The Impact of Islam on the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade: A Collection of Curated Sources

1. Introduction

The Trans-Saharan slave trade isn’t as widely known as the Trans-Atlantic slave trade but had just as much of an impact on Sub-Saharan Africa. For my Curated Source Collection assignment, I’m specifically focusing on the impact of Islam on the Trans-Saharan slave trade from the 14th-18th centuries. The impact of Islam on the Trans-Saharan slave trade will be shown through primary and secondary sources discussing how the slave trade was conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa and the specifics of buying slaves in slave markets. When creating this collection, I first started with a survey and proposal to narrow down my research topic. I then created an abstract and bibliography of ten sources to finalize my topic. I then narrowed down my collection to six sources while also recording my entire research process and then creating an introduction and copies of excerpts for each of the six sources I chose.

The Islamic impact on the Trans-Saharan slave trade contains may interpretations but the main one is that the Islamic views on slavery were based on the teaching of the Quran where non-Muslims were subjected to slavery but no Muslims were subjected to slavery. In the eyes of many Muslims, slavery was a tool. There are different views on the impact of Islam on slavery and the distinction between the Quran's teachings and the application of those teachings. Oftentimes, Muslims were enslaved by other Muslims which was the case for Africans who converted to Islam like Ahmad Baba al-Tinbukti. In theory, all Muslims are supposed to follow all the teachings of the Quran to but that wasn’t always the case especially in the Trans-Saharan slave trade. Some of the sources I researched thought that slavery benefited non-Muslims and some of the sources categorized slavery based on different reinterpretations of Islamic law or chattel slavery which was the most prevalent kind of slavery during the Trans-Saharan slave trade. It seems that each source has a different takeaway of Islamic law or Islamic interpretation and reinterpretation of slavery. It seems that the theme throughout all the sources is that the Trans-Saharan slave trade was conducted mainly through religious reasons as Muslims didn’t enslave other Muslims. However, there were sources that talked about places in West Africa where slavery was based on race instead of religion where Muslims were being enslaved like Ahmad Baba.

The heart of this collection is focusing on Islam and its view on slavery and its impact on slavery as well. The Quran had verses that aligned the approach for enslaving non-Muslims and gave rules that would define how slavery was conducted. This complemented the Hadith and the Islamic law. What you can see throughout this collection is that there’s a difference between outlining rules and having everyone follow through with those rules exactly. As we can see in these sources, there's different interpretations and reinterpretations of these texts and laws which contribute to Muslims being enslaved based on race. There was also a shift from enslaving prisoners of war to conducting slave markets where slaves were then sold to the highest bidder. The Trans-Saharan slave trade had already been prevalent since the mid 7th century and would be prevalent until the 20th century. The importance of the time period that I selected is to show specific stories and sources that discuss this time period and how slavery was being viewed in Sub-Saharan Africa during this time. The Islamic impact on slavery proved to be an interested topic where it opened a new door into what slavery was like during the Trans-Saharan slave trade and places like West Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa as well from the 14th-18th century. These sources provide a lot of context about the Trans-Saharan slave trade and Islam’s impact on it but there is still a lot left unanswered as there aren’t many stories about the slaves themselves in this slave trade. This leads us to be left with the views of Muslims in primary sources and secondary sources made from the 20th or the 21st century.

2. Methodology

My process for gathering sources for this assignment was similar to how I've gathered sources for other research papers at Wake Forest University which is through using the ZSR website. I’ve found that Wake Forest University and the ZSR Library give their students access to great research guides and resources on their homepage. However, I had to do a lot of research as it was difficult for me to find primary sources on the ZSR website for my topic as the research guides for African history were mostly for the Trans-Atlantic slavery or slavery after the late 18th century which didn’t coincide with my topic or the course time parameters.

It was easier for me to find secondary sources through databases like JSTOR. I found one of my main sources “Islam, Archaeology and Slavery in Africa” through the JSTOR database on the ZSR website. I used the search terms (Islam) and (Africa) and (Trans-Saharan Slave Trade) to find this article and it was the sixth one that popped up. This article stood out to me because it shows a different view of Islamic slavery in terms of slave trade and defining slavery in terms of the influence made by other states and the Islamic influence on slavery as well. The other main source I used for this collection that I found in the JSTOR database is “Slavery, Exchange and Islamic Law: A Glimpse from the Archives of Mali and Mauritania.” I found this source in a related text on JSTOR. Furthermore, I found this source after looking in the related text of the article “Islam, Archaeology and Slavery in Africa.” This source discusses different interpretations of Islamic law that are different from the interpretations of Islamic law that I found through my primary sources.

