Understanding Islam — Page 174
SLAVERY AND PRISONERS OF WAR 172 D ISTRIBUTION OF P RISONERS OF W AR It is a fact that when Muslims engaged in battle during the time of Prophet Muhammad sa , prisoners were distributed among the Muslim soldiers. It is in fact this distribution that causes the confusion between slaves and prisoners of war. This issue cannot be understood properly unless we study the context in which this was done. First, it must be understood that this practice was not an essential teaching in Islam. It finds no mention in the special instructions which have been given in the Quran with regards to prisoners of war. It was only a retributive measure which was taken recourse to as an answer to the extremely aggressive conduct of the enemy who made slaves out of Muslim prisoners by distributing them among their soldiers. However, as shown in the previous section, the Islamic teachings clearly forbade turning any prisoner into a slave. These teachings clearly stated that the prisoners are to be set free as soon as the war is over. One practical reason why prisoners used to be distributed among the soldiers is that there were no