You only have a very Anti-Slavery stance because of the time and place you were born in so naturally you would likely conform to the dominant view of your culture. Had you lived a few centuries ago and before, you wouldn’t think of slavery as a flaw as slavery was universally accepted and practiced in various ways.
I try not to dwell on it because as Muslims we hear and obey and this isn’t an issue of the 21st century. Hence, why think about something that isn’t an issue?
However, the idea that people only have anti-slavery view due to Westernization is a false one. Alhamdulliah, I’m a Muslim woman but the idea of living in a society in which I too can be enslaved if my nation loses and will then have to be the concubine of a man I’m repulsed by is triggering for anyone. You wouldn’t want it to happen to any woman of your family and the idea would probably disgust you. But that was the reality of the world. What do you think happened to Muslim women when the Mongols invaded Baghdad?
That right there is where the discomfort stems from. I’m sure, in times of old that was also an issue as I’ve read that some groups or nations would unalive themselves when their men lost because that would be their fate.
Btw, I’m talking about concubinage in general as Islam never created or encouraged this system. This was simply a fact of life in the ancient world.
Now I am not saying just because something is socially acceptable that makes it ethically justifiable but I would only mention these examples to demonstrate that social conditioning shapes our entire moral outlook on life,
As I’ve pointed out. It’s more than social conditioning. Also, slavery in Islam is a punishment for the non believers and the gaals of that era also thought slavery was the norm and would so to punish their opponents. However, no groups would want that for their women. Even in the ancient world, women going into slavery was always associated with defeat and shame for the losing group and some preferred death.
so pre-conceived notions, biases and emotions should be kept aside and you should use your reason objectively.
Using my reasoning objectively makes me not think about the issue at length. I’m an avid reader of history and that was simply the way of the world. Islam is in fact the only religion that actually encourages the freeing of slaves and actually treating them like humans.
