Modern day slavery is an interfaith problem

by Sheila Musaji

When the international community learned about the resurgence of the slave trade in Sudan, there was uproar in Western countries.  Everyone has heard about:  Slavery in Sudan, the exploitation and abuse of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.  And, some, like Robert Spencer, refer to this as “Islamic” slavery and point to this as a Muslim problem and a “basic Muslim behavior”.  The fact that slavery exists anywhere in the world today is shocking.  And, if any of the perpetrators of this crime are Muslims then that is a shame, and a problem that must be addressed.

While Islamic law historically did allow slavery under certain conditions, it is almost inconceivable that those conditions could ever occur in today’s world, which means that slavery is effectively illegal in modern Islam. Most Muslim countries, like other countries, have laws that prohibit slavery.  However, just because slavery is illegal does not mean that it doesn’t exist.

Slavery exists in the modern world and this problem of modern day slavery is not only a Muslim problem.  The problem is worldwide.  Slavery today is sometimes called by other names but no matter what it is called, it is slavery, and it is evil.  The fact that it is called by names that don’t sound quite so primitive and barbaric should not be allowed to confuse us or to deflect our attention from the problem of modern day slavery.

Millions live in modern day slavery.  “Global economic development during the last half century have fostered a resurgence of slavery.  Economic opportunities attract many people to urban centers around the world, making millions vulnerable to exploitation.  Also, the ease and speed of transportation has increased cross-border human trafficking.  The United Nations’ International Labor Organization says more than 12 million people are enslaved in the world.  Other estimates are higher.  For example, Free the Slaves says at least 27 million people are held in bondage.  But given the illegal nature of forced labor and the difficulty of verifying cases in populous countries like China and India, analysts say the total number will never be known.”  Dr. Kevin Bales is president of Free the Slaves, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending slavery around the world. According to Bales, there are 27 million victims of slavery worldwide. 

Child labor today is an epidemic.  “There are now estimated to be 20 million child laborers in the world. This is today’s world of nine year old coal miners and eight year old prostitutes, and of little girls who work 12 hour shifts in sweatshops.  In most of these sweatshops, they are forced to eat, sleep and work in the same stuffy, overcrowded room.  Girls rescued recently from one Bangkok sweatshop were forced to work in strict silence from 6 am to midnight.  They were mercilessly flogged for breaking the rules.  ...  A whole range of goods produced by child laborers are sold in the West: cheap skirts, shirts, the hand-knotted carpets so popular here, toys (which they will never play with), bangles, brassware, locks, glass and embroidery products, polystyrene cups, matches and textiles.”

The fact that there are different estimates of the scope of the problem should also not be allowed to confuse us or deflect our attention from the very real problem of modern day slavery.

The problem is so widespread that there are specific anti-slavery movements like the Anti Slavery child labor program, and articles discussing the widespread problem like The Social Psychology of Modern Slavery, and Human trafficking and modern day slavery in the U.S..  “Last year, the federal government spent more than $102 million on 224 projects under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). There is even an annual national convention for organizations participating in the ‘New Abolitionist Movement.”

According to an anti-slavery site:  “Millions of men, women and children around the world are forced to lead lives as slaves. Although this exploitation is often not called slavery, the conditions are the same. People are sold like objects, forced to work for little or no pay and are at the mercy of their ‘employers’.  Slavery exists today despite the fact that it is banned in most of the countries where it is practised. It is also prohibited by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1956 UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery. Women from eastern Europe are bonded into prostitution, children are trafficked between West African countries and men are forced to work as slaves on Brazilian agricultural estates. Contemporary slavery takes various forms and affects people of all ages, sex and race.”

Slavery by other names is found around the world.  There are migrant workers in Israel , England, the European Union,  Australia, and China.  There are domestic workers in Europe.  There is child trafficking in Britain and the Philippines.  There are slave laborers in Central Asia.  Thousands were rescued in 2007 from slavery in Brazil.

