Islam and Slavery — Page 3
☑ c 3 one of its earliest Surahs refers to this subject in the following words :→ "Have We not created for man two eyes, and a tongue and two lips, and have We not shown him the two great ways of evil and virtue? But he attempts not the high mountain road. And what should make thee know what the high mountain road is? It is the setting free of a slave, or the feeding in a day of hunger an orphan who is of kin ´or a poor man cleaving to the dust. ” (1). The simplicity and excellence of the teachings of Islam, combined with this special injunction about slaves, made a deep impression upon the slaves of Arabia who began to look upon the Holy Prophet's call as the call of a deliverer. . It was for this reason that notwithstanding the atrocities that were inflicted upon them by their infidel masters on account of their acceptance of Islam, the new religion spread very rapidly among the slave population. The proportion of slaves was indeed extraordinarily large among the early converts. It appears from history that even in the very beginning of Islam, slaves were not treated with contempt in Muslim society. And as time advanced and further. Divine commandments were revealed concerning the slaves, their position became stronger and their condition better, till at last there ceased to be any distinction between the slaves and their masters except that the former were administratively subordinate to the latter. Along with this, the movement for the emancipation of slaves also gained in force day by day, and the Muslims, under the influence (1) Quran Surah 90:9—17.