• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Mohammed and Slavery

Piculet

Active Member
A book which endorses slaver,among other things, should it be viewed with caution, or do we close our eyes and say "it is alright".The comparison was made with people tearing down statues of past slave owners; why should the religion of peace have a special status? Should an ideology which promotes slavery also be torn down?
How do you think Islam 'promotes' slavery?
 

Tambourine

Well-Known Member
A book which endorses slaver,among other things, should it be viewed with caution, or do we close our eyes and say "it is alright".The comparison was made with people tearing down statues of past slave owners; why should the religion of peace have a special status? Should an ideology which promotes slavery also be torn down?
We just agreed that there are no statues of Muslim slave owners in America.

How do you expect anybody to tear down statues that don't exist?
 

Piculet

Active Member
It has been well known from the beginning to present days that the religion of peace promotes slavery. Just read the first paragraph of the link.
Islamic views on slavery - Wikipedia
Using Wikipedia to learn or to provide information, is no good. But very well — here's the first paragraph, in which I suspect is at least one mistake:

Islamic views on slavery represent a complex and multifaceted body of Islamic thought,[1][2] with various Islamic groups or thinkers espousing views on the matter which have been radically different throughout history.[3] Slavery was a mainstay of life in pre-Islamic Arabia and surrounding lands.[1][4] The Quran and the hadith (sayings of Muhammad) address slavery extensively, assuming its existence as part of society but viewing it as an exceptional condition and restricting its scope.[5][4] Early Islamic dogma forbade enslavement of free members of Islamic society, including non-Muslims (dhimmis), and set out to regulate and improve the conditions of human bondage. The sharīʿah (divine law) regarded as legal slaves only those non-Muslims who were imprisoned or bought beyond the borders of Islamic rule, or the sons and daughters of slaves already in captivity.[4] In later classical Islamic law, the topic of slavery is covered at great length.[3] Slaves, be they Muslim or those of any other religion, were equal to their fellow practitioners in religious issues.[6]
Now can you point out where it 'promotes slavery'?
 

England my lionheart

Rockerjahili Rebel
Premium Member
Okay, so we're not just talking about slavery, but about exploitative or coercive labor practices.

Do you actually think that these are in any way exclusive to predominantly Muslim countries, or a uniquely Muslim problem?

They are not exclusive to Islam,throughout human history there's been slavery right to this day but being justified by so called 'holy books' is a different matter imo.
 

Mike.Hester

Member
Using Wikipedia to learn or to provide information, is no good. But very well — here's the first paragraph, in which I suspect is at least one mistake:

Now can you point out where it 'promotes slavery'?
Read the entire article.
Ownership of slaves
See also: Arab slave trade, History of slavery in the Muslim world, and Islamic views on slavery
Sociologist Rodney Stark argues that "the fundamental problem facing Muslim theologians vis-à-vis the morality of slavery is that "Muhammad bought, sold, captured, and owned slaves", and that his followers saw him as the perfect example to emulate. Stark contrasts Islam with Christianity, writing that Christian theologians wouldn't have been able to "work their way around the biblical acceptance of slavery" if Jesus had owned slaves, as Muhammad did.[64]

Slavery existed in pre-Islamic Arabia, and Muhammad never expressed any intention of abolishing the practice,[17][65] as he saw it "as part of the natural order of things".[17][65] He did want to improve the condition of slaves, and exhorted his followers to treat them more humanely,[17][65] i.e., as human beings as well as property, with kindness and compassion.[17][66][67] His decrees greatly limited those who could be enslaved and under what circumstances (including barring Muslims from enslaving other Muslims), allowed slaves to achieve their freedom and made freeing slaves a virtuous act.[67] He made it legal for his men to marry their slaves and the women they captured in war.[68][67] Muhammad would send his companions like Abu Bakr and Uthman ibn Affan to buy slaves to free. Many early converts to Islam were the poor and former slaves like Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi.[69][70][71] Wiki
 

Tambourine

Well-Known Member
They are not exclusive to Islam,throughout human history there's been slavery right to this day but being justified by so called 'holy books' is a different matter imo.
Sure, the Abrahamic religions definitely have to be taken to task for promoting such views, but I don't think a lot of people are openly endorsing slavery these days, at least not publically.
 

England my lionheart

Rockerjahili Rebel
Premium Member
Sure, the Abrahamic religions definitely have to be taken to task for promoting such views, but I don't think a lot of people are openly endorsing slavery these days, at least not publically.

Of course not but people trafficking happens a lot in Europe and the USA,they mostly end up as a type of slave.
 

England my lionheart

Rockerjahili Rebel
Premium Member
Trafficking happens all over the world. But it's certainly more high profile here, as publically condemning trafficking is an important pillar of anti-immigration discourse.

Immigration and not wanting someone to live in misery against their will are chalk and cheese imo.
 
Top