Understanding Islam — Page 170
SLAVERY AND PRISONERS OF WAR 168 personally usurps the sale-proceeds; (3) and one who employs a laborer and gets the full work done by him but does not pay him his wages”. 7 The second teaching was followed in two ways. Either the Muslims set free the slaves in their possession as a virtuous act in accordance with Islamic teachings, or the slaves were given the option of earning their freedom through a system called muk ā tabat. Through this system, the master was obliged to set a slave free if he made himself qualified for emancipation. This is something to be judged by the court or the government. The Holy Quran says: And such as desire a deed of manumission in writing from among those whom your right hands possess, write it for them if you know any good in them; and give them out of the wealth of Allah which He has bestowed upon you. 8 Here, the Holy Quran is very clear in its teaching that if a slave desires to have freedom by payment of an amount, the master is obliged to fulfill the slave’s wish and to set him free provisionally, so