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

Islamic Jihadon the memory of the noble Prophet, by proclaiming in explicit terms that slavery is reprobated by their faithand discountenanced by their code.’ 890 Joining the tune of these Muslim apologists, Lewis argues: ‘TheIslamic law and practice, from an early stage, severely restricted the enslavement of free persons… limiting itin effect to the non-Muslims captured or conquered in a war.’ 891Those scholars, who claim that Islam categorically forbid the primitive practice of slavery, shouldpay attention to the words of Allah in Quranic verses 16:71, 16:76 and 30:28, which unequivocally andcategorically state the division of human race into masters and slaves as natural, as His grace, and as part ofHis design. Iqbal and Ali should take note of the fact that Prophet Muhammad had owned no slaves prior totaking up the Islamic mission; and at the time of his death, he owned dozens of slaves and a few concubines,the majority of whom were obtained through brutal raids and attacks on innocent communities. Sikaingashould not forget that, in Islamic thought, the Quran is the final words of the Creator of the Universe in allmatters; and therefore, whatever the Quran sanctions becomes the eternal law for the Islamic society. Thisfundamental position of Islam contradicts Sikainga’s assertion that slavery is no "specific legal formulations"in Islam. In reality, slavery in Islam is a fundamental institution, repeatedly reiterated by Allah and widelypracticed by Prophet Muhammad, which would stand unaltered until the end of the world. Furthermore, it isequally nonsensical and inexcusable to term the division of fundamentally equal human beings into mastersand slaves as a formulation of “ethical nature” as Sikainga puts it. More so is the repeated Quranic sanction ofviolent enslavement of women for reducing them into sex-slaves.Gulam Ahmad Parwez (d. 1983), another Muslim scholar and activist of the subcontinent, uses adeceptive ploy of different kind. He argues that ‘those whom your right hand possesses’ in Quran 47:4,referring to slaves, should be read in the past tense; that is, as ‘those whom your right hand possessed.’ Thisway, he argues, slavery belonged to the past and the Quran closed ‘the door to future slavery.’ 892 Muslimsshould probably follow this crooked ploy and read the instructions of the Quran regarding prayers, fasting,pilgrimage and everything else in the past tense and relegate Islam to the dustbin of history.Prophet Muhammad relocated from Mecca to Medina in 622, when he had only about 200–250converts: from Mecca and Medina combined. With this small group of followers, he formed a raiding brigandexpressly for the purpose of attacking caravans from Mecca to plunder them for booty. As his power grew, hescaled up his adventures by attacking the Pagan, Jewish and Christian communities that came within his reachand power for the purpose of plundering and capture of slaves. After Muhammad’s death in 632, thisunconditional war on the infidels continued with greater vigor as Muslim power grew in leaps and bounds.They started undertaking campaigns of massive scales eventually bringing down world’s great powers: Persia,Byzantium and India. They often enslaved in tens to hundreds of thousands in a single campaign, besidesputting large numbers of the vanquished non-Muslims to the sword.At the advent of Islam, Prophet Muhammad’s raiding and warring brigand, consisting of just a fewhundred neo-Muslim Bedouins of Arabia, declared an aggressive, unconditional and relentless holy war onthe rest of humanity with the intention to subjugate and enslave them. Those like Lewis, who think that Islam"categorically forbade" or "severely restricted" the enslavement of a free man, should realize that Islam calledfor the unrestrained subjugation and enslavement of all free men and women of the globe at the hands of afew hundred Bedouin Arab raiders and plunderers. The Islamic legislation of enslavement is not of "severelyrestricted" nature, but of the highest scale imaginable, unprecedented in the history of mankind. The soldiersof Islam have executed this divine command with aplomb; the history of Islam has been the witness to that.By any standard, the sanction of slavery in Islam was the most devastating blow to the spirit and dignity of thefree human being.890. Ali SA (1891) The Life and Teachings of Muhammed, WH Allen, London, p. 380891. Lal (1994), p. 206892. Parwez GA (1989) Islam, a Challenge to Religion, Islamic Book Service, New Delhi, p. 345–46251