The Economic System of Islam — Page 29
29 In fact, that approach to slavery continued well into the 18 th century when hoards of West Africans were brought over into the United States. Although slavery no longer exists in that country, some 20–30 million Americans are descendents of people who were brought as slaves. The main motivation behind slavery in advanced countries was to further their economic might through cheap slave labour. The slaves were exploited in different ways. They were assigned to work in factories, or ships, or any other work involving heavy manual tasks required for economic development. Similarly, slave labour was used on plantations in order to minimise production costs and to maximize profit. Prohibition of Unjust Forms of Slavery In both of the above-mentioned forms, slavery denied equality in treatment to a cross-section of mankind. Islam categorically prohib- ited both channels of enslaving people. The Holy Quran says: 14 Meaning that: It was not lawful for any Prophet before you, nor is it for you, to take prisoners without engaging in a war. If there is a 14 S u rah al-Anf a l , 8:68, (publishers)