When we want designer clothing, furniture, inexpensive produce, even small inexpensive gifts from the dollar store, do we think about how these items can possibly come to us for the low price we are paying?  Whether it is Walmart, J.C. Penney and Sears,  or high end designers like Donna Karan many have been involved in sweatshop scandals.  Just because it’s designer doesn’t mean it’s sweatshop free.  And, as long as we continue to purchase these items, we are participating in continuing slavery into the 21st century.

We know in the back of our minds that the term blood diamonds means something, and that there is a reason so many of our clothes are made in China or India, but we repress what that really means. 

And before we get too complacent about this being “their” problem, (not necessarily a Muslim problem, but a foreign problem) the problem exists right here in America.  Facts on Human Trafficking  lists the number of people trafficked worldwide at 600,000 to 800,0001, and the number of people trafficked within the United States: 14,500 to 17,500.

Modern slavery is thriving in America, even in upscale America

Mexican girls are being brought into Florida and forced into sexual slavery and prostitution.  In New Orleans, Thai workers that were brought in to work after Hurricane Katrina had their passports confiscated and were forced to work without proper pay.  There has been Human Trafficking in California which is in fact considered a top destination for human traffickers, and “over a five-year period, from 1998-2003, university researchers found 57 forced labor operations in nearly a dozen California cities involving more than 500 people from 18 countries.”

There have been abuses amounting to slavery in many states:  Connecticut, Florida, Rhode Island, Tennessee,  Texas, Maryland, New York, Minnesota,  and even Washington D.C. 

There are some hopeful signs.  Modern Slavery in New York   New York has become one of 29 states to pass state-specific human trafficking legislation. “The law, designed to address some of the perceived gaps and shortcomings of the federal law, gives local law enforcement agencies new tools to prosecute traffickers and new services for victims. Scheduled to take effect on November 1, 2007 it was immediately hailed by a broad group of supporters, including victim and immigrant rights organizations as well as the editorial board of the New York Times.”

However, it is obvious that we have a long way to go if we want to stop Modern Day Slavery 

The first thing that we need to do is to accept that this is OUR problem, no matter what our nationality or religion.  All of us share responsibility for this and all of us need to find a way to work together to end this blight on humanity once and for all. 

The abolitionist movement in the United States was led by people of faith.  I believe that the various religious communities and the interfaith community must be the foundation of a new abolitionist movement.  For this movement to be effective we need to stop wasting time and energy by pointing fingers at others and work together. 

We need to keep our focus on the actual issue and not be confused or distracted by side issues (like who is more guilty) that only lessen our ability to actually do something to solve the problem.  I believe that the interfaith community provides our best chance to discuss and heal our societies’ maladies.  We can educate ourselves, and encourage local interfaith groups to hold educational seminars and encourage local faith communities to stop buying goods that are produced by slave labor. 

UPDATE 11/18/2011

An International Muslim Abolitionist Movement (IMAM) has been formed.  Dr. David Liepert reports

So what does the Quran say about slavery? Rather than promoting the taking of slaves, the Quran promoted their freedom and proclaimed their equal status to their masters under God. The Quran declared that slaves had rights and that masters had a responsibility to protect them, and it made freeing a slave worthy of eternal reward.

What did Muhammad say about slavery? That slave and free were brethren, and that female slaves in particular should be protected, respected, educated, and either married or freed outright.

How did the earliest Muslims treat slaves? Following Muhammad’s example they helped, cared for and freed them, listened to, learned from and included them, respecting their contributions to the community of Islam.

Muhammad’s immediate household personally freed almost 40,000 slaves alone.

What do Muslim scholars say about slavery? That the natural state of humanity is freedom, and that slavery is an abhorrent aberration. Rather than merely the gradual eradication of slavery, all scholars agree that Muslims should seek to eradicate the discriminatory injustice that is slavery’s root cause as well.

So what does al-Shariah—an Arabic phrase that means “the well trodden path to the waterhole” that has come to mean Islamic law as well—say about slavery?

Well, it really depends which sharia you’re talking about.

Because al-Shariah, the path Muhammad and his companions walked led toward a world without slavery, something every modern day scholar will happily confirm. But after they passed away, later Muslims who saw their slave-count dwindling decided they didn’t like it. So they “tweaked” the rules just a little, just enough maintain their access to fresh slaves.

