• April 19, 2024

Islam’s disturbing legacy of slavery

We are often told that Islam is “peaceful,” but few know about the long practice of slavery within Islam, which continues to this day.

“Slavery is a part of Islam… Slavery is part of jihad, and jihad will remain as long there is Islam… [Those who argue that slavery has been abolished are] ignorant, not scholars. They are merely writers. Whoever says such things is an infidel.”

Sheikh Saleh Al-Fawzan, member of Senior Council of Clerics, Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body (2003)

“Slavery still exists in a host of majority-Muslim countries (especially Sudan and Mauritania, also Saudi Arabia and Pakistan)….”

Dr. Daniel Pipes, New York Post (July 30, 2002)

“Besides being practiced more or less openly today in Sudan and Mauritania, there is evidence that slavery still continues beneath the surface in some majority-Muslim countries as well – notably Saudi Arabia, which only abolished slavery in 1962, Yemen and Oman, both of which ended legal slavery in 1970, and Niger, which didn’t abolish slavery until 2004. In Niger, the ban is widely ignored, and as many as one million people remain in bondage. Slaves are bred, often raped, and generally treated like animals.”

Robert Spencer, “The Persistence of Islamic Slavery”

“…the worst, most inhumane and most diabolical institution of the black African slave trade was initiated, refined, perpetrated and implemented by the Mohammedan Arabs and later aided and abetted by the black converts to Mohammedan Islam.”

John Alembillah Azumah, Legacy of Arab-Islam in Africa

“Historically, the major juristic schools of Islam traditionally accepted the institution of slavery. The Islamic prophet Muhammad and many of his companions bought, sold, freed and captured slaves. …The Qur’an includes multiple references to slaves, slave women, slave concubinage, and the freeing of slaves. It accepts the institution of slavery…. Slaves are mentioned in at least twenty-nine verses of the Qur’an… Slavery was also perceived as a means of converting non-Muslims to Islam… According to some jurists – especially among the Shi’a – only Muslim slaves should be liberated… Evidence from slaves is rarely viable in a court of law [since] slaves are regarded as inferior in Islamic law… Slaves are not permitted to possess or inherit property, or conduct independent business, and may conduct financial dealings only as a representative of the master…. Slave women were required mainly as concubines and menials. A Muslim slaveholder was entitled by law to the sexual enjoyment of his slave women…. There is no limit on the number of concubines a master may possess…. There was a high death toll among all classes of slaves. Slaves usually came from remote places and, lacking immunities, died in large numbers…. the Islamic market demand for children was much greater than the American one…. According to multiple sources, religious calls have also been made to capture and enslave Jewish women…. Organized criminal gangs smuggle children into Saudi Arabia where they are enslaved, sometimes mutilated, and forced to work as beggars.”

“Islam and slavery”

“Raiding non-Muslim territories became a constant phenomenon after Muslim powers were established in Southeast Asia…. Over five centuries after Muslims came to power in the early fifteenth century, those animist hill peoples completely disappeared as a result of their incorporation, through enslavement, into the Muslim populace of Malaya, Sumatra and Borneo ‘by a mixture of raiding, tribute and purchase, especially of children.’… In Muslim wars in Southeast Asia, the enslavement was often complete: the entire population were enslaved and carried away…. These enslaved people…[belonged] to the polytheistic Hindu, Buddhist and Animist creeds….”

M.A. Khan, Islamic Jihad: A Legacy of Forced Conversion, Imperialism and Slavery (143-144)

Slavery has been justified by Mohammed’s example, as laid out in the Koran and in the records of the Islamic prophet’s words and deeds called the “hadiths.” In addition, Mohammed’s father was named by what has become a common Muslim appellation, Abd-Allah or Abdullah, which means “Slave of Allah,” a moniker proudly worn by millions of Muslims. Islam itself means “submission,” as in being a slave to Allah’s will.

“A believing slave is better than an idolater…”

Muhammad, Quran 2:221

“…you may marry other women who seem good to you: two, three, or four of them. But if you fear that you cannot maintain equality among them marry one only or any slave-girls you may own.”

Muhammad, Quran 4:3

“Blessed are the believers…who restrain their carnal desires (except with their wives and slave-girls, for these are lawful to them…)…”

Muhammad, Quran 23:1

“Prophet, We have made lawful for you the wives to whom you have granted dowries and the slave-girls whom God has given you as booty…”

Quran 33:50

“Mohammed had many male and female slaves. He used to buy and sell them, but he purchased more slaves than he sold, especially after God empowered him by His message, as well as after his immigration from Mecca. He once sold one black slave for two…. His purchases of slaves were more than he sold….”

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Zad al-Ma’ad (1.160)

“So Muhammad began seizing their herds and their property bit by bit. He conquered home by home. The Messenger took some people captive, including Safiyah and her two cousins. The Prophet chose Safiyah for himself.”

Tabari VIII 116; Ishaq 511

“We conquered Khaibar, took the captives, and the booty was collected. Dihya came and said, ‘O Allah’s Prophet! Give me a slave girl from the captives.’ The Prophet said, ‘Go and take any slave girl.'”

Sahih Bukhari 1:8:367

“…Khaibar is destroyed… Then the inhabitants of Khaibar came out running on the roads. The Prophet had their warriors killed, their offspring and woman taken as captives.”

Sahih Bukhari 5:59:512

“The Prophet Muhammad was heard saying: ‘The smallest reward for the people of paradise is an abode where there are 80,000 servants and 72 wives…'”

Commentary by Ibn Kathir on Koranic chapter Al-Rahman (55), verse 72

“A man from the Ansar called Basrah said: I married a virgin woman in her veil. When I entered upon her, I found her pregnant. (I mentioned this to the Prophet). The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: She will get the dower [“morning gift”], for you made her vagina lawful for you. The child will be your slave. When she has begotten (a child), flog her…”

Sunan Abu-Dawud 11:2070

“Muhammad took pains in urging the faithful to free their slaves as a way of expiating their sins. Some Muslim scholars have taken this to mean that his true motive was to bring about a gradual elimination of slavery. Far more persuasive is the argument that by lending the moral authority of Islam to slavery, Muhammad assured its legitimacy. Thus, in lightening the fetter, he riveted it ever more firmly in place.”

Murray Gordon, Slavery in the Arab World (19)

There are many more such quotes from Islamic texts and authorities that validate the practice of slavery. Conservative estimates place the number of Africans enslaved by Arab Muslims over the past 1,400 years at between 11 and 18 million, while others say that, when those killed in the raids or who died in transit to the Arab slave markets – some 80% – are factored in, the toll is at least 112 million. Hundreds of thousands of white Europeans also ended up in Islamic slave markets, the women being a particular favorite of Arab slavers.

http://youtu.be/AfV5PIAqkSQ

http://youtu.be/gFIaja1JRf8

http://youtu.be/jEL2NPwWCks

Slavery in IslamFurther Reading

Qur’an, Hadith and Scholars: Slavery
Saudi Religious Leader Calls for Slavery’s Legalization
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery: Saudi Arabia
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery: Pakistan
Arab slave trade
Islam and slavery
The Koran: with a parallel Arabic text
Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean
Slavery and Rape under the Islamic system
Islamic Jihad: A Legacy of Forced Conversion, Imperialism, and Slavery
Slavery in Islam
Inside the Arab slave trade: Human trafficking is still a problem in the Middle East

98 thoughts on “Islam’s disturbing legacy of slavery

  1. Slavery “of Islam” or of Christians
    You distorted the Hadith, forgetting most important others. It is Crusades.
    Do you thing “Black peoples & Asians” in USA & Europe are not “used” as slaves, in bad underground factories-homes, human traffics between these countries, as in, even worst than in some Muslim-Arab countries, and more “racist” with their “MODERN SLAVERY”, men every where do not have pity nor mercy, Muslims had pity on other nations, you did forgot your “world wars”, religious wars… in Europe, nor Spain inquisition of churches, imperialism & colonial centeries …, English’s opium war in China…,was it by Muslims???.

    1. I have not “distorted” anything. I have quoted the hadiths. The history recounted here is factual, and the Crusades have nothing to do with this subject at all.

      Shrieking “Crusades” is a standard Muslim apologist tactic that holds no water at all. Islam spread centuries before the Crusades, and the Crusades were largely in response to Islamic aggression for centuries before they occurred.

      Moreover, some 80 million Indians have been slaughtered by Muslims in their own country – did they have something to do with the Crusades?

      The finger-pointing elsewhere has absolutely nothing to do with Islamic doctrine – straight out of the Koran itself – that encourages slavery. You are simply spinning wheels and trying to distract off the subject, which is that Muslims have been responsible for the enslavement of millions of black Africans.

      In addition, what you name are considered abuses, not part of the enlightened ideology that many non-Muslims follow. This ideology is directly in contrast to Islam, which, again, fosters slavery. In fact, devout Muslims are proud to call themselves “Slave of Allah.”

      Perhaps you would be interested in actually studying the subject:

      Quotes from the Quran
      The Religion of Peace
      Faith Freedom
      Islam Watch
      Jihad Watch
      Prophet of Doom
      Islamic Crusades

      1. Slaves and Marriage Vows.
        Hi,

        Great Article.

        I have a question.

        I read somewhere that when a married infidel woman is captured as a slave, that her marriage vows are automatically dissolved.

        I would like to know if this is true and where I can find written evidence allowing this practice.

        Thank you.

        1. Thank you for your intelligent question. I didn’t know the answer, but I found it on Robert Spencer’s Jihad Watch site:

          [quote]Similarly, if a slave woman was married previously in enemy territory to a non-Muslim, and is then captured alone, i.e. without her husband, it is not permissible for any Muslim to have relations with her until her previous marriage is nullified, and that is done by bringing her to an Islamic country and making her the legal possession of a Muslim.[/quote]
          A question on the status of women taken as prisoners during Jihad ([url]http://www.jihadwatch.org/2004/02/a-question-on-the-status-of-women-taken-as-prisoners-during-jihad.html[/url])

          1. WTF you take information on islam from a website called jihad watch.RACISTS. Also Sahih al-bukhari is a collection of authentic and non-authentic hadiths so how do I know that A: The chain of narrators is reliable and B: That the hadith is authentic. C: One of the prophets closest friends was A former black slave whom Abu bakr freed so whats your point muslims aren’t racist

          2. Jihad Watch has perfectly good factual information that can be found elsewhere, so spewing hate speech at the source is ineffectual and fallacious. Islam isn’t a race, so shouting “racists!” assuredly will not succeed in thwarting us from criticizing Islam’s violent and bigoted doctrines. In fact, shouting “racist” in regard to Islam is the mark of a very poor intellect.