On the other hand, I found some of my sources by typing into the main ZSR Library search bar. I found the source “Race, Slavery, and Islamic Law in the Early Modern Atlantic: Ahmad Baba al-Tinbukti’s Treatise on Enslavement” by using the search term “Islamic Slavery in North Africa” on the ZSR Library website search bar and using the filter of peer-reviewed journals. I then clicked on this article and clicked on a link that sent me to the full text option on Taylor and Francis Journals. This source caught my attention because it’s a translation of a primary source and a discussion of it that focuses on Ahmad Baba al-Tinbukti’s Treatise on Enslavement, the way he answers questions on slavery, and his opinions of slavery. He also provides good in depth discussion on the impact of Islam in West Africa. Moreover, I found the source “Ahmad Baba Al-Timbukti and His Islamic Critique of Racial Slavery in the Maghrib” in related research of the source “Race, Slavery, and Islamic Law in the Early Modern Atlantic: Ahmad Baba al-Tinbukti’s Treatise on Enslavement” in Taylor and Francis Journals. This source caught my attention because it details the life of Ahmad Baba Al-Timbukti more in depth and how he was an important critic of racial slavery. Furthermore, it adds on to the other source that focuses more on his Treatise of Enslavement. The other source I found through the regular ZSR Library website search bar was “Trust in God, but Tie Your Camel First.’ The Economic Organization of the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade between the Fourteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.” I found this source by typing “Trans-Saharan slave trade” into the ZSR Library website search bar and then I clicked on the filter of peer-reviewed journals in order to narrow down the search. This source was the fourth article that popped up. This source is of interest to me because it is a scholarly journal on Proquest discussing the economic organization of the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade between the Fourteenth and Nineteenth Centuries which fit in the timeline of my project. This source also discusses the viewpoint of Islamic slavery that supports the teachings of the Quran.

Another resource I used to find sources, especially primary sources, was to talk with a history research librarian during our class's research session. I actually found one of my primary sources through talking with my History of Africa professor where he recommended a book called The African Diaspora in the Mediterranean Lands of Islam. I also found this same primary source by typing “primary sources of Islamic slavery in north africa” into a google search box and then clicking on a webpage of Middle East and North Africa primary sources (https://medievalslavery.org/middle-east-and-north-africa/). The citation for this book was under primary sources found elsewhere. This source caught my eye because it’s a collection of primary sources on the Trans-Saharan Slave trade and the impact of Islam on African slaves. However, I couldn't access this source online and had to check it out at the ZSR library.

All these sources were found in different ways but the majority of my sources were found in conjunction with the ZSR Library website. I learned how to utilize the research guides, databases and librarians to find the best sources that fit my topic. However, this process wasn’t as easy as I've made it out to be because this process took me multiple days of researching an hour or so through either scanning the web or revising my search terms or browsing different databases in search of primary and secondary sources that fit into my research topic. Primary sources are especially hard to find. I didn't realize until after I asked my professor about whether translated sources are considered primary sources that some of the sources that I thought were secondary sources were in actuality a primary source. Finding primary sources proved to be very difficult without this knowledge because a lot of my sources needed to be translated from Arabic to English. I was able to cut my sources down from ten to six because the six sources I listed in this section related to my topic of the Islamic impact of Trans-Saharan slave trade more than the other sources. The six sources I selected also provided different interpretations and insights on my topic. Overall, doing a research project and finding sources is never easy, but I utilized some shortcuts and resources that were given to me by the ZSR Library and Wake Forest University to my advantage when creating this Curated Source Collection. When being tasked to create a Curated Source Collection, the main tool that can help you expedite the process is by asking professors or librarians for help. The other main tool is being able to use websites like the ZSR website which offers many databases, research guides and articles.

3. Curated Collection

Hunwick, John, and Eve Troutt Powell. The African Diaspora in the Mediterranean Lands of Islam. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2002.

