Understanding Islam — Page 165
163 SLAVERY AND PRISONERS OF WAR A COMMON QUESTION that Dr. Qureshi and other critics of Islam have raised many times over is in regards to female prisoners of war and their treatment in Islam. Critics always link this subject matter with Jihad in order to support their narrative that Islam is a violent and oppressive religion. They seem to suggest that just as Islam is aggressive and violent in war, it also mistreats those who are captured during times of warfare. It is alleged that Islam promotes slavery and the turning of prisoners of war into slaves and concubines. This could not be any further from the truth and only shows either ignorance or mischief on the part of such accusers. First, it is a fact that Islam did not introduce slavery. It was a part and parcel of the very fabric of the world in which Islam came into being. There