            If the hadith is SAHIH, it’s considered authentic – that’s what SAHIH means: Ṣaḥīḥ (صَحِيْح) is best translated as “authentic”. Furthermore, thousands of devout Muslims have cited these hadiths, so if you have a problem with them being used, you need to take it up with THESE MUSLIMS, rather than shouting “racists” at the “filthy kuffar” for criticizing the world’s most hateful and RACIST ideology.

            Despite your hate-speech spew here, the facts in the original article will remain the same: Islam’s devotees have engaged and continue to engage in racist slavery.

        2. Hi Tom. Muhammad came upon the problem of adultery with married women being seen as sinful, when his men wouldn’t rape married captives as Muhammad wanted them to. (Muhammad demanded rape partly as a means of destroying the cohesion of the tribes he conquered, and partly to keep himself and his men rewarded and satisfied while they worked for him.)

          Muhammad solved the problem with a new verse for his Koran, decreeing that his thugs must rape married women. The hadith of Sahih Muslim 8, #3432 explains the circumstances for this “revelation” allowing sex with married women, mentioning Koran 4.24 explicitly [my caps]:

          ‘..Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) sent an army to Autas…Having overcome them and taken them captives, the Companions of Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) seemed to REFRAIN from HAVING INTERCOURSE with CAPTIVE WOMEN because of THEIR HUSBANDS… THEN Allah sent down regarding that
          (QUR’AN 4.24) ‘And all MARRIED WOMEN (are forbidden unto you) EXCEPT THOSE (CAPTIVES) whom your right hands possess. IT IS A DECREE OF ALLAH FOR YOU’

    2. harder to find than the Holy Grail
      Mos can’t seem to open their mouths without lying and blaming others.

      The chances of finding the Holy Grail are much better than a given mo at a given moment in time telling the truth and taking responsibility.

    3. I have to laugh at Muslims who use the Crusades (which ended nearly 900 years ago and only began because of Muslim aggression to begin with) and the Spanish Inquisition (which ended over 600 years ago) as an excuse for their continued violence and mistreatment of other today. How, pray tell, that the Muslims have “pity on other nations” when they murdered, enslaved, raped and destroyed millions over the past 700 years and continue to do so today? You are a joke.

    4. TYPICAL MUSLIM APOLOGIST TACTICS:
      1. Deny, even in the face of scientific and logical evidence.
      2. Point fingers elsewhere to distract off the issue at hand.
      3. Insult the author by calling him or her “ignorant” and any number of derogatory and personal attacks.
      4. When all else fails, threaten violence, whether directly or obliquely with such comments as “I will see you burning in hell.”

  2. america
    Slavery exists everywhere, even in america. Prison employees get paid 23 cents an hour. The sex slave trade exists in the UK and america, europe, thailand, israel, japan, etc… In india you have children sold and forced to make shoes for Nike, basketballs and soccerballs.
    Why focus on slavery that was done under one religion? What purpose does that serve?

    1. Yes, slavery exists in many other places, but it is not justified by an ideology that has entire countries behind it, as it is by Islam. And [i]this [/i]slavery has taken the worst toll of any: 112 million people at least, and continuing. Moreover, entire cultures have been enslaved under this ideology, such as the Iranian/Persian.

      I focus on it because it obviously needs to be focused on. While you are wasting my time with distraction fallacies, people are suffering REAL SLAVERY based on this IDEOLOGY. Are you suggesting that we should not inspect this heinous mindset that allows for the slavery of millions? Just sweep it under the carpet and ignore it?

      Why waste your time with distractions, while people are suffering because of a depraved ideology that needs to be exposed?

      1. Y waste time? That happend 1000’s of years ago focus on wats happening now look all over the world the white man is the biggest slave trader y isn’t that important? But u want to pick on islam? Tell me some thing do u even know wat race the prophet (pbuh),jesus (pbuh) n moses was? If u that smart give me the correct answer

  3. Bizarre world we live in, every one thinks he is right, including the writer of this article. No wonders disasters are looming. Please know you are ignorant

    1. Yes, it is a bizarre world where people completely ignore – making them IGNORANT – numerous FACTS presented in authoritative quotes and videos in order to justify their pathological ideology. In this bizarre world, instead of studying these facts, people identify themselves with the psychotic ideology being exposed and then go insult others over it.

      Yes, clinging to such disgusting ideologies while insulting those who are exposing them is certainly leading us to disaster.

    2. Your last name is “Abed” and you doubt the historical record of Islamic slavery?

      That must be some kind of joke. (Abed means slave in Arabic.)

    3. “Bizarre world we live in, every one thinks he is right, including the writer of this…” comment – Nidal Abed.

      Nidal Abed – “Please know you are ignorant.” It is blatant hypocrisy to NOT apply your OWN judgment to YOURSELF!

  4. As I have essentially [i]proved [/i]here, Islam most certainly DOES promote slavery, which we can see by the fruits of its labors, including the [i]enslavement [/i]of entire peoples such as the Iranian/Persian. I also covered the supposed “freeing” or manumission of slaves in the last quote above, reproduced here:

    “Muhammad took pains in urging the faithful to free their slaves as a way of expiating their sins. Some Muslim scholars have taken this to mean that his true motive was to bring about a gradual elimination of slavery. [b]Far more persuasive is the argument that by lending the moral authority of Islam to slavery, Muhammad assured its legitimacy. Thus, in lightening the fetter, he riveted it ever more firmly in place[/b].”

    Murray Gordon, [i]Slavery in the Arab World[/i] (19)

    Such manumission was not for any great humanitarian concerns but in order to obviate sins of the slaver. Mohammed himself owned plenty of slaves and never said that slavery was bad or should be stopped. If he had, we wouldn’t have had the past 1,400 years of Islamic slave trade that enslaved at least 112 million people in Muslim slave markets and many millions more in their own lands under forced Islamic rule.

    It might be a good idea actually to read the article above and to watch the videos here. While you are defending this heinous ideology of enslavement, real people are suffering under Islamic slavery.

    Sitting in a cubicle does not compare to what these people have endured, and it is insulting to them even to make such an argument, which is in fact a distraction fallacy. And what you are doing is [i]justifying [/i]slavery, by claiming there’s a “kinder, gentler” version. Your contention is absolutely false, by the way, because Islamic slavers have been just as cruel and brutal – if not more so – than other slavers.

    Here’s another video by a person who is an EX-SLAVE who suffered under Islamic enslavement in Sudan:

    Simon Deng: Arab enslavement and slaughter of black Christian Africans in Sudan ([url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw72FCRsbS8[/url])

    1. Orientalism or Capitalism?
      I couldn’t help but wonder what doctrine is being used as an Orientalist wedge in this argument and by whom?

  5. wow..I’m a young black man, thank you for this post. I knew very little of this issue with the Arabs. I’m mostly familiar with European slavery. Thank you so much for this great TRUTH!

  6. Islam does NOT promote slavery!
    On the contrary Islam promotes freeing the slaves.
    On another point, why don’t you define what slavery is? How about working 10 hours a day in a cubicle while paying 30% “tax”, and then another 40-60% “mortgage”, and then if any family member gets sick the hospitals and insurance sucking the rest. How about rising food costs, minimal education, etc.
    Slaves in Islam are defined as “workers” in the west and still Islam encourages to “free” the slaves which essentially means teaching them how to fish and be on their own.
    Islam encourages to marry a believing slave (Noble Qur’ân An-Nur 2:221), to treat “slaves” as brothers (Hadith – Sahih Al-Bukhari 3.721), and to be kind (Hadith – Al-Muwatta 54.41).
    Only in non-Islamic societies slavery meant torture and rape.

    1. Thank G_d for the King hearings. This should be exposed but won’t be due the dhimmis bowing to CAIR

    2. Sorry, that doesn’t cut it
      The author’s point is that in the Koran, enslavement and death of those who do not follow the Muslim faith is encouraged. those of us who follow Jesus will gladly die and we will not strike back. My Jesus said, “I have come that they have life more abundantly.”
      Slavery and exploitation exist everywhere, in every culture. Only the saving blood of Christ can set a person’s heart free.
      Viva Cristo Rey!

  7. Yes, of course I can point to the source, which I have done many times. As should be obvious from this article itself, I carefully cite my contentions. Here’s the link to that one again:

    270 million murdered in the name of Islam ([url]http://www.politicalislam.com/tears/pages/tears-of-jihad/[/url])

    Be sure also to follow the link in the “Further Reading” section above that says “Islamic crusades.” There is a video there about parts of India being destroyed by invading Islamists ([url]http://occidentalsoapbox.blogspot.com/2009/04/islamic-crusades-episode-6-indias.html[/url]). Anyone who knows about basic world history should already know this fact.

    Your suspicions as to my motives in exposing the FACTS about Islam are simply more ad hom fallacies designed to distract off the issue at hand. Your comments are also a reflection that you don’t know about this subject, which is easily discovered through the numerous links I’ve already provided, including those from the Koran and hadiths themselves.

    Are you not capable of clicking on them, or do you only engage in suspicious thinking that ignores carefully provided sources? In reality, I’ve basically ONLY provided quotes here from OTHERS, so why are you making suspicious conspiracy theory comments about ME personally, as if I’ve just made it all up? Your remarks indicate it is you who are ignorant of the subject matter, as my contentions have already cited – besides not reading them, were you not able to watch the videos I’ve provided?

    “You either have a deep rooted hatred for Islam”

    I detest all violent infidel-hating and women-enslaving cults founded by murderous child rapists and slavers, as any decent human being would do. Why the hell wouldn’t I hate such a disgusting ideology, which has left THIS slavery legacy in its wake?

    But that’s a nice try again at deflecting off the issue at hand by getting personal with the reporter. In the meantime, people continue to suffer from this horrible ideology ([url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw72FCRsbS8[/url]).

  8. I think something got seriously wrong during the copy&paste process! 112 millions of Africans enslaved? the highest estimations (by actual historians) are around 18/20 millions over 1400 years…quite far from this insane and completely absurd 112 millions number.

    In this case, considering the actual and historical african continent population (which was underpopulated til modern era): there would be almost no more Black Africans nowadays.