This source provides Muslim views on slavery which includes a defense of Islam’s impact slavery and Islam’s interpretation on slavery altogether. This source also gives excerpts from texts on slavery which includes the Quran and the Hadīth as evidence to what Islamic slavery looked like. The Quran never justifies or advocates for slavery but states that slavery is a way of life and doesn’t actively advocate for the abolition of slavery. The Quran also shows the many ways a slave can be freed whether that be through freeing a slave through piety or that being left to the slave owner. The Quran also encouraged slave owners to treat their slaves with respect and decency. Enslavement was considered only for non-Muslims which was seen as a rejection of Islam and their faith as a whole. However, the Quran and Hadīth claim that Islamic slavery is beneficial for everyone yet there was slavery of Muslims by other Muslims. The way to obtain a slave during this time was to defeat non-Muslims in battle. The approach for Islamic slavery was to provide a livelihood for the slave which often raised the status of the slave and made the slave equal to its master. The goal of Islam for slavery followed closely with the Quran teachings that followed a threefold path that would reduce the avenues to enslavement, care for the slave, perfect them, and free the slave once they are perfected. The impact of Islam on slavery and in the Trans-Saharan slavery as a whole was to educate the non-Muslim slaves in the teachings of Islam. Moreover, the goal was to provide a livelihood for them where they were treated well by their slave owners and then released back into the world as a perfect person in the eyes of the Quran and Islam as a whole.

“Sūra 33:50 below makes it clear that a divinely permissible way of obtaining female slaves—at least for the Prophet—is through capture in battle. This was to become the primary legal basis for obtaining slaves, both male and female, though in practice it was never the only way for an individual to obtain a slave(…)2:221: Do not marry polytheistic women until they believe. A believing slave woman is better than a polytheist, even though she please you. Do not marry polytheistic males until they believe. A believing male slave is better than a polytheist, though he please you(…)Hadīth no. 721. The Prophet–may God bless him and grant him peace–said: “Your brothers are your slaves. God placed them under your control. Whoever has his brother under his control should feed them and clothe them out of what he himself eats and wears, and should not impose upon them labor that overcomes them. Should he do so, then he should help them(...)The owner should not look should not look at him/her with arrogance or disdain, and should pardon his mistakes. When he is angry with him, he should reflect on his own shortcomings, or the sins of disobedience he has committed, his infringement of God’s rights and his failure to obey Him fully, despite the fact that God’s power over him is greater than his power over his slave. The system of law in Islam is a practical one having no mitigation in it. What it obtained in regard to dealing with slavery was the highest order of wisdom, combining the general good with mercy. It taught the slave, refined him and perfected him, and raised his status and made him equal with his master. It provided a livelihood for him and then freed him. In order to reach this goal Islam followed a threefold path: (1) reducing the avenues to enslavement and closing them off; (2) caring for the slave and perfecting him; (3) opening wide the gates to freedom for the slave(...)It is known that, according to the sharīa the reason why it is allowed to own [others] is [their] unbelief. Thus whoever purchases an unbeliever is allowed to own him, but not in the contrary case. Conversion to Islam subsequent to the existence of the aforementioned condition has no effect on continued ownership. Were those lands we mentioned, and other similar lands of the Muslims of the Sūdān, conquered and [their people] enslaved in a state of unbelief, while their conversion occurred subsequently—hence there is no harm [in owning them]—or not?”

Prange, Sebastian R. "'Trust in God, but Tie Your Camel First.' The Economic Organization of the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade between the Fourteenth and Nineteenth Centuries." Journal of Global History 1, no. 2 (07, 2006): 219-239. https://wake.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/trust-god-tie-your-camel-first-economic/docview/229035922/se-2.

This source shows a viewpoint of Islamic slavery that supports the Quran's teachings and shows the positive aspects of slave agents. There was opportunity for some slaves to rise through the ranks and get to a position of power or be freed by their owners. These are specific instances of slave agents especially those that were slaves of rulers. This source shows a perspective on Islamic slavery that is based on the Quran’s teachings on the topic of slavery where slaves are given the opportunity to have influence and responsibility when they are older. Younger slaves, especially males, were considered by the Quran and slave owners to be viewed as sons instead of slaves. Slave agents enjoyed economic opportunities and maintained a bond with their owners even after they were freed. This source mostly shows the benefits of Islamic slavery and the impact it has on many young men throughout the Trans-Saharan slave trade. There are instances mentioned in this source of slaves being freed only a couple years after their initial servitude and the maintaining a commercial relationship with their former masters where they are often trusted more than other free men.The slaves also received an education of Islamic laws and norms where slaves were incorporated into the larger framework of their master’s business. They often managed their master’s affairs, traveled with him or managed his master’s business when they were away. It seems in these examples of Islamic slavery, slave masters are embracing the Quran’s teachings of slavery and really treating slaves as if they were their own children and seemingly giving them a better life after their freedom. Whether that be through the education and experience given to them as a slave agent. These slave agents were only a small portion of total slaves in the Trans-Saharan slave trade but were more privileged and had more oportunties than most slaves.

