RENAISSANCE MAY 2022

Qur’ ā nic Exegesis 37 Monthly Renaissance May 2022 dens – set up by masters to force slave-women to that sin – were done away with. If someone tried to continue with that business secretively, he was given an exemplary punishment. So much so, some men and women guilty of the crime were stoned to death at the behest of the Prophet (sws). 7. Instead of using the humiliating words of ٌ ﻋﺒْﺪ and أﻣﺔ for slave-men and slave-women, people were asked to use the word ﻓ and ٌ ﻓﺘﺎة for them so that age-old conceptions about them should change. 8. Regarding the prisoners of war too, the policy was adopted that though certain prominent leaders were executed, others were released with or without ransom. 9. Finally, muk ā tabat was given a legal status. After this, it became very easy for all able slave-men and slave-women to become free. As referred to earlier, people were urged to help and support them regarding their freedom from their masters, and for this a head was fixed in the public treasury. This law practically abolished slavery. After this, only the slaves who were not able to work and make themselves useful for the society remained. This option was not only best for them but also for the society otherwise they would have become a burden and would have been forced to adopt beggary as a profession. Arguments in favour of all these measures are found in detail in the Qur’ ā n and the Ḥ ad ī th. I can present them but this may prolong the discussion. So I have contented myself to these brief points. In fact, earlier on, arguments regarding most of these measures have already been referred to. And if some of them remain, people of knowledge can easily understand them in the light of what has already been presented. ـــــــــــــــــــــــــ