    Next time when copying&pasting numbers: don’t forget to check: here, we have a misplaced or added “1”…

    1. That’s nice – another ad hom argument designed to deflect off the subject. As should be obvious from the extreme care with which I cite my research, including links to primary sources and respectable authorities, I did not just “copy and paste” that figure of 112 million. In fact, it you had watched the first video on this article, you would have discovered where that figure comes from – and you would have heard that the figure is probably [i]low[/i]. Indeed, the figure goes much higher if we factor in entire cultures that have been enslaved under Islam, such as the Persians/Iranians.

      As to the contention that somehow I made a mistake in my “cutting and pasting,” here are plenty of other sites with the same claim:

      Islam’s legacy of 112 million slaves ([url]http://www.google.com/search?q=112+million+slaves+islam&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a [/url])

      Even if the number was “only” 18/20 million, you will have proved that Islam is a horrendous slaver cult. Thank you.

      1. oh, no ad hominem attack here…simple maths.

        First, my point wasnt denying at all muslim slave trade and two simply show that those figures are completely absurd.

        So simple explanation: African population wasnt even 100 millions at the begining of muslim era: it reached those numbers in the modern era so how can you possibly explain that muslim slave traders (among them Black African muslims: Arab southern expansion limits being the saharian belt) took more Africans than there were actually?

        and considering those “holocaust” figures: how it came that there are still Blacks Africans?

        another question: giving those 112 millions enslaved Black Africans: how do you explain that during all this time til the begining of atlantic slave trade we can witness in Africa and especially in the Sahel and Eastern African (muslim area) a real explosion of “civilisation”: i.e. growth and development of kingdoms, empires: organised, with administration, string economic growth, etc… lot of them being” black muslim kingdoms” BUT suddenly once first europeans slave traders started their business: the complete opposite: i.e. massive&general collapse especially in Western Africa: first historical supplier of slaves for the atlantic trade? and that only with really really smaller numbers than 112 millions…

        so, whatever you could think: no ad hominem attack here: just a simple and quite real surprise when i read that more Africans have been deported and enslaved than existing Africans in those times…thats all and thats it.

        p.s.: what about the millions of muslims Africans (even some Moors) ending in American colonies? or same what about the muslims slaves in Europa? yes you speak about white christian slaves but you forget to tell that muslims were also being enslaved in Europa (Spain, France, Italy even in the Papal States working in galleys, navy arsenals, mines, etc…)

        finally, you speak about things :you dont know much about..

        1. Nothing you have said here has changed any of the facts as I have outlined them in my post and comments, including that originally you ridiculed me – that’s an ad hom, which apparently you don’t understand – and erroneously accused me of making an error in cutting and pasting. You were incorrect in that assertion, and you continue to make the same error by claiming I “speak about things” I “don’t know much about.” That is simply an absurd lie, as would be obvious from anyone reading this article and seeing the voluminous links and videos, as well as the many other articles I’ve written about the subject.

          It was [i]you [/i]who didn’t know about where that figure came from, so it is [i]you [/i]who have been speaking about things you don’t know much about. Moreover, I also know enough about Muslim apologists to know that they use this asinine and dishonest tactic with practically anyone, no matter how much knowledge they may have.

          Lying about me as the reporter will not make this horrible history about [b]ISLAMIC SLAVERY OF MILLIONS OF BLACKS AND OTHERS[/b] go away. Perhaps you would like to go around to all of the sites I’ve linked above that mention this 112 million figure and insult them as well – that might make the whole episode of Islamic enslavement go away. Maybe start with the video that I’ve already steered you to, but here it is again:

          Islam and Slavery ([url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsaPQ8jOqGo[/url])

          Simple mathematics reveals that 112 million over the period of 1,400 years is only 80,000 a year. That would seem to be entirely doable.

          And then we will have to deal with the rest of these horrors:

          Islamic Crusades ([url]http://occidentalsoapbox.blogspot.com/2008/11/islamic-crusades.html[/url])

          As concerns slavery in the West, YES, we in the West are quite well aware of it – so aware, in fact, that [b]over 600,000 Americans died during the Civil War ([url]http://www.civilwarhome.com/casualties.htm[/url])[/b] in order to end that practice. Do you want us to keep killing ourselves in order to atone for it?

          In the meantime, THIS Islamic slavery is ongoing, and what you are engaging in here is called a “distraction fallacy,” where you point fingers elsewhere in order to deflect off the issue at hand. Two wrongs don’t make a right, and the constant distraction elsewhere isn’t going to make these inconvenient facts go away.

          Meanwhile, people continue to suffer in slavery because of this horrible ideology ([url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw72FCRsbS8[/url]).

  9. Enlightening
    Hello as a young black man who has been considering islam as a path to take religiously

    I am very shocked by this article it has opened my eyes to many distorted so called truths of islam

    I am glad i have watched this before i made a big mistake i shall be showing many of my black brothers this enlightening article thank you sir

    1. You are VERY welcome. Please do send it to as many people as possible. Thank you. 🙂

  10. I see some musloids are here doing their usual vain petty hysterical defence of their paedo religion. I lived in a musloid country for ten years and I used to debate/argue with them about their sordid little dickfest religion but then experience taught me that arguing with apes and baboons is a waste of my precious kaffir time so now I either ignore them or laugh at them whilst they get sodomised by the US army or whilst they throw stupid musloid hissy fits at Danish cartoons.

    We need bigger zoos.

  11. There is no “double standard” here, and you obviously don’t know my work at all, since I continually expose Christianity ([url]http://www.google.com/custom?hl=en&client=pub-8327295676949120&cof=FORID%3A13%3BAH%3Aleft%3BS%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Ffreethoughtnation.com%3BCX%3AFTN%2520Search%3BL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Ffreethoughtnation.com%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F728-90ftnbannerani1.gif%3BLH%3A50%3BLC%3A%230000ff%3BVLC%3A%23663399%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3B&adkw=AELymgWTF7SBgii1Ay5fhECjBG7Gxgh5-2YigIi6PgHoJS4TyWxH4kPxmlwavjM6Ndpqfap5GtHflDza6vofnwA2qf9cbrf06URw3M_GtCqT3ozL_F9ZEfk&boostcse=0&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&q=christianity+victims&btnG=Search&cx=partner-pub-8327295676949120%3Ao4kcodsrg5k[/url]) as well.

    Rather than condemning THIS hideous evil, you want to point fingers elsewhere. ONE SUBJECT AT A TIME, PLEASE.

    This is called a “tu quoque” distraction fallacy. The subject of THIS article is ISLAM. If you want to write a different type of article about all these subjects together, please feel free to do so.

    I find it disturbing that so few are condemning the horrible and despicable history and mentality in this article but instead are so frantic in trying to get us to look elsewhere. People like EX-SLAVE Simon Deng ([url]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heather-robinson/ex-slave-and-human-rights_b_787200.html[/url]) are begging for our help in addressing this horrible situation, and [i]this[/i] is the response they get.

  12. “Moreover, some 80 million Indians have been slaughtered by Muslims in their own country – did they have something to do with the Crusades?”

    Where did you get this figure Acharya? Can you give links to any article written by any well known historian? If you cannot prove your assertion then most of your other statements about Islam’s cruelties are suspect. You either have a deep rooted hatred for Islam or you are being paid to malign Islam by vested interests who require the USA and other Western nations to direct hatred towards Muslims to make it politically easier to steal Muslim lands (Palestine) and steal Muslim wealth (oil) by invasion.

  13. Truth hurts
    The authour is correct in all he has stated, if you take the time and study the true history or euroupe the near east and Africa since the fall of Rome and the coming of Islam you will see that Mohamed and his followers forged a warrior cult built on war plunder and slavery, all islams supposed great achievements derive from the people’s and cultures that Islam enslaved and destroyed, slaves from euroupe shouldn’t be overlooked I think the author may be underestimating their numbers, I found out that n. african pirates raided even as far as southern Ireland and took slaves from there as late as the 1800’s. Also in the British press 2 weeks ago a Pakistani Muslim female dr was charged with false imprisonment after she was found to be using a African immigrant she’d got into Britian as an unpaid slave , this is prevalent in Muslim countries especially saudi arabia. So this author gets a huge thumbs up from me, truth is muslims have enslved and destroyed so many people’s and cultures and they need to be treated in the same way that our European cultural heritage has been so critically treated.

    1. Slavery still exists in the U.S. at this time, not just the UK or Europe, and the slaveholders are Arabs of high stature. I have had the opportunity to be part of research in which human trafficking is exposed and the slaves, predominantly young Arabic women, have been rescued. These girls are used as housemaids and nannies for the matriarchs of the household and sex slaves for the patriarchs. They are worked and sexually abused almost to death, and they have no free time of their own. They do not leave the house, except in the rare instance to get health care, and they are closely guarded when outside the home, so they can only speak to an outsider in the presence of their owners.
      Slavery is obviously deeply ingrained in Arab culture, and to say otherwise, especially when faced with all the evidence that Acharya presented, is just pure denial.

  14. Christianity Have just As Much Slavery as Islam
    I say there just as much violence in both Islam Quran and as in the Bible Christianity regarding slavery so for one to slander the other is ironic. The Bible too speak of the old Dixie labor and oppression slavery as well:
    When a man strikes… his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property. (Exodus 21:20-21 NAB)

    (Luke 12:47-48 NLT): The servant will be severely punished, for though he knew his duty, he refused to do it. “But people who are not aware that they are doing wrong will be punished only lightly. Much is required from those to whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given.” (Luke 12:47-48 NLT)

    When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property. (Exodus 21:20-21 NAB)

    Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. (Ephesians 6:5 NLT)

    http://www.evilbible.com/Slavery.htm

  15. Hypocrisy double standards in both regilions Islam
    How many people were murdered in the name Christianity crusades thousands in the name of God’s enemies that didn’t accept Christ. How many people died by the radical christian groups Army of God,by the KKK, radical christian groups, Kingdom Identity Ministries, Fundamentalist Of Jesus Christ and The Latter Saints,America’s Promise Ministries, :whistle:
    *Over 1,002 Hate Groups and Radicals Identified:
    http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/groups

    *Bible slavery scriptures condoning it:
    http://www.evilbible.com/Slavery.htm

    I just see double standards in both and remain free minded.

