Enslavement Of Persians Vs. Quranic Abolition: History Or Religion?
“I am writing to seek a deeper clarification on the answer regarding the enslavement of Persians. While I understand the Ghamidi school’s position that the Qur’an (47:4) effectively abolished the enslavement of free people, I am struggling to reconcile this with established historical facts from early Islamic sources like Tarikh al-Tabari and Futuh al-Buldan (by al-Baladhuri). Specifically: Enslavement of Free Non-Combatants: Historical records state that after the Battle of Jalula (637 CE), tens of thousands of captives—who were not soldiers but Persian civilians—were taken as Ghanima (spoils) and distributed as slaves. Tabari records that the number of captives was so large that Umar ibn al-Khattab reportedly expressed concern over the sheer number of ‘non-Arab’ children being born to these slave women.The Status of the Captives: The previous response claimed ‘only the slaves of enemies were taken.’ However, primary sources clearly identify many of these captives as freeborn Persians, including members of the nobility. For example, the daughters of the Persian Emperor Yazdegerd III were reportedly taken as captives. If they were free before the war, how is it historically accurate to say ‘no free men were enslaved’?The Case of Abu Lu’lu’a: The very person who assassinated Umar ibn al-Khattab, Abu Lu’lu’a Firuz, was a free Persian artisan captured at Nihawand. He was not a slave of the Persians; he was a free man who became a slave only because of the Arab conquest.I feel a deep sense of conflict between the ‘Ideal Islam’ being presented here and the ‘Historical Islam’ practiced by the Companions. If the Companions were the best of generations, why did they seemingly ignore the instruction of Surah 47:4 to only release captives via ‘grace or ransom’ and instead participate in a massive system of chattel slavery of freeborn people?I ask this sincerely: Was the historical practice of the Sahaba a violation of the Qur’an, or is the modernist interpretation that ‘no free men were enslaved’ factually incomplete?”