“Trading diasporas highlight the advantages of shared ethnicity and creed in ensuring the cooperation of its agents. However, history also abounds with instances of rulers deliberately surrounding themselves with foreigners out of distrust of their own people and their ambitions. Muslim potentates in particular allowed slaves, captured on the Islamic frontiers and purchased at a young age, to rise to positions of great responsibility and influence. Out of this constellation arose the ‘ultimate paradox’ of slave kings who ruled in Cairo, Delhi, and elsewhere. According to Goitein, a similar situation on a smaller scale was evident in the life of the Maghribi bourgeoisie, with the slaves of rulers constituting a prototype for the use of slave agents by the commercial classes(…)The acquisition of a male slave was a great affair, on which a man was congratulated almost as if a son had been born to him. No wonder, for a slave fulfilled tasks similar to those of a son. He managed the affairs of his master, he traveled with him or for him, or he was in charge of his master’s business, when the latter himself was out of town(…)Slaves employed as agents usually came into their masters’ service at a particularly young age and received a methodical education in Islamic norms as well as business practice. George La Rue argues in his study of Bagirmi, that although some slaves maintained a corporate identity depending on their origins, many assumed the cultural identities of their masters to advance themselves in trade(…)Slave agents were not only privileged compared to other slaves but also frequently enjoyed greater economic opportunities than many free men. Furthermore, the institutionalized practice of manumission meant that they could expect to one day use the knowledge and contacts they had acquired to trade on their own account. It is, perhaps, not surprising that under such conditions many slave agents maintained a commercial bond with their former owners even after their manumission. J. G. Jackson, the nineteenth-century editor of Shabeeny’s narrative, annotated the text with his own experience of this practice: I have known instances of a slave being liberated after a few years of servitude; and his master’s confidence has been such that he had advanced him money to trade with, and has allowed him to cross the desert to Timbuctoo, waiting for repayment of his money till his return. This is often the treatment of Muhamadans to slaves! how different from that practiced by the Planters in the West India Islands.”

Gratien, Chris. “Race, Slavery, and Islamic Law in the Early Modern Atlantic: Ahmad Baba al-Tinbukti’s Treatise on Enslavement.” The Journal of North African Studies 18, no. 3 (June 2013): 454–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2013.795398.

This source focuses on defining slavery in 16th century West Africa. This was done by interpreting the Quran which states that no Muslim person can be enslaved. The key distinction between Muslims and non-Muslims or as the text says “non-believer” is the determining factor as to who a slave was in the Trans-Saharan slave trade. Former slaves who converted to Islam were celebrated. Ahmad Baba al-Tinbukti was someone who pushed for the freedom of all people because since all people can be Muslims and non-Muslims can be enslaved which affirms that all Muslims and by extension all human beings deserve freedom. The Quran states that only non-Muslims can be enslaved yet Ahmad Baba and other Muslims became slaves during this time because of prejudice against Africans especially in West Africa. Racism was a key point of difference between Muslims during this time where many people in West Africa who converted to Islam were persecuted and often enslaved based on the color of their skin. This racism goes against the religious teachings of the Quran and the viewpoints of the last two sources which showed the positives of Islamic slavery. This source starts to show negative aspects of Islamic slavery where it didn’t matter if you were a Muslim or not in Marrakesh and other places in West Africa because Muslims were being enslaved nonetheless. The enslavement of Muslims was mostly based on race which Ahmad Baba was against and declared these acts as illegitimate. However, Ahmad Baba was seemingly unconcerned of the enslavement of non-Muslims because he knew of the enslavement of others in which Songhay rulers and their allies engaged in and only took issue with Muslims being enslaved. There seemed to be very little regulation of Islamic slavery in West Africa with people having free reign to enslave non-Muslims and even Muslims at times.