  16. Christianity and Islam both
    The servant will be severely punished, for though he knew his duty, he refused to do it. “But people who are not aware that they are doing wrong will be punished only lightly. Much is required from those to whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given.” (Luke 12:47-48 NLT)

    When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property. (Exodus 21:20-21 NAB)

    Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. (Ephesians 6:5 NLT)

    If you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for only six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom. If he was single when he became your slave and then married afterward, only he will go free in the seventh year. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife will be freed with him. If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave, and they had sons or daughters, then the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master. But the slave may plainly declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I would rather not go free.’ If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will belong to his master forever. (Exodus 21:2-6 NLT)

  17. re: Islam’s One Million White Slaves
    A white male named Thomas Pellow, was taken by Islamic pirates in 1716 and sold as a slave to the legendarily tyrannical Sultan Moulay Ismail. Pellow remained in Morocco for more than 20 years, his family barely recognizing him when he at last escaped home. Placing Pellow’s tale within wider horizons, Milton describes how, during the 17th and 18th centuries, thousands of European captives were snatched from their coastal villages by Islamic slave traders intent on waging war on Christendom.

    The horrors of the transatlantic slave trade have been extensively documented in print and eloquently portrayed on film and television. But chattel slavery was a well-established African as well as European institution, and its victims were not exclusively people of color. In the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries, the Barbary states of North Africa used Islamic pirates, or corsairs, to conduct slave raids, which fed the flourishing slave markets of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. Many of the enslaved were white Europeans or North Americans captured at sea. – from: White Gold: The Extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow and Islam’s One Million White Slaves.

    Let’s set the record straight!

  18. sure
    How much you want to bet that slavery won’t exist once you get rid of religions?
    Slavery is born out of greed and selfishness for the most part. You want to get rid of slavery, you have to change the human and get rid of free will.
    Not saying I’m a fan of Islam, as there are many things in there which I consider to be strict, but even if you did get rid of the religion, slavery would be justified under some other model – whether it be political, religions, economic, cultural, etc. In other words, if there is a vice, people start making up reasons to justify it.
    If you really want to get rid of Islam, then get rid of the reasons for it existing. Not by attacking it with inane arguments that aren’t going to stand up to the truth. But by actually solving the social, economic, and spiritual problems that exist in the world. People turn toward religion when there is chaos or there are problems in their life.

    1. “You want to get rid of slavery, you have to change the human and get rid of free will.”

      That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. So, in order to get rid of slavery, we have to enslave people?

      What “inane arguments?” Exposing Islam’s bloody history? Okay, let’s not expose anything. Let’s stick our heads in the sand and hope everything gets better, because, of course, history proves [i]that [/i]will happen.

      Get rid of what religion? I’ve never said anything about getting rid of all religion. The point is to move beyond troglodytic belief systems created by cave men thousands of years ago that do little more than create bloody divisions between human beings.

      We already know very well the reasons for Islam’s existence: It was created by a warlord who wanted to take over the world. Here we are exposing its “fruits,” which are really rotten and need to be exposed.

      If you would like to do something else other than exposing brutality and corruption to the light of day, please feel free to do so.

  19. The point I’m making is that people make choices that are selfish in nature. And that getting rid of problems would imply something akin to lock them all up, or killing them all. Not necessarily slavery, per se, but it could mean that.
    I could make arguments if you want to go down that road that we don’t have “free will” right now. We already have laws that already control our behavior.

    You are taking things out of context again, just to make other people look bad. You know very well the religions I was talking about. I never made an assertion about getting rid of all religions.

    We already have satanic psychopaths that are trying to take over the world. Why don’t you direct your articles toward them as well?

  20. Yes, I’m aware of that aspect of the Atlantic slave trade, which has been exposed and discussed countless times over the past couple of centuries. [i]This [/i]article is about the Islamic slave trade, which obviously needs to be exposed more thoroughly since so few people seem to know anything about it and most spend a considerable amount of time either denying it or deflecting the attention onto some other issue.

  21. Might want to check your history re; perpetrators of slavery. T. Jews started it in the new world, (buying off politicians and negating laws against slavery), as they did the beginning of dealing alcohol to indigeonous indian tribes. Check the records of maritime imports to the east coast. you’ll find the vast majority of slave ships were Jew owned and operated.

  22. Sorry, but “we” had nothing to do with the creation of Islam. Nor are “we” responsible for the Arabs – do you think they’re cute little lapdogs “we’ve” been mistreating? [i]Who [/i]hasn’t been allowing them to develop? What nonsense.

    There’s nothing new here, really? You know all about this information? And you saw it succinctly laid out somewhere else? Please advise, so I can link to it.

    No, “we” aren’t “all guilty.” I personally have nothing to do with any slavery or murder, etc. Please speak for yourself. And fingerpointing elsewhere is a logical fallacy already addressed. What I have outlined HERE happens to follow Islamic ideology, and no one and nothing else is responsible.

    Moreover, your distraction to other religions is fallacious as well, since I am well known to critique [i]all[/i] religious pathology.

    The Muslim apologist remarks are clever, but they do not fit the facts. Nor do the interpretations by the common people hold any weight in the world of Muslim clerics.

    In the meantime, millions of people have been enslaved and killed by Muslim fanatics bent on spreading Islam via the sword.

    The best thing all these friends of yours could do is to stop being Muslims and just join the human race. They too are victims of this heinous ideology. How’s that for something new for you?

  23. I think we should also look at our involvement in creating these dictators in the arab world. If we had let the arabs develop the ‘Free thinking that we hold so high’ then maybe things would have been different. So in many ways we the west have contributed to the problems that you are trying to shout!

    As far as the religion is concerned then maybe you should look at all religious books and see what is writen in them…

    I dont think you are bringing anything new to discuss. If we all look back at history then we are all guilty!

    I have spoken to few moslim friends and they say the quran talks about slavery to god (which you keep repeating) as a way to thank the creator for giving everything they have, its like a deep way of saying thank you.

  24. jodieUSvet, please be skeptical
    The more that someone appeals to evilbible.com the more they discredit themselves as evilbible.com is saturated with fallacies of every sort and has been discredited.
    Check out “Evilbible.com – accurate or fallacious?”
    http://www.examiner.com/christian-apologetics-in-albuquerque/evilbible-com-accurate-or-fallacious

    On Slavery in the Bible:
    http://www.truefreethinker.com/articles/does-god-command-you-beat-your-slaves
    And:
    http://www.truefreethinker.com/articles/does-bible-and-its-god-condone-slavery

    1. The penalty for slave a person in the Bible is dea
      The Bible does not specifically condemn the practice of slavery. It gives instructions on how slaves should be treated (Deuteronomy 15:12-15; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 4:1 What many fail to understand is that slavery in biblical times was very different from the slavery that was practiced in the past few centuries in many parts of the world. People sold themselves as slaves when they could not pay their debts or provide for their families. In New Testament times, sometimes doctors, lawyers, and even politicians were slaves of someone else. Some people actually chose to be slaves so as to have all their needs provided for by their masters.

      Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death” (Exodus 21:16). Similarly, in the New Testament, slave-traders are listed among those who are “ungodly and sinful” and are in the same category as those who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, adulterers and perverts, and liars and perjurers (1 Timothy 1:8-10).

  25. I’m so glad to see this article but the truth is that the same things that are said about Islam can also be said about Christianity and Jews too.
    Any reading of the old and new testament will show that slavery was normal at that time in history
    If you doubt look to the writings of Paul.

    1. How many times does this author have to say this::: they state unequivocally that this article is about Islam and it’s untold relationship with historic and current slave trading! Get it Islam ! We all in the west are fed a steady diet of anti White European Christian history , constantly told how we are so bad and responsible for all our ancestors perpetrated, yeah we did do many bad things, and as I stated we’ve got a academiea and media in the west that through misplaced political correctness refuses to throw a spotlight of the same intensity onto other cultures/people’s and religions and there’s a backlash coming against this. I want like this author for the world to be shown the truth about all religions /cultures and people’s not have Islam and it’s culture and people’s exempted from scrutiny!! We in euroupe need to learn about this cult..ure seen as we’re allowing mass immigration of Muslims from around the globe……

  26. The link to the”review” of evilbible is a farce – it makes empty assertions; it does quote evilbible or the bible. The article does NOT refute anything.

  27. Good for you – Marcus – Enlightening! Good for you! Do NOT get taken in by the vile, hate-filled political system of oppression called Islam.

  28. lol! you are hell bent on showing islam religion as a devils religion. This for me shows you have some personal problems with it (excluding slavery you keep repeating) when every religion has had that in its past. You need to read some Jewish books.

    The other thing I find amusing is that you think we have nothing to do with what is happening in the middle eastern Arabia, I mean laying down borders that we wanted then we had to have our dictators that would keep the public in control by the fist i.e Hasnie Mubarak in Egypt was told to get rid of the Moslim Brotherhood becuase they looked America and us in the west in the eye. our army’s protecting OUR interest (Bahrain)… Are you aware of who named this area ‘Middle East’ ???. You live in a bubble. We (our leaders) never wanted the moslims to devellop free thinking because they would have challenged us !!!

    In Pakistan (Moslim country) inorder to become a prime minister you have to have the three A’s on your side – 1st A is for Army, 2nd A is for Allah (god), and the 3rd A is for America!!! I heard this from the ISI director on a documentry programme. Please come out of your bubble.

    After reading your response regarding slavery and slave names that Moslims have I have gone and spoken to Moslim clerics and they have said the same what my few moslim friends said that ‘we keep names such as Abdullah and Abid meaning slaves in arabic as we have such a strong deep gratitude to our lord for giving us hands, feet to walk with, eyes to look with, able body to walk with’.

    So are you trying to say that this second largest and growing religion is tricking people into joining them???? lol.

    1. Tom, you sound like you’ve been taking your cues from a Muslim apologist. Here are the typical Muslim apologist tactics:

      1. Deny, even in the face of scientific and logical evidence.

      2. Point fingers elsewhere to distract off the issue at hand.

      3. Insult the author by calling him or her “ignorant” and any number of derogatory and personal attacks.

      4. When all else fails, threaten violence, whether directly or obliquely with such comments as “I will see you burning in hell.”

