Possessed by the Right Hand : The Problem of Slavery in Islamic Law and Muslim Cultures

In Possessed by the Right Hand , Bernard K. Freamon offers a comprehensive legal history of slavery and slave-trading in Islam, considering the impact of Western abolitionism, its failure, and the implications of the rise of ISIS and Boko Haram. Contents 8 Acknowledgments 12 Figures and Maps 15 Introduction 18 Chapter 1 37 Slavery, Slave Trading and the Law in the Pre-Islamic Middle East 37 1 Origins of Slavery 40 2 Greco-Roman/Hebrew Historiographic Dominance 43 3 The Importance of Afro-Irano-Semitic Influences on Slavery in the Middle East 46 4 Slavery and Slave Trading in Pre-Islamic Middle Eastern Civilizations 47 5 The Pre-Islamic Slave Trades in the Indian Ocean and along the Silk Road 94 6 A Summary of the Pre-Islamic Legal Rules on Slavery 102 Chapter 2 105 Slavery and Slave Trading in Early Islam 105 1 Slavery and Slave Trading in the Formative Period of Islam 108 2 The Qurʾan, Human Equality, and Slavery 114 3 Post-revelatory Pietistic Egalitarianism and Hard-Hearted Tribalism: A Titanic Struggle Emerges 122 4 Further Qurʾanic Support for a Pietistic Egalitarianism 128 5 Pluralism and Diversity as Qurʾanic Values 130 6 The Qurʾan’s Use of the Fact of Human Inequalities as an Organon to Encourage Monotheistic Belief and Piety 133 7 Slavery in the Qurʾan 139 8 Three Linguistic Forms Primarily Used in the Qurʾanic Provisions on Slavery 141 9 The Troubling Rules Mandating the Taking of Slaves as “War Booty” 156 10 Conclusion: The Qurʾan, Human Equality and Slavery 161 11 Practical Effects: The Development of Islamic Law’s Concrete Norms and Rules on Slavery 164 Chapter 3 176 Slavery and Empire in the Medieval and Early Modern Islamic Worlds 176 1 Imperialism and Slavery in the Early Islamic Project 176 2 Abu Bakr and Slavery 179 3 ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab 180 4 Slavery and the Early Islamic Conquests 188 5 Slavery and the Muslim Conquest of Egypt: The Beginning of a Unique Ethos 198 6 The Baqt 200 7 The Rise of the Abbasid Caliphate 211 8 Slavery, Slave Trading, and the Success of the Early Abbasid Caliphate 215 9 A Return to the Development of the Unique Ethos in Egypt 223 10 The Fatimids, the Ayyubids, and the Continued Diversification of a New Egyptian Elite Slave Caste 231 Chapter 4 236 The “Mamluk/Ghulam Phenomenon”—Slave Sultans, Soldiers, Eunuchs, and Concubines 236 1 Slave Sultans and Soldiers 236 2 Eunuchs and Concubines 258 Chapter 5 262 Plural Imperialisms and Multiple Diasporas 262 1 Slavery and the Vast Indian Ocean Imperial and Commercial Diaspora 266 2 Ibn Battuta’s Account of East Africa 275 3 Enter the Europeans 278 4 East Africa and the Omanis—“The Bedouin of the Sea” 284 5 The Red Sea and Slavery and Slave Trading in Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Arabia 289 6 The Persian Gulf 290 7 Eurasian Slave Trading and the “Silk Road” 293 8 Some Slave-Trade Descriptions 297 Chapter 6 301 A Taxonomy of Slavery and Slave Trading in Muslim Cultures 301 1 Domestic Servitude 301 2 Military and Naval Slaves 303 3 Concubinage 311 4 “Gang” and Plantation Slavery 317 5 “Sultanic” Slavery 319 Chapter 7 324 The Rise and Impact of Abolitionism 324 1 Overview—Transatlantic Abolitionism 324 2 Slavery and Slave Trading in the Indian Ocean and Afroeurasian Worlds during the “Age of Revolution” 333 3 Antislavery Activity in the Indian Ocean and Eurasian Worlds Hesitantly Takes Hold 349 4 Slavery in India 351 5 The Impact of British Disinclination 365 6 Islamic Law and Calamity on the High Seas 380 7 Islamic Law and Abolition 382 Chapter 8 388 A Tale of Three Sovereigns—The Shah, the Khedive, and the Sultan 388 1 Slavery and Slave Trading in Iran in the Nineteenth Century 388 2 The Qajar Dynasty, Shiʿism, and Slavery 396 3 The Shah and Slavery and Slave Trading in Nineteenth-Century Iran 399 4 Slavery and Slave Trading in Egypt in the Nineteenth Century 404 5 The Khedive Isma⁠⁠ʿil (r. 1863–1879) and the Problem of Abolition in Egypt 410 6 Military, Juridical, and Diplomatic Measures 423 7 Abolition 434 8 Slavery and Slave Trading in Nineteenth-Century Zanzibar 436 9 Sultan Barghash bin Saʿid and the Saga of Abolition in Zanzibar 441 Chapter 9 456 The Illusion of Abolition 456 Chapter 10 481 The Reemergence of Slavery and Slave Trading in the Muslim World 481 1 The Recent Claims of ISIS and Boko Haram 482 2 Slavery and Slave Trading by Isis and Boko Haram 488 3 ISIS’ Published Justifications 490 4 The Current State of Scholarly Discourse on Slavery and Islam 502 5 Islamic Law and Slavery: Crafting an Effective Legal History 504 6 Conclusion 532 Bibliography 534 Index 577 In Possessed by the Right Hand, the first comprehensive legal history of slavery in Islam ever offered to readers, Bernard K. Freamon, an African-American Muslim law professor, provides a penetrating analysis of the problems of slavery and slave-trading in Islamic history. After examining the issues from pre-Islamic times through to the nineteenth century, Professor Freamon considers the impact of Western abolitionism, arguing that such efforts have been a failure, with the notion of abolition becoming nothing more than a cruel illusion. He closes this ground-breaking account with an examination of the slaving ideologies and actions of ISIS and Boko Haram, asserting that Muslims now have an important and urgent responsibility to achieve true abolition under the aegis of Islamic law. See Bernard Freamon live at Rutgers Law School (October 8, 2019). Listen to Possessed by the Right Hand: An Interview with Prof. Bernard Freamon from Network ReOrient on Anchor