“Since the Qur'an clearly states that no Muslim can be enslaved, the distinction between a Muslim and a non-Muslim or non-believer (kāfir) is the essential point of difference. There are also verses in the Qur'an praising the manumission of slaves as a generous deed, thereby implying that within a Muslim moral framework, freedom is inherently superior to bondage(...)While the fuqahā’ had long rejected the inferiority of particular races with Qur'anic, historical, and scientific justification, the practice of Muslim rulers and slave traders was not as clearly informed by such a worldview. History shows that in Southwest Asia and North Africa, views concerning race were more problematic, and the Hamitic myth of black servility continued to persist despite scholarly opinion having rejected it. The Moroccans may not have been exceptional in their view that black-skinned people were by nature slaves, but the scale of Ahmad al-Mansur's project was unprecedented in the history of Muslim societies. His state needed more slaves to be carried a longer distance than ever. The Moroccan invasion of the Songhay Empire is an example of the disconnection between the perceptions of rulers and traders and the scholars who sought to define correct legal practice during the early modern period. This historical episode also shows that notions of racial difference in Muslim societies were not supported by scholarly or scientific justifications as they would come to be in later periods, particularly in post-enlightenment Europe(...)All human beings can be Muslim, and no Muslims can be enslaved. Thus, long before Ahmad Baba, scholars had affirmed the theoretical right of all Muslims and by extension human beings to freedom(…)Ahmad Baba's response greatly adds to our knowledge of the rapidity of conversion to Islam in sub-Saharan West Africa during the late sixteenth century. He begins by asserting that the entire people of Songhay are Muslims. He then mentions several other groups considered to be Muslim, pointing to the fact that there are non-Muslims in the vicinity whom they raid for slaves(...)Ahmad Baba was certainly aware that the Songhay rulers and their allies engaged in slaving among non-Muslims, and so long as this slave-raiding activity remained among non-Muslims outside the protection of the state, he may have been unconcerned. However, Ahmad Baba encountered a much different reality in Marrakesh where Muslims were being bought and sold, and he was among those captured(...)As for the enslavement of Muslims based on skin colour, Ahmad Baba declares this act illegitimate and considers it a reflection of the corruption of the times (fasād al-zamān). He supports his claim with reference to rulings by other scholars who confirmed that Muslims must not be enslaved and that it is not lawful to possess or purchase a Muslim even if he or she was enslaved by other Muslims.”

Cleaveland, Timothy. “Ahmad Baba Al-Timbukti and His Islamic Critique of Racial Slavery in the Maghrib.” The Journal of North African Studies 20, no. 1 (January 2015): 42–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2014.983825.

In Ahmad Baba’s critique of racial slavery, he shows that the teachings of the Quran regarding slavery had not been implemented as seriously as the strict interpretation of Islamic law directed. The Quran states that there can only be enslavement of non-Muslims by Muslims where Muslims should never be enslaved. Ahmad Baba was trying to prove that Muslims are indeed being enslaved based on the color of their skin. This source shows how formerly enslaved Muslims were not considered legally free which coincides with the previous source about Ahmad Baba and contradicts the source by Hunwick and Powell and the source by Prange. Religious status didn’t seem to matter for raiders or other groups that enslaved everyone they came across. As with the previous source, this source discusses how slave traders were associating slavery with race instead of religion. There were multiple variables that defined slavery in West Africa which included raiders and slave traders enslaving Muslims which goes against the Quran’s teachings of slavery. These groups were either blissfully unaware of these rules or had knowledge of these rules but didn’t care. Either way, these instances troubled Ahmad Baba who rejected the association of race and slavery. Ahmad Baba didn’t question the Trans-Saharan slave trade as a whole but questioned the Islamic impact of it and questioned why Muslims were enslaving Muslims which went against Islamic law. The interpretation of Islamic law seemed to be a major issue in West Africa which didn’t seem to have much regulation. Unfortunately, the level of support Ahmad Baba had for Muslims that were unlawfully enslaved seemed to extend to those only from predominantly Muslim societies which he is often criticized for. The Islamic impact on Trans-Saharan slave trade is based on the strict interpretation of Islamic law on slavery based on teachings from the Quran and the association between race and slavery.

