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Who Was The Real Slave Master? by blueAgent(m): 9:54am On Dec 28, 2015 |
"The Christians were the ones who enslaved
the Black man, but Islam is a world-wide
brotherhood." You may have heard someone
say something like this and wondered if it
was true.
Slavery was practiced by all civilizations until
the 19th century when it began to be
outlawed. Yes, brutal slavery was practiced
here in America by many Christians, but
Biblical Christianity does not condone their
misguided behavior. [1]
Many books have been written about the
shameful treatment of slaves by Christians in
this country, and true Christians offer no
excuse for it. The Christian conscience
condemns this atrocity and feels it must face
and confess all the brutal facts.
So, is the involvement of Christians in slavery
a valid reason for leaving Christianity and
becoming a Muslim? Not unless Muslims are
innocent in this matter.
The fact is Muslim nations and societies have
practiced slavery from the time of Muhammad
[2] until recent years. The facts are well
established, but so little is written about
Muslims’ involvement in the slave trade that
most people are surprised when it is
mentioned. J.D. Fage’s book, A History of
Africa [3] is one of several which clearly
document its extent.
Muslims began large-scale buying and selling
of African slaves 600 years before Europeans
did and continued to do so 100 years after.
The highest volume of the slave trade was in
the trans-Atlantic slave trade from 1451 to
1867. Fage estimates that there was a total
of about 12 million slaves taken from west
Africa to Europe and the Americas by
"Christian" traders over those 4 centuries.
Although the volume was never as high in the
trans-Saharan and Red Sea slave trade, the
longer time involved resulted in the same
total number of slaves involved. The Arabs
bought slaves in central, west and east Africa
and sold them in North Africa, the Middle
East and on the west coast of India. About 9
million slaves were involved in the trans-
Saharan slave trade over the 10 centuries
from 900 to 1880, and an additional 3 million
slaves were taken across the Red Sea and
the Indian Ocean over 11 centuries from 800
to 1900 - a total of 12 million.
It is sad to discover that the Christian and
Muslim slave traders found a ready market in
which to buy slaves in all parts of Black
Africa. Almost all them were captured and
sold by African rulers and merchants. They
found it more profitable to sell their
enemies, criminals and debtors than to kill or
imprison them. Even those rulers who first
resisted trafficking in mankind later gave in
to the great financial profits involved. We
must conclude that there were three equally
guilty partners in the crime of slavery: Pagan
African rulers, Christian Europeans, and
Muslim Arabs.
Gender is a significant factor in the
comparison of Christian and Muslim slave
trade from Africa. Two out of three slaves in
the trans-Atlantic trade were adult males
because the demand in America was for
laborers to work the plantations. In the
trans-Saharan trade, however, boys castrated
to become eunuchs brought the highest price.
The price for women was higher than for men
because Islam permitted them to be used as
concubines as well as workers. The result:
only one out of three slaves sold in North
Africa and the Middle East was a man. This
accounts for the fact that there is no distinct
Black segment in Middle Eastern society
today. The eunuchs could not have children,
the women’s offspring melted into the Arabic
population, and the men often were unable
to find wives. In the Americas, however, the
Black population was segregated, and thus it
has remaining distinct until today.
Few authors have described the horrors
involved in the trans-Saharan slave trade:
kidnaping and castrating young boys to be
sold as eunuchs ("the living dead" in the
harems of wealthy Arab landlords and force-
marching young women across the endless
miles of scorching sand in the Sahara desert
to become slave/concubines ("double
bound" in the homes of total strangers.
Although most were well treated after they
arrived, many died in transit.
One reason why comparatively little has been
written about Arab involvement in slavery is
that traditional Islamic culture reluctantly
still condones slavery. [4]
The conscience of true Christians in Britain
caused their Parliament to first outlaw
slavery. Great Britian then influenced the rest
of western Europe and America to free their
slaves. This led to the outlawing of slavery by
every government in the world. The last
countries to free slaves were Saudi Arabia
and Yemen in 1962 (100 years after Lincoln
freed slaves in America), and Mauritania in
1980. An international organization
investigating reports of slavery says black
people are still illegally bought and sold in
three Muslim nations.
So did Christians or Muslims enslave the
Black man? Neither! Sinful, greedy human
beings of all religions did. It is our corrupt,
sinful humanity that stands condemned for
the evils of slavery. Furthermore, the slave
masters themselves became slaves, because
Sin is the real slave master! Jesus said, "I
tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a
slave to sin ... if the Son sets you free, you
will be free indeed." (John 8:34,36)
Following Christianity or Islam can’t set you
free. Changing from one religion to another
can’t set you free. The Lord Jesus, the eternal
Son of God, is the only one who can truly
liberate you from the bondage of sin in your
life! Will you let him?
____________
1 The Bible seems to mention three kinds of
slavery: (a) slaves through debt, (b) captives
of war, and (c) slavery for commerce. The
first two were permitted in the Mosaic law
under certain conditions, but the third is
strongly condemned throughout the Bible:
"Anyone who kidnaps another and either
sells him or still has him when he is caught
must be put to death." (Exodus 21:16) "...
the law is made not for the righteous but for
lawbreakers ... for those who kill their fathers
or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and
perverts, for slave traders and liars and
perjurers ..." (1 Timothy 1:9,10)
2 Mohammad himself owned many slaves,
some of whom he captured in wars of
conquest and some he purchased. The names
of forty are recorded by Muslim chroniclers.
Some of these he set free such as Bilal and
Zayd Ibn Haritha, but others he did not.
3 J.D. Fage, A History of Africa , third edition,
Routledge, 1995; see especially chapter 10.
The book, Race and Slavery in the Middle
East by Bernard Lewis is another scholarly
and valuable documentation on this whole
subject, Oxford Un. Press, 1990
4 Although Islam recommends setting slaves
free, it does not require it. In fact, codified
Islamic law (Sharia) contains elaborate
regulations for slavery. That is because one
of the primary principles of Islam is following
Mohammad’s example. Whatever he did we
must do, what he forbid we must forbid, what
he did not forbid we dare not forbid.
Mohammad encouraged his followers to free
their slaves, but he never forbid slavery. |
Re: Who Was The Real Slave Master? by am0s(m): 10:18am On Dec 28, 2015 |
you don't undastand |
Re: Who Was The Real Slave Master? by Omololu007(m): 12:21pm On Dec 28, 2015 |
Odikwa serious |
Re: Who Was The Real Slave Master? by blueAgent(m): 1:10pm On Dec 28, 2015 |
am0s:understand wat? |
(1) (Reply)
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