Islam and Human Rights — Page 85
Article 4 85 delivered by him on that occasion, which is looked upon as his Testament. Article 4 This article is designed to secure the abolition of slav ery and all forms of servitude, wherever they might still persist. The historical treatment of the institution of slavery does not pertain to our present thesis. But it is necessary, for the proper appreciation of the attitude of Islam towards slavery, to cast a cursory glance at the incidence of this ancient institution as it flourished in pre-Islamic Arabia, and then to consider to what degree Islam sought to elimin ate, modify or reform it. In pre-Islamic Arabia slavery flourished unchecked and the lot of the slave was miserable in the extreme. The master possessed and exercised the power of life and death over the slave. That this was so everywhere did not make it any more endurable for those who were subjected to its rigours. One source of recruitment into the ranks of those held in bondage was capture in war or in tribal raids. Prisoners of war were in no better case. Those who were not ex changed or ransomed were generally put to the