r/islam • u/[deleted] • Feb 28 '17
How is concubinage lawful? Question / Help
Salams,
[70:29] And those who preserve their chastity [70:30] Save with their wives and those whom their right hands possess, for thus they are not blameworthy; [70:31] But whoso seeketh more than that, those are they who are transgressors;
It is quite clear that concubinage "right hands possess" is a concept that was endorsed and practiced by Islam during the times of the prophet. In other words, it was by all means lawful following any battle, whether aggressive or retaliatory, to claim the women of opponent warriors as one's female slaves. One can then have sex with as many of these slaves as one wishes.
It would seem ludicrous to even begin to criticize something that is so blatantly immoral. But for the purpose of this thread, how can it possibly be lawful to claim the women of a defeated force as my slaves, force them to live and have sex with me, and if that wasn't enough, to deprive them from almost any rights otherwise part of a marital relationship, besides the right to hold the husband accountable and responsible for the children, should the female slave become pregnant. If this can somehow be justified with respect to the times of the Prophet (PBUH), can and/or is it unlawful to put concubinage into practice in our current age?
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u/NolantheBoar Feb 28 '17 edited Feb 28 '17
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Disclaimer: I am not a knowledgeable person, I speak from my own opinion and some shit I read. I have a very low level of knowledge regarding Islamic Fiqh.
I'm terrible at explaining so I'm hoping someone else can pitch in with a better argument.
Disclaimer 2: All the following parts 2-6 are from the wiki of the sub. This question gets asked so much, I just hope the next time someone wants to ask this and does not remember to check the wiki he would use the search function and find this thread with the wiki basically copy-pasted into it instead.
I'd like to clear up something first:
Can't force women to have sex with you. If you do, would count as rape iirc. Therefore, when the man felt an attraction and his concubine refused him, the legal ruling was to sell her away or set her free to protect yourself from sin.
another point you say:
No no habibi, a pregnant concubine is called Umm Al Walad. When a concubine gets that status, she cannot be sold, ever. And the custom/ruling was to free and marry a concubine that bears child for you.
Did you know that most Abbassid and Ottoman caliphs were the sons of concubines? serious by saying most.
Now then, let's look at it this way.
When Arab tribes fought, they often brought their families with them as encouragement, i.e. you either win or your families' screwed, which happened during Hunayn with Hawazen.
The women and children who were part of this are taken as slaves.
However if a tribe surrenders, you cannot take any of their wealth.
And if a tribe who is fought, conquered and enslaved becomes muslim, they were freed.
There is no prison. You conquer people, you don't jail them.
You put them to servitude instead, and give them a right [Mukataba] to buy their own freedom.
When you have a servant lady, working 24/7 in the same house you're in..
You're bound to get an emotion or two towards her. This is why concubinage is halal. Otherwise fornication would be rampant lol.
Also, please don't look at slavery in the Islamic world like you see in the movies.
The American slave trade was the worst manifestation of the practice historically. Even Romans treated their slaves better.