Did the Messenger, Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, own slaves? And how did Islam permit slavery despite its call for brotherhood, and what is the Sharīʿah’s ruling on some people being called “ʿabd” (slave) in some Arab countries even though they are free, and how is a person born a slave when both his parents are free, and what is the interpretation of the Hadith: “Since when have you enslaved people, when their mothers bore them free”?

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, freed his slaves. Islam did not permit slavery; rather, it came while slavery was already widespread. It strongly prohibited the sale of a free person and their enslavement, and restricted slavery to those taken captive in legitimate jihad, as a reciprocal measure. Islam regulated the relationship between master and slave by enjoining kindness towards them, providing them with food and clothing, and not burdening them with what they cannot bear, in accordance with the Almighty's saying: "Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, and be kind to parents, and to relatives, and orphans, and the needy, and the neighbor who is a relative, and the neighbor who is a stranger, and the companion by your side, and the traveler, and those whom your right hands possess. Indeed, Allah does not like those who are conceited and boastful." And according to the Prophet's, peace and blessings be upon him, saying: "They are your brothers whom Allah has placed under your authority. So feed them from what you eat, and clothe them from what you wear, and do not burden them with what overwhelms them; if you do burden them, then help them." The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, also forbade the terms "my slave" (abdi) and "my female slave" (amati) to preserve faith and human feelings. It is not permissible to enslave someone born free unless they are a disbeliever captured in jihad, because humans are honored by their origin and free by nature, in accordance with the Almighty's saying: "And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided them with good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference."