Umm al walad

In the Islamic world, umm al-walad () was a title. It was given to a slave woman. She got this title if she gave birth to a child and her master acknowledged (said) the child was his. People looked at these women as property. Their owners could sell them. This practice was allowed at the time by rules from the Prophet Muhammad.

After Muhammad died, Umar became the caliph. He made a new policy. He prohibited (banned) owners from selling or gifting their umm al-walads. He also said that when the owner died, the woman would become free. Ali was Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law. At first, he agreed with Umar's decision. Uthman also kept this rule. But later, Ali changed the rule. He said that an umm al-walad could still be sold, even if she had given birth to the owner's child.

Shia Islam followed Ali's view. They also accept temporary marriages. However, all main Sunni legal schools of jurisprudence (law) follow Umar's view. They say the umm al-walad must not be sold. They say she should be free after her master dies. Children born to an umm al-walad were considered free. They were legitimate. They were often treated the same as children born to the master's free wives.

In 740, Zayd ibn Ali tried to become caliph but failed. After this, more leaders had mothers who were slaves. In 744, Yazid III became the first Umayyad caliph with a slave mother. The last three Umayyad caliphs and most of the Abbasid caliphs were born to slave women.

People used rhetoric (persuasive speaking) to talk about these mothers. They did this to support or attack the new leaders. Some people said the slave mothers were actually foreign princesses with important families. This raised their social status. For example, Yazid III said his mother was a Persian princess from the Sassanid dynasty. He said he was related to both Julius Caesar and the Khagan.
Their adversaries (enemies) used a different way of speaking. They questioned if the leader was really the son of the master. They said using slave women to have children would cause social and political trouble. For example, enemies of Marwan II said he was not really the son of Muhammad ibn Marwan. They said his slave mother was already pregnant when she was captured from the enemy.

In history, many rulers of Islamic dynasties had heirs (successors) with slave women in their harems. They did not use free legal wives. A legal wife had a family clan. This family could try to influence the ruler. A slave woman had no family that could interfere. Islamic dynasties used this custom routinely until slavery was abolished (stopped) in the 20th century. One example is the Ottoman dynasty. The Sultans rarely married after taking Constantinople in 1453. They used concubines to have heirs until slavery in the Ottoman Empire slowly ended.Peirce, Leslie (1993). The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-1950-8677-5.

This happened for as long as the history of slavery in the Muslim world. Slavery legally ended only in the late 20th century. It was not stopped everywhere until the 21st century. Baraka Al Yamaniyah died on 22 August 2018. She was the concubine of King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia (ruled 1932-1953). She was the mother of Muqrin bin Abdulaziz (born 1945). He was the crown prince of Saudi Arabia in 2015.

A male slave owner did not have to say he was the father of his child with a slave. A Muslim man was allowed by law to have sex with his female slave. This was true unless his wife owned the slave.Erdem, Y. Hakan. Slavery in the Ottoman Empire and its Demise, 1800–1909. London: Macmillan Press, 1996. The child of a slave was born a slave. But if the owner said the child was his, the child would automatically be free by law.Erdem, Y. Hakan. Slavery in the Ottoman Empire and its Demise, 1800–1909. London: Macmillan Press, 1996.
If an unmarried slave had a child and the owner did not say he was the father, the slave faced zina charges.

See also
 Islamic views on slavery
 Qiyan

References

Sources

Category:Islam