Niewolnictwo w islamie wczoraj i dziś

Abstract

Slavery as dependency relationship, in which an individual is the property of another human being, appeared as an institution already in early Islam. Yet, a description of this phenomenon in the Muslim world presents many difficulties, as the practice of slavery assumed various forms in particular regions throughout history. On the one hand, Muslims had balanced legal regulations in the Koran at their disposal, but on the other, many a time the fate of slaves was tragic and constituted a social problem (similarly, in Christianity Biblical recommendations to respect slaves, e.g. Eph 6, 5-8, Phlm 14-21 were not always carried out in practice). Already in the first centuries of Islam, uprisings, such as e.g. a rebellion of the African slaves in southern Iraq (uprising of Zang) of 869-883, testified about a problem of slavery in the Muslim world. Even today there are examples of slavery in Islamic countries, the Sudan in the first place. As the subject of slavery in Islam has frequently been researched, it is impossible to provide a complete list of all problems connected with it in this paper. Limited space forces a selection of aspects. The paper presents: slavery in early Islam, winning over slaves during Muslim conquers, Christian slavery in the Osman era and contemporary examples of slavery in the Muslim world.