Slavery was already in the world when the Qur’an was revealed. The people its verses addressed had slaves, masters, and captives, and one practice of that time, forcing slave women into prostitution, is named in the books below as something Islam forbade. This page asks, from the books alone, what Islam’s own texts commanded about the slaves who were already there. Freeing a slave is among the greatest deeds a believer can do. It is the expiation appointed for serious sins. A slave who asks for a written contract to earn his freedom is to be given it, and helped with money toward it. The slave who remains a slave is commanded kindness, and cruelty to him is forbidden. A fifth matter, the captives taken in war, is stated by the books in its own place, as they state it, neither softened nor hardened. Nothing here is a ruling for today, and no modern country, law, or practice is named.
Freeing a Slave Is the Steep Path
In Surah al-Balad, Allah tells of a steep path not yet climbed (90:11-12), and freeing a slave heads it:
“90:13. [It is] freeing a slave, 90:14. or giving food on a day of privation 90:15. to an orphan near of kin, 90:16. or one who is poor and destitute.”
Allah’s words in Surah al-Balad (90), verses 13 to 16, Tafsir as-Sa’di (Vol. 10, printed p. 396). As-Sa’di explains:
“([It is] freeing a slave) that is, freeing a person from slavery by manumitting him or helping him to buy his freedom; it is even more appropriate to ransom Muslim prisoners who are held by the disbelievers.”
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen gave a whole chapter of his explanation of Riyad as-Salihin to this deed, the chapter on the merits of emancipation of slaves. He opens:
“Al-‘Atq refers to emancipation of slaves. That is, a person comes to free a slave seeking the pleasure of Allah, the Mighty and Sublime. This is one of the best deeds.”
He explains why it is a steep path: it means liberating the slave from one’s own authority. The chapter’s first hadeeth [hadeeth: a narration of the Prophet’s ﷺ words or actions] gives the reward, reported by Abu Hurairah:
“He who sets free a Muslim slave, Allah will deliver from the fire of Hell every limb of his body in return for every limb of the slave’s body, even his private parts.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Abu Dharr asked which slaves are most excellent to set free, and the Prophet ﷺ replied: “Those who are held in high esteem by their people and whose value is higher.”
Spending That Frees: Righteousness, Zakah, and Feeding Captives
Freeing is not left as private virtue. Allah counts spending on it inside righteousness itself:
“to spend from your wealth, despite your love for it, on kinsfolk, orphans, the needy, wayfarers and those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to establish prayer and give zakah.”
From Allah’s definition of righteousness in Surah al-Baqarah (2), verse 177, Tafsir as-Sa’di (Vol. 1, printed p. 212). Zakah is the obligatory charity. As-Sa’di explains “the ransom of slaves” on printed p. 215 as covering manumission and help toward it, money given to a mukatib (a slave with a contract of manumission) toward his price, ransoming captive Muslims, and paying ransoms for those held by evildoers.
Allah then made freeing one of the eight fixed destinations of the zakah itself: “for the freeing of slaves” stands in His list in Surah at-Tawbah (9), verse 60 (Vol. 4, printed p. 105). As-Sa’di’s fifth category is this one:
“The fifth category is (the freeing of slaves). This refers to the mukatibs, who are slaves who want to buy their freedom from their masters, so they are striving to acquire enough wealth to ransom themselves. They may be given zakah for that purpose. This also includes ransoming Muslim slaves who are held captive by the disbelievers; in fact that is even more important. The freeing of slaves does not necessarily have to be done in this exact manner; it may be done in other ways too.”
The captive also stands inside the daily charity of the righteous: of the people of Paradise, Allah says they “give food, despite their love for it, to the needy, orphans and captives” (76:8), and As-Sa’di comments that they give “to those who are most deserving and most in need of it, (the needy, orphans and captives)”.
Freeing a Slave as Expiation
An expiation [kaffarah: an act Allah has appointed to erase a specific sin] is where the command bites hardest, because there it is not optional charity. Again and again, the way back from a grave sin begins with setting a human being free. First, killing a believer by mistake:
“Never should a believer kill a believer, unless it be by mistake. Whoever kills a believer by mistake must free a believing slave and pay blood money to the deceased’s family, unless they forgo it as an act of charity.”
Allah’s words in Surah an-Nisa (4), verse 92, Tafsir as-Sa’di (Vol. 2, printed p. 239). The verse closes: “Anyone who lacks the means to do this must fast for two consecutive months by way of repentance to Allah.” As-Sa’di explains that the freeing must truly benefit the one freed:
“If he will lose out by being manumitted, and remaining a slave is more beneficial for him, then it is not valid to free him as expiation.”
