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Islam And The Abolition Of Slavery

Front Cover
2 Reviews
Oxford University Press, 2006 - Religion - 293 pages
Contemporay debates about Muslim slavery occur in a context of fierce polemics between Islam and other belief systems. While Islamic groups had an ambivalent and generally muted impact on the legal repudiation of slavery, a growing religious commitment to abolition was essential if legislation was to be enforced in the twentieth century. Drawing on examples from the whole 'abode' of Islam, from the Philipines to Senegal and from the Caucasus to South Africa, Gervase Clarence-Smith ranges across the history of Islam, paying particular attention to the period from the late 18th century to the present. He shows that "sharia-minded" attempts to achieve closer adherence to the holy law restricted slavery, even if they did not end it. However, the sharia itself was not as clear about the legality of servitude as is usually assumed, and progressive scholars within the schools of law might even have achieved full emancipation over the long term. The impact of mystical and millenarian Islam was contradictory, in some cases providing a supportive agenda of freedom, but in other cases causing great surges of enslavement. The revisionist Islam that emerged from the 18th century was divided. "Fundamentalists" stressed the literal truth of the founding texts of Islam, and thus found it difficult to abandon slavery completely. "Modernists, ' appealing to the spirit rather than to the letter of scripture, spawned the most radical opponents of slavery, notably Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, the Islamic William Wilberforce. Once slavery had disappeared, it was the Sufi mystics who did most to integrate former slaves socially and religiously, avoiding the deep social divisions that have plagued Western societies in the aftermath of abolition. In this important new book, Clarence-Smith provides the first general survey of the Islamic debate on slavery. Sweeping away entrenched myths, he hopes to stimulate more research on this neglected topic, thereby contributing to healing the religious rifts that threaten to tear our world apart in the 21st centur
  

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Review: Islam and the Abolition of Slavery

User Review  - Habeeb Akande - Goodreads

Excellent book, a must read for anyone interested in slavery Read full review

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Selected pages

Contents

Chapters
1
THE CONTRADICTIONS OF SLAVERY
22
Dissenting Traditions
49
Customary Law
66
Female and mutilated slaves
80
THE ROADS TO ABOLITION
98
The Ulama and QuasiAbolition
129
Mystics and Millenarians
151
Literalism
177
Rationalism
195
Timing and Comparisons
219
Envoi
233
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Islam and the abolition of slavery
Islam and the abolition of slavery
W. G. Clarence-Smith
Snippet view - 2006
Islam and the abolition of slavery
Islam and the abolition of slavery
W. G. Clarence-Smith
No preview available - 2006

Common terms and phrases

Abdallah abolish abolition abolitionist accepted Ahmad Amir Animists Arab Beachey became Black slaves bondage British Brunschvig 1960 Cairo caliph captives Caucasus century Christian Circassian cited concubinage concubines converted criticised declared devshirme East Egypt Egyptian elite emancipation enslavement Erdem eunuchs faith fatwa Fisher free Muslims freed freedom French gradualist Hadith Hindu Hodgson holy law human Hunwick Hunwick and Powell Ibadi Imam India infidels institution Islam Isma'il Isma'ili issue jihad Khan Khariji leader liberation literalist Lovejoy Mahdi Maliki manumission Miers military slaves millenarian Moroccan Mu'tazili Muhammad Muslim mystics nineteenth-century officials Ottoman owners personal communication prohibited Prophet qadi Qadiri Quran raiding rationalist reform refused religion religious Renault and Daget rulers Russian Ruthven Sayyid scholars scriptuaries secular seized servile servitude sharia Shaykh Shi'i slav slave trade slavery Snouck Hurgronje social South Asian Southeast Asia Sudan Sufi sultan tion Toledano took tradition Turkistan ulama Wahhabi West Africa Western women wrote

Popular passages

Page 242 - The 19th Century Islamic Slave Trade from East Africa (Swahili and Red Sea Coasts): A Tentative Census...‎
Appears in 22 books from 1989-2007

References to this book

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References from web pages

Islam and the abolition of slavery — Københavns Biblioteker
Clarence-Smith, William Gervase Islam and the abolition of slavery. - Oxford University Press, 2006 Der er indkøbt 1. ex. til KKB Fra Amazon.com Contemporay ...
www.bibliotek.kk.dk/ rss_feeds/ 2008-04-07.2033269209/

ENSLAVEMENT AND ABOLITION IN MUSLIM SOCIETIES
Islam and the Abolition of Slavery is based entirely on published studies. in European languages and published translated sources. It thus ignores not only ...
journals.cambridge.org/ production/ action/ cjoGetFulltext?fulltextid=1438428

Nye udenlandske bøger: Islam and the abolition of slavery
Islam and the abolition of slavery. - Oxford University Press, 2006. Der er indkøbt 1. ex. til KKB. Fra Amazon.com. Contemporay debates about Muslim slavery ...
udenlandskeboeger.blogspot.com/ 2007/ 03/ islam-and-abolition-of-slavery.html

Islam and the abolition of slavery
Islam and the abolition of slavery, by William Gervase Clarence-Smith. London : Hurst & Co., 2006, xxvi + 293 pp. ISBN (hardback) 1-85065-708-4. T.
www.encyclopedia.com/ doc/ 1P3-1334043161.html

Islam and the Abolition of Slavery - SOAS Research Online
Clarence-Smith, William (2006) Islam and the Abolition of Slavery. Hurst (London), Oxford University Press (New York). Full text not available from this ...
eprints.soas.ac.uk/ 636/

| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 112.4 | The ...
Islam and the Abolition of Slavery. New York: Oxford University Press. 2006. Pp. xxvi, 293. $29.95. In this bold and pioneering study, William Gervase ...
www.historycooperative.org/ journals/ ahr/ 112.4/ br_4.html

abolition of slavery - Research the news about abolition of ...
Islam and the abolition of slavery: African Research & Documentation; Oct 1, 2006; Vassie, Roderic; 1569 Words Islam and the abolition of slavery, ...
www.highbeam.com/ search.aspx?q=abolition+of+slavery& ref_id=ency_MALT

Religions and the abolition of slavery - a comparative approach ...
Clarence-Smith, William G. (2006) Islam and the abolition of slavery,. London: Hurst. Clarence-Smith, William G. (forthcoming) 'L'Église catholique face à ...
www.lse.ac.uk/ collections/ economicHistory/ GEHN/ GEHNPDF/ ClarenceSmithWASHINGTON.pdf

Jihad Watch: Spencer: Slavery, Christianity, and Islam
Why doesn't Robert mention William Gervase Clarence-Smith's "Islam and the Abolition of Slavery" in his article? From the book description on Amazon: ...
www.jihadwatch.org/ archives/ 019808.php

Islam and the Abolition of Slavery
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About the author (2006)


William Gervase Clarence-Smith is Professor of History in the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.

Bibliographic information

QR code for Islam And The Abolition Of Slavery
TitleIslam And The Abolition Of Slavery
AuthorW. G. Clarence-Smith
Editionillustrated
PublisherOxford University Press, 2006
ISBN0195221516, 9780195221510
Length293 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Religion / Islam / General
  
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