Islam and Slavery — Page 52
52 make prisoners of the enemy wherever they may find them weak, or that they may take captives at the battlefield before the armies actually engage in battle. The. Muslims are permitted to take prisoners only when they have met the enemy in a pitched battle and then also after the battle has actually been fought. This teaching of Islam, which rests on a far sounder foundation than any other International Code of War, reduces the extent and number of the prisoners of war to the narrowest possible range, which clearly indicates that Islam is loath to taking prisoners of war except in the most unavoidable circumstances. . The second verse of the Quran says:“When you meet the disbelievers in battle, fight steadfastly and slay the aggressors: and when the battle has been well fought take captives from among the enemy. . After that you should either set them at liberty without taking any ransom (if circumstances are favourable and you hope matters will mend thereby) or you should release them for a reasonable ransom, or (if it be unavoidable) you may retain them as prisoners until the war is over and you are relieved of its burdens. " (¹). This verse forms, as it were, the foundation-stone of the Islamic teaching with regard to the prisoners of war. . It describes the three different courses which may be followed under different circumstances in dealing with war prisoners. These courses are :— (1) Quran, 47:5.