The second case is the broken oath:
“The expiation thereof is to feed ten poor persons with the average type of food that you give to your own families, or to clothe them, or to free a slave. If that is beyond your means, then fast for three days.”
Surah al-Ma’idah (5), verse 89, Tafsir as-Sa’di (Vol. 3, printed p. 24). As-Sa’di comments: “(or to free a slave) that is, freeing believing slaves, as is specified elsewhere. If the individual does one of these three things, then he has expiated his oath.”
The third case is dhihar [dhihar: a pre-Islamic form of divorce in which a husband likens his wife to his mother]. A man who took back his words after that divorce could not return to his wife until he had freed a slave: “they must free a slave before [the couple] touch one another” (58:3). The next verse appoints the fallback: “Anyone who lacks the means [to free a slave] must fast for two consecutive months before [the couple] touch one another, but whoever is unable to do that must feed sixty needy persons” (58:4, Tafsir as-Sa’di, Vol. 10, printed p. 28).
The Kitabah: A Slave Who Seeks His Freedom in Writing
The kitabah [kitabah: the written contract by which a slave earns money and pays his master an agreed sum for his freedom] is the slave’s own door: he asks for it, and the verse commands the master to write it and to help toward its cost. It stands in Surah an-Nur, joined to a prohibition that guarded slave women:
“If any of your slaves ask for a deed in writing [to enable them to earn their freedom in return for a certain sum], then write it for them, if you see any good in them, and give them some of the wealth that Allah has given you.”
Allah’s words in Surah an-Nur (24), verse 33, Tafsir as-Sa’di (Vol. 6, printed p. 406). As-Sa’di explains on printed pp. 408-409 that whoever among the slaves, male or female, seeks the contract is asking to purchase his or her freedom, and the master should respond and write it.
He carries the scholars’ two views on the command, then the help that is not disputed:
“Therefore Allah enjoined masters to draw up contracts in this way, and that is either obligatory, as appears to be the case, or it is recommended, according to the other opinion. Allah enjoined that slaves should be helped in their manumission, because they need that, as they have no wealth of their own.”
Ibn Kathir heads his explanation of the same verse “The Command to grant Slaves a Contract of Emancipation”, and explains:
“This is a command from Allah to slave-owners: if their servants ask them for a contract of emancipation, they should write it for them, provided that the servant has some skill and means of earning so that he can pay his master the money that is stipulated in the contract.”
Ibn Kathir also records Ibn ‘Abbas on the command to give toward the contract: “Allah commanded the believers to help in freeing slaves.” The same verse ends by forbidding masters to force their slave girls into prostitution. As-Sa’di states where that practice came from:
“This prohibition is mentioned because they used to do that during the jahiliyah (pre-Islamic period of ignorance), when a master would force his slave woman into prostitution in order to take her earnings.”
How Slaves Were to Be Treated: Kindness Commanded, Cruelty Forbidden
For the slave who remained a slave, the books command good treatment by name. In Surah an-Nisa, those whom a person’s right hand possesses stand in one list with parents, kinfolk, orphans, and neighbours. Ibn Uthaymeen quotes it at the head of his chapter on kindness to slaves:
“And do good to your parents, kinfolk, orphans, the poor, the neighbour who is near of kin, the neighbour who is a stranger, the companion by your side the wayfarer (you meet), and those (slaves) whom your right hands possess. Verily, Allah does not like such as are proud and boastful.” (4:36)
His commentary gives the content of that good:
“That is, what your hands possess of slaves and animals; one is commanded to be kind to them. If they are from the sons of Adam, that is slaves, he should feed them with what he eats and clothe them with what he wears. Likewise, he should provide proper accommodation to them and he should not overburden them beyond their capability.”
In the sixth volume, another chapter takes the other side: the chapter on prohibition of cruelty to a slave, and to everyone under a person’s control. Ibn Uthaymeen opens it by ruling it unlawful to punish or torture by beating or otherwise except for a legislated reason (printed pp. 331-332).
The chapter’s hadeeths show the Prophet ﷺ acting on it. Suwaid bin Muqarrin said his family had only one slave girl, and when the youngest of them slapped her, “the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered us to set her free” [Muslim].
And when Abu Mas’ud was beating his slave with a whip, the Prophet ﷺ stood behind him:
“I was beating my slave with a whip when I heard a voice behind me which said: ‘Abu Mas’ud! Bear in mind…’ I did not recognize the voice for the intense anger I was in. Abu Mas’ud added: As he came near me, I found that he was the Messenger of Allah ﷺ who was saying, ‘Abu Mas’ud! Bear in mind that Allah has more dominance upon you than you have upon your slave.’”
