Islam and Slavery — Page 69
69 with such women as might be taken prisoners in wars waged against Islam, provided of course their guardians did not come to get them ransomed, nor did the captive women themselves apply for freedom under the law of Mukatabat. . This permission was given as an exceptional measure, so that the morals of the women prisoners might not be spoiled, nor might they become the means of spreading immorality among their captors. But in order to guard against progenial confusion, it was stipulated that before entering into conjugal relations with their female prisoners, the Muslims must first make sure that they were not in the family way. (¹). This system might appear strange to the devotees of the present-day civilisation, but if the reasons for which such exceptional arrangements were permitted, be fully taken into consideration, then at least in the eyes of those who have learnt to sacrifice other considerations for the sake of safeguarding individual and national morality, it will become clear that under the circumstances in which this system was introduced, it was a necessary step meant as an exceptional measure for the moral welfare of society. . Moreover, it should not be forgotten that the way to emancipation through the system of Mukatabat was open to every female prisoner. With regard, therefore to a woman who did not avail herself of this system it would be inferred that she was herself desirous of severing her connection with her former relations and living as a member of the Muslim society. In that case, it was in no (1) Tirmizi, Abwab Al-Siyar, p. 296.