{"id":331,"date":"2024-11-12T17:53:38","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T17:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trasisblog.unibe.ch\/?p=331"},"modified":"2024-11-25T16:46:16","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T16:46:16","slug":"can-people-sell-their-children-into-slavery-cultural-relativism-vs-universality-in-islamic-jurisprudence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trasisblog.unibe.ch\/?p=331","title":{"rendered":"Can People Sell their Children into Slavery? Cultural Relativism vs. Universality in Islamic Jurisprudence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In Summer 2023, the TraSIS project organised a joint conference with the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS) in the picturesque Swiss lakeside town of Murtensee. Some of our guests generously agreed to contribute a blog post in which they discuss one of the sources they presented on at the conference. In the third post of this series, Jonathan AC Brown, Chair of Islamic Civilization at Georgetown University, explores the sale of non-Muslim children into slavery in Islamic law.<\/em>
We recommend that readers explore our other blog contributions which are linked <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/summary>\n

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Questions Raised in South Asia: Selling One\u2019s Children and the Shariah<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For millennia, one of the ways people entered slavery was as children sold by their families. This seems unthinkable to many today. As the sociologist Georg Simmel (d. 1336\/1918) observed, however, our valuation of goods like freedom only makes sense in a context of minimum safety and subsistence.1<\/a><\/sup> Parents who lacked such basic needs might sell their children if they were threatened, if their family were starving, or if they thought their children stood a better chance of surviving or succeeding as someone else\u2019s slave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For much of ancient and early medieval history, selling one\u2019s children into slavery was uncontroversial. It was accepted in Roman law well into the second century CE, and even Late Antique Jewish law allowed the sale of daughters.2<\/a><\/sup> It was not uncommon in medieval Europe.3<\/a><\/sup>Circumstances desperate enough to prompt parents to sell their children as slaves appeared particularly often in South Asia, where it was a well-known recourse for parents during times of famine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Asia also offers repeated glimpses of the moral anxiety that formed around the practice. Indians selling their children into slavery due to poverty or hunger was a perennial worry for British authorities after they assumed administrative control in the 1170s\/1760s. Before that, it had long been a concern of Muslim rulers in India. As both the British and the Mughal state found, practices born of necessity are difficult to eliminate. The emperor Akbar (d. 1014\/1605) could only try to ameliorate the practice by decreeing that those parents who had been forced by poverty to sell their children into slavery could redeem them when their circumstances improved.4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muslim ulama in India also took up this question over the centuries, and their discussions on whether one could sell one\u2019s children into slavery and under what circumstances display the same tensions between defending moral principles and negotiating necessity. Some scholars acceded to allowing selling one\u2019s children during famine, since the Shariah held as a principle that necessity could render permissible things normally prohibited (al-\u1e0dar\u016br\u0101t tub\u012b\u1e25u al-ma\u1e25\u1e93\u016br\u0101t<\/em>), such as eating carrion. Most South Asian ulama, however, seem to have found selling one\u2019s children into slavery reprehensible and unsanctionable. The Mughal scholar and historian \u02bfAbd al-Q\u0101dir Bad\u0101y\u016bn\u012b (d. 1004\/1596) reports how a leading jurist and a fellow favourite in Akbar\u2019s court, Mub\u0101rak N\u0101g\u016br\u012b (d. 1001\/1593), had given a fatwa permitting the sale of one\u2019s children during famine despite this breaking with the main opinion of the dominant \u1e24anaf\u012b school of law.5<\/a><\/sup> Mull\u0101 J\u012bvan of Delhi (d. 1130\/1718), a respected \u1e24anaf\u012b jurist, exegete and judge also close to the Mughal court, notes that there was consensus that free people could not be sold. He admits that some jurists had allowed it during famine, but he considers this license unsubstantiated. Ab\u016b \u1e24an\u012bfa (d. 150\/767) and the founding figures of the \u1e24anaf\u012b school had never approved of it. At best, allowing the sale of children in any circumstances was a problematic legal fiction indulged in an effort to aid the poor, J\u012bvan concludes.6<\/a><\/sup> As part of their efforts to end the practice, in 1808 concerned British officials asked Muslim jurists working as legal advisors what Islamic law said on the issue of selling children. They replied that no one could enter into slavery by sale, even in times of famine, but only by capture by Muslims in non-Muslim lands.7<\/a><\/sup> But was this true?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buying the Children of Non-Muslims in the Abode of War<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Two major sources of slaves in Islamic civilization were non-Muslim captives taken by Muslim armies and non-Muslims captured by Muslim raiders into the Abode of War (d\u0101r al-\u1e25arb<\/em>), namely non-Muslim, enemy territories. Whether and when such prisoners or captives could be legally enslaved was ultimately a decision made by the Muslim ruler\/state. Though it seems impossible to be certain, the single largest means of acquiring slaves in Islamic history was likely not violence but commerce. Muslim merchants either purchased (non-Muslim) slaves brought by non-Muslim slave merchants from outside the Abode of Islam (d\u0101r al-isl\u0101m<\/em>), or those Muslim merchants traveled into the Abode of War and purchased slaves there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legal questions that arose around enslaving captives enjoyed significant attention among Muslim scholars, purchasing slaves in the Abode of War much less. Whether Muslim merchants traveling into non-Muslim lands (or even encountering non-Muslim merchants coming into the Abode of Islam) could buy their children or other family members from them is a subset of this larger question, but it crystallises the priorities at stake for the scholars who formulated Islamic law and the tensions they had to address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purchase of children from non-Muslims in the Abode of War was no mere academic question. Broadly defined, Turkic and Slavic peoples from the Central Asian and Ponto-Caspian steppe were the major sources of slaves for Islamic civilization for many centuries. And as far back as the fourth\/tenth century, Muslim travellers and geographers with first-hand experience in these areas noted some Slavs and pagan (i.e., non-Jewish or Christian) Khazars sometimes sold their children into slavery to pay debts or fines.8<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nor was this only an exotic practice in far off lands. During \u02bfAmr b. al-\u02bf\u0100\u1e63\u2019 (d. 42\u20133\/662\u20134) conquest of North Africa in the 10s\/630s, accepting the sale of children from conquered populations was part of some surrender agreements (though, as we\u2019ll see, major Muslim jurists would debate the legality of such sales).