The Economic System of Islam — Page 30
30 war—and that too, religious—prisoners can be captured in the battlefield. The condition laid down in this verse does not permit anyone to imprison the civilian population of any country where war has not been declared. Nor does it permit enslaving any citizen of the op- ponent who has not been part of the attacking force. The impris- onment of those who actively engage in combat is allowed because they would otherwise go back to join forces in attack. Then Allah says in these verses that: ‘You desire the frail goods of this world’ meaning: O Muslims, do you desire to behave like other nations and enslave their people to augment your power nay, Allah does not want you to follow other nations. He wants to guide you to the course that is better for you in the end and entitles you to win Allah’s pleasure. God reminds Muslims that nearness to God is better than any worldly gain. And God decrees that it is better for you that you do not take any prisoners except when war is imposed on you. This rule was strictly enforced in the early days of Islam. Dur- ing the reign of Hadrat Umar ra , a deputation from Yemen came and complained that, before the advent of Islam, they had been made into slaves without any cause by a neighbouring Christian tribe. Hadrat Umar ra replied that though the event took place before the Muslims were in power, he would look into the case and have them set free if their complaint was borne out by facts. In contrast to this enlightened Islamic stand, the Europeans con- tinued to use slavery for advancing their trade and agriculture until the nineteenth century.