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Al-Indunisiy
01-16-2010, 01:05 PM
:sl:

I know this theme might be a little sensitive, but I'll just go on with it. And before anyone read this article: No, I'm not a troll and am not here to cause trouble.

Africa Focus: Arab Slavery of Africans
Posted on Wednesday, September 28 @ 01:00:34 AST
Topic: Slavery
SlaveryNew Era (Windhoek)
September 26, 2005

ARAB-led slavery of Africans is important because it affects directly contemporary Afro-Arab relations and is complicated by the fact that both Africans and Arabs frequently treat it as an issue to be hushed-up because of the embarrassing reaction it generates. It is a historical reality which differentiates the fate and the aspirations of Africans on the one hand, and Arabs on the other, in their different attempts to achieve Arab unity and African unity respectively. Both these objectives, if pursued democratically, would assist in the emancipation and development of the two peoples.

While the truth is uncomfortable, it is impossible to move forward towards historical reconciliation through "holocaust denial" or by "collective amnesia". Denying the truth of what Helmi Sharawy of the Arab Research Centre for Arab-African Studies and Documentation (ARAASD) Cairo, Egypt calls the "ambiguous relations' of the Afro-Arab cultural interchange in the Borderlands, will not assist reconciliation. For more than a thousand years the Sahara has been the melting point of the two cultures. Slavery was generalized in the Borderlands, stretching from Mauritania on the Atlantic, westwards through the Sahel to Sudan on the Red Sea, with slaves being captured from black Africa and taken, often on foot, northwards through the Sahel into Arabia and out of Africa. Whereas the trans-Atlantic slave trade has been the focus of the on-going struggle for reparations, Adwok Nyaba states that Arab enslavement of Africans "has either been ignored, minimized or completely rejected on false account that the Arabs either were 'brothers in Islam' equally colonized and oppressed by the west or participated in the decolonisation struggles of the African people".

Adwok states that slavery of black people in the Nile Basin began in earnest with the defeat of the Mamelukes of Egypt by the Ottoman Empire in 1517 and that the commodification and merchandisation of the slaves route down the Nile to Southern Europe, Arabia, Persia and China is traced to the first quarter of the nineteenth century.

Under Arab slavery men were castrated and the women were used as sex-machines, so that over generations the offspring of the enslaved women merged into general Arab society, albeit into an inferior caste-type class of sub-species. Today we have slave descendants across the Sahara, such as the Harantines in Mauritania, to the ebony blacks in Arabia.

This is because the slaves were so many that the slavers could not ethnically dilute them into café au lait. Castration and male culling is practised.

Mekuria Bulcha estimates that over 17 million Africans were sold to the Middle East and Asia between the sixth and twentieth centuries. In Bulcha's view the distinction between western and Islamic slavery is largely figurative. Both arrangements involved violence and cruelty as well as the devaluation of humanity.

Africans in the Middle East and Asia remain 'a disjointed diaspora', although records indicate a persistent desire amongst them to repatriate.

Arab slavery is still ongoing in Africa in the Afro-Arab Borderlands. Much of the attention to contemporary Arab slavery of Africans focuses on Sudan and Mauritania but from Mali, Algeria, Niger, Libya and Chad filter through reports about slave practices.

The subject of Arab slavery of Africans is one, which many, including the African states, would prefer to have buried and about which there is an unspoken understanding that Africans should remain silent. The practice has existed for 1 400 years, but both Africans and Arabs, for different reasons exhibit insensitivity to it. Muslim academics, both Arab and African, shy away from the Arab slave trade. Islamic leaders are profoundly defensive on the issue.

Ronald Segal in his book Islam's Black Slaves: The Other Diaspora, explains that the Islamic slave trade began some eight centuries before the Atlantic trade and was conducted on a different scale providing slaves more often for domestic - including sex - and military service. In the Arab-led slave system, some slaves achieved positions of authority, a few became rulers. In Segal's view, because of specific spiritual teachings, Islam was generally more humane than the West in its treatment of slaves and in its willingness to bestow manumission, although the process of captivity, subjugation and transportation was extremely cruel. Segal looks at the appeal of Islam to African-American communities and the denial by some black Muslim leaders like Louis Farrakan of the continued existence of African slavery and oppression in contemporary Mauritania and Sudan. An interesting point made by Segal in an interview was that "whereas the gender ratio of slaves in the Atlantic trade was two males to every female, in the Islamic trade it was two females to every male." It needs to be noted that the Arab slave trade concentrated particularly on children.

