The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 208
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 208 emancipators and in gatherings, he would be made to sit in places of dishonour, endure all sorts of cruelties and could not even utter a word. Why this difference? Undoubtedly, the reason is that the method adopted by Islām for the manumission of slaves was in fact the true method of reformation. Hence, true freedom was established as a result of this, but the reform of Western reformers was defective, and their method was incorrect. As a result of the latter method, freedom was no doubt attained by name, but death did not come upon the actual spirit of slavery, and mindsets remained unaltered. The second manner, in which this question may be analysed, is by looking at which method from among these systems resulted in more progress for freed slaves. As such, after the above-mentioned discussion, the answer to this question no longer remains difficult to determine either. The reason being that naturally, the path which would result in more progress for slaves would be the one which afforded them more true freedom. This path was the one offered by Islām. However, even practically, we see that from this perspective as well, the Islāmic method is found to be more successful and beneficial. The reason being, that a very large number from among those people who were freed according to the Islāmic method were found to be of such people who reached the very highest level of success in all fields, and assumed the status of being Muslim leaders in various areas. For example, as mentioned above, Zaid bin Ḥārithah ra was a freed slave, but he developed such ability that the Holy Prophet sa appointed him as the commander in many Islāmic campaigns. Highly eminent Companions and even accomplished generals the like of Khālid bin Walīd ra , were positioned under him. Then, there was Sālim bin Ma‘qal ra , who was an ordinary freed slave of Abū Ḥudhaifah bin ‘Utbah ra. However, he progressed in his knowledge and wisdom to the extent that he was among the four Companions who were appointed among the Muslims by the Holy Prophet sa to teach the Holy Qur’ān, and were deemed worthy enough to be his representatives in this respect. Similarly, after the Companions, Nāfi‘ the freed slave of Ibni ‘Umar ra , ‘Ikramah the freed slave of Ibni ‘Abbās ra , Makḥūl bin ‘Abdillāh, ‘Aṭā’ bin Abī Rabāḥ, ‘Abdullāh bin Mubarak and Muḥammad bin Sīrīn, were accepted as leaders in the field of Ḥadīth and Jurisprudence. Many eminent people would consider it a means of pride to be among their pupils. Then, Ḥasan Baṣrī and Mujāhid bin Jubair were considered to be unparalleled in the fields of Mysticism and ‘Ilmi-Qirā‘at 1 1 Science of Qur’ānic Recitation Style [Publishers]