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to further discussion, we must first note some important principles regarding slavery (riqq<\/em>) in the Shariah. First, it is prohibited to enslave free people. The principal categories of people who could not be enslaved were Muslims, non-Muslims living under Muslim rule (ahl al-dhimma<\/em>), and slaves who had already been freed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lurking behind the prohibition on \u201censlaving free people,\u201d however, are fundamental questions of how to view the notions of freedom and slavery beyond the jurisdiction of the Abode of Islam. There lurk even more fascinating questions about, on the one hand, how the Shariah imagines the extension of its normative assertions beyond those borders and, on the other, how much moral discretion it grants non-Muslim normative systems. The Quran, the Sunna and generations of Muslim scholars enshrined the rights of followers of previous revelations to engage in acts and rituals that were considered morally and theologically abhorrent after the rise of Islam9<\/a><\/sup>. Whether worshipping Jesus, drinking wine, incestuous marriage (as per Zoroastrianism) or sati <\/em>(widow self-immolation in Hinduism), such practices were protected because Muslim states understood their relationship to non-Muslim communities under their rule to be contractual. And at the core of those contracts was the protection of those communities\u2019 religious rites.10<\/a><\/sup> This contractual protection was extended beyond those groups named in the Quran as having received prior revelation, such as Christians and Jews, whose original revealed texts were deemed worthy of respect even if Muslims believed they had been altered or misread. But how far were Muslim scholars willing to go in recognising the validity of non-Muslim practices done outside the Abode of Islam?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is well known that Islam did not establish a new regime of slavery, but only affirmed an existing institution, while altering significant elements of it. There was no debate among the ulama, as far as I know, about the legitimacy of slavery globally. The Prophetic Hadith telling Salm\u0101n al-F\u0101ris\u012b (d. 35\/656) to negotiate his gradual self-purchase (k\u0101tib<\/em>) with his owner is instructive. As the Andalusian jurist Ibn Ba\u1e6d\u1e6d\u0101l (d. 449\/1057) explains, the Prophet affirming that Salm\u0101n was still a slave despite acknowledging that he had been \u201cwronged\u201d by the merchants who sold him into slavery on his way to Arabia shows that the de facto<\/em> ownership of slaves by non-Muslims prior to Islam and, by analogy, in the Abode of War is entirely valid and legitimate. Moreover, other Hadiths affirmed that freeing slaves was a good deed and meaningful even before Islam.11<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether non-Muslims in the Abode of War capturing and enslaving one another constituted enslaving and selling \u201cfree people\u201d seems to have struck Muslim jurists as too vague a question to tackle in depth.12<\/a><\/sup> But there was a relevant, fixed point of agreement that was not vague. All schools of law acknowledge a Prophetic Hadith (which also appears as a ruling issued by the Caliph \u02bfUmar [d. 23\/644] and al-\u1e24asan al-Ba\u1e63r\u012b [d. 110\/728]) stating, \u201cWhosoever owns a close relative (dh\u0101 ra\u1e25im<\/em>), that close relative is free.\u201d Interpretations of this Hadith differ slightly between schools of law, but all agree that it applies at the very least to the parent-child relationship and that it is the fact of the person passing into that relative\u2019s possession that renders them automatically free.13<\/a><\/sup> This ruling\u2014and how far it extended\u2014was crucial for the question of whether one could purchase the children of non-Muslim parents from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tradition offered three <\/strong>broad answers to this question. The first was simple and most visible in a strain within the \u1e24anaf\u012b school of law: Muslims cannot buy the children of non-Muslims in the Abode of War because no one can own their own children<\/strong>. Hence, their (non-Muslim) parents cannot sell them. <\/strong>As communicated by the Central Asian \u1e24anaf\u012b scholar al-Walw\u0101l\u012bj\u012b (d. circa<\/em> 540\/1145) (though he does not ultimately agree), a Muslim merchant voyaging into the Abode of War could not buy a non-Muslim\u2019s child from their parents because the instant the child passed into the parent\u2019s ownership it would be free and thus unsellable. It is also the standard \u1e24anaf\u012b position that one cannot buy the children of non-Muslims who enter into the Abode of Islam with safe conduct (am\u0101n<\/em>).14<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second position was the polar opposite and is best represented by the M\u0101lik\u012b school of law: there is no problem with buying non-Muslim slaves offered by non-Muslims in the Abode of War, even if one is buying children from their parents<\/strong>. Simply put, these peoples enjoy no inviolable status (\u1e25urma<\/em>). Were Muslims at war with them, they could be taken as slaves. So purchasing them presents no problem. This did not apply, however, to non-Muslims with whom Muslims had a treaty arrangement (hudna<\/em>, \u1e63ul\u1e25<\/em>), since their freedom was guaranteed by such arrangements. This position is affirmed by the Fez jurist al-Ruh\u016bn\u012b (d. 1230\/1815), citing the Meccan M\u0101lik\u012b al-\u1e24a\u1e6d\u1e6d\u0101b (d. 954\/1547), Ibn Rushd al-Jadd (d. 520\/1126) as well as earlier figures in the school, all the way back to M\u0101lik (d. 179\/795) himself.15<\/a><\/sup> M\u0101lik had not approved of receiving Nubian slaves as part of the baqt<\/em> because treaty agreements protected parties against enslavement. But on buying Nubian women and children from their families, M\u0101lik\u2019s famous Egyptian contemporary, al-Layth b. Sa\u02bfd, stated, \u201cI see nothing wrong with Muslims buying them from them.\u201d An older Syrian contemporary, al-Awz\u0101\u02bf\u012b (d. 157\/774), had also not objected because \u201cour laws do not apply to them.\u201d Presumably here he was referring here to the impossibility of a parent selling their own child. It is important to note that other prominent contemporaries of M\u0101lik, such as the Kufan Sufy\u0101n al-Thawr\u012b (d. 161\/778), also disliked (yakrah\u016bna<\/em>) the Nubian transaction.16<\/a><\/sup> But, like M\u0101lik, this is likely not because of the immediate family bar but because he saw the treaty arrangement with the Nubians as guaranteeing them against enslavement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The official stance of the \u1e24anbal\u012b school of law is similar to the M\u0101lik\u012b one but is even more permissive: Muslims can buy the children of non-Muslim parents in the Abode of War, and one could even buy them from non-Muslims with whom one had a truce or treaty (muh\u0101dana<\/em>, hudna<\/em>). This latter addition was attributed to Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728\/1328) and was judged to be the correct stance by the influential \u1e24anbal\u012b jurist al-Mard\u0101w\u012b (d. 885\/1480) (though it was also reported that Ibn Taymiyya did not allow buying the children of those with whom Muslims had a treaty, since they are like dhimm\u012bs<\/em>). Al-Sh\u0101lanj\u012b (d. circa<\/em> 240\/854) stated that the only situation in which non-Muslims from outside the Abode of Islam cannot sell their children to Muslims is if they come into the Abode of Islam with safe conduct, since that creates safe passage for them as well as their children.17<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The complication of the immediate family bar is introduced by Ibn Mufli\u1e25 (d. 763\/1362), a prominent Syrian \u1e24anbal\u012b and disciple of Ibn Taymiyya. Whether one can purchase children from non-treaty, non-Muslims (\u1e25arb\u012b<\/em>) in the Abode of War \u201cdepends on that non-treaty, non-Muslim\u2019s emancipation by virtue of immediate family relation (ra\u1e25im<\/em>), does it occur or not, since it is a rule of Islam.\u201d18<\/a><\/sup> An earlier, prolific \u1e24anbal\u012b jurist, Ibn \u1e24amd\u0101n al-\u1e24arr\u0101n\u012b (d. 695\/1295), had raised the same question. He implied that the matter hinges on whether one believes the emancipation brought by immediate family ownership applies to non-Muslims or if it is simply a matter of one person acquiring control over someone they then have the right to sell.19<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A related parsing can be found in the Sh\u0101fi\u02bf\u012b school of law, which allows the purchase of non-Muslim children from their parents in the Abode of War while acknowledging the universality of the immediate family bar. Sh\u0101fi\u02bf\u012b scholars had long noted a tension between the immediate family bar, which they all assumed applied to non-Muslims and Muslims alike, and the raw control that allowed one person to subjugate and sell another. An authoritative voice in the school, the Qazvin jurist al-R\u0101fi\u02bf\u012b (d. 623\/1226), reports scholars in his school asserting both prohibition (due to the immediate family bar, a position he attributes to the Egyptian Sh\u0101fi\u02bf\u012b jurist Ibn al-\u1e24add\u0101d [d. 344\/955]) and permissibility (since forceful reduction to servitude [qahr<\/em>] eventually dilutes the immediate family bar). Al-R\u0101fi\u02bf\u012b himself favours prohibition.20<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the prominent Sh\u0101fi\u02bf\u012b voices that allowed buying children, however, did so through legal dodges (\u1e25iyal<\/em>). Al-M\u0101ward\u012b (d. 450\/1058) allowed buying a non-treaty, non-Muslim\u2019s child from them. But he and like-minded scholars argued this was not actually a sale, since the instant the parent formed the intention to sell their child, the child would be emancipated. Instead, this was simply the Muslim \u2018buyer\u2019 taking control (ist\u012bl\u0101\u02be<\/em>) of a child being offered by their parent in exchange for money (al-M\u0101ward\u012b seems to have allowed buying a child from a non-Muslim protected by treaty as well, but this was rejected by prominent later Sh\u0101fi\u02bf\u012bs like al-Haytam\u012b [d. 974\/1567] and \u02bfAbd al-\u1e24am\u012bd al-Shirw\u0101n\u012b [d. 1301\/1884]).21<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third position is one that defers to non-Muslims\u2019 norms. It is expressed by the influential early \u1e24anaf\u012b jurist Ab\u016b al-\u1e24asan al-Karkh\u012b (d. 340\/952) and is also chosen as correct by al-Walw\u0101l\u012bj\u012b: one can buy non-Muslims\u2019 children from them if that is acceptable in their culture<\/strong>.22<\/a><\/sup> Reasoning similar to this \u1e24anaf\u012b deference to local norms appears in the work of the prominent Ib\u0101\u1e0d\u012b scholar, Mu\u1e25ammad b. Y\u016bsuf A\u1e6d\u1e6dafayyish (d. 1333\/1914), who lived in the Algerian desert oasis of Wadi M\u2019zab. He states that it is disliked (makr\u016bh<\/em>) to buy slaves from a pagan Black African (mushrik<\/em>, al-s\u016bd\u0101n<\/em>) ruler selling his own subjects or from a pagan Black African selling their own relatives. Though many scholars consider it disliked or prohibited, A\u1e6d\u1e6dafayyish rules that, in the case of polytheists (i.e., not Christians or Jews) who are not<\/em> Black Africans (whom he sees as not possessing revealed religion), one can<\/em> purchase their children from them if that is acceptable in their religion <\/em>(d\u012bn<\/em>). Here he seems to take communities he understands to have customs rooted in a revelatory claim to be more worthy of deference than those he understands to be pure pagans. A\u1e6d\u1e6dafayyish also reports that other prominent Ib\u0101\u1e0d\u012b scholars consider it permissible to buy whatever polytheists offer for sale (excluding items that Muslims cannot purchase per se, like wine) because the presumption in any transaction is that one can purchase whatever the person one is transacting with (mu\u02bf\u0101mal<\/em>) believes it is acceptable to sell.23<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, A\u1e6d\u1e6dafayyish notes that some Ib\u0101\u1e0d\u012b scholars had allowed buying a non-Muslim\u2019s child but not other close relatives due to well-known Hadith, \u201cA man\u2019s child is part of what he has earned, and the best of what a person can consume is from what they have earned.\u201d24<\/a><\/sup> While this Hadith is widely held to be authentic, its normal interpretation is that a parent can access property held in trust for their child and that children have an obligation to provide for their parents. The claim that the Hadith allows parents to sell their children into slavery is, to my knowledge, unique.25<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whom Does God\u2019s Law Address?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As with Ibn Mufli\u1e25 and others, A\u1e6d\u1e6dafayyish explains that the question of buying non-Muslims\u2019 children as slaves hinges on whether one accepts that any person, Muslim or not, can enslave a close relative, since that relationship entails a duty of care (\u02bfahd<\/em>). One response, says A\u1e6d\u1e6dafayyish, is that \u201cThis applies to Islam, not to a polytheist owner.\u201d A\u1e6d\u1e6dafayyish finds this unconvincing. In his view, non-Muslims are addressed by God\u2019s revelation and law just as Muslims are.26<\/a><\/sup> Here A\u1e6d\u1e6dafayyish relates the question of non-Muslims selling their children to debates over who is accountable to the divine address (khi\u1e6d\u0101b All\u0101h<\/em>), a debate whose pervasiveness in Islamic thought the late Bernard Weiss noted \u201ccannot be exaggerated.\u201d27<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pace<\/em> A\u1e6d\u1e6dafayyish\u2019s relaxed claim that all people are accountable, the complexity and diversity of views on this issue can also not be exaggerated. The richness of this discourse on the addressees of revelatory commands in part stems from a fundamental tension present in the Quran itself and then in the foundations of Islamic substantive law. The Quran clearly aims its message at all people, believers and unbelievers alike, but it also allows those unbelievers who refuse to heed its message to continue their religious and even ethical practices under Muslim rule. They could deny the Prophet\u2019s message, drink wine and raise pigs. As al-Sh\u0101fi\u02bf\u012b (d. 204\/820) said, Muslims allow them to continue their rites and practices \u201cas long as they do not harm Muslims\u2026even if they harm each other.\u201d28<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though the vastness of this debate requires much more attention than can be given to it here, Muslim theologians offered two broad answers to why a human being obligated to heed revealed law and also possibly (according to the Mu\u02bftazilite school) accountable by their very capacity of reason to arrive at its same ethical commands might nonetheless be exempted from the commands and prohibitions of the Shariah (as Kevin Reinhart expertly explains, this exemption did not exonerate them from denying Islam; it merely meant that they were not also<\/em> guilty for not observing these prohibitions\/requirements).29<\/a><\/sup> First was that they either essentially opted out of this duty to heed by paying the jizya<\/em>. The second was that, due to their denial of God\u2019s message, they occupied a lower station of accountability than Muslims. Most Ash\u02bfar\u012b theologians (subsuming the bulk of Sh\u0101fi\u02bf\u012b and M\u0101lik\u012b jurists), M\u0101lik himself, most \u1e24anbal\u012bs and senior \u1e24anaf\u012bs like al-Karkh\u012b and Ab\u016b Zayd al-Dab\u016bs\u012b (d. 430\/1039) affirmed non-Muslims were accountable to the Shariah. Most \u1e24anaf\u012bs, in particular the school\u2019s Central Asian strain, held they were not, at least in theory. Some scholars sought