      Despite all your babbling and accusations, the fact will remain that Islam has a horrible, bloody legacy that includes slavery. You also don’t have any idea whom you are addressing, even though you pretend to know me, with your personal remarks. [b]I have studied the “Jewish books” ([url]http://www.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-8327295676949120%3Ao4kcodsrg5k&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=judaism&sa=Search&siteurl=freethoughtnation.com%2Fcontributing-writers%2F63-acharya-s%2F498-islams-disturbing-legacy-of-slavery.html[/url]) – including cross-referencing them in their original languages – and have been exposing any pathology there as well in all other religious ideologies.[/b] Islam happens to require more time, for reasons that should be obvious and that manifest themselves even (or especially) in your post, as outlined above.

      The second largest religion doesn’t need to trick people into following it, although it certainly does do that. However, Islam has been spread mainly through violence and birth rates.

      Certainly, being overwhelmed by a virulent, infidel-hating and woman-enslaving ideology is challenging, and any sane individual interested in self-preservation must continue to prevent it from overwhelming us.

  29. It is hilarious how the muslims and muslim apologists make themselves look STUPID, and thus islam, in this thread (many other threads, too).

    I actually think they may be anti-muslims who are out to make islam and its apologists look bad.

    In any case, they do a great job of making muslims, muslim apologists and islam look EXTREMELY STUPID.

    I have read that the average IQ of Arabs is 85; whereas that of Caucasians is 100. Anyone with an IQ of 85 is considered a moron, as these muslims and muslim apologists clearly are.

  30. Biblical slavery is not the same as modern slavery
    The Bible gives instructions on how slaves should be treated (Deuteronomy 15:12-15; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 4:1 What many fail to understand is that slavery in biblical times was very different from the slavery that was practiced in the past few centuries in many parts of the world. People sold themselves as slaves when they could not pay their debts or provide for their families. In New Testament times, sometimes doctors, lawyers, and even politicians were slaves of someone else. Some people actually chose to be slaves so as to have all their needs provided for by their masters.

    Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death” (Exodus 21:16). Similarly, in the New Testament, slave-traders are listed among those who are “ungodly and sinful” and are in the same category as those who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, adulterers and perverts, and liars and perjurers (1 Timothy 1:8-10).

  31. Its very interesting in your response you didnt respond on how WE have slaved the Arab muslims through the dictators that we gave them, maybe its because you agree FINALLY.

    I am also confused with your wording when you say ‘apologists’, as moslims certainly are not that, but it seems you have made your mind up and are not willing to take another persons view on board.
    I have met English and other national’s who were doctors and lawyers who have convertered to islam.. in your response you are going to say ‘yes they were tricked/forced with the sword/ slaved,lol.

    You talk about moslims that they ‘1. Deny, even in the face of scientific and logical evidence’ but are you not doing the same by denying our (west) involvelment in moslim peoples lives/countries for years. Look at pakistan our spy went in killed people and was freed! what are you talking about??? All am saying is write what you have to write but show both sides of the coin and not just rant about one sided.

    You dont care about what someone else is saying. You just want to read people saying ‘Well done moslims are bad and uneducated/everyone who is a moslim is a slave,when moslims give their opinion then the are ‘apologists’… Also I am not ‘personalizing’ I have only been responding to the writer views and opinions.

  32. Tom : The issue is…..
    Tom You do NOT get it: The issue in this article is: Slavery in ISLAM.
    It does NOT matter if the Vikings the Romans or Christians IN THE PAST did the same, what matters is do WE FIND slavery TODAY in the “best society” a stoned god allah claimed will be based on his words. In the USA a war was fought to abolish slavery, show the readers here something similar in the islamic world! It can NOT be found! The core of Islam the kooran-crap is rotten and gives muslims the instructions how to behave.

  33. It was interesting to read the following quotes made:
    ‘I have read that the average IQ of Arabs is 85; whereas that of Caucasians is 100. Anyone with an IQ of 85 is considered a moron, as these muslims and muslim apologists clearly are.’
    I think the readers need to go to the following site (www.1001inventions.com) for ‘FACTUAL’ information rather than talking about individuals dreams.

    1. Once again, Tom, you don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve already demonstrated that the notion of a “Muslim Golden Age of Brilliance and Invention” is false, but you didn’t follow the link or read the article, obviously.

      Let me give you just one example: While we may call them “Arabic numerals,” the Arabs call them “Hindu numerals,” because they (the Arabs) did not invent them. Wherever Arab invaders went, they took over the inventions of the natives and claimed them as their own. They also kidnapped the intellectuals and, yes, converted them to Islam upon penalty of death. (As concerns modern converts, there’s no accounting for people joining violent, misogynistic cults of their own volition. Human beings are bizarre.) The Muslim enslavers then claimed that “Muslims” invented whatever these intellectual forced converts created. Islam does not and cannot foster creativity – as Winston Churchill said, “No stronger retrograde force exists in the world.”

      The data on the IQs mentioned earlier is pretty much correct.

      Country IQ
      Qatar 78
      Turkey 90
      Egypt 83
      Iran 84
      Iraq 87
      Netherlands 85

      Source: Muslim IQ ([url]http://plancksconstant.org/blog1/2010/03/muslim_iq.html[/url])

      You need to stop listening to Muslim apologists. They find folks like you to be easy marks, frankly.

  34. Islam and slavery
    I’ve read some interesting articles on this subject and i notice one problem with most commenters here. You can quote scriptures from any religious book but that doesn’t explain the fact that if you are muslim you can purchase a slave TODAY. The majority of the world’s political parties/religions/citizens denounce slavery and would be horrified to be connected to it in any way. Muslims spend time distracting, blaming and avoiding the issue but none are surprised or upset their religion continues the practice. Nor do they attempt to stop current slavery.

    When comparing religious text you may take into consideration that Christianity and Islam took their basic story from the Jews and expanded the story.

    Do you have any estimates on the British and Roman slave sales to the the middle east? The last i read was 1.2 million Irish and Scots and 2.4 million barbarian/German/Polish were sold to Muslims. The Slav/Russian numbers have large differences depending on the author.

  35. Regardless of all of your protestations, we have [i]proved [/i]here that Islam encourages slavery, that Mohammed was a slaver, and that slavery continues in Muslim countries, justified by the Koran and other Islamic teachings. Moreover, to this day hundreds of thousands are being held essentially in slavery ([url]http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html[/url]) as they are forced to build the city of Dubai, which is another Arab Muslim region.

    [b]”Slavery is a part of Islam… Slavery is part of jihad, and jihad will remain as long there is Islam… [Those who argue that slavery has been abolished are] ignorant, not scholars. They are merely writers. Whoever says such things is an infidel.”[/b]

    –Sheikh Saleh Al-Fawzan, member of Senior Council of Clerics, Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body (2003)

    Your Muslim friends would be pronounced [i]infidels [/i]by the Saudi authority quoted at the top of this article and above; hence, their opinions are irrelevant.

    Instead of wasting your time trying to convince us of something that certainly is not true, perhaps you should be addressing the Muslim leaders such as are quoted here, as well as trying to stop the slave trade in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Yemen, Sudan and these other places. Your protestations ring very hollow to the millions of slaves worldwide who are in the grips of Muslim men, including an appalling amount of women.

    I also suggest you actually read this article and watch the videos, rather than sticking your fingers in your ears and covering your eyes.

    You are also listening to false Islamist propaganda about the supposed inventions and accomplishments of the Muslim world. Many of those geniuses and innovators during the period in question were in fact educated Jews and Christians who have been kidnapped, enslaved and converted to Islam.

    Perhaps you would like to study the writings of Fjordman, such as the following:

    Fjordman: To President Obama: Regarding Islam and Science ([url]http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/06/fjordman-to-president-obama-regarding-islam-and-science.html[/url])

    Cheers.

  36. I have been trying to read up on slavery and Islam and I have spoken with friends who are moslim and they say they denounce slavery. They would rather free a slavery than take a slave. They also say if in any country something like this does happen then good chance that country will have a dictator given to them by the west i.e in the middle east the people were given Saddam Hussain, Hasnie Mubarak, Ben Ali, and others. These leaders wanted the public to live in dark ages inorder for them to stay in power, make MONEY and never be challenged, whilst we in the west controlled oil and other resources for our benefit and dvelopment. So some countries old cultural ways never changed due to lack of education and development i.e When the moslims did have freedom to run their own affairs in Spain they developed and they contributed to the western society we have today in terms of Science, mathmatics, first street lights in europe etc… (www.1001inventions.com).

    Moslims do not approve of slavery! and that applies to everyone I have spoken to. Their book may say things as its not been changed like we have been changing our bible when ever it got challenged! Would be interesting to see what the original bible said about slavery.

  37. ‘sticking your fingers in your ears and covering your eyes’ it seems is exactly what SOME people are doing.

    The quote you made:
    “Slavery is a part of Islam… Slavery is part of jihad, and jihad will remain as long there is Islam… [Those who argue that slavery has been abolished are] ignorant, not scholars. They are merely writers. Whoever says such things is an infidel.”

    –Sheikh Saleh Al-Fawzan, member of Senior Council of Clerics, Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body (2003)

    This is exactly what I have been going on about… The Saudi government and its SHEIKH are what the moslims hate and want to get rid off. Are you not whatching news and whats happening in middle east?. WE ‘the free spoken west’ are the one keeping dictators in power for OIL, as the oil companies pay tax for your and my education, pay for our hospitals!! I just been watching documentary (Monday 8th April 8pm called- BP: In Deep Water) please check it out on Google. It proves what I am writing. You also need to read a book called ‘The Rise, Corruption, and Coming Fall of the House of Saud’ from amazon, it proves what I am writing. We are the ones not letting them develop, maybe we are scared the tables may turn…?

    Instead, we have got this fantasy about the past and use OUR FRIENDS the dictators as friends when we need them and enamies when we need to show ISLAM is bad.

    You are writing about one bit of the story and not the ‘THE WHOLE STORY’.

    1. Tom, you really don’t know what you are talking about. The Saudis are following Islam, as Mohammed intended, TO THE LETTER – Arabia is where the cult was founded, for heaven’s sake. Muslims themselves are victims of this Arab imperialism. You obviously don’t know Islam’s history ([url]http://truthbeknown.com/islam.htm[/url]), how it was founded or its texts ([url]http://truthbeknown.com/islamquotes.htm[/url]). It is [i]you [/i]who have only a minuscule part of the picture.

      For example, the rabblerousing in the Middle East will likely lead to increased Islamic supremacy, not less, as the Muslim Brotherhood and other fundamentalist groups step in to take the reins – in fact, it is likely they are behind this turmoil in significant part. In any event, the modern events you mention have NOTHING to do with the Islamic supremacist history I’m writing about here, except that they are probably more of the same. You are raising straw men.

