaves as “what your right hands possess,” normalizing their ownership. This is why slavery persisted in Muslim societies for over 1,300 years until Western colonial powers forced its end.
Quote 2: Islam’s Alleged “Program of Liberation”
“Islam encouraged freeing of slaves, made it a form of charity, and declared emancipation as a means of expiation for sins.”
Rebuttal
This argument is half-truth wrapped in piety. Yes, the Qur’an and Hadith praise the freeing of slaves. But only within a framework where slavery itself is legitimate. Freeing slaves is treated as a pious deed, not as a moral requirement to dismantle the system.
Think of it like this: if a religion declared that beating people was fine, but stopping early was a good deed, that does not make the religion anti-beating. Likewise, making manumission a form of “charity” doesn’t abolish slavery—it reinforces it. It implies slavery is the baseline, freedom is the optional extra.
Worse, the Qur’an encourages the capture of new slaves through war. Qur’an 8:69 and 33:50 explicitly allow taking captives, and Hadith show Muhammad distributing enslaved women as war booty (e.g., Sahih Muslim 3371, Sahih al-Bukhari 4138). You cannot both legalize enslavement and claim to abolish it.
SEO Commentary
Apologists often cite verses about freeing slaves without acknowledging that Islam simultaneously legitimized the constant supply of new slaves through jihad. This contradiction undermines the claim that Islam had a “program of liberation.” In fact, freeing slaves in Islam was conditional, transactional, and subordinate to maintaining the institution itself.
Quote 3: A False Comparison
“Other civilizations did not curb slavery; Islam alone took practical steps to undermine it.”
Rebuttal
This is pure historical revisionism. First, many civilizations questioned or abolished slavery. The Persian Empire at times freed large groups of captives. Christian movements—centuries before Islam’s final abandonment of slavery—had already generated abolitionist principles. By the late Roman Empire, manumission was increasingly common.
Second, Islam is unique not for abolishing slavery but for entrenching it so deeply that Muslim societies were among the last to give it up. Saudi Arabia only abolished slavery in 1962. Mauritania criminalized it only in 2007, yet slavery still exists there today. These are not outliers—they are the legacy of Islamic jurisprudence.
SEO Commentary
The claim that “Islam alone curbed slavery” is historically false. Far from leading abolition, Islamic law preserved slavery until modern pressure forced change. This makes Islam one of the longest-lasting slave-holding traditions in world history.
Quote 4: “No New Slaves” Myth
“Islam forbade enslaving free men; slavery could only come from war captives.”
Rebuttal
This statement is misleading in two ways:
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It’s not true. Sharia law allowed the children of slaves to be born into slavery. Entire generations were enslaved without being war captives.
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Even if it were true, it is monstrous. Justifying slavery because it comes from war captives doesn’t make it moral. It institutionalizes human trafficking as spoils of war.
Muhammad himself enslaved war captives. The Banu Qurayza massacre (Hadith, Ibn Ishaq 690) saw Jewish women and children distributed as slaves. This was not a fringe event—it was core Islamic practice.
SEO Commentary
The myth that Islam only permitted “just” slavery through war captives is one of the weakest apologetic defenses. Capturing women and children in war and assigning them as property is not abolition—it is institutional rape and slavery sanctified by divine command.
Quote 5: Islam’s “Humanitarian” Treatment of Slaves
“Islam improved the condition of slaves, granting them rights, humane treatment, and paths to freedom.”
Rebuttal
This is the soft-focus lens of apologetics. Yes, Islam required “kindness” to slaves. But they remained property. Slaves could be beaten (Hadith: Sahih Bukhari 30:254), bought, sold, inherited, and used sexually by their masters. Qur’an 23:6 and 70:30 explicitly allow sex with slave women without marriage or consent.
Imagine saying: “We legalized theft, but told thieves to be nice about it.” That is not progress. It is hypocrisy. The so-called “rights” of slaves in Islam were crumbs from the table of ownership.
SEO Commentary
Muslim apologists emphasize “humane treatment” while ignoring the legalized sexual slavery at Islam’s core. This selective framing misleads modern readers. The reality is that Sharia protected slavery’s structure, not its victims.
Quote 6: The “Gradual Abolition” Claim
“Islam adopted a gradual approach to abolish slavery, avoiding social chaos.”
Rebuttal
This is perhaps the most common apologetic trick. It assumes without proof that Islam intended eventual abolition. But there is no Qur’anic verse declaring slavery immoral or calling for its end. The “gradualism” claim is an invention of modern apologetics, not the text.
If Allah could forbid pork in a single verse, He could forbid slavery. If He could instantly abolish adoption practices (Qur’an 33:4–5), He could abolish slavery. The excuse of “gradualism” collapses when you realize that slavery continued under Islamic law for over a millennium. Gradual? Try eternal.
SEO Commentary
The “gradual abolition” argument is historically false. Islam had 1,400 years to abolish slavery and never did. Instead, it institutionalized it through fiqh, and Muslim empires grew rich on slave trade routes across Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
Quote 7: “Islam Ended Slave Supply”
“By closing the doors of enslavement, Islam cut off the supply of new slaves.”
Rebuttal
This is flatly contradicted by Islamic history. Far from closing the doors, Islam opened them wide through jihad. The trans-Saharan slave trade, the Ottoman devshirme system, and countless raids on Africa, Europe, and India show that Islam was a driver of slave supply, not its opponent.
Even the Prophet’s companions practiced enslavement. Umar, the second caliph, expanded the empire through conquests that generated countless slaves. The doors of enslavement were not closed—they were industrialized.
SEO Commentary
The reality of Islamic slavery contradicts apologetic myths. Islam fueled centuries of human trafficking across continents. The “closed doors” claim is propaganda, not history.
Quote 8: Islam vs. Abolitionism
“Western abolition came much later; Islam was the pioneer.”
Rebuttal
This is one of the boldest lies. Western abolitionism began in the 18th century and succeeded by the 19th. By contrast, slavery was still thriving in Muslim lands at that time. The Barbary slave trade (Muslim North Africa) only ended when European powers forced its closure in the early 1800s. Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Mauritania clung to slavery into the 20th and 21st centuries.
If Islam pioneered abolition, why did it resist it longer than almost any other civilization?
SEO Commentary
The historical record is clear: Western abolition movements ended slavery. Islamic law preserved it until outside pressure forced change. Any claim that Islam “pioneered abolition” is dishonest revisionism.
Conclusion: The Whitewashing of Slavery in Islam
The essay “Islam Attacks Slavery” is not a historical defense—it is propaganda. Line by line, it cherry-picks Qur’anic verses, ignores Hadith, and rewrites history to paint Islam as an abolitionist faith. The reality is stark:
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The Qur’an legitimized slavery.
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Muhammad and his companions practiced it.
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Sharia law institutionalized it for centuries.
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Muslim societies abandoned it only under modern external pressure.
Slavery in Islam was not attacked—it was sanctified. Any attempt to deny this is not only historically false but morally bankrupt.
Final SEO Commentary
For readers seeking the truth about slavery in Islam: do not be deceived by apologetic essays. The historical and textual evidence is overwhelming. Islam did not abolish slavery. It entrenched it. The real abolitionists were those who, centuries later, declared slavery a crime against humanity—something Islam never did.