to thread the needle more subtly. The \u1e24anaf\u012b al-Sarakhs\u012b (d. 490\/1096) held they were accountable to the rules of the Shariah (even if there were plenty of exemptions provided by established law) but not to acts of worship directed at salvation in the Hereafter. The Sh\u0101fi\u02bf\u012b polymath of Cairo, Badr al-D\u012bn al-Zarkash\u012b (d. 792\/1394), suggests that non-Muslims living under Muslim rule are addressed by the Shariah while those living in the Abode of War are not. In fact, al-Zarkash\u012b mentions our question of non-Muslims in the Abode of War selling their children as slaves as one determined by one\u2019s stance on whom is addressed by God\u2019s law. Tellingly, he cannot clearly say which side is correct.30<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nuances of the discourse on who is accountable to God\u2019s address are far too sophisticated for casual generalisations. But it is noteworthy that those who we see deferring to what is acceptable in the non-Muslims\u2019 culture tend to be \u1e24anaf\u012bs, who are generally associated with the position that non-Muslims are not accountable to God\u2019s address.31<\/a><\/sup> Even those \u1e24anaf\u012bs who feel they are, like al-Dab\u016bs\u012b, tend to offer crucial exceptions making it clear that Muslims are the locus of moral obligation, not humanity as a whole. For al-Dab\u016bs\u012b, non-Muslims may be addressed by God\u2019s message. But they only become responsible for it and for its rules when they become aware of it, which would not be the case in the Abode of War.32<\/a><\/sup> It is thus no surprise that al-Dab\u016bs\u012b rules that non-Muslims in the Abode of War can<\/em> validly sell their children to one another. But a Muslim can under no circumstances purchase the child from them.33<\/a><\/sup> For him, the immediate family bar only entails the duty that a Muslim should not buy the non-Muslim child from their parents. Al-Sarakhs\u012b may have considered non-Muslims accountable to God\u2019s revelation and its moral rules, but his legal rulings suggest this did not count in practice beyond the borders of the Abode of Islam. Discussing buying slaves from non-Muslim merchants from the Abode of War, he says, all things being equal, a Muslim should not purchase slaves from them if that would separate family members from one another. For, \u201ceven if [the non-Muslim] is not addressed (mukh\u0101\u1e6dab<\/em>) by the prohibition on separating family members, the Muslim buyer is addressed with precaution against causing such a separation.\u201d34<\/a><\/sup> This explanation creates a pregnant ambiguity: are Muslims responsible not to facilitate separating family members because separating them is something Muslims<\/em> are not allowed to do or because this is a universal prohibition that non-Muslims are simply not aware of or bound by?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusions: Universality vs. Relativity in the Shariah\u2019s Normative View<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As a number of prominent Muslim scholars put it, how one views the question of buying non-Muslims\u2019 children from them depends on whether one thinks the Prophet\u2019s statement that someone cannot own their own close relative is universal or limited to those deemed accountable to the Shariah of Islam. One perspective is very clearly that, as al-Awz\u0101\u02bf\u012b put it, \u201cour laws do not apply to them.\u201d Like eating pork, the normative dimension of selling one\u2019s children simply does not exist for non-Muslims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For other scholars, the Prophet\u2019s command is universal: no one can own their own children, no matter where they are or what they believe. This position raises an interesting interpretive question. When the Prophet said, \u201cWhosoever owns a close relative, that close relative is free,\u201d should this be understood as a statement of fact or a prescriptive moral command? If a prescriptive moral command, then this position assumes that the Shariah applies to all humans, Muslims or non-Muslims, everywhere (at least in this case\u2026and we\u2019d presume that scholars would have to explain why it would not apply in all others). If it is a statement of fact, it seems to reach beyond the normative arm of the Shariah into a realm of something akin to natural law. When A\u1e6d\u1e6dafayyish says that no one can own\/sell their child because the parental relationship involves an element of responsibility and care (\u02bfahd<\/em>), that seems to be a reflection of human nature quite apart from divine commandments. The statement \u2018No one can own a close relative\u2019 would be akin to \u2018The mother-infant relationship is one of care.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A third, intermediary position, involves the question of intersecting moralities: non-Muslims can sell their children to each other, but Muslims cannot purchase them. This position could be viewed from two angles. The first is merely one of divine command: a non-Muslim can sell their child to another non-Muslim, but a Muslim cannot purchase them, just as one Christian can sell pork to another, but a Muslim cannot buy it. From the second angle, we read divine command as grounded in some ethical aim: a non-Muslim can sell their child to another non-Muslim, but Muslims cannot buy that child because Muslims cannot facilitate what God has defined as morally wrong, like breaking up a family. This second reading would interpret the Shariah ban on selling children as universal in its moral applicability but somehow only binding on Muslims. Finally, a last position effectively views the moral systems of non-Muslims outside the Abode of Islam as wholly determinative for them. If they consider it acceptable to sell their children, then there is nothing immoral about it, and Muslims can buy them. Here, the Shariah is a normative system that stops at the borders. It is noteworthy that the view that seems effectively to predominate, by principle, by deference or by legal dodge, is that Muslims can buy the children of non-Muslims sold to them in the Abode of War. There were willing sellers, willing buyers and, as with most transactions that we still engage in on a daily basis today, finite energy to investigate the ethical sourcing of what we buy. The maxim that we presume that those who wish to sell us something do so willingly and legitimately is ultimately the most practical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n
  1. Georg Simmel, Sociology of Georg Simmel<\/em>, trans. Kurt H. Wolff (New York: Free Press, 1950), 273\u201374.\u00a0 \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  2. See Irene Schneider, \u201cFreedom and Slavery in Early Islamic Time (1st<\/sup>\/7th<\/sup> and 2nd<\/sup>\/8th<\/sup> Centuries),\u201d Al-Qantara<\/em> 28, n. 2 (2007): 369-373. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  3. Suzanne Miers, \u201cSlavery: A Question of Definition,\u201d Slavery & Abolition<\/em> 24 (2003), 6; Justinian Codex 7.16.1 and 4.43.1, 4.10.12; Catherine Hezser, Jewish Slavery in Antiquity<\/em> (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 187\u201388, 190. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  4. \u02bfAbd al-Q\u0101dir al-Bad\u0101y\u016bn\u012b, Muntakhabu-t-Taw\u0101r\u012bkh<\/em>, trans. W. H. Lowe, 3 vols. (Delhi: Renaissance Publishing, 1986), 2:405. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  5. Bad\u0101y\u016bn\u012b, Muntakhab al-tav\u0101r\u012bkh<\/em> ([Lucknow]: Nawal Kishore, 1868), 301. Bad\u0101y\u016bn\u012b explains that N\u0101g\u016br\u012b had cited as his authority the fiqh<\/em> compendium Fat\u0101w\u0101 Ibr\u0101h\u012bm Sh\u0101h\u012b<\/em>, written for this famous ruler of the Sharq\u012b sultanate of Jaunpur by Shih\u0101b al-D\u012bn A\u1e25mad b. Mu\u1e25ammad Ni\u1e93\u0101m G\u012bl\u0101n\u012b\/K\u012bk\u0101n\u012b\/K\u012bkal\u0101n\u012b (sources differ on his name, d. 874\u20135\/1469\u201371), who had been invited to Jaunpur by the sultan and made a judge there. See Mian M. Saeed, The Sharqi Sultanate of Jaunpur<\/em> (Karachi: University of Karachi Press, 1973), 181, 188-9; K\u0101tib Cheleb\u012b, Kashf al-\u1e93un\u016bn<\/em>, ed. Mu\u1e25ammad \u02bfAbd al-Q\u0101dir \u02bfA\u1e6d\u0101, 7 vols. (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Kutub al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 2008), 1:83; \u02bfAbd al-\u1e24ayy al-\u1e24asan\u012b, Nuzhat al-khaw\u0101\u1e6dir<\/em>, 3rd<\/sup> ed. (Hyderabad: D\u0101\u02beirat al-Ma\u02bf\u0101rif al-\u02bfUthm\u0101niyya, 1408\/1988), 3:16\u201317. I have located what appears to be the second of two sizable manuscript volumes of the Fat\u0101w\u0101 Ibr\u0101h\u012bm Sh\u0101h\u012b<\/em> but have not been able to find this material in it.\u00a0 \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  6. Ab\u016b Y\u016bsuf Mull\u0101 J\u012bvan Ameth\u012b, al-Tafs\u012br\u0101t al-A\u1e25madiyya<\/em> (Kazan: Kh\u0101r\u012b\u1e6diy\u016bnif Ma\u1e6dba\u02bfa, 1904), 334\u201335. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  7. Amal Kumar Chattopadhyay, Slavery in the Bengal Presidency, 1772\u20131843 <\/em>(London: Golden Eagle Publishing House, 1977),81\u201383, 158\u201361. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  8. C\u00e9sar E. Dubler, Ab\u016b \u1e24\u0101mid El Granadino y su Relaci\u00f3n de Viaje por Tierras Eurasi\u00e1ticas <\/em>(Madrid: Imprenta y Editorial Maestre, 1953),24; Ab\u016b Is\u1e25\u0101q al-I\u1e63\u1e6dakhr\u012b, al-Mas\u0101lik wa-l-mam\u0101lik <\/em>(Beirut: D\u0101r \u1e62\u0101dir, 1990, reprint of MJ. de Goeje\u2019s 1927 Brill edition), 223. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  9. For more details on this, see my essay “Incest & Widow Burning: How Much Can Muslims Stomach?”. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  10. See Anver Emon, Religious Pluralism and Islamic Law<\/em> (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 110\u201312. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  11. \u02bfAl\u012b b. Khalaf Ibn Ba\u1e6d\u1e6d\u0101l, Shar\u1e25 \u1e62a\u1e25\u012b\u1e25 al-Bukh\u0101r\u012b<\/em>, ed. Ab\u016b Tam\u012bm Y\u0101sir Ibr\u0101h\u012bm, 10 vols. (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Rushd, 1423\/2003), 6:341\u201342. See also Ibn \u1e24ajar, Fat\u1e25 al-B\u0101r\u012b<\/em>, ed. \u02bfAbd al-\u02bfAz\u012bz bin B\u0101z and Ayman Fu\u02be\u0101d \u02bfAbd al-B\u0101q\u012b, 16 vols. (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Kutub al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 1997), 4:517\u201318. For these Hadiths, see \u1e62a\u1e25\u012b\u1e25 al-Bukh\u0101r\u012b<\/em>: kit\u0101b al-buy\u016b\u02bf<\/em>, b\u0101b shir\u0101\u02be al-maml\u016bk min al-\u1e25arb\u012b wa-wahbatihi wa \u02bfitqihi<\/em>. For the full story of Salm\u0101n, see Musnad A\u1e25mad Ibn \u1e24anbal<\/em> (Maymaniyya ed.), 5:442\u201343; see also Andrew D. Magnusson, Zoroastrians in Early Islamic History: Accommodation and Memory<\/em> (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2022), 84\u201386. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  12. Al-Walw\u0101l\u012bj\u012b\u2019s affirmation of the validity of such slavery was representative; \u1e92ah\u012br al-D\u012bn \u02bfAbd al-Rash\u012bd al-Walw\u0101l\u012bj\u012b, al-Fat\u0101w\u0101 al-walw\u0101l\u012bjiyya<\/em>, ed. Khal\u012bl al-Mays, 4 vols. (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Kutub al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 2003), 2:307\u2013308. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  13. Man malaka dh\u0101 ra\u1e25im ma\u1e25ram fa-huwa \u1e25urr<\/em>. See Sunan<\/em> of Ab\u016b D\u0101w\u016bd: kit\u0101b al-\u02bfitq<\/em>, b\u0101b f\u012b man malaka dh\u0101 ra\u1e25im ma\u1e25ram<\/em>; J\u0101mi\u02bf al-Tirmidh\u012b<\/em>: kit\u0101b al-a\u1e25k\u0101m<\/em>, b\u0101b m\u0101 j\u0101\u02bea f\u012b man malaka dh\u0101 ra\u1e25im ma\u1e25ram<\/em>. Ab\u016b D\u0101w\u016bd and al-Tirmidh\u012b note some of the disagreements about whether the most reliable versions of this saying go back to the Prophet or to \u02bfUmar as well as some inconsistencies in the isn\u0101d<\/em> of some narrations of the report. See also Ab\u016b Sulaym\u0101n al-Kha\u1e6d\u1e6d\u0101b\u012b, Ma\u02bf\u0101lim al-sunan<\/em>, 2nd<\/sup> ed., 4 vols. (Beirut: al-Maktaba al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 1981), 4:72; Ab\u016b Bakr al-Bayhaq\u012b, al-Sunan al-kubr\u0101<\/em>, ed. Mu\u1e25ammad \u02bfAbd al-Q\u0101dir \u02bfA\u1e6d\u0101, 11 vols. (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Kutub al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 1999), 10:487\u201391. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  14. Al-Walw\u0101l\u012bj\u012b, al-Fat\u0101w\u0101 al-walw\u0101l\u012bjiyya<\/em>, 2:307\u2013308. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  15. The things Muslims are not allowed to buy from non-Muslims in the Abode of War are things they would not be allowed to buy by their very essence, such as wine or pigs; Ma\u1e25mad (sic) b. A\u1e25mad al-Ruh\u016bn\u012b et al., \u1e24\u0101shiyat al-Ruh\u016bn\u012b \u02bfal\u0101 Shar\u1e25 al-shaykh \u02bfAbd al-B\u0101q\u012b al-Zurq\u0101n\u012b li-Mukhta\u1e63ar al-Khal\u012bl<\/em>, 8 vols. (Cairo\/B\u016bl\u0101q: al-Ma\u1e6dba\u02bfa al-Am\u012briyya, 1306\/1889), 3:5 (thanks to my student Mohamad Ali for this citation). See also Mu\u1e25ammad b. Mu\u1e25ammad al-\u1e24a\u1e6d\u1e6d\u0101b, Maw\u0101hib al-jal\u012bl li-shar\u1e25 Mukhta\u1e63ar Khal\u012bl<\/em>, ed. Zakariyy\u0101 \u02bfUmayr\u0101t, 8 vols. (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Kutub al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 1416\/1995), 4:566. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  16. Ab\u016b \u02bfUbayd, Kit\u0101b al-Awm\u0101l<\/em>, 1:252. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  17. Shams al-D\u012bn Mu\u1e25ammad Ibn Mufli\u1e25, Kit\u0101b al-Fur\u016b\u02bf<\/em>, ed. \u02bfAbd All\u0101h \u02bfAbd al-Mu\u1e25sin al-Turk\u012b, 12 vols. (Beirut: Mu\u02beassassat al-Ris\u0101la; Riyadh: D\u0101r al-Mu\u02beayyad, 1424\/2003), 10:316; \u02bfAl\u012b b. Sulaym\u0101n al-Mard\u0101w\u012b, al-In\u1e63\u0101f f\u012b ma\u02bfrifat al-r\u0101ji\u1e25 min al-khil\u0101f<\/em>, ed. Mu\u1e25ammad \u1e24\u0101mid al-Fiq\u012b, 12 vols. ([Cairo]: Ma\u1e6dba\u02bfat al-Sunna al-Mu\u1e25ammadiyya, 1374\/1955), 4:215. This al-Sh\u0101lanj\u012b seems to be Ab\u016b Is\u1e25\u0101q Ism\u0101\u02bf\u012bl b. Sa\u02bf\u012bd al-Sh\u0101lanj\u012b, d. either 246\/861 or 230\/845, with whom Ibn \u1e24anbal had legal discussions and who, according to the \u1e24anbal\u012b school, was also a transmitter of Ibn \u1e24anbal\u2019s legal responsa. See Mu\u1e25ammad Ibn Ab\u012b Ya\u02bfl\u0101, \u1e6cabaq\u0101t al-\u1e25an\u0101bila<\/em>, ed. \u02bfAbd al-Ra\u1e25m\u0101n Sulaym\u0101n al-\u02bfUthaym\u012bn, 3 vols. (Riyadh: n.p., 1419\/1999), 1:273\u201375; Ibn al-Jawz\u012b, al-Munta\u1e93am<\/em> f\u012b t\u0101r\u012bkh al-mul\u016bk wa-l-umam<\/em>, ed. Mu\u1e25ammad \u02bfAbd al-Q\u0101dir \u02bfA\u1e6d\u0101 and Mu\u1e63\u1e6daf\u0101 \u02bfAbd al-Q\u0101dir \u02bfA\u1e6d\u0101, 18 vols. (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Kutub al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 1992), 11:155, 341; idem, al-Lub\u0101b f\u012b tahdh\u012bb al-ans\u0101b<\/em>, 3 vols. (Baghdad: Maktabat al-Muthann\u0101, n.d.), 2:177. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  18. Ibn Mufli\u1e25, 10:316. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  19. Al-Mard\u0101w\u012b, 4:216. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  20. \u02bfAbd al-Kar\u012bm al-R\u0101fi\u02bf\u012b, al-\u02bfAz\u012bz f\u012b shar\u1e25 al-Waj\u012bz<\/em>, ed. Ya\u1e25y\u0101 \u1e24usayn Mus\u0101w\u0101 al-Mub\u0101rak\u012b, 23 vols. (Dubai: J\u0101izat Dubay al-Dawliyya li-l-Qur\u02be\u0101n al-Kar\u012bm, 1438\/2016), 22:367\u201368. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  21. The response to al-M\u0101ward\u012b\u2019s permitting buying the treaty-holder\u2019s child was that the parent\u2019s decision to sell their child annulled the child\u2019s protected status, so purchasing them would not be a sound transaction; Ibn \u1e24ajar al-Haytam\u012b et al., \u1e24aw\u0101sh\u012b Tu\u1e25fat al-muht\u0101j bi-shar\u1e25 al-Minh\u0101j<\/em>, 10 vols. (Cairo: Ma\u1e6dba\u02bfat Mu\u1e63\u1e6daf\u0101 Mu\u1e25ammad, n.d.), 4:248. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  22. Al-Walw\u0101l\u012bj\u012b, al-Fat\u0101w\u0101 al-walw\u0101l\u012bjiyya<\/em>, 2:307\u2013308. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  23. A\u1e6d\u1e6dafayyish, Shar\u1e25 Kit\u0101b al-N\u012bl<\/em>, 8:265\u201368. See also Yacine Daddi Addoun, \u201cSlavery and Abolition in Ib\u0101\u1e0d\u012b Theology: The Thought, the Un-Thought, the Unthinkable,\u201din Ibadi Theology: Rereading Sources and Scholarly Works<\/em>, ed. Ersilia Francesca (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 2015), 235\u201336. As al-\u1e6cabar\u012b and others held, People of the Book affirmed God\u2019s unity (taw\u1e25\u012bd<\/em>), while pagans did not; Ibn \u1e24ajar, Fat\u1e25<\/em>, 6:139. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  24. The Hadith his cites is: walad al-rajul min kasbihi wa-inna af\u1e0dal m\u0101 ya\u02bekulu al-ins\u0101n min kasbihi<\/em>; A\u1e6d\u1e6dafayyish, Shar\u1e25 Kit\u0101b al-N\u012bl<\/em>, 8:266\u201367. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  25. This Hadith appears in major Sunni Hadith collections, such as Sunan<\/em> of Ab\u016b D\u0101w\u016bd: kit\u0101b al-ij\u0101ra<\/em>, b\u0101b f\u012b al-rajul ya\u02bekulu min m\u0101l waladihi <\/em>(inna min a\u1e6dyab<\/em>\u2026); J\u0101mi\u02bf al-Tirmidh\u012b<\/em>: kit\u0101b al-a\u1e25k\u0101m<\/em>, b\u0101b m\u0101 j\u0101\u02bea anna al-w\u0101lid ya\u02bekhudhu min m\u0101l waladihi<\/em>; Sunan al-Nas\u0101\u02be\u012b<\/em>: kit\u0101b al-buy\u016b\u02bf<\/em>, b\u0101b al-\u1e25athth \u02bfal\u0101 al-kasb<\/em>. It forms the subject of an interesting treatise by the Yemeni reformist scholar Ibn al-Am\u012br al-\u1e62an\u02bf\u0101n\u012b (d. 1182\/1768), Ris\u0101la la\u1e6d\u012bfa f\u012b shar\u1e25 \u1e25ad\u012bth anta wa-m\u0101lika li-ab\u012bk<\/em>, ed. Mus\u0101\u02bfid S\u0101lim al-\u02bfAbd al-J\u0101dir (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Bash\u0101\u02beir al-Isl\u0101miyya, 1422\/2001). \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  26. A\u1e6d\u1e6dafayyish, 8:267. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  27. Bernard Weiss, The Spirit of Islamic Law<\/em> (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1998), 34. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  28. See al-Sh\u0101fi\u02bf\u012b, al-Umm<\/em>, ed. Rif\u02bfat Fawz\u012b \u02bfAbd al-Mu\u1e6d\u1e6dalib, 11 vols. (Mansoura: D\u0101r al-Waf\u0101\u02be, 1422\/2001), 5:504. The earliest evidence for the permissibility of keeping pigs, selling wine, etc. seems to be its appearance as accepted fact in early legal works, such as the Umm<\/em> of al-Sh\u0101fi\u02bf\u012b; ibid., 5:507. Some narrations of various \u2018Pacts of \u02bfUmar\u2019 (e.g., one narrated by al-\u1e24a\u1e6d\u012b\u1e6d\u012b) include the clause that non-Muslims will \u201cnot sell wine in the markets of Muslims<\/em>,\u201d while others state they will not sell wine with no qualification mentioned; \u02bfAbd All\u0101h b. A\u1e25mad al-Raba\u02bf\u012b, Juz\u02be f\u012bhi shur\u016b\u1e6d al-na\u1e63\u0101r\u0101<\/em>, ed. Anas \u02bfAbd al-Ra\u1e25m\u0101n al-\u02bfAq\u012bl (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Bash\u0101\u2019ir al-Isl\u0101miyya, 1427\/2006), 24, 27, 31. For the variety of Pact of \u02bfUmar arrangements re: wine and pigs, see also Levy-Rubin, Non-Muslims in the Early Islamic Empire<\/em>, 66, 72, 81, 83, 176. Levy-Rubin notes how at some points, such as in Tulunid Egypt, wine was widely prohibited even in Christian areas; Levy-Rubin, 109. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  29. Kevin Reinhart, \u201cFailures of Practice or Failures of Faith: Are Non-Muslims Subject to the Sharia?,\u201d in Between Heaven and Hell: Islam, Salvation, and the Fate of Others<\/em>, ed. Mohammad Hassan Khalil (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 14. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  30. Reinhart, 17; Emon, 83\u201386; Mu\u1e25ammad b. Bah\u0101dur al-Zarkash\u012b, al-Ba\u1e25r al-mu\u1e25\u012b\u1e6d<\/em> f\u012b u\u1e63\u016bl al-fiqh<\/em>, ed. Mu\u1e25ammad Mu\u1e25ammad T\u0101mir, 4 vols. (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Kutub al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 2007), 1:320\u201330 (329 in particular). \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  31. It is tempting to link this constellation of positions to these \u1e24anaf\u012bs\u2019 position on the \u2018edges\u2019 of Islamdom. As Reinhart observes, \u201cIn short, it is frontier Muslims who support the \u2018non-addressed\u2019 position\u2026.\u201d But that does not account for the positions of other \u2018frontier\u2019 Muslims like M\u0101lik\u012bs. See Reinhart, 17. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  32. Ab\u016b Zayd al-Dab\u016bs\u012b, Taqw\u012bm al-adilla f\u012b u\u1e63\u016bl al-fiqh<\/em>, ed. Khal\u012bl Mu\u1e25y\u012b al-D\u012bn al-Mays (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Kutub al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 1421\/2001), 431\u201332. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  33. Ibn Ab\u012b al-Waf\u0101\u02be al-Qurash\u012b, al-Jaw\u0101hir al-mu\u1e0diyya f\u012b \u1e6dabaq\u0101t al-\u1e25anafiyya<\/em>, ed. \u02bfAbd al-Fatt\u0101\u1e25 Mu\u1e25ammad al-\u1e24uluw, 5 vols. (Giza: Mu\u2019assasat al-Ris\u0101la, 1978\u201388), 4:94. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  34. Al-Sarakhs\u012b, al-Mabs\u016b\u1e6d<\/em>, 30 vols. (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Ma\u02bfrifa, 1409\/1989), 13:142. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Questions Raised in South Asia: Selling One\u2019s Children and the Shariah For millennia, one of the ways people entered slavery was as children sold by their families. This seems unthinkable to many today. As the sociologist Georg Simmel (d. 1336\/1918) observed, however, our valuation of goods like freedom only makes sense in a context of minimum safety and subsistence. Parents who lacked such basic needs might sell their children if they were threatened, if their family were starving, or if…<\/p>\n

    Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"Georg Simmel, Sociology of Georg Simmel<\/em>, trans. Kurt H. Wolff (New York: Free Press, 1950), 273\u201374.\u00a0\",\"id\":\"b393e792-1ca8-47a2-8b09-725902ed0999\"},{\"content\":\"See Irene Schneider, \u201cFreedom and Slavery in Early Islamic Time (1st<\/sup>\/7th<\/sup> and 2nd<\/sup>\/8th<\/sup> Centuries),\u201d Al-Qantara<\/em> 28, n. 2 (2007): 369-373.\",\"id\":\"4d33adc5-5a4c-4b6c-9985-1e3d0d0f041c\"},{\"content\":\"Suzanne Miers, \u201cSlavery: A Question of Definition,\u201d Slavery & Abolition<\/em> 24 (2003), 6; Justinian Codex 7.16.1 and 4.43.1, 4.10.12; Catherine Hezser, Jewish Slavery in Antiquity<\/em> (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 187\u201388, 190.\",\"id\":\"d38c15cc-8498-4f9d-8b95-e617bf8bb7ce\"},{\"content\":\"\u02bfAbd al-Q\u0101dir al-Bad\u0101y\u016bn\u012b, Muntakhabu-t-Taw\u0101r\u012bkh<\/em>, trans. W. H. Lowe, 3 vols. (Delhi: Renaissance Publishing, 1986), 2:405.\",\"id\":\"9b576b4f-ac6c-429c-9515-de36dd529430\"},{\"content\":\"Bad\u0101y\u016bn\u012b, Muntakhab al-tav\u0101r\u012bkh<\/em> ([Lucknow]: Nawal Kishore, 1868), 301. Bad\u0101y\u016bn\u012b explains that N\u0101g\u016br\u012b had cited as his authority the fiqh<\/em> compendium Fat\u0101w\u0101 Ibr\u0101h\u012bm Sh\u0101h\u012b<\/em>, written for this famous ruler of the Sharq\u012b sultanate of Jaunpur by Shih\u0101b al-D\u012bn A\u1e25mad b. Mu\u1e25ammad Ni\u1e93\u0101m G\u012bl\u0101n\u012b\/K\u012bk\u0101n\u012b\/K\u012bkal\u0101n\u012b (sources differ on his name, d. 874\u20135\/1469\u201371), who had been invited to Jaunpur by the sultan and made a judge there. See Mian M. Saeed, The Sharqi Sultanate of Jaunpur<\/em> (Karachi: University of Karachi Press, 1973), 181, 188-9; K\u0101tib Cheleb\u012b, Kashf al-\u1e93un\u016bn<\/em>, ed. Mu\u1e25ammad \u02bfAbd al-Q\u0101dir \u02bfA\u1e6d\u0101, 7 vols. (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Kutub al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 2008), 1:83; \u02bfAbd al-\u1e24ayy al-\u1e24asan\u012b, Nuzhat al-khaw\u0101\u1e6dir<\/em>, 3rd<\/sup> ed. (Hyderabad: D\u0101\u02beirat al-Ma\u02bf\u0101rif al-\u02bfUthm\u0101niyya, 1408\/1988), 3:16\u201317. I have located what appears to be the second of two sizable manuscript volumes of the Fat\u0101w\u0101 Ibr\u0101h\u012bm Sh\u0101h\u012b<\/em> but have not been able to find this material in it.\u00a0\",\"id\":\"245fd0e1-5123-4075-9efa-7a8f1dd156cf\"},{\"content\":\"Ab\u016b Y\u016bsuf Mull\u0101 J\u012bvan Ameth\u012b, al-Tafs\u012br\u0101t al-A\u1e25madiyya<\/em> (Kazan: Kh\u0101r\u012b\u1e6diy\u016bnif Ma\u1e6dba\u02bfa, 1904), 334\u201335.\",\"id\":\"5708ce82-6e72-4ce6-8065-12dc179094d9\"},{\"content\":\"Amal Kumar Chattopadhyay, Slavery in the Bengal Presidency, 1772\u20131843 <\/em>(London: Golden Eagle Publishing House, 1977),81\u201383, 158\u201361.\",\"id\":\"3dec2d14-69d6-461b-b20a-c1afde93a85a\"},{\"content\":\"C\u00e9sar E. Dubler, Ab\u016b \u1e24\u0101mid El Granadino y su Relaci\u00f3n de Viaje por Tierras Eurasi\u00e1ticas <\/em>(Madrid: Imprenta y Editorial Maestre, 1953),24; Ab\u016b Is\u1e25\u0101q al-I\u1e63\u1e6dakhr\u012b, al-Mas\u0101lik wa-l-mam\u0101lik <\/em>(Beirut: D\u0101r \u1e62\u0101dir, 1990, reprint of MJ. de Goeje\u2019s 1927 Brill edition), 223.\",\"id\":\"c08c5096-dc5b-4874-88e5-e1656699d402\"},{\"content\":\"For more details on this, see my essay \\\"Incest & Widow Burning: How Much Can Muslims Stomach?\\\".\",\"id\":\"e87a74ce-3fcb-47da-adef-e2d1b5136628\"},{\"content\":\"See Anver Emon, Religious Pluralism and Islamic Law<\/em> (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 110\u201312.\",\"id\":\"ff6627bc-71d3-4c28-8f38-6afd9846395e\"},{\"content\":\"\u02bfAl\u012b b. Khalaf Ibn Ba\u1e6d\u1e6d\u0101l, Shar\u1e25 \u1e62a\u1e25\u012b\u1e25 al-Bukh\u0101r\u012b<\/em>, ed. Ab\u016b Tam\u012bm Y\u0101sir Ibr\u0101h\u012bm, 10 vols. (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Rushd, 1423\/2003), 6:341\u201342. See also Ibn \u1e24ajar, Fat\u1e25 al-B\u0101r\u012b<\/em>, ed. \u02bfAbd al-\u02bfAz\u012bz bin B\u0101z and Ayman Fu\u02be\u0101d \u02bfAbd al-B\u0101q\u012b, 16 vols. (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Kutub al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 1997), 4:517\u201318. For these Hadiths, see \u1e62a\u1e25\u012b\u1e25 al-Bukh\u0101r\u012b<\/em>: kit\u0101b al-buy\u016b\u02bf<\/em>, b\u0101b shir\u0101\u02be al-maml\u016bk min al-\u1e25arb\u012b wa-wahbatihi wa \u02bfitqihi<\/em>. For the full story of Salm\u0101n, see Musnad A\u1e25mad Ibn \u1e24anbal<\/em> (Maymaniyya ed.), 5:442\u201343; see also Andrew D. Magnusson, Zoroastrians in Early Islamic History: Accommodation and Memory<\/em> (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2022), 84\u201386.\",\"id\":\"98980706-89c4-4b48-b281-0b7d6cd226ab\"},{\"content\":\"Al-Walw\u0101l\u012bj\u012b\u2019s affirmation of the validity of such slavery was representative; \u1e92ah\u012br al-D\u012bn \u02bfAbd al-Rash\u012bd al-Walw\u0101l\u012bj\u012b, al-Fat\u0101w\u0101 al-walw\u0101l\u012bjiyya<\/em>, ed. Khal\u012bl al-Mays, 4 vols. (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Kutub al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 2003), 2:307\u2013308.\",\"id\":\"11e83763-f7fa-44c5-8513-b9cabdfac9dc\"},{\"content\":\"Man malaka dh\u0101 ra\u1e25im ma\u1e25ram fa-huwa \u1e25urr<\/em>. See Sunan<\/em> of Ab\u016b D\u0101w\u016bd: kit\u0101b al-\u02bfitq<\/em>, b\u0101b f\u012b man malaka dh\u0101 ra\u1e25im ma\u1e25ram<\/em>; J\u0101mi\u02bf al-Tirmidh\u012b<\/em>: kit\u0101b al-a\u1e25k\u0101m<\/em>, b\u0101b m\u0101 j\u0101\u02bea f\u012b man malaka dh\u0101 ra\u1e25im ma\u1e25ram<\/em>. Ab\u016b D\u0101w\u016bd and al-Tirmidh\u012b note some of the disagreements about whether the most reliable versions of this saying go back to the Prophet or to \u02bfUmar as well as some inconsistencies in the isn\u0101d<\/em> of some narrations of the report. See also Ab\u016b Sulaym\u0101n al-Kha\u1e6d\u1e6d\u0101b\u012b, Ma\u02bf\u0101lim al-sunan<\/em>, 2nd<\/sup> ed., 4 vols. (Beirut: al-Maktaba al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 1981), 4:72; Ab\u016b Bakr al-Bayhaq\u012b, al-Sunan al-kubr\u0101<\/em>, ed. Mu\u1e25ammad \u02bfAbd al-Q\u0101dir \u02bfA\u1e6d\u0101, 11 vols. (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Kutub al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 1999), 10:487\u201391.\",\"id\":\"592ca718-ac4b-47c4-b5de-224df0ee604f\"},{\"content\":\"Al-Walw\u0101l\u012bj\u012b, al-Fat\u0101w\u0101 al-walw\u0101l\u012bjiyya<\/em>, 2:307\u2013308.\",\"id\":\"bd303c3c-7eea-4a5b-9770-0041032e1cb2\"},{\"content\":\"The things Muslims are not allowed to buy from non-Muslims in the Abode of War are things they would not be allowed to buy by their very essence, such as wine or pigs; Ma\u1e25mad (sic) b. A\u1e25mad al-Ruh\u016bn\u012b et al., \u1e24\u0101shiyat al-Ruh\u016bn\u012b \u02bfal\u0101 Shar\u1e25 al-shaykh \u02bfAbd al-B\u0101q\u012b al-Zurq\u0101n\u012b li-Mukhta\u1e63ar al-Khal\u012bl<\/em>, 8 vols. (Cairo\/B\u016bl\u0101q: al-Ma\u1e6dba\u02bfa al-Am\u012briyya, 1306\/1889), 3:5 (thanks to my student Mohamad Ali for this citation). See also Mu\u1e25ammad b. Mu\u1e25ammad al-\u1e24a\u1e6d\u1e6d\u0101b, Maw\u0101hib al-jal\u012bl li-shar\u1e25 Mukhta\u1e63ar Khal\u012bl<\/em>, ed. Zakariyy\u0101 \u02bfUmayr\u0101t, 8 vols. (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Kutub al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 1416\/1995), 4:566.\",\"id\":\"fb7d79ae-31ef-4680-b149-5bedda9a566a\"},{\"content\":\"Ab\u016b \u02bfUbayd, Kit\u0101b al-Awm\u0101l<\/em>, 1:252.\",\"id\":\"ee021dba-0b14-4a13-9201-cbd819f102ca\"},{\"content\":\"Shams al-D\u012bn Mu\u1e25ammad Ibn Mufli\u1e25, Kit\u0101b al-Fur\u016b\u02bf<\/em>, ed. \u02bfAbd All\u0101h \u02bfAbd al-Mu\u1e25sin al-Turk\u012b, 12 vols. (Beirut: Mu\u02beassassat al-Ris\u0101la; Riyadh: D\u0101r al-Mu\u02beayyad, 1424\/2003), 10:316; \u02bfAl\u012b b. Sulaym\u0101n al-Mard\u0101w\u012b, al-In\u1e63\u0101f f\u012b ma\u02bfrifat al-r\u0101ji\u1e25 min al-khil\u0101f<\/em>, ed. Mu\u1e25ammad \u1e24\u0101mid al-Fiq\u012b, 12 vols. ([Cairo]: Ma\u1e6dba\u02bfat al-Sunna al-Mu\u1e25ammadiyya, 1374\/1955), 4:215. This al-Sh\u0101lanj\u012b seems to be Ab\u016b Is\u1e25\u0101q Ism\u0101\u02bf\u012bl b. Sa\u02bf\u012bd al-Sh\u0101lanj\u012b, d. either 246\/861 or 230\/845, with whom Ibn \u1e24anbal had legal discussions and who, according to the \u1e24anbal\u012b school, was also a transmitter of Ibn \u1e24anbal\u2019s legal responsa. See Mu\u1e25ammad Ibn Ab\u012b Ya\u02bfl\u0101, \u1e6cabaq\u0101t al-\u1e25an\u0101bila<\/em>, ed. \u02bfAbd al-Ra\u1e25m\u0101n Sulaym\u0101n al-\u02bfUthaym\u012bn, 3 vols. (Riyadh: n.p., 1419\/1999), 1:273\u201375; Ibn al-Jawz\u012b, al-Munta\u1e93am<\/em> f\u012b t\u0101r\u012bkh al-mul\u016bk wa-l-umam<\/em>, ed. Mu\u1e25ammad \u02bfAbd al-Q\u0101dir \u02bfA\u1e6d\u0101 and Mu\u1e63\u1e6daf\u0101 \u02bfAbd al-Q\u0101dir \u02bfA\u1e6d\u0101, 18 vols. (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Kutub al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 1992), 11:155, 341; idem, al-Lub\u0101b f\u012b tahdh\u012bb al-ans\u0101b<\/em>, 3 vols. (Baghdad: Maktabat al-Muthann\u0101, n.d.), 2:177.