      In forming your conclusions, you did not even read this post or watch these videos. What part of MOHAMMED OWNED SLAVES did you not understand? The [i]real [/i]Islam is violent, hateful and misogynistic – and it’s got the blood of millions upon millions of people ([url]http://www.politicalislam.com/tears/pages/tears-of-jihad/[/url]) on its “hands.”

      What is your need to keep distracting people away from the facts about Islam? As a woman, I am truly not going to sit by while [i]anyone [/i]promotes this heinous cult of women-enslavement – it’s not going to happen, so you might as well stop trying to convince me to throw my gender under a bus by using Islamist tactics and bogus apologies. Anyone who promotes the sexist, male-dominant Islam is endorsing misogyny, pure and simple, and I will certainly not fall for such anti-woman bigotry. Nor should you. In fact, you should be ashamed of yourself for stumping for this depraved cult.

      If you wish to keep sticking your head in the sand, that’s your prerogative, but please stop misleading others into the same delusion.

      1. I thought I will reply, because this is deeply ignorance that I see and hatred; but that is your own personal problem.

        As an Atheist I am very glad that I actually read the Quran before I came to this side – I surely would have believed this in an instance.

        This is all false information; you take hadiths and words of a Muslim seriously. What a person says is automatically right? Certainly not.

        The hadiths that you took are not seen as correct ones thus you can not use them.

        You did not quote Qur’an verses as you know it did not “promote it.’

        Slavery was there before Islam as later Islam carried it with it – there were strictly rules of freedom of the slave and what the Qur’an brought upon them was freedom.

        Now:
        1) Give verses of the Qur’an and I will debate you on it.
        2) You can not fight hadiths with Qur’an verses.
        3) Sadly there may be Muslims who did some vulgar stuff but they surely will get punishment for it.
        4) You may be a Muslim, but that does not mean that they will do anything that their God asked them to do – they surely sin.

        As am human being you can’t justify the actions of another human beings biased on their religion; being religious doesn’t mean that you are an angel as they do have a mind of their own – this doesn’t directly link with the religion, only ignorant people will do this.

        I am glad you mostly typed Muslims instead of Islam.

  38. ‘The real Islam is violent, hateful and misogynistic – and it’s got the blood of millions upon millions of people on its “hands.” …

    If this is the case then why I question my self are people like Tony Blair Ex British Prime minister’s sister in law converting to Islam..??? a ‘FEMALE’.

    Professors in Cambridge University have converted to Islam… are they ‘stupid’ people I ask my self…??? not if their working in one of the top Univeristy in the world.

    What I am saying is no one is perfect… Christians are going into places like Somalia and converting the poor to Christianity through their NGO work etc. This is only a light version example i have read worse.

    And moslims I know do hate the Saudi’s !!!! unless some are getting their purse filled with NOTES! they said.

    I can understand you would prefer me to just AGREE with you and hate to be challenged but lets get over it! BYE

    1. In my opinion, Tony Blair’s sister is clearly ignorant and seems to be mentally ill. I wouldn’t be bragging about such an individual converting to my cult, if I had one.

      What I have conveyed IS true, Tom, and [i]you [/i]need to get over it, rather than making derisive comments about my person simply because I expose the facts about Islam. Your understanding of Islam is naive and misinformed – this combination is very dangerous when playing with such fire that is responsible for the deaths of some 270 million people ([url]http://www.politicalislam.com/tears/pages/tears-of-jihad/[/url]) and the utter denigration of one-half of the world’s people, i.e., women.

      This is not some little game you should be playing – true human civilization is at stake here. Like so many others, you need to study the information I’ve provided here, rather than relying on the opinions of your friends, who are quite likely almost as uninformed about Islam’s true nature and history as you are, regardless of whether or not they were raised Muslim.

      There are many Christians, as another example, who really don’t know the history or doctrines of Christianity very well. They listen to the stories, and that’s about it. They don’t know about the slaughter of millions or the patent misogyny in their cult. Ditto with Muslims, although it should be far more obvious at this point. We can only imagine, therefore, that they are engaging in willful disregard and denial.

      You should also realize that I am getting much of my information about Islam from MUSLIMS, a number of whom have left Islam and are afraid for their lives as apostates. Your defense of this violent cult really does a disservice to them as well.

      Many of these people are Iranians who have seen their country destroyed by Islamic fundamentalism, and they want nothing to do with Islam. They know from firsthand experience what Islamic fundamentalism does to human beings. They also realize that Islam is a foreign cult that invaded their lands and slaughtered, raped and robbed their ancestors. They are not alone in viewing Islam as an invader cult spread through violent Arab imperialism. Again, your defense of this invader cult that has destroyed so many other cultures – including the utter devastation of parts of India, with the slaughter of some 80 million Indians – is truly unfortunate.

      Your Muslim friends need to be freed of Islam – they are also its victims. This Islam-coddling is like trying to convince the Native Americans that Christianity, which was forced upon them through brutality and cruelty, is actually something they should defend and be proud of. It isn’t. It’s an oppression.

      Cheers.

  39. I am not defending anyone, as I have commented earlier every religion has a dark side. I am trying to look at both sides of the coin. Its called being ‘open minded’, something you were lacking in your earlier comments.

    I could setup a discussion forum after researching everything evil and negative about Christianity or Jewdism.. but that would be one sided story, is my message.

    Clearly this forum is about religion bashing Islam. I read something about Islam and it said that ‘Islam is between the person and god’ Islam is not about what happened centuries ago or what may still be happening today by people who lack true understanding i.e Saud’s and anyone else.

    I believe the Professor type people who convert they do not convert for its past but what relation they develop between them self and the creator i.e when moslims fast.. they could eat in hiding and no moslim would find out, but they dont eat becuase it is between the person and his god/creator.

    I am actually getting bored with this topic now as we are going round circles. Hence, good bye.

    1. Sorry, Tom, but your flaccid argumentation is contributing to the most abusive religious cult the world has ever seen. Do you have an open mind about Nazism? Islam is a hundred times worse, so please don’t be proud of your “tolerant” stance. It is simply idiotic.

      Boring? You are foolishly trying to put makeup on a pig and sell it to me as a great beauty, without knowing much at all about this most dangerous ideology. And then you are “bored” when the harsh facts hit you in the face.

      In the meantime, such foolish appeasement led to the horrific destruction of this man’s country, with hundreds of thousands slaughtered and raped at the hands of rabid Muslims – no one with a conscience could possibly continue to justify and defend this heinous cult. If you wish to remain ignorant and morally questionable, that’s your issue, but please don’t continue to foster this mentality.

      Bengali Muslim: Genocide and rape are ‘100% Islamic-sanctioned’ ([url]http://www.islam-watch.org/AbulKasem/Abul-Kasem-Interview-An-Apostate-Speaks.htm[/url])

      [quote]When I was nine, a typical Mulla…taught us that [b]Muslims are the only inheritors of the earth, that we must never mix with the non-Muslims, we must hate them, humiliate them verbally, and if possible, physically[/b]….

      One of my Hindu friends was brutally murdered by Islamist fanatics. This was a life-changing experience, as I witnessed the mutilated dead bodies of my friend, his parents, and siblings. When I discussed this with a few Muslim gentlemen (moderate Muslims) they told me that the [b]Hindus deserved to be killed[/b]; there should not be any Hindus in our Muslim land. Further, I learned from them that [b]in Islam, there is a great reward for killing the non-Muslims[/b]…. [/quote]
      This is a lengthy article that should be read by every thinking person and anyone who wishes to appear remotely knowledgeable about Islam and world history. You simply do not know what you’re talking about, so please stop wasting both of our time. Unless you actually read this article, I have no interest in furthering this useless conversation.

      A Muslim apostate speaks out ([url]http://www.islam-watch.org/AbulKasem/Abul-Kasem-Interview-An-Apostate-Speaks.htm[/url])

      Anyone who would willingly convert to such an ideology of hatred and violence is either extremely ignorant, mentally ill, criminally minded or just plain evil.

      And by the way, I’ve spent decades exposing the fallacies and atrocities of Judaism and Christianity as well, so that’s just another distraction off the topic at hand.

  40. Islam and slavery
    After reading the above comments, i googled this topic and found out that Islam tried to reform/slowly eradicate slavery, something that had been institutionalised for centuries within arabia before Islam came. I found this information on wikipedia:

    ‘Legal status:
    Within Islamic jurisprudence, slaves were excluded from religious office and from any office involving jurisdiction over others.[42] Freed slaves are able to occupy any office within the Islamic government, and instances of this in history include the Mamluk who ruled Egypt for almost 260 years and the eunuchs who have held military and administrative positions of note.[43] With the permission of their owners they are able to marry.[44] Annemarie Schimmel, a contemporary scholar on Islamic civilization, asserts that because the status of slaves under Islam could only be obtained through either being a prisoner of war (this was soon restricted only to infidels captured in a holy war)[1] or born from slave parents, slavery would be theoretically abolished with the expansion of Islam.[43] Fazlur Rahman agrees, stating that the Qur’anic acceptance of the institution of slavery on the legal plane was the only practical option available at the time of Muhammad since “slavery was ingrained in the structure of society, and its overnight wholesale liquidation would have created problems which it would have been absolutely impossible to solve, and only a dreamer could have issued such a visionary statement.”[45] Islam’s reforms stipulating the conditions of enslavement seriously limited the supply of new slaves.[1] Murray Gordon does not: “Muhammad took pains in urging the faithful to free their slaves as a way of expiating their sins. Some Muslim scholars have taken this mean that his true motive was to bring about a gradual elimination of slavery. Far more persuasive is the argument that by lending the moral authority of Islam to slavery, Muhammad assured its legitimacy. Thus, in lightening the fetter, he riveted it ever more firmly in place.”[46] In the early days of Islam, a plentiful supply of new slaves were brought due to rapid conquest and expansion. But as the frontiers were gradually stabilized, this supply dwindled to a mere trickle. The prisoners of later wars between Muslims and Christians were commonly ransomed or exchanged.’

    I googled: ‘Islamic views on slavery’ and ‘Christian views on slavery’ it seems slavery was customary in ancient times.