“Al-Jirari asked about several West African Muslim societies, claiming that an unnamed Sudani judge had argued that these Muslim societies had been conquered by a Muslim imam before they converted to Islam, thereby implying that un-enslaved Muslims from these societies were not legally free and therefore were legitimate targets of Muslim enslavement. Citing Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) and earlier scholars, Ahmad Baba responded that these Muslim societies had never been conquered but had voluntarily adopted Islam in the distant past. Whereas Ahmad Baba's answers to other questions were sometimes subtle, his answer to this question was direct and even disdainful. He responded by saying: This we have not heard of at all, and it did not reach us. Ask this Sudani qadi, who was that imam, and in what time he conquered their land and which land he conquered? Let him, if he can, specify all this to you. Surely, his words do not bear any trace of the truth, and if you search now, you will not find any one who can ascertain the truth of what he said(...)According to Ahmad Baba, both Qadi Mahmud and al-Balbali claimed that the sale of free Muslims was a big problem in the region, in part because nomadic raiders, mainly Berbers and Arabs, regularly raided towns and sold their captives, regardless of their religious status. Both scholars also explicitly stated that regarding enslavement, Black non-believers were just like the other non-believers, and that Black believers were just like their co-religionists. Besides confirming the legal equality of Black Muslims, this statement also implied that some slave traders were improperly associating race with slavery(...)Although Ahmad Baba seems to have accepted the racial dichotomy expressed by the terms ‘Sudan’ and ‘Bidan’ and at least some of the racial stereotyping associated with the dichotomy, in the Mi‘raj, he clearly rejected the association of race and slavery. He also advocated standards of conduct designed to empower any Sudani Muslim who was illegally enslaved by another Muslim to sue successfully for his or her liberation, if that enslaved Muslim was from a predominantly Muslim society. However, his advocacy did not extend much beyond this narrowly defined group of Muslims. For that reason, some historians have been critical of Ahmad Baba for not being a better advocate for other victims of enslavement whose loss of freedom may not have conformed to a strict interpretation of Islamic law(...)Thus, while Ahmad Baba's treatise sought to provide some protection for Muslims, it essentially did not question the broader patterns of enslavement and slave trading in West Africa and the Maghrib.”

Lydon, Ghislaine. “Slavery, Exchange and Islamic Law: A Glimpse from the Archives of Mali and Mauritania.” African Economic History, no. 33 (2005): 117–48. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4617607.

This source discusses different interpretations of Islamic law based on whether or not Islamic law condones slavery or if that it is based on reinterpretations of it. This source also portrays masters in a different light than other sources where they treated slaves as animals and objects. Furthermore this shows an inherent class bias in the structure of the Trans-Saharan slave trade where most slaves didn’t have the same opportunities or education as slave agents. The conventional wisdom of Islam maintains that people should be enslaved through the capture of war prisoners and to expand the Islamic faith to non-Muslims. However, this was not always the case as Muslims themselves were enslaved in West Africa and slaves were not always treated the same as what Islamic law and the Quran dictates. Slaves were often used in different roles during the Trans-Saharan slave trade and one of those roles was being used as commercial representatives, couriers and pawns. Slave owners were liable for the actions made by their slaves often in roles that were assigned to them. The conditions of slavery were supposed to be decent according to Islamic law but that often wasn’t the case. Furthermore, the identities of enslaved peoples and their stories are often not told. There are stories of different situations for slaves but the identities of these slaves and even freed slaves are often never revealed. They were often confused with slaves that were pawns and used in debt negotiation because the boundaries of slavery and Islam aren't always clear in the legal arena. The boundaries between Islam and slavery often provided confusion with different interpretations and often reinterpretations of Islamic law and the Quran. The dichotomy between Islam and slavery is interesting because there are so many interpretations and stories surrounding this relationship. The Islamic impact of slavery during the Trans-Saharan slave trade often depended Islamic law, interpretation of the Islamic law or the specific circumstances of Muslims or non-Muslims in different parts of Sub-Saharan Africa which would determine how the slave was treated.