And whenever that happens, whenever Muslims put their own ambitions ahead of true fidelity to the path of Islam—that leads us to serve God by serving His Creation, albeit in different roles—and instead misdirect al-Shariah to serve their own dark desires instead, they turn their man-made so-called sharia laws into an abomination.

However, personally, I think the most important lesson al-Shariah teaches us is that the life of faith is a journey, and no matter how far down a path you’ve gone in the wrong direction, you can change it back into a righteous path just by turning yourself around.

And quite frankly, it’s long past time for Muslims who honestly love Islam, sharia and Muhammad’s legacy to fix those abuses and begin to take sharia back for Muhammad’s exemplary Islam!

Because the message of the Quran, the Sunnah (the acts and words of Muhammad), Islam’s wise scholars and the Salaf (early Islam’s first three generations) is clear: Muslims should have ended slavery long ago.

So if you are a Muslim who loves Islam and strives to honor Muhammad’s true legacy of justice, peace and freedom for all humankind, then please join the IMAM to say a prayer for freedom for the sake of all humankind on the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (Friday, Dec. 2), and help us take a step toward ending slavery and oppression and injustice throughout the world today.

UPDATE 11/18/2011

An International Muslim Abolitionist Movement (IMAM) has been formed.  Dr. David Liepert reports

So what does the Quran say about slavery? Rather than promoting the taking of slaves, the Quran promoted their freedom and proclaimed their equal status to their masters under God. The Quran declared that slaves had rights and that masters had a responsibility to protect them, and it made freeing a slave worthy of eternal reward.

What did Muhammad say about slavery? That slave and free were brethren, and that female slaves in particular should be protected, respected, educated, and either married or freed outright.

How did the earliest Muslims treat slaves? Following Muhammad’s example they helped, cared for and freed them, listened to, learned from and included them, respecting their contributions to the community of Islam.

Muhammad’s immediate household personally freed almost 40,000 slaves alone.

What do Muslim scholars say about slavery? That the natural state of humanity is freedom, and that slavery is an abhorrent aberration. Rather than merely the gradual eradication of slavery, all scholars agree that Muslims should seek to eradicate the discriminatory injustice that is slavery’s root cause as well.

So what does al-Shariah—an Arabic phrase that means “the well trodden path to the waterhole” that has come to mean Islamic law as well—say about slavery?

Well, it really depends which sharia you’re talking about.

Because al-Shariah, the path Muhammad and his companions walked led toward a world without slavery, something every modern day scholar will happily confirm. But after they passed away, later Muslims who saw their slave-count dwindling decided they didn’t like it. So they “tweaked” the rules just a little, just enough maintain their access to fresh slaves.

And whenever that happens, whenever Muslims put their own ambitions ahead of true fidelity to the path of Islam—that leads us to serve God by serving His Creation, albeit in different roles—and instead misdirect al-Shariah to serve their own dark desires instead, they turn their man-made so-called sharia laws into an abomination.

However, personally, I think the most important lesson al-Shariah teaches us is that the life of faith is a journey, and no matter how far down a path you’ve gone in the wrong direction, you can change it back into a righteous path just by turning yourself around.

And quite frankly, it’s long past time for Muslims who honestly love Islam, sharia and Muhammad’s legacy to fix those abuses and begin to take sharia back for Muhammad’s exemplary Islam!

Because the message of the Quran, the Sunnah (the acts and words of Muhammad), Islam’s wise scholars and the Salaf (early Islam’s first three generations) is clear: Muslims should have ended slavery long ago.

So if you are a Muslim who loves Islam and strives to honor Muhammad’s true legacy of justice, peace and freedom for all humankind, then please join the IMAM to say a prayer for freedom for the sake of all humankind on the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (Friday, Dec. 2), and help us take a step toward ending slavery and oppression and injustice throughout the world today.

See also:

Qur’anic Verdict on Slavery
Slavery, Islamic and Christian Perspectives  by Sayyid Sa’eed Akhtar Rizvi
The condemnation of slavery in Islam by Shezhad Saleem
Does Islam Endorse Slavery, Habib Siddiqui

Originally published August 1, 2009