THREAD:

SLAVERY in ISLAM

Many critics of Islam point out that Islam endorses enslaving people to become slaves and allows to abuse them. This is far from reality.

Islam encourages good treatment of slaves and through various means and measures promotes their freedom....

Firstly, I will write about how Islam encouraged and promoted their emancipation, then I'll write about how the Slaves were to be treated, so let's start

EMANCIPATION:

The institute of slavery in Arabia wasnt initiated by Islam. It was present before the advent of Islam. Since that society was tribal, the various tribes would go on war with each other and the victorious tribe would enslave all the people of the defeated...

....tribe. Hence, the most common method was to enslave people through war. The slaves in pre Islamic times were treated horribly.
However, Islam came to end this forever.

First of all, since the most common method to enslave people was through war, Islam stopped the main route.

.... to enslave the people through war as written in Quran 47:4.
The Prisoners of War were either to be be released unconditionally or through payment of ransom. Hence , the enslavement of POWs to become slaves was heavily restricted and ended.

Now, since the entry was thwarted and restricted, what about the already pre existing slaves?
As mentioned in Quran 24:33 , the slaves could draw contracts with their owners to gain their freedom and the owners had to comply with it, as this was the slave's right.

The Quran also encourages the freeing of slaves in other places (90:13) and tells Muslims to use the Zakat to free the slaves (9:60)

Also, in many places in the Quran, freeing slaves was directed as an expiation for those who committed sins.

TREATMENT:

Many folks believe that slave girls in Islam are to be used to fulfill desires of their male owners and hence serve to further promote hedonism . This isnt close to the truth.
Quran 24:33 explicitly states to not compel your "right hand possessed" to prostitution...

...and Quran 4:34 states Men are protectors and maintainers of women, and this includes the slave girls or better said " right hand possessed ones" , hence it was a responsibility to provide for them as well.
I dont know how this is sexually hedonistic....

The Quran even encourages Muslim men who cant marry a free believing woman to marry their right hand possess. (QURAN 4:25) The Prophet also highly encouraged men to marry the right hand possessed .

Abusing slaves was highly prohibited. Anyone who would even slightly hit the slave was ordered to free the slave as the expiation

Since only POWs could be enslaved ( even though it was then revealed in Quran 47:4 that they should be freed unconditionally or through payment of ransom) , enslaving a free person and trading them was highly prohibited so much that the Prophet SAW said this..

The Prophet also told his followers to treat the slaves nicely and with kindness. He told that one should never overburden them and provide them the same food and clothes that the one uses

The Prophet SAW was also concerned about the rights of the slaves or "right hand possessed" very much. According to Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA) , the Prophet SAW said this as his last words

All these aforementioned examples show how Islam encouraged the best treatment for slaves and their emancipation.

Only an ignorant after reading all this can say "iSLam pRomOtEs SLavErY aNd tHeiR aBusE"

Many non Muslims have also said that slaves were better treated under Islam.
Here is what Gustave Le Bon and Bernard Lewis( who wasnt a big admirrer of Islam) said on Slavery under Islam

(First picture's content is attributed to Le Bon & remaining two to Lewis)

Here is what an Orientalist RVC Bodley said regarding the Prophet's instructions on how to treat the slaves

Anything good I have written in this thread is due to Allah's grace , if I have made a mistake here, I apologise as it's due to my faulty nature of being a human.

I hope this thread will be of great benefit to everyone.