Question:

What arguments are there to counter the Kaaffir claim that the Prophet was a slaver - that he captured slaves in raids, that he bought and sold slaves, and even took their women, and that he also enslaved men and women, and killed prisoners of war? I have seen references that indicate that these are true.

Fatwa:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The Prophet is innocent from the claims stating that he used to enslave free men; he only enslaved those who had chosen to be slaves to other than Allah, and did not want to embrace Islam, submit themselves to Allah and obey His Commandments. As regards he who submitted himself to Allah's Will, or who submitted himself to Allah's Commandments by paying the Jizyah [tax imposed by Islam on the people of the book when under Muslim rule], then the Prophet never enslaved them, because if a person became a Muslim, he has freed himself from worshipping the creation and became a worshipper of the Lord of the creation. However, if he objects and refuses to submit himself to Allah, and chooses to be a non-Muslim, but did not become an obstacle in the way of the call to Allah, and accepted to pay the due tax, then he is allowed to do so. Nonetheless, if he objects to the way of calling to Allah and obstructs its path by driving people away from it so that they remain as slaves to other than Allah, then such a person deserves slavery, and this is the only permissible way of slavery in Islam. Indeed Islam has set many ways for getting rid of slavery and encouraged people to become free.

It is known that slavery is a very ancient matter. There was many ways of enslaving people, like being a master over a person [having an upper hand on him], or a person being indebted, or having stolen, being in need, or being a burglar, and so forth. So a person who had predominance on someone else, he would enslave him, and if an indebted person has no money to repay his debt, he would give one of his children as a slave; if he had no children, he would enslave himself. Also, a thief used to be enslaved as in the story of Yoosuf (Josef) , may Allah exalt his mention, with his brothers.

Allah Says (which means): {They [the accusers] said: ''Then what would be then the penalty of him if you are proved to be liars?" [The brothers] said: "His penalty should be that he, in whose bag it is found, should be held for the punishment of the crime. Thus do we recompense the wrongdoers."}[Quran 12:74-75]. And when a person was in need, he would sell one of his children in order to spend on him and his family. The robbers and out-laws enslaved any person they took control of, and so on.

Before Islam, the slaves were very badly treated, and Islam aggressively encouraged freedom, so it abolished all the ways that led to slavery except the way that we discussed at the beginning of this Fatwa. So how come that Islam and the Prophet of Islam are accused of enslaving people.

Allah Knows best.

Fatwa answered by: The Fatwa Center at Islamweb