Islam and Slavery

     Every culture, every religion, every nation has its undesirable past, a dark side.  However, in time, most manage to either push back the negative elements and strive to promote only the positive.  Such is the case with all of the major religions in this world.  Both Christianity and Buddhism promote benevolence and kindness towards others, as does Judaism, Hinduism and Islam.  But, interestingly, it is only Islam that "accepts" slavery as a norm.  That is because only Islam, of all the religions, makes a big difference between Muslims (believers) and infidels (non-believers).  Christians do refer to others as non-Christians, but do not discriminate to the extent that the non-Christians are relegated to the level of someone inferior.  In Islam, a non-Muslim is definitely someone who is inferior, an infidel, and is regarded as such.
     The Bible, the Tora, the Buddhist and Hindu texts may mention slavery, but do not recognize or approve it.  The Qur'an not only recognizes, but justifies slavery and often mentions slaves.  Qur'an 33:50 - "Prophet, we have made lawful to you the wives to whom you have granted dowries and the slaves whom god has given you as booty."  There are numerous and repeated mention of slaves in the Qur'an.  The Qur'an accepts the distinction between slave and free as part of the natural order.  According to the Qur'an and the hadith (Muhammad's sayings), only children of slaves or non-Muslims could become slaves, never freeborn Muslims.  However, even Muslims could become slaves if they were captured as prisoners of war.  As such, Islam institutionalized slavery and Muhammad took slaves after he moved to Medina and had power.  Is it small wonder then that all the slave traders, the ones who captured and sold slaves were mostly Arabs?  Even in ancient Asia, not just in Africa, they were all Muslims!
     Slaves existed in all cultures and all religions at one time or another.  Our own shameful history in that regard illustrates this perfectly.  We were a nation that was supposedly founded on the principal of freedom, yet slavery was practiced and thrived until a bloody civil war ended it.  Of the developed countries in the world, most certainly among European or Western nations, we were the last to abolish slavery.  But, as history has shown, despite the terrible and shameful past, we have tried to correct the wrong and have been atoning for it ever since!  It doesn't appear that the same holds true of some Islamic nations.  Slavery was officially abolished in Saudi Arabia and Yemen only in 1962.  In Oman in 1970, and Mauritania in 2007, although it appears that slavery is alive and well in that country.  Slavery is openly practiced in Chad, Mauritania, Niger, Mali, and Sudan.  But they are not the only ones.  Although Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, and other Middle Eastern countries supposedly abolished slavery, it is still practiced, although it may not be called slavery!
     There are thousands upon thousands of Filipinos, Pakistanis, and to a lesser degree Malaysians and Indonesians, who travel to the rich Gulf countries for employment and end up working as slaves, albeit, with a salary!  In some extreme cases they are not even paid, but held simply as slaves!  The host governments are always on the side of their rich countrymen who employ these foreigners.  Even in a country such as Egypt, which is not as wealthy as the Gulf countries, vast majority of house servants are Filipino or other nationalities from poorer regions.  Majority are women, and they are treated brutally.  Cases of sexual enslavement is common.  It seems that you only hear about it when the victim manages to get away.  Local authorizes rarely, if ever, do anything.  It doesn't take much to pay off an Egyptian cop or a Saudi investigator!  Besides, as I said before, they will always side with their countrymen, claiming that the foreign female domestics are nothing but "whores" etc.
     If non-extremists in Islamic countries see foreign or non-Muslim domestics as "slaves," you can easily see how the extremists such as the Taliban or ISIS would view non-Muslims, especially women!  Is it small wonder that they are so brutal to their prisoners?  It is not an indictment on all Muslims, far from it.  But it seems to me that Muslims in the Middle East are of a different breed than Muslims here in America for the most part, or Muslims in Asia, like Malaysia and Indonesia.  Of course there are extremists there too, as there are Muslim extremists right here in America.  But for the most part, Islam seems different in the Middle East and Africa than it is here or in parts of Asia.
     I believe that the major difference is that Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, etc., are religions first and foremost.  They are religions that espouse their philosophy by which their followers attempt to live.  Islam is not just a philosophy.  Islam is more than a way of life, it is a system, an all governing system that rigidly enforces its rules. It is a political system.  But once again, it depends on how an individual chooses to follow it, interpret its rules.  One way, as it is practiced by many, it has a tolerant, benevolent approach to life.  Another way, as some seem to prefer, it is rigid, intolerant of anyone other than those of Muslim faith.
     There was a pseudo religion that popped-up in Japan shortly after the end of World War Two.  Times were tough and people were struggling, just the right moment for a religion or sect that promised all sorts of rewards to surface and attract followers.  That "religion" has become a powerful force in Japan and has even penetrated politics.  It is called Sokko Gakkai, a sort of a Buddhist sect that really isn't.  It is essentially intolerant of all other religions and is very aggressive in its attempt to convert others.  It is more than a religion or a philosophy.  It is a way of life and a political movement, it is like Islam!