For over 1,300 years, the Arab Slave Trade operated across vast territories, involving Africans, Slavs, Persians, Turks, and Indians. The system was fueled by economic needs, cultural norms, and a theological framework within Islam that justified slavery.
By Dr. Tim Orr
Slavery remains one of humanity’s darkest stains—an institution that dehumanized millions, tore apart families, and reshaped entire societies. Today, conversations about slavery often focus on the Atlantic Slave Trade, the transoceanic system through which millions of Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas. This focus is essential, as the scale and brutality of the Atlantic trade are undeniable. However, by narrowing the lens to Western involvement alone, a dangerous misconception takes root: that slavery was a uniquely Western sin.
To address this imbalance, we must expand the conversation. For over 1,300 years, the Arab Slave Trade operated across vast territories, involving Africans, Slavs, Persians, Turks, and Indians. The system was fueled by economic needs, cultural norms, and a theological framework within Islam that justified slavery. Unlike the Atlantic system, which ended through a Christian-inspired moral revolution, the Arab trade persisted for centuries, ending primarily through external pressure from Western powers (Lewis, 1992).
By comparing these two systems—the Atlantic Slave Trade and the Arab Slave Trade—and examining their origins, practices, and eventual decline, we understand human history completely. This is not about relativizing the suffering caused by one system or another but telling the full, unvarnished truth. Only then can we honor the victims, recognize humanity’s capacity for evil, and appreciate the moral progress that brought slavery to an end in the West.
The Arab Slave Trade, which began in the 7th century CE, was not a new invention but emerged alongside the rise of Islam as an institutionalized system. Slavery existed across the ancient world—from the Roman Empire to Persia and Africa—where it functioned as a grim but common part of society. However, Islam did not disrupt this status quo; instead, it formalized and perpetuated slavery under a theological and legal framework that was codified within Sharia. Rather than challenging the morality of slavery, Islam absorbed the institution and integrated it into its religious and economic systems.
The Quran, Islam’s central text, explicitly refers to slavery as an accepted reality and regulates its practice. Several verses mention “those whom your right hands possess” (Surah 4:3, 23:6, 33:50), a euphemism for enslaved people—often captives of war. These verses not only legitimize slavery but also normalize the sexual exploitation of female slaves. Surah 23:6 states:
“Except from their wives or those their right hands possess, for indeed, they are not to be blamed.”
This verse provided Islamic rulers and common men alike with divine sanction to engage in relations with enslaved women—effectively institutionalizing concubinage. The justification was clear: these women, as spoils of war, were property, devoid of autonomy or consent. Such teachings ensured that female slaves were prized not merely for labor but for their role in harems, perpetuating the sexual exploitation of captives.
While the Quran encouraged manumission—freeing slaves—as a virtuous act, this was framed as an individual good deed rather than a societal imperative to dismantle slavery as a system. For example, Surah 90:13-16 calls freeing slaves a righteous act that earns divine favor:
“It is the freeing of a slave, or feeding on a day of severe hunger…”
Yet, significantly, there is no categorical prohibition of slavery in the Quran or Hadith. Instead, the institution was regulated, not eradicated. This regulatory approach ensured that slavery remained a persistent feature of Islamic civilization, as moral objections to slavery were simply not part of Islamic thought. Muhammad’s own life reinforced this acceptance; he owned, bought, and sold slaves, including Bilal ibn Rabah, a famous African slave who was freed and became one of Muhammad’s closest companions. While freeing slaves was praised, Muhammad’s participation in slavery served as a precedent that made abolition unthinkable within traditional Islamic jurisprudence.
Furthermore, Islamic law facilitated the expansion of slavery through jihad (holy war). Surah 8:67 establishes a divine justification for enslaving non-Muslims captured in battle:
“It is not for a prophet to have captives [of war] until he inflicts a massacre upon Allah’s enemies.”
This teaching transformed slavery into a tool of conquest, incentivizing the capture of non-Muslims and further embedding slavery into Islamic military and economic systems. As Islamic armies expanded across Africa, Central Asia, and Europe, slavery flourished under the belief that it was sanctioned by God and essential for the spread of Islam.
In contrast to Christianity—where abolitionist theology emerged as a moral challenge to slavery—Islamic jurisprudence left no room for such movements. The absence of an internal theological critique of slavery allowed it to thrive unchallenged for over a millennium. While Muslim scholars occasionally emphasized the humane treatment of slaves, they never questioned the legitimacy of slavery itself. This failure to challenge the institution at its core meant that slavery became not only normalized but sanctified, ensuring its survival long after it had been abolished in the West.