  41. humans and slavery a long story…..
    Slavery of all kinds exist everywhere. Some are slaves of their wives, and some of their husbands, boyfriends, their work. The slave trade by white folks is well known and despised mostly. The sex slaves women and children kidnapped and sent to America, Europe, Africa, Middle East is getting worse, especially the trade happening in Russia and ex Russian states, and Asia. Young girls kidnapped. This is an old story. I know the context of the days of Mohammad, and yeah it wasnt easy to destroy slavery even if he knew it was wrong, no doubt he said many things against slavery, but no doubt he saod many things for slavery. Personally not everything about even the slaves in America was wrong, there are grey areas, but kind of makes you think, Islam is the ONLY religion “of the book” that openly condones sex slaves, especially if they are kafir women. Kafir=Infidel (Infidel itself was taken by muslims long after islam, from the Crusaders, Infidel is a latin word, the vatican used to call Jews and Muslims by, yeah the vatican behaved like jihadists once upon a time, but true to the words of the author, the crusades would never have started if it wasnt for the Islamic invasions in Europe) the quotes put by the author that I hope are actual quotes, show that Mohammad was aware and allowed even supported sex slaves. Infact the Quran allows prostitution, as long as it is controlled and legalized by “God” so sex slaves cant be that far off. Ok so my point you wonder? well I am objective and fair as you can see, and ready to accept context and imperfections, but the verdict is in and it is in the words of islams own prophet and “God” Allah, and it says “this religion supports sex slaves” so beware world, when the muslims become majority in the West, they will take your wives as sex slaves, the liberals might enjoy it, as they love all kinds of perverted sex, but a muslim man may take any infidel as his slave and his God will say well done muslim man, you will go to heaven and have more women there, basically spring break for allahs soldiers, feasting on chicken and slave women! I think I covered everything and all kinds of slavery to be fair so no one can say, but what about this kind of slave? But the end truth comes back that muslims will never accept non muslims as equals, so take my advice and keep muslims OUT OF THE WEST AND SAVE YOUR CHILDREN BEFORE ITS TOO LATE!I know what I’m talking about, I live in one and I am just a dhimmi for these savages!

  42. Orion: “The slave trade by white folks is well known and despised mostly.”

    I thought that comment was a bit odd because the slave trade wasn’t started by “white folks.” There was slavery all over the world and blacks and Arabs were selling their own people as it’s well documented. Some Arabs are some of the most racist people on the planet.

    Anyway, I think Acharya’s point is that she’s against slavery in all its forms across the board, regardless of ethnicity.

  43. Why do people think Wikipedia is the be all, end all of research? Wikipedia is a resource that allows anyone to edit, add, and delete any information on a specific page, so quoting directly from, and using it as your only source, is ignorant.

    That aside, I agree with Acharya’s statements. She has done her research, given links, videos, proof of what she has stated here. She has also, many times, stated this article is about Islam, Not Christianity. Not the USA. Certainly not about the Christian Crusades. [b]Islam[/b]. Is this a difficult concept to accept? Why must you (generally speaking) try to deflect from the topic at hand?

    Kudos, Acharya, for giving people the information, and the resources, to look into this on their own.

  44. Writer of the article thank you so much for this freakishly rare commodity today called TRUTH. please download those videos and let me know if you will send them to me to download because eventually any videos defaming Islam get taken down. And I must admit, Islam is NOT THE WAY ! only JESUS can save you! let no one be mistaken !

  45. Dear Acharya,

    I have to congratulate you for your ongoing efforts to educate and argue with so many ignorant, defensive and hostile people. Your energy in this endeavor is impressive.

    I’m currently doing research for a book about the religions. I’d love to correspond with you as I get closer to publishing it.

    Thanks, and keep up the amazingly good work!

  46. Great article!
    It is really sad to see some of the responses. The usual others-did-it-too etc. arguments are just so utterly pathetic and besides the point.

    The point is that Islam condoned slavery and this led to literally tens (if not hundreds) of millions of people suffering the most horrible fates. If Allah created Islam and does not approve of the most evil and horrible institution in human history, why didn’t he devote a few words in the Koran to clearly condemning it???? Think of how many that would have saved!!

    In addition, Islam could have been a shinning example on this instead of the worst offender.

    This is just more proof Islam is the word of a man and not of any god!

    1. Tony, you could have said the exact same thing about Christianity. Christianity embraces slavery to the point that Christians are to consider themselves “slaves to Christ.” If you read the parables attributed to the supposed Jesus, you will find that they overwhelmingly feature a powerful boss/ruler/king/owner who is able to do whatever he wishes to the unfortunate saps who work for him and fail to please him. Of course there’s no outcome where the boss *fires* the worker and declares he’ll get no positive recommendation from HIM!

      There is no statement of basic human rights to be found anywhere in the Bible. No fundamental human rights at all. According to Jesus, only the powerful got rights, and what rights they got! They could whip the employees who displeased them, or cut them into pieces, or kill them! And nobody would have batted an eye about that, especially not Jesus! According to the Gospels, he apparently thought that arrangement was *just fine*!

      Look up the Parable of the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16), where an owner hires workers for different amounts of pay. When they complain that they haven’t been justly compensated compared to the others, the owner describes their wages as his “generosity” – as if the wages are not assets that belong to the workers that the boss is simply transferring to them. It’s quite horrible – Republicans routinely cite this in defense of the idea that a business should be free to pay employees different rates at the business’s discretion. Abominable.

      Look up Luke 19:12-27, where two parables have apparently been merged – it ends on this happy note:

      “But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.”

      NICE!! Yep, that Jesus was just overflowing with love and compassion and murderous intent!!

      The Bible presents monarchy as the ideal government system – what are we to do now that we’ve outgrown monarchies and replaced them with democracies and republics, and no possibility that we’ll ever go back (voluntarily) to the feudal system with the divine right of kings to rule at their pleasure? What are we to make of the “timeless,” “divinely-inspired” words of the Bible which we have clearly outgrown?

      It’s fine to point out Islam’s flaws and faults. However, we recognize that slavery is a crime against humanity, and an absolute offense against basic human rights. None of the Abrahamic religions recognizes those charges, because none recognize the concept of basic human rights. They are ALL guilty, especially Christianity, where Christians routinely vote for and work for prisons that serve as centers for slave labor, even in the good ol’ USA, where we supposedly have a Constitution that guarantees equal protection under the law and fundamental human rights. In practice, it is the color of a person’s skin that determine whether that person is accorded these “fundamental human rights under the law” – right here in the US.

      So instead of pointing impotently at foreign countries and their misdeeds, why not take action in your very own country, against your very own country’s blatant misdeeds? Here, at least, it’s YOUR problem.

  47. It is very hard to change the minds of people who have been “brainwashed”. I myself used to be a christian, so I can understand the difficulty. But that shouldn’t make you blind to the facts, for some reason when it comes to religion, followers tend to perform mental gymnastics.

    I went to Tunisia on holiday last month and was shocked that I did not see another black person who looked like me. The locals called my wife Janet Jackson and myself, Eddie Murphy….REALLY!!!

    I will never understand why a black man would EVER turn to Islam.

    Keep up the good work Acharya

  48. more balanced
    A more balanced and historically accurate of the totality is here – although a longer read, I think it is not as one-sided in its presentation of both the past/historical views and the current situation:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_views_on_slavery

    I do agree: most people do not know enough on the subject in general to make rational, informed decisions.

    1. Thank you. My article is perfectly balanced and objective in presenting the facts of Islamic slavery. Wikipedia’s article is neither better nor competing. What I have stated in my article is extremely important to know, [i]as it is[/i], without deflection onto other sources or critical assessments fallaciously attempting to reduce its value.

      Hopefully more people will read what I’ve written here, rather than simply relying on the bland Wiki article which omits the true human toll, as brought to life by the actual slaves I’ve included in this article.

      1. Ignorance is not bliss
        It is astonishing that murderers have a God. Even if God is also a murdrer, as with the bloodthirsty Aztec’s pantheon. With the currant islamist’s murder is an act of God and when this slave for God has done his duty and killed some infidel, then more murder must seem like the nessesary thing to do. Once you have the right to kill as a moral duty to God you can not stop. To normalize murder as a duty to your God and to think that god loves this willingness in you, you become a harbinger for the lowest in man to become a value instead of an abomination. If murder is seen in islamist sircles as the will of God then it will not stop. One can become obsessed with murder and not be able to turn around and when the cultur removes the moral barriers to this behavior that cultur will go mad. And that is exactly what is happening and what they promise more of. Allready islamists are killing more muslims than anyone else.

        In Islam everything is Allha. This is a mystical consept. The mystic sees God as alll. When this experience of single mystics is turned into a public dogma about the world around us, as Muhammad did, there can no longer be any real differentiation and thus there is no difference between facts and oppinions. And that is what we run into with these people. They don’t see the difference. They don’t ‘think’ differentially, but confusingly.
        Everything is Allah. In fact, a god like this Allah exepts no individuality, and there is no purpose and meaning in any ones brain other than to do the will of this God. This can of course be profund in the mind of a mystic who ‘travels’ to the place of God, like Ibn’al Arabi. But from the disiplin of becoming like God from knowing the self as Ibn’Arab discusses in his little booki: “Whosoever knoweth himsef knoweth God” it is a far cry to the islamist for whom it is enough to ingest the oppinions and the retoric and forget about the self’s relation to the other. A real mystic knows the other,-any other – as the innevitable part of the mystc equation.
        But these people can’t see that. Now they are attacking eac other, Sunnies, Shiates and all the others. And they all kill in the name of that same god.
        We havent seen much yet compered to what is comming. The islamists will contiue to murder. That is what they have become and they must continue to do so to prove to God they are his slaves. Greater madness have never been seen and for the comming future Holocosts will be our common myth.
        As long as other centers and traditions in Islam are murdered and thus silenced this madness will increase before it destroys itself. That will be the conclusion because only death confirms this mad faith.
        And finnally to the slave trade; when you have a system where some have less value than you there will be rape, abuse, torture and murder.
        We domesticated animals and made them do our work. From there came the idea of domesticating people. And slavery has since been our heart of darkness.

  49. Salvey is not allowd in Islam
    Since Islam early days slavery was closing its doors, and no more allowed after only in some very narrow way to get salves, “You can enslave People while they are born free ” ( Khalifa Omar Bin Khatab Say )http://www.answering-christianity.com/slaves_
    http://www.renaissance.com.pk/mared95.html

    1. So, you completely ignore everything in this article and make a fallacious claim that can be ignored.

      And why would it be a great thing to only enslave people who are free? Those who are not free are already enslaved. What you have said makes no sense.