“Although this article focuses on transactions in slaves, a word must be said about local justifications for slavery. For centuries traders and consumers of slaves in the Muslim world based their actions on a number of ill-defined assumptions couched in religious terms. Conventional wisdom maintained that the only lawful means to generate slaves in Islam was through the capture during a jihad of non-Muslims who refused to convert. Indeed, a theological argument was used to justify the act of enslaving unbelievers as part of a proselytizing mission to expand the frontiers of belief. Several scholars argue, however, that the sources of Islamic law do not justify enslavement, while manumission was recommended. To be sure, since the time of the Prophet's original seventh-century jihad, the sources of Islamic law often have been reinterpreted to justify acts of enslavement(...)Moreover, it is difficult to judge how wide or how narrow was the gulf between precept and practice among Muslims who exchanged slaves outside of the purview of legal experts and in an undocumented manner. Finally, it must be recognized that with the exception of the rare documents produced by literate enslaved caravan workers, these legal documents and trade records contain an inherent class bias as they were usually generated by a literate slave-owning elite. As such, they represent the 'master narrative,' depicting slaves as mere objects or animals, such as they were considered under Islamic law. While they reveal much about conditions of slavery and exchange, they are almost mute about the identities and realities of the victims of enslavement(...)The generic word for slave, tellingly derived from the Arabic root verb meaning 'to be or to become thin,' was raqīq. It was used explicitly in relationship to 'the slave trade'. Male slaves most often were referred to as 'abd. Women slaves were either khādim, a word also used broadly for male or female 'domestic servant,' or jariya meaning concubine(...)Use of slaves as commercial representatives and couriers was quite common in Africa as elsewhere." In this particular case, Maliki law stipulated that the slave who is authorized to trade cannot be sold to cover debts he incurred. Here, as in all cases, masters remained liable for all acts committed by enslaved trade agents or caravan workers. Indeed, slave owners were held accountable for all damages caused by their slaves, and if the amount covering the cost of the damage exceeded the value or original price of the slave, the slave simply changed hands. As noted earlier, the compendia of In Abi Zayd and Khalil hold similar views on exchanges in slaves, but there is one notable exception which has to do with interfaith commerce. Indeed, for Khalil it was unlawful for Muslims to sell to non-Muslims copies of the holy book, Muslim slaves, or even young slaves. Interestingly, he admitted that such slaves could be temporarily pawned but not sold to provided non-Muslims. Yet he provided seemingly contradictory recommendations about the use of Muslim pawns. On the one hand, he argued that if a pawn converted to Islam during the debt period, the debtor was obligated to renegotiate his guarantee (i.e. provide another non-Muslim pawn). At the same time he stated that a newly converted pawn could still be sold in the absence of the debtor and debt reimbursement. Given that the boundaries between enslavement and Islam were not always clear in the legal arena from the beginning of Islam, such confusion is hardly surprising.”

Alexander, J. “Islam, Archaeology and Slavery in Africa.” World Archaeology 33, no. 1 (2001): 44–60. https://www.jstor.org/stable/827888.

This source shows a different side to the Islamic impact on slavery along with the previous source. Chattel slavery is what this source considered to be the most prevalent kind of slavery during the Trans-Saharan slave trade. This source discusses how a slave is the property of the owner and has no freedom or personal rights. Furthermore, this source discusses how slavery was permitted by the Quran, defined in the Hadith and codified in Islamic law through the Shari’a. Muslims themselves were supposed to not be subject to slavery and were only in extreme cases when they were being condemned for a crime. Muslims had their own views on slavery based on interpretations of Islamic law and the teachings of the Quran. The impact of Islamic slavery extended from a general concept of slavery that had been conducted and practiced in the Roman Empire and Western Asia. There have been discussions in past source of slaves being obtained through war and raids but this source also shows how many slaves were obtained through trade which made up a bulk of the Trans-Saharan slave trade. The increasing conversion of Islamic states in Africa culminated in the conversion by the Songhay Empire expanded the influence of Islamic slavery and slave markets throughout West Africa in the Trans-Saharan slave trade. After the slaves were sold in these slave markets, they were transported in caravans and while there are no statistics, there was a significant mortality rate. This was a murky situation for slaves even before being enslaved by specific masters because it was unknown how the Islamic law applied in slave markets and what the impact of Islam was in these slave markets. This source shows a different view of Islamic slavery in terms of slave trade and defining slavery in terms of the influence made by other states and the Islamic influence on slavery as well.

