The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 215
V - Conduct of the Holy Prophet sa with Slaves and His Teachings on the Issue of Slavery 215 However, as we have mentioned above, the basis of our claim is not merely established by defensive arguments. Rather, by the Grace of God, there are very clear and explicit commandments in the Islāmic Sharī‘at , which state that it is absolutely forbidden and unlawful to deprive a free person from his legal right to freedom, and take him as a slave. Furthermore, such a person would be severely punished on the day of resurrection by God. As such, it has been mentioned in a Ḥadīth : َ عَن ْ اَبِی ْ ھُرَیْرَة َ عَن ِ النَّبِی ِّ صَلَّی اللّٰه ُ عَلَیْه ِ وَسَلَّم َ قَال َ قَال َ اللّٰه ُ ثَلَاثَة ٌ اَنَا خَصْمُھُم ْ یَوْم أكَل َ ثَمََنَه ٗ وَرَجُل ٌ اِسْتَاٴْجَر َ اَجِیْرًا ا الْقِیَامَة ِ رَجُل ٌ اَعْطی ٰ بِی ْ ثُم َّ غَدَر َ وَرَجُل ٌ بَاع َ حُرًّا فَ ٗ فَاسْتَوْفی ٰ مِنْه ُ وَلَم ْ یُعْطِه ِ اَجْرَه Meaning, “Ḥaḍrat Abū Hurairah ra relates that the Holy Prophet sa would say, ‘Allāh the Exalted addressed me saying, ‘There are three types of people who I shall be at war against on the day of resurrection. Firstly, a person who makes a covenant in My name but does not fulfill his agreement. Secondly, a person who enslaves a free person, sells him and consumes his value. Thirdly, a person who employs an individual, benefits from his labour, but does not pay him his wage. ” 1 In another narration it is related: عَبْد ِ اللّٰه ِ ابْن ِ عُمَر َ. . . . . لَا تُقْبَل ُ مِنْھُم ْ صَلَاة ٌ وَرَجُل ٌ اِعْتَبَد َ مُحَرَّرًا. الخ Meaning, “Ibni ‘Umar ra relates that the Holy Prophet sa would say, ‘Allāh the Exalted addressed me saying, ‘There are three types of people whose obligatory prayer shall not at all be acceptable in My estimation, and I shall fight him on the day of resurrection. Firstly, a person who makes a covenant in My name but does not fulfill his agreement. Secondly, a person who enslaves a person who had been granted freedom by Allāh. Thirdly, he who employs the services of a labourer, but does not pay him his wage. ’” 2 1 Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-Buyū‘, Bābu Ithmi Man Bā‘a Ḥurran, Ḥadīth No. 2227 2 Fatḥul-Bārī Sharḥu Ṣaḥīḥil-Bukhārī, By Al-Imām Aḥmad bin Ḥajar Al-‘Asqalānī, Volume 4, p 526, Kitābul-Buyū‘, Bābu Ithmi Man Bā‘a Ḥurran, Qadīmī Kutub Khānah, Ārām Bāgh, Karachi