How Did the Muslims Act upon the Teaching of the Manumission of Slaves

Now the only question which remains is whether the freedom of slaves actually took place or not as a result of these recommendations, expiations, and compulsory manumissions. The answer to this is that as mentioned above, in this era, slaves were found in abundance. This was to such extent that in certain countries, the number of slaves was at times, even greater than the actual number of residents in the country.1 Therefore, to empty this unlimited store was no easy task, nor did all of these slaves live under the small Islāmic State and under Muslim owners, whose number was even smaller. Thus, it was obvious that this liberation movement could only move forward gradually. However, history shows that as far as the efforts of the Companions and their followers were concerned, they exerted their utmost concentration and effort in order to free slaves themselves, as well as secure the freedom of others. Most definitely, no such example can be found in the history of the world. As such, history establishes that in this era, not only did Muslims continue to free slaves in abundance by their own hands, rather, they would also purchase slaves with the specific intention and objective of freeing them. In this manner, due to the commendable efforts of the Muslims, countless slaves were delivered from the misfortune of slavery. Therefore, the following list, which is definitely not inclusive and only contains the names of a few Companions by way of example, is enough to prove our claim. It is narrated in Subulus-Salām:

1. The Holy Prophet Muḥammad(sa) freed 63 slaves

2. Ḥaḍrat ‘Ā’ishah(ra) freed 67 slaves

3. Ḥaḍrat ‘Abbās(ra) freed 70 slaves

4. Ḥakīm bin Hizām(ra) freed 100 slaves

5. ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Umar(ra) freed 1,000 slaves

6. ‘Abdur-Raḥmān bin ‘Auf(ra) freed 3,000 slaves

7. Ḥaḍrat ‘Uthmān bin ‘Affān(ra) freed 20,000 slaves on one day alone, which was the day of his martyrdom. The total number is far greater than this.

8. Dhul-Kilā‘ Al-Ḥimyarī freed 8,000 slaves on one day alone

   TOTAL NUMBER: 32,3002

As we have mentioned above, in this narration only a few Companions have been mentioned by way of example. If according to the proportion mentioned above, we were to approximate the number of slaves freed by a large number of other Companions, the Tābi‘īn and Taba‘ Tābi‘īn, this number definitely reaches into the millions. However, the truth is that even the number of freed slaves mentioned in this narration, which have been attributed to the above-mentioned Companions, is not completely accurate. Rather, the actual number is far greater. For example, with regards to Ḥaḍrat ‘Ā’ishah(ra) it is proven from a narration that she freed forty slaves upon a single instance alone.3 From another narration it becomes evident that it was her practice to free slaves abundantly. Therefore, to assume that throughout the course of her entire life she only freed sixty-seven slaves, would most definitely be incorrect. Similarly, the number which has been attributed to the Holy Prophet(sa), may be correct in relation to his personal circumstances, because his financial state at a personal level was not very good. Moreover, after the institution of these injunctions, the Holy Prophet(sa) only lived for a short period in time thereafter. However, this number definitely does not include those slaves who were freed by the Holy Prophet(sa) in his capacity as Head of the Islāmic State, the number of which was very great. Another thing to remember with respect to the Holy Prophet(sa) is that many narrations substantiate that not a single slave came under his possession who was not set free. As such, it is this very fact, which the following narration alludes to:

Meaning, “‘Amr bin Al-Ḥārith, who was the biological brother of Ummul-Mu’minīn, Juwairiyah(ra) and the brother-in-law of the Holy Prophet(sa) relates that upon the demise of the Holy Prophet(sa), he did not leave behind a single Dirham, Dinar, slave or bond-woman.”4

Therefore, this teaching which has been prescribed by Islām in relation to slaves was not merely the embellishment of paper. Rather, this teaching became a necessary part of Islāmic culture and civilization, and the Islāmic way of living. Moreover, both individuals and the government keenly acted upon this teaching.