Dear Editors,
I was watching some program that someone questioned “despite the fact Prophet Mohammad(pbuh) preached equal treatment with the slaves in his time but didn’t terminate/abolish the institution of slavery,WHY?
I would like to put the same question to my learned Forum to comment on.
Thanks.
Tahir Mahmood.
Thinkers' Forum USA
A Site for Intellectual Empowerment and Exchange of Ideas
Dear Tahir,
At the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), slavery was one of the most common social norms. Almost every family had slaves and they didn’t have any rights and were living miserably. But, they still had a place to live and food to eat. If Muhammad (PBUH) had terminated slavery institution, all those “unemployed” slaves would’ve flooded the streets of Arab and that would’ve been catastrophic for the entire society.
It was genius in those times to take a different approach and that was developing conscience among people and help them keep master-slave relationship within ethical boundaries. This method kept the existing setup running and raised the living standards of those slaves and I think it closely matched the owner-employee relationship of our times.
We know that prophet Muhammad (PBUH) preached what was revealed to him.
[46:9] Say, not I am a new among the Messengers and not I know what will be done with me and not with you. Not I follow but what is revealed to me and not I am but a Warner clear.
According to Quran (90:10-14, 2:177, 9:60), freeing of slaves is an act of worship and righteousness.
Instead of forcefully abolishing slavery, God sets reward for freeing slaves.
This is just based on my limited knowledge and understanding on the subject.
Thanks
Irfan