Slave girls in Shariah
Question:-
1. Is a man permitted to have relations with a slave girl in Shariah?
2. Aren’t slave girls considered to be “sex slaves” to their master?
3. Didn’t Rasulullah Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam have a concubine? He also housed her at a distance from where he housed his wives.
Answer:-
1. Shariah has permitted a man to have relations with his slave girl, and this is proven directly from the Quraan Sharif. In the opening verses of Surah Muminoon (18th Juz), Allah Ta’aala mentions the qualities of those believers who will attain success, amongst whom are those that safeguard their private organ from adultery, fornication, illicit sexual acts, except when it comes to their spouses and slave women, whom they own as they will not be blamed for cohabiting with them. [Re:- Surah Mu’minoon verses. 5/6]. Again, coming back to your question Muslim men are permitted to have relations with their slave girls.
2. We as Muslims are required to invite the Kuffar (non-Muslims) to Islam. If they aren’t prepared to accept the invitation of Islam, the Muslim ruler will command them to pay taxes to the Muslim government, and in lieu of such taxes their wealth, lives and property will be protected. If they refuse to comply to this request too, then the Muslim ruler will be left with no other option but to wage (as a last resort) Jihaad against them, since they are considered as a hindrance from Islam spreading throughout the world.
Now, if the Muslims are victorious in their fight against the Kuffar, then they are entitled to take the wealth, weapons, property of the Kuffar as spoils of war and the disbelieving men and women will be taken as captives. These captives whether males or females, are distributed as slaves amongst the Mujaahideen (soldiers). When a soldier receives a slave girl in lieu of his portion of the spoils of war, then it is not necessary for him to be intimate with her, if he doesn’t desire to do so. He could simply take service and labour from her, as we do from our current-day employees or domestics, with the only difference being that, the slave girl is owned by the master, whereas the employees in our employment are not owned by us.
After understanding this, I wish to point out a possible misunderstanding that you may have, and that is categorizing a slave girl as a ‘sex-slave.’ She is, in no way, a ‘sex slave’ as you have incorrectly understood, but available to the master to take benefit from. The manner in which he benefits is left totally to his discretion as long as it is within the confines of Shariah.
Now, in current times due to the abolishment of slavery, there aren’t any slave girls available according to our knowledge. If the Muslims once again wage war against the disbelievers (due to the reasons mentioned above), and women are taken as captives, then slavery and the existence of the slave girl will once again become common in the world. In this case, yes, a man will be permitted to benefit from his slave girl as explained above.
3. A ‘concubine’ refers to a woman that lives with a man but enjoys a lower status than his wives. From the manner in which your question is posed, it seems to us that you are perhaps indirectly blaming Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam for affording a lower status to slave girls, and particularly to Hadhrat Maria Qibtiyya Radhiallahu Anha over free women (Allah forbid!). If our understanding and assumption in this regard is correct, then know full well that the laws of Shariah are directly from Allah Ta’aala. The Quraan states in regards to Rasulullah Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam “He doesn’t speak of his own desires, rather whatever he says is revelation revealed to him.” [Re:- Surah Najm Verse3/4]
The lower status afforded to slave girls is the law of Almighty Allah Ta’aala which was formulated in His Complete and Perfect Wisdom. Her status is half of a free woman, such as her Iddat being two menstrual cycles if divorced, and the Iddat of a free woman being three menstrual cycles. There are many such examples where she is considered to be half of a free woman. So, it is not Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam that afforded a lower position to her (as he was the ‘Most Just’ amongst mankind) but it was actually the law of Almighty Allah Ta’aala that he acted upon.
He received her as a gift from Maqauqis (the king of Alexandria) and kept her with respect and dignity, and yes, he did have child from her who passed away during infancy. He did not take her as a “concubine” as you have incorrectly stated. We do hope that this clears all possible doubts that may have occurred in your mind.
With regard to housing one’s slave girl a specific distance away from one’s wives, we were unable to find an explicit ruling in this regard. However, if one has to logically consider this aspect, then one would realize that there was no harm in housing her at a distance. Many men involved in polygamous marriages in this day and age, house their wives in separate accommodation which are not necessarily in close vicinity to each other, yet these women are free women holding the same level of freedom, dignity and honour. When we do not raise an objection in this day and age, then what’s the point of raising an objection in regards to the residence of Hardhat Maria Qibtiyya Radhiallahu Anha being away from the other wives of Rasulullah Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam, and that too at a meagre distance of just 3 kilometres?