How can the principles of divine honoring and human equality be reconciled with the existence of the system of slavery in Islam, given the practices it entails such as the permissibility of inspecting a female slave during sale, her not being obligated to wear the hijab, and her children being considered slaves? And will the slave girl be held accountable on the Day of Judgment as a human, while living a life you describe as "the life of animals"?
The discourse mentioned contains severe fallacies and erroneous conclusions due to a lack of understanding of the nature of ancient societies and the rulings of Sharia concerning the issue of slavery. The matter of the slave woman's awra (intimate parts) has been previously addressed; it was permissible to look at her for someone intending to purchase her, for the purpose of selection, and this was restricted to the awra boundaries, contrary to what was prevalent. The claim that harming slave women is not considered a crime is false, and the noble verse, "that they should draw their outer garments over their bodies. That is more suitable that they should be known and not abused," does not imply permissibility of harming slave women. The children of a slave woman from someone other than her master share her status in slavery, and this is not surprising, keeping in mind that if a slave woman gives birth to a child from her master, she becomes umm walad (mother of a child) and is freed upon his death, and it is forbidden to separate a mother from her child.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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