Islam and Slavery — Page 41
SURVIVAL OF SLAVERY IN MUSLIM COUNTRIES. IF the teachings of Islam really aimed at the gradual emancipation of slaves, why has slavery survived to this day in Muslim countries? This is the question that now confronts us. . The answer to this question is, however, not far to seek. As long as, on the one hand, the Muslim power remained in the ascendant and the sphere of its influence continued to increase, and on the other, the Muslims continued to adhere to the true spirit of the Islamic teachings and to act upon them, the movement for the emancipation of slaves progressed with rapid strides, and, thanks to the efforts of early Muslims, millions of slaves thus got rid of the stigma of slavery. But, as I have already said, there was no limit to the number of slaves in those days, there being no civilised country in the world where they were not found in very large numbers. So before this limitless stock of slaves could be exhausted, the wave of. Islamic conquests began gradually to slacken till eventually it was brought to a standstill. Moreover, on account of lapse of time, the hold of Islam on the hearts of its votaries naturally began to weaken, and that ardent zeal for the proper understanding of the teachings of. Islam and for carrying them into practice which inspired the Companions of the Holy Prophet and which was inherited by their successors began gradually to idminish. Nay, in the "misguided age" which followed,