“Here only the strictest definition of one kind of slavery, 'chattel slavery', will be considered. 'A slave is a human being who is the property of, and entirely subject to, another human being under the religious, social and legal conventions of the society in which he or she lives.' Being 'the property of' means that an owner, restricted only by the conventions of his society, is able to buy, sell, free, adopt, ill-treat or kill his slave whose children belong to their owner and can be treated in the same way. A slave has no freedom or personal rights and can become one voluntarily, by a legal decision or by force(…)The Quranic teaching from the first distinguished between the Dar el Islam (the land where its inhabitants have made their submission (Islam) to the Muslim faith) and the Dar el Harb (where they have not). Slavery, including chattel slavery, was permitted by the Holy Quran and further defined in the Hadith (traditions of the Prophet Mohammed's lifetime). It became codified in the Shari'a (sacred) law codes administered by members of the Ulama (those learned in its interpretation). In general, its concept of slavery followed the practice of the Roman Empire and its predecessors in Western Asia, the main difference being that, in the Dar el Islam, Christianity and Judaism were accepted as permissible if incomplete religions. Believers in them, if they made their (non-religious) submission to Islamic rulers, paid the required taxes and accepted Shari'a law, were citizens (Dhimi) and not subject to chattel slavery unless condemned to it for crimes carrying that punishment under Shari'a law in the same way as Muslims were(…)From the eighth to the fifteenth centuries, although raids by Muslim nomads for slaves took place, more were obtained by trade with the indigenous kingdoms of the savannahs, notably the long-established Ghana and the subsequent Malian Empires. Captives taken in their local wars were marched to the markets like Gao or Aghordat or the capital of Ghana in or near the borders of the sahel where they were bought by Muslim merchants from the north. The situation is best reported on by Ibn Battuta (1962) in the ninth century AD and Ibn Khaldun (1986), the well-built Muslim settlements excavated at Kumbeh Saleh (Berthier 1997) and Al Bakri (1913) showing the northern connection (Levtzion and Hopkins 1981). An increasing acceptance of Islam in the indigenous states, culminating in conversion in the Songhay Empire (eleventh to fifteenth centuries AD), led to an increasing use of chattel-slaves in the savannahs(…)Slaves sold in the markets of the sub-Saharan sahel now faced a 1,000km march northwards through deserts in which there were few watering places or food sources, an ordeal quite as traumatic as the sea passage from West Africa to the Americas and causing a significant mortality rate (Devisse 1988). No statistics are available before the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and then only partial ones, but a 50 percent death rate, more in the case of women and children, seems to have been normal (Fisher 1975; Baet 1967) and whole caravans could be lost by miscalculation or a sandstorm.”

4. Conclusion

This collection raises important points on the importance of Islamic slavery in the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade and the sources that delve into all the interpretations of Islamic slavery during the 14th to 18th centuries. This collection matters because it raises questions and important points about a topic that isn’t readily discussed or widely known. Especially my coverage of the impact of Islam on the Trans-Saharan slave trade where there are multiple interpretations and views on this subject both through primary and secondary sources. There is no one way to look at this slave trade and there are so many stories, especially from the slaves themselves, that are left untold which leaves a gap in history.

My Curated Source Collection brings me back to one of the first things I learned in my African history class which is historiography. Historiography is the history of historians where you have to study the historian before you begin to study the facts. The Trans-Saharan slave trade has many primary source documents that are in Arabic and have to be translated. From what I’ve learned throughout my time in my African history class is that there’s a lot of information that is lost through translation especially in African history where a lot of its history is based on oral traditions. Unfortunately, we can’t get the point of view of the slaves themselves or even find out who they were, but we have the next best thing which are Muslims who recorded their thoughts on Islamic slavery whether in the Quran, Islamic law or someone like Ahmad Baba who was a writer and scholar who recorded his own opinion through his Treatise of Enslavement. However, most of these sources have to be translated for a wider audience. These are still primary sources but in order for someone to get the full understanding of what it was like to be alive during the Trans-Saharan slave trade they had to be there. The next best thing is reading these primary sources in Arabic to get the full understanding but this is where we go back to historiography which is what my research is based on whether through translated primary sources or secondary sources.

The wider ramifications for understanding the Islamic impact of slavery is first understanding Islam itself, the reason why Islam condones slavery and why it allows for Muslims to enslave Non-Muslims. Moreover, the wider ramifications for understanding African history and history as a whole in our understanding of the past is first trying to uncover the history of historians and the sources that are available to us. Only then can we start to begin our understanding of the subject matter and why it’s viewed a certain way or why it’s not extensively covered like other topics. Therein lies the purpose of an assignment like the Curated Source Collection which is trying to unravel whether my collection matters or even if I understood each of these sources to the way they were intended to be read. However, I have an alternative view to my previous statement where everything will be interpreted differently and that’s why historiography exists because there is no one who thinks the same and every opinion matters because that’s the only way we are ever going to uncover any truths about the past.