The same chapter records the standing rule for such a blow, narrated by Ibn ‘Umar:
“Ibn ‘Umar reported: The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘The expiation for beating or slapping a slave on the face for something he has not done is to set him free.’” [Muslim]
Captives of War
The books also state where captives came from, and fence the matter inside war itself. In Surah Muhammad the captive is bound after battle, and the verse appoints what follows:
“When you meet the disbelievers [in battle], strike their necks until, when you have thoroughly subdued them, then bind the captives firmly – then after that [you may release them], either as an act of grace or in return for a ransom – until the war ends.”
Allah’s words in Surah Muhammad (47), verse 4, Tafsir as-Sa’di (Vol. 9, printed p. 181). As-Sa’di explains the choice after capture, and the fence around the ruling:
“Once they are your prisoners, then you have the choice between doing an act of grace towards them by letting them go without payment of a ransom, or ransoming them by not releasing them until they have bought their freedom, or their companions have done so, or they are exchanged for Muslim prisoners held by the enemy.”
“This should continue (until the war ends) that is, until there is no more fighting, and you reach a peace deal or truce. For every situation there is a different attitude and different rulings. The rulings mentioned in this verse have to do with situations of war. But sometimes there is no war, and if there is no war for some reason, then there is no fighting and no taking of prisoners.”
The same books carry the harder word spoken at Badr. As-Sa’di calls Surah al-Anfal, verse 67, “a rebuke from Allah to His Messenger ﷺ and the believers on the day of Badr, when they captured the polytheists and kept them alive for the sake of the ransom”. The verse says: “It is not befitting for a Prophet to take captives until he has thoroughly suppressed [the enemy] in the land.” And As-Sa’di states its limit: “If they are thoroughly suppressed, a stop has been put to their evil and their power has diminished, then in that case there is nothing wrong with taking prisoners from among them and letting them live.”
So, What Does Islam Teach About Slavery?
- Slavery was already there when the revelation came, and forcing slave women into prostitution is named as a pre-Islamic practice Islam forbade.
- Freeing a slave heads the steep path of Surah al-Balad and is counted inside the righteousness of Surah al-Baqarah; spending for the ransom of slaves is righteousness, and freeing slaves is one of the eight fixed destinations of the zakah.
- Freeing a slave is the appointed expiation again and again: for killing a believer by mistake, among the expiations for a broken oath, and first for dhihar.
- A slave who seeks the kitabah is to be written it by his master when good is seen in him, and helped toward its cost from the wealth Allah has given.
- The slave who remains a slave has rights the books state plainly: food from what his master eats, clothing from what he wears, proper accommodation, no burden beyond his capability, and freedom as the expiation for beating him.
- Captives belong to war in these books, and to war only: taken in battle, then released as an act of grace, or ransomed, or exchanged for Muslim prisoners, until the war ends.
A world that already had slavery, a revelation that made freeing a human being one of its greatest deeds and one of its appointed expiations, a contract placed in the slave’s own hand, kindness commanded toward the one who remained, and captives fenced inside a war that ends.
References
Tafsir as-Sa’di: Shaykh Abdur Rahman ibn Nasir as-Sa’di. International Islamic Publishing House (IIPH), English Edition 1, 2018, trans. Nasiruddin al-Khattab. Vol. 1 (2:177): pp. 212, 215. Vol. 2 (4:92): pp. 239-240. Vol. 3 (5:89): pp. 24-25. Vol. 4 (8:67; 9:60): pp. 41-42, 105-106. Vol. 6 (24:33): pp. 406, 408-410. Vol. 9 (47:4): pp. 181-182. Vol. 10 (58:3-4; 76:8-9; 90:13-16): pp. 28, 283-284, 396, 398.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged), the ten-volume set held in the library; its pages print no folio, so they are located by the combined file’s PDF pages. On 24:33, combined PDF pp. 3477-3478.
Explanation of Riyad as-Salihin: Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen. Maktaba Dar-us-Salam. Vol. 5: Ch. 236, the merits of emancipation of slaves, Hadeeth 1358-1359 and commentary, pp. 436-437; Ch. 237, kind attitude towards slaves, p. 437. Vol. 6: the chapter on prohibition of cruelty to a slave, Hadeeth 1603-1605 and commentary, pp. 331-335.
Further Reading
Does Islam Promote Violence?: fighting, its limits, and Surah at-Tawbah in context.
Racism in Islam: mankind’s single origin, and Bilal the freed slave.
Surah Al-Balad: the surah of the steep path, from Tafsir Ibn Kathir.
What Is Sharia?: the law Allah revealed, complete in itself.
Fasting (Siyam): the fast and its expiation.
Verified on 2026-10-24 against the books listed above.