Islam and Slavery — Page 17
17 and some of the Muslims also recommended it. The Holy. Prophet was greatly displeased at this and refused to return them saying, "They are the freed men of God. Shall I return them to slavery and infidelity? (¹) 5. Ibn Abbas relates as follows: The Holy Prophet used to say, "If any person enters into matrimonial relations with a female slave of his, and she begets a child, she shall thereafter be regarded as free. " (2). According to another report the Holy Prophet said, • "The female slave with whom her master enters into matrimonial relations shall be regarded as free, if the maid gets into the family way even if it is only a case of abortion. ” (³). The above were some of the various ways of compulsory emancipation prescribed by Islam. But it is evident that they could not cover all cases and that there still remained many slaves who could not avail themselves of any of these methods. On the other hand, their emancipation through commendatory ways was also uncertain. Hence it was necessary that there should be some sure and permanent means of securing the freedom of the existing slaves. . To achieve that end Islam introduced a system known as. Mukatubat. By this system, the master was bound to set free a slave who had made himself qualified for emancipation -a matter not to be judged by the master but to be determined by the State or the Court-on condition of the latter's earning or procuring a reasonable amount of money. -(1) Abu Daud, Kitab Al-Jihad. (2) Ibn Majah, Kitab Al-Itaq. (3) Kashf Al-Ghummah, Chapter on Ummhat Al-Quled.