The Forgotten History of Slavery in the Islamic World

What It Covers

Historian Justin Marozzi discusses his book *Captives and Companions*, covering 14 centuries of slavery in the Islamic world. The trade involved an estimated 12–17 million people across Africa, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean — comparable in scale to the Atlantic slave trade yet receiving a fraction of scholarly attention in Western academia.

Key Questions Answered

• •Scale comparison: Islamic world slavery involved 12–17 million people over 14 centuries versus the Atlantic trade's 11–14 million over roughly 5 centuries. Annual rates were lower due to the longer timeframe, but geographic reach was broader, extending from sub-Saharan Africa through Central Asia to Indonesia. Understanding this scale reframes Islamic slavery as central to global history, not a peripheral footnote.
• •Scholarly suppression: Bernard Lewis noted in the 1980s–90s that researching Islamic slavery was "professionally hazardous" for academics — risking lost funding and career damage. Progress has come primarily from scholars with dual nationality (Lebanese-American, Moroccan-American, Turkish). Western researchers studying this topic should anticipate institutional resistance and seek non-Western academic partnerships to build credibility and access.
• •Quranic framework: The Quran references slavery approximately 29 times using the euphemism "those whom your right hands possess," authorizing the institution while enjoining humane treatment. Freeing a slave is described as among the greatest goods a Muslim can perform. Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) developed detailed legal scenarios around enslaved persons, making slavery a codified legal institution rather than an informal practice.
• •Castration and eunuchs: Castration carried extremely high mortality rates due to crude surgical conditions — cauterization with dung, tar, or honey — which limited its prevalence. Despite the Prophet Muhammad explicitly prohibiting castration, eunuchs guarded his tomb in Medina for roughly 800 years. The legal workaround involved outsourcing the procedure to non-Muslims, then importing the castrated individuals, technically absolving Muslim buyers of religious violation.
• •Barbary corsairs as businessmen: Mediterranean Barbary piracy operated as a profit-driven enterprise rather than religiously motivated jihad. Corsairs were frequently European converts to Islam — "renegades" — motivated by financial gain. The trade was effectively faith-blind, with Christians, Muslims, and Jews enslaving one another. Enslaved Europeans produced extensive published memoirs that shaped Western narratives, while Muslim captives left almost no comparable written accounts.
• •Hereditary slavery persists today: Mauritania and Mali retain hereditary, racialized slavery despite formal illegality. In Mauritania, the Bidan (Arab) community enslaves darker-skinned Africans along ethnic lines. Governments in both countries actively suppress research — journalists face surveillance and denial of access. Antislavery campaigners who surface abuse cases risk prosecution themselves. Sustained international pressure from foreign governments represents the most viable external lever for accountability.