islamic-jihad-legacy-of-forced-conversion-imperialism-slavery

Islamic Slaverywomen and children, who normally had to embrace Islam. Concerning slaying of captives, the Hedayah says,‘The Imam (ruler), with respect to captives, has it in his choice to slay them, because the Prophet put captivesto death, and also because, slaying them terminates their wickedness.’ The non-threatening women andchildren were generally enslaved, says the Hedayah, ‘because by enslaving them (for conversion to Islam), thewickedness is remedied; and at the same time, Muslims reap an advantage (by exploiting their labor andgrowing in number)…’ 766 Famous Islamic thinker Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406), eulogized even by many Westernscholars, 767 describes the profession of slavery with religious pride: ‘…[captives] were brought from theHouse of War to the House of Islam under the rule of slavery, which hides in itself a divine providence; curedby slavery, they entered the Muslim religion with the firm resolve of true believers…’ 768 In Bakhtiyar Khilji’ssack of Kol in 1194, the "wise and cute" ones among the besieged, as already noted, were converted to Islam,but those who stood by their religion were slaughtered. Here "wise and cute" ones meant those who werequick to accept Islam to avoid the sword and become slaves. The Hedayah stipulates that even if a captivebecomes Muslim, ‘he (the Imam) may lawfully make them slaves, because the reason for making slaves (i.e.,being infidel) had been in existence pervious to their embracing the faith. It is otherwise where infidelsbecome Muslims before their capture…’ 769SUFFERING OF SLAVESUndoubtedly, reducing human beings into something like deaf and dumb domestic animals causes greatpsychological and mental pains, plus the loss of dignity, honor and self-respect, to victims. Moreover, Muslimcaptors generally subjected the captives to ridicule and degradation by parading them in public squares. Thoseof noble birth and dignity were normally singled out for subjecting to heightened indignity and ridicule. Forexample, Sultan Mahmud brought enslaved Hindu King Jaipal of Kabul to Ghazni and subjected him toextreme humiliation. In a slave-market, where he was auctioned like an ordinary slave, he ‘was paraded aboutso that his sons and chieftains might see him in that condition of shame, bonds and disgrace… inflicting uponhim the public indignity of ‘commingling him in one common servitude.’’ 770 Choosing death rather than livingwith such extreme humiliation, Jaipal committed suicide by jumping into fire.The fate of slaves was the same or worse everywhere even during the late period. Late in the reign ofSultan Moulay Ismail of Moroccan (d. 1727), the white captives, caught in the sea, were put in chains upontheir capture and ceremoniously marched through the town on their arrival at the coast or the capital. Largenumbers of roughish people used to assemble to curse and ridicule them and to subject them to all kinds ofdegrading, hostile treatments. According to English captive George Elliot caught on a ship, when brought tothe shore, he and his crewmates were surrounded by ‘‘several hundred idle, rascally people and roughishboys’’ who made barbarous shouts at them and they were ‘‘forced like a drove of sheep through severalstreets.’’ 771766. Hughes TP (1998) Dictionary of Islam, Adam Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, p. 597767. British historian Toynbee termed his Muqaddimah as “undoubtedly the greatest work of its kind that has everbeen created by any mind in time or place. Bernard Lewis in his The Arabs in History called him “the greatesthistorian of the Arabs and perhaps the greatest historical thinker of the Middle Ages.”768. Lal (1994), p. 41769. Hughes, p. 597770. Lal (1994), p. 22771. Milton, p. 65–66222