\",\"id\":\"8a0b4292-5283-46c0-90eb-0ff18adee334\"},{\"content\":\"Ibn Mufli\u1e25, 10:316.\",\"id\":\"5a92f191-36c9-40bf-98f9-da31862395cd\"},{\"content\":\"Al-Mard\u0101w\u012b, 4:216.\",\"id\":\"13b72f7d-1450-44a0-bdf8-a35e5bf8ba74\"},{\"content\":\"\u02bfAbd al-Kar\u012bm al-R\u0101fi\u02bf\u012b, al-\u02bfAz\u012bz f\u012b shar\u1e25 al-Waj\u012bz<\/em>, ed. Ya\u1e25y\u0101 \u1e24usayn Mus\u0101w\u0101 al-Mub\u0101rak\u012b, 23 vols. (Dubai: J\u0101izat Dubay al-Dawliyya li-l-Qur\u02be\u0101n al-Kar\u012bm, 1438\/2016), 22:367\u201368.\",\"id\":\"c086846f-d750-4346-bcf0-8356886bc2ad\"},{\"content\":\"The response to al-M\u0101ward\u012b\u2019s permitting buying the treaty-holder\u2019s child was that the parent\u2019s decision to sell their child annulled the child\u2019s protected status, so purchasing them would not be a sound transaction; Ibn \u1e24ajar al-Haytam\u012b et al., \u1e24aw\u0101sh\u012b Tu\u1e25fat al-muht\u0101j bi-shar\u1e25 al-Minh\u0101j<\/em>, 10 vols. (Cairo: Ma\u1e6dba\u02bfat Mu\u1e63\u1e6daf\u0101 Mu\u1e25ammad, n.d.), 4:248.\",\"id\":\"de7ae853-6d9c-4afb-b8d3-a7b9fc800671\"},{\"content\":\"Al-Walw\u0101l\u012bj\u012b, al-Fat\u0101w\u0101 al-walw\u0101l\u012bjiyya<\/em>, 2:307\u2013308.\",\"id\":\"3296352b-f29c-4b3d-a0b7-886fd31e0941\"},{\"content\":\"A\u1e6d\u1e6dafayyish, Shar\u1e25 Kit\u0101b al-N\u012bl<\/em>, 8:265\u201368. See also Yacine Daddi Addoun, \u201cSlavery and Abolition in Ib\u0101\u1e0d\u012b Theology: The Thought, the Un-Thought, the Unthinkable,\u201din Ibadi Theology: Rereading Sources and Scholarly Works<\/em>, ed. Ersilia Francesca (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 2015), 235\u201336. As al-\u1e6cabar\u012b and others held, People of the Book affirmed God\u2019s unity (taw\u1e25\u012bd<\/em>), while pagans did not; Ibn \u1e24ajar, Fat\u1e25<\/em>, 6:139.\",\"id\":\"f8a304b3-d9e5-4eb5-8a8b-d380834a9db1\"},{\"content\":\"The Hadith his cites is: walad al-rajul min kasbihi wa-inna af\u1e0dal m\u0101 ya\u02bekulu al-ins\u0101n min kasbihi<\/em>; A\u1e6d\u1e6dafayyish, Shar\u1e25 Kit\u0101b al-N\u012bl<\/em>, 8:266\u201367.\",\"id\":\"02e33548-a03e-4f2b-9eb2-f6fb36b33bdc\"},{\"content\":\"This Hadith appears in major Sunni Hadith collections, such as Sunan<\/em> of Ab\u016b D\u0101w\u016bd: kit\u0101b al-ij\u0101ra<\/em>, b\u0101b f\u012b al-rajul ya\u02bekulu min m\u0101l waladihi <\/em>(inna min a\u1e6dyab<\/em>\u2026); J\u0101mi\u02bf al-Tirmidh\u012b<\/em>: kit\u0101b al-a\u1e25k\u0101m<\/em>, b\u0101b m\u0101 j\u0101\u02bea anna al-w\u0101lid ya\u02bekhudhu min m\u0101l waladihi<\/em>; Sunan al-Nas\u0101\u02be\u012b<\/em>: kit\u0101b al-buy\u016b\u02bf<\/em>, b\u0101b al-\u1e25athth \u02bfal\u0101 al-kasb<\/em>. It forms the subject of an interesting treatise by the Yemeni reformist scholar Ibn al-Am\u012br al-\u1e62an\u02bf\u0101n\u012b (d. 1182\/1768), Ris\u0101la la\u1e6d\u012bfa f\u012b shar\u1e25 \u1e25ad\u012bth anta wa-m\u0101lika li-ab\u012bk<\/em>, ed. Mus\u0101\u02bfid S\u0101lim al-\u02bfAbd al-J\u0101dir (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Bash\u0101\u02beir al-Isl\u0101miyya, 1422\/2001).\",\"id\":\"477eac9c-ca47-44c0-a8f3-1b133ba667b9\"},{\"content\":\"A\u1e6d\u1e6dafayyish, 8:267.\",\"id\":\"342ddb5b-d3e2-431a-81ce-535036c78659\"},{\"content\":\"Bernard Weiss, The Spirit of Islamic Law<\/em> (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1998), 34.\",\"id\":\"3d53de35-916e-4d14-86be-9b31bac582b5\"},{\"content\":\"See al-Sh\u0101fi\u02bf\u012b, al-Umm<\/em>, ed. Rif\u02bfat Fawz\u012b \u02bfAbd al-Mu\u1e6d\u1e6dalib, 11 vols. (Mansoura: D\u0101r al-Waf\u0101\u02be, 1422\/2001), 5:504. The earliest evidence for the permissibility of keeping pigs, selling wine, etc. seems to be its appearance as accepted fact in early legal works, such as the Umm<\/em> of al-Sh\u0101fi\u02bf\u012b; ibid., 5:507. Some narrations of various \u2018Pacts of \u02bfUmar\u2019 (e.g., one narrated by al-\u1e24a\u1e6d\u012b\u1e6d\u012b) include the clause that non-Muslims will \u201cnot sell wine in the markets of Muslims<\/em>,\u201d while others state they will not sell wine with no qualification mentioned; \u02bfAbd All\u0101h b. A\u1e25mad al-Raba\u02bf\u012b, Juz\u02be f\u012bhi shur\u016b\u1e6d al-na\u1e63\u0101r\u0101<\/em>, ed. Anas \u02bfAbd al-Ra\u1e25m\u0101n al-\u02bfAq\u012bl (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Bash\u0101\u2019ir al-Isl\u0101miyya, 1427\/2006), 24, 27, 31. For the variety of Pact of \u02bfUmar arrangements re: wine and pigs, see also Levy-Rubin, Non-Muslims in the Early Islamic Empire<\/em>, 66, 72, 81, 83, 176. Levy-Rubin notes how at some points, such as in Tulunid Egypt, wine was widely prohibited even in Christian areas; Levy-Rubin, 109.\",\"id\":\"93dc132d-0e57-433f-8e34-ba336cb66bc7\"},{\"content\":\"Kevin Reinhart, \u201cFailures of Practice or Failures of Faith: Are Non-Muslims Subject to the Sharia?,\u201d in Between Heaven and Hell: Islam, Salvation, and the Fate of Others<\/em>, ed. Mohammad Hassan Khalil (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 14.\",\"id\":\"d32b93bc-30ae-47e3-937e-4647833e3ffd\"},{\"content\":\"Reinhart, 17; Emon, 83\u201386; Mu\u1e25ammad b. Bah\u0101dur al-Zarkash\u012b, al-Ba\u1e25r al-mu\u1e25\u012b\u1e6d<\/em> f\u012b u\u1e63\u016bl al-fiqh<\/em>, ed. Mu\u1e25ammad Mu\u1e25ammad T\u0101mir, 4 vols. (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Kutub al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 2007), 1:320\u201330 (329 in particular).\",\"id\":\"d82d5908-0aee-4dbd-af8e-a3537aa345df\"},{\"content\":\"It is tempting to link this constellation of positions to these \u1e24anaf\u012bs\u2019 position on the \u2018edges\u2019 of Islamdom. As Reinhart observes, \u201cIn short, it is frontier Muslims who support the \u2018non-addressed\u2019 position\u2026.\u201d But that does not account for the positions of other \u2018frontier\u2019 Muslims like M\u0101lik\u012bs. See Reinhart, 17.\",\"id\":\"dad87c71-07d3-4fc8-a503-cea4fdddf544\"},{\"content\":\"Ab\u016b Zayd al-Dab\u016bs\u012b, Taqw\u012bm al-adilla f\u012b u\u1e63\u016bl al-fiqh<\/em>, ed. Khal\u012bl Mu\u1e25y\u012b al-D\u012bn al-Mays (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Kutub al-\u02bfIlmiyya, 1421\/2001), 431\u201332.\",\"id\":\"75bcb215-6087-473a-82b7-a645c01e1bf7\"},{\"content\":\"Ibn Ab\u012b al-Waf\u0101\u02be al-Qurash\u012b, al-Jaw\u0101hir al-mu\u1e0diyya f\u012b \u1e6dabaq\u0101t al-\u1e25anafiyya<\/em>, ed. \u02bfAbd al-Fatt\u0101\u1e25 Mu\u1e25ammad al-\u1e24uluw, 5 vols. (Giza: Mu\u2019assasat al-Ris\u0101la, 1978\u201388), 4:94.\",\"id\":\"208a47bc-5b99-40c0-8db5-632ed1e10c75\"},{\"content\":\"Al-Sarakhs\u012b, al-Mabs\u016b\u1e6d<\/em>, 30 vols. (Beirut: D\u0101r al-Ma\u02bfrifa, 1409\/1989), 13:142.\",\"id\":\"90b54a2a-3c37-44e4-bedc-dfb2801d50d1\"}]"},"categories":[1],"tags":[7,8,19,20],"class_list":["post-331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-conference","tag-murtensee","tag-sale-of-children-into-slavery","tag-universality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trasisblog.unibe.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trasisblog.unibe.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trasisblog.unibe.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trasisblog.unibe.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trasisblog.unibe.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=331"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/trasisblog.unibe.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":344,"href":"https:\/\/trasisblog.unibe.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331\/revisions\/344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trasisblog.unibe.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trasisblog.unibe.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trasisblog.unibe.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}