      Islam DOES allow slavery, as proved by this very article. You are only fooling yourself.

  50. I really appreciate the scholasticism
    I came to this piece and the responses via a Google search on The History of Islam and Slavery, because I had come to the issue from a slightly different historical perspective: the history of eunuchs, starting in China. I had become interested in the issue after reading The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson, and– empathizing with the enuch– I was interested in how such a terrible amputation could have been performed so many times without mass death. But upon wiki research, under eunuchs, I came across the stunning and enormous figure similar to that found above: that the Islamic land-based slave trade had moved some 113 million people out of Africa into bondage in the 1300 odd years of its history. To put forth a possible answer to a question stated above that was almost apologetic about the rise of civilization in the sub-Sahara region and wondered how it could have had survived such a de-population yet had a rise in civilization. From a period of history, I think we find a tacit answer. If you follow the history of South Africa, you repeatedly find in Boer history, that they met the Xhosa coming south at the Big Fish River, that until that meeting- there was no population in South Africa. In fact, slaves were shipped in from Indonesia. Why was one of the oldest, longest inhabited places on Earth depopulated? Because the warrior tribes like the Xhosa went south captured slaves and sold them in the northern markets, and then went south some more, returning with more slaves. Middle Africa did not depopulate, South Africa did. But even so, despite the few loving Muslim universities following the Sufi path of Loving-Kindness in Timbuktu, otherwise, Timbuktu was nothing but a slave-trade way-station. When you ask, “If this depopulation of Africa happened, how come the Arabic Muslims aren’t darker than they are?” It’s because they castrated the slaves. There are pics of giant black harem guards, the de facto standard in neutered house pets. So there is a terrible economics of reality here: Dutch whites populated a vacuum caused by the land-based slave trade in North Africa, before the Xhosa could finish spreading south. The lack of a local black population allowed an effective apartheid to be established by only 20% of the final population of the geography. As a U.S. citizen from a Southern State (Texas) which fought in the Confederacy, Southern whites get no slack from their black friends. And if we wanted to remain friends, we had to own up to the realities of our shared past so we could at least tally the suffering to better understand the points of view of our brethren. Thus, I think when you start to compare the numbers on American slavery by European powers and the States over 500 years, of which everybody is very aware, to this giant elephant in the room: what Islam has done to it’s perceived underclasses. It is a bit of shock, even when compared to the Indian caste system or what Europeans did tot he native American peoples. So I don’t think Islam gets some kind of free pass. I understand the theological argument: “If you have submission to the Will of Allah, and he made you a slave, then be joyful in your situation no matter what it is since that is what he meant for you.” Almost what the sufi Dhul-Nun or Dun-nun said. Except that if “loving kindness” is the highest standard of the actuality of spirituality, a jihadic Islam which embraces legal slavery stunts it’s own opportunity provided by a loving Creator: to make ignorance, disease, poverty, and hunger a thing of the past. But power is intoxicating. Being the master is by far the more harmful position in the long run in the relationship of slavery, doing an incredible amount of spiritual and psychic damage- whether the practice is accepted by society and a bunch of old lettered, bearded men or not.

    1. Thanks for stopping by, and welcome. You’ve said a mouthful! Very interesting insights. I had not thought about the depopulation factor.

      According to the current DNA analyses, the southern and eastern branch of Africans is differently from the westerners, who are more aggressive. It would make sense that the southerners would make better slaves. DNA studies indicate that all people who immigrated outside of Africa in the initial waves are related to the “Genetic Eve” and the same male in southern Africa, while the westerners are of different parentage.

  51. Let’s not forget that Christianity used the Bible to defend the enslavement of Africans in the South. And that, after the Civil War, the enslavement of people of African heritage continued – if a person of African descent did not have a job, he could be put into prison, where he would provide slave labor and even be bought and sold to those in need of slave labor. A person of African descent could not leave his place of employment without his boss’s permission. Dark-skinned people remained enslaved even though slavery was officially outlawed. There were even cases where slaves were bought and sold AFTER the Emancipation Proclamation – the sale of slaves continued for decades after slavery had been officially outlawed!

    And now, the USA has the most people in prison of any country in the world – more than even China, which has several times our population. And you know why? It’s so that the prison inmates can be worked as slave labor. Companies have been wooed to bring their off-shored factory operations back to the USA, because prisoners can be forced to work for a few cents an hour, a similar rate as in Bangladesh, only the companies won’t have to worry about the international shipping that comes with off-shoring in Bangladesh! Yippee! Meanwhile, our political representatives stay busy thinking up new laws with which to imprison ever more of our fellow citizens, so that the ongoing demand for slave labor can be met domestically. Just look into “private prisons” if you are unaware of the slave labor angle – it’s quite shocking.

    So while it is fair to castigate the Muslim nations for their ongoing practice of slavery, let’s not pretend that we don’t have a skeleton or twenty in that same closet.

    1. No one is forgetting the Atlantic slave trade. It has been addressed repeatedly and relentlessly for decades.

      What most people [i]are [/i]forgetting while they attempt to deflect off the subject is the [b]Islamic slave trade[/b], and THIS article is about THAT subject.

      Try to stay on topic and not engage in kneejerk deflections. People are suffering slavery NOW because of Islam. Deflections simply help to continue their enslavement.

  52. As a point of general information, here is a well-referenced Wikipedia article on the History of Slavery. It seems that historically, every culture engaged in slavery at one time or another. It seems that in many cases it was a major part of the economy.

  53. Greetings Acharya S.

    You are doing a good and brave job in exposing the falsehood that the ‘Islamic creed’ states there is to be no racism in the religion of Islam… It is Islam’s historical dirty secret!

    I would like to add that Islam in its pristine form was hijacked soon after prophet Muhammad passed away and was turned into an empire of the Ummayad Caliphate.

    THE TRUTH IS, the Arab enslavement of Africans is not something that many Muslim historians want to honestly address; while Western scholars address a range of historical issues on colonialism, and slavery, etc., with clearly brutal honesty, even if it reflects poorly on their society/country. This is not a common practice among Muslim scholars. Nor is it a safe practice for Muslims scholars. This is the truth.

    Muslim writers who publish books which reflect badly on Islam and Muslim society can be putting their lives in danger. As a result, Muslims who see books on Arab enslavement of African Blacks, will commonly view this as an attack on Islam, making such work controversial in Muslim countries.

    The enslavement of the Black race BY Arabs has been going on for more than 1300 years and still counting (as of 650 AD):

    * Motive of enslaving Africans: Sexual Exploitation, forced religious conversion.

    * African male slaves were usually castrated by default

    Islam is in very evil hands since post-Muhammadan times and is a form of Arab supremacist cult. It is a largely Islamic Crusade against the African race!

    In Christianity there were white abolitionists who fought against the inhumane treatment of African slaves. Can the same be said of Arab Muslims?

    I dare any Arab or Muslim to prove me wrong on this… I have done my research!

    A recent example of this hatred that Arabs have against the African was in Libya. Anyone can google this up and see for themselves this fact; the Benghazi Arab Muslim rebels who went to a Black Libyan township of Tawergha and ethnically cleansed and purged out over 30,000 (every last one of them out of their homes) back in 2011, before Mu’mar Gaddafi’s grizzly death took place.

    Today, Tawergha is now a complete ghost town! Not one Black person remains in Tawergha!

    And what’s worse, there was not a voice of anger spoken from the Sunni Arab and Asian Islamic world against this racist and heinous crime. This is the honest truth.

    1. Thank you for your comments and insights. It is deplorable that such heinous genocidal crimes against humanity garner little to no exposure, even though they are clearly driven by the same vile fanaticism that led to the murders of the French cartoonists. But, apparently, no one cares about 30,000 black people – so long as one doesn’t appear to be “racist” and “Islamophobic” in criticizing Islam and the behavior of its most devout followers!

      We live in a loony bin full of psychotics and their cowardly enablers. It’s simply horrifying.

      1. Greeting and Blessings with you, Acharya S.

        You are most welcome.

        I agree that it’s certainly a very dangerous world with these extremists who have no sense of humour, but darkness dancing around in their hearts and minds and our manipulative Western agencies messing around with them to keep some countries in a cesspool of chaos – like they did in Libya which was the most prosperous country in Africa before they caused Mu’mar Gaddafi’s grizzly downfall.

        I do agree that when one speaks a truth about what is going on in their religion of Islam; then they say you are “Islamophobic.”

        Last week in Sweden, three mosques were set fire to. I condemn it, but that is what happens when some hate-mongering extremists are doing their dirty deeds of been documented raping over 300 Swedish children and 700 women in first 7 months of 2013! There is a reason behind these attacks of mosques in Sweden.

        https://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2013/10/13/muslims-raped-over-300-swedish-children-and-700-women-in-seven-months-of-2013/comment-page-3/

        I also condemn our Western governments for funding and arming groups like Al Qaeda, ISIS, Al Nusra and so on to fight their dirty proxy wars in places like Syria and Iraq, where these terror groups go on to kill Christians en masse (who were living in relative peace and prosperity under Al ‘Assad, and even under Saddam Hussein whose right hand man in Tariq ‘Aziz was a Christian), and this will create reverberations in the Christian world against the Muslims living in their their communities that welcome multi-culturalism; whereas, vast majority Muslims in Islamic countries do not tolerate other religions fairly.

  54. The muslims ARE the most diluted people on the face of the planet, or they think the rest of the world is as STUPID as they are! “religion of peace” MY ASS! Their “holy book” the quran is full of hate, and malice. The book outright tells it’s followers to convert non-muslims to islam and if they don’t convert, they must die. Their beloved prophet muhammad was a pedophile, who JUSTIFIED HIS PERVERSION with his people so he included that in his teachings. ISLAM IS EVIL AND WILL BE WIPED OFF THE PLANET! I’m a free AMERICAN, and I say this: I’ll see your caliphate and raise you a CRUSADE! Free Americans will not lie down, we will not submit, and we will cure the infection spreading throughout the world! Fuck muslims, fuck your jihad and FUCK ISLAM!!!!!
    And before some goat-poker calls me an “islamophobe”, the affix “phobia” means “fear of”. I don’t fear islam! I loathe and despise islam for the barbaric and evil cult that it is!

Comments are closed.