The Arab Slave Trade was not merely a historical footnote; it was a monumental system that persisted for over 1,300 years—longer than any other major slave trade in history. It spanned continents, from the African interior to the Middle East, Central Asia, India, and Europe. Unlike the Atlantic Slave Trade, where enslaved Africans left an enduring cultural and demographic legacy in the Americas, the Arab system ensured their near erasure from history through deliberate and brutal practices.
The Arab trade operated along multiple routes that transported enslaved people across unforgiving terrain:
Two practices set the Arab Slave Trade apart in its brutality: castration and the widespread sexual exploitation of women.
Unlike in the Atlantic Slave Trade, where enslaved populations in the Americas reproduced and created enduring African diasporas, the Arab system ensured that the enslaved left little trace. This demographic erasure underscores the systemic cruelty of the Arab trade: it was not just about labor but about annihilating the identity, lineage, and culture of its victims.
While the Arab slave trade endured for over a millennium, the Atlantic Slave Trade came to an end through a profound moral revolution rooted in Christian theology. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Evangelical Christians in Britain and America began to challenge the institution of slavery, arguing that it violated the foundational teachings of the Bible.
Central to the abolitionist movement was the belief that all human beings are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and are, therefore, endowed with inherent dignity. Figures like William Wilberforce, John Wesley, and Frederick Douglass viewed slavery not simply as an economic or political issue but as a moral evil—a national sin that demanded repentance (Hochschild, 2005).
Wilberforce’s efforts, alongside the Clapham Sect, culminated in the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which outlawed the transatlantic trade in the British Empire. The British Royal Navy then established the West Africa Squadron to patrol the seas and intercept slave ships and free captives. British Royal Navy then established the West Africa Squadron to patrol the seas, intercept slave ships, and free captives. Between 1808 and 1860, the squadron freed over 150,000 Africans at immense financial and human costs (Eltis, 2000).
Both the Atlantic and Arab slave trades reveal the depths of human cruelty, but their endings tell two very different stories. The abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade was a moment of profound moral reckoning—one that emerged from a Christian worldview that challenged slavery as an affront to God’s justice and human dignity. Abolition was not convenient; it was costly, requiring decades of sacrifice, advocacy, and transformation of hearts and minds.
In the Islamic world, slavery persisted for over a millennium, embedded in religious and cultural norms. Without a comparable moral movement from within, slavery only ended under external pressure from Western nations in the 19th and 20th centuries. This contrast reminds us that ideas matter. How a society understands morality—what it believes about God, humanity, and justice—shapes the way it confronts evil and promotes progress.
Today, as conversations about history become increasingly polarized, we must resist the temptation to tell half-truths. The full story of slavery is not one of simplistic blame but of complex realities and hard-won victories. The West was not alone in practicing slavery, but it was unique in its moral and spiritual response—leading the charge to abolish an institution as old as civilization itself.
So, what does this mean for us? It means we can learn from both the failures and triumphs of history. We can acknowledge the horrors of the past while celebrating the progress made through faith, courage, and conviction. Most importantly, we can remember that the fight for human dignity and freedom is not confined to one time or place; it is a struggle that belongs to every generation.
History does not exist to make us comfortable—it exists to teach us. If we are willing to learn, to tell the full story, and to reflect honestly on where we’ve been, we might find the clarity, humility, and wisdom we need to shape a better future.
Al-Bukhari, Muhammad. (1979). Sahih al-Bukhari (Vol. 3, Book 46, Hadith 731).
Eltis, D. (2000). The Rise of African Slavery in the Americas. Cambridge University Press.
Hochschild, A. (2005). Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Lewis, B. (1992). Race and Slavery in the Middle East: An Historical Enquiry. Oxford University Press.
Murray, G. (1980). Slavery and the Slave Trade in the Eastern Mediterranean. University of Chicago Press.
Quran. (2010). Saheeh International Translation.
Segal, R. (2001). Islam's Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Tim Orr is a scholar of Islam, Evangelical minister, conference speaker, and interfaith consultant with over 30 years of experience in cross-cultural ministry. He holds six degrees, including a master’s in Islamic studies from the Islamic College in London. Tim taught Religious Studies for 15 years at Indiana University Columbus and is now a Congregations and Polarization Project research associate at the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University Indianapolis. He has spoken at universities, including Oxford University, Imperial College London, the University of Tehran, Islamic College London, and mosques throughout the U.K. His research focuses on American Evangelicalism, Islamic antisemitism, and Islamic feminism, and he has published widely, including articles in Islamic peer-reviewed journals and three books.