The Arabs focused and still do on children, because children are easier to re-educate and Arabise. They are also easier to capture and transport to Arabia.

With Islam and slavery came the Arabisation of the African. The Arab conquest of North Africa and parts of the Nile Valley spreading their influence throughout the Sahel in the seventh century planted confusion in the minds of Africans. In the Sudan more than anywhere else, profession of Islam and speaking the Arabic language made one an Arab. Many African ethnic communities in Sudan, such as Borgo, Berti amd Maali fell victim to this deception. In the 1960s these zealous African Muslims were used to fight the Southern Sudanese. The relentless struggle of the Southern Sudanese against oppression, including enslavement by northerners, has spread to other marginalized and peripheral peoples in the west, centre and east of Sudan.

When the first war ended in Sudan with South Sudan winning a measure of self-rule through the Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972, this left in the cold the Arabised Africans who had fought on behalf of the Arab dominated northern political elite in the name of national unity. The current genocide in the Darfur region of Western Sudan, where the Khartoum government has used a tactic of ethnic cleansing by arming an Arab nomad militia to attack African farmlands, pushing Africans off their land, continues the Arab push southwards, which is part of the Arab national expansionist project dating back centuries, which has seen Africans pushed southwards from the Mediterranean coast into the arid Sahara area. Arabia in general characterizes events in Darfur as 'tribal feuds'.

On the issue of reparations for Arab-led slavery in Africa, the thesis of Adwok Nyaba presented at the Conference on Arab-Led Slavery of Africans, convened on the 22nd February 2003 in Johannes-burg by the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS), Cape Town, South Africa and the Drammeh Institute of New York, USA, is that reparations is a political issue with a legal objective, requiring mobilization and common purpose.

A final declaration was published, as will be the proceedings of the Conference.

Conference endorsed reparations and called for a civilization dialogue between the Arab and African nations. The Sudan Commission for Human Rights (SCHR) pursues reparations for Arab-led slavery in the Sudan, as an appropriate remedy. The World Conference Against Racism and its NGO Forum added their voices to those seeking reparations for African slavery. There are no legal rules governing the law of reparations.

The study of other such initiatives indicates first extensive legal posturing creating a powerful moral climate supporting reparations, thus shaping public opinion - as the primary stage in the campaign for reparations.

Reprinted from:
www.newera.com.na/archives.php?id=8960&date=2005-09-26
Source: http://www.trinicenter.com/modules.p...ticle&sid=1154

Note: About the source: It is an online magazine mainly pertaining to Trinidad, and thus Africa.

:wa:
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Al-Indunisiy
01-16-2010, 01:08 PM
So what do you think?
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zakirs
01-16-2010, 01:10 PM
Simple answer: What individuals do , Doesn't represent Islam. All i know is The truest muslim i can gauge with ( prophet muhammed peace be upon him ) was kindest to slaves , set them free and was their friend all times.

So... *ignores study*
Reply

Ramadhan
01-16-2010, 01:14 PM
Brother al Indunisy, I'm very interested to know your opinion about this issue.

I have noticed that you most often created a thread but very rarely to actually contribute to the threads you created.
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Alpha Dude
01-16-2010, 01:24 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by article
In Bulcha's view the distinction between western and Islamic slavery is largely figurative. Both arrangements involved violence and cruelty as well as the devaluation of humanity.
This is incorrect. As zakir said, the misdemeanors shown by the followers does not equate to what the religion has taught.

A more correct way of saying that would be to describe it as muslim-arab slavery.
Reply

ardianto
01-16-2010, 05:17 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by Al-Indunisiy
So what do you think?
I am not sure if conflict in Sudan was causes by 'Arab superiority' over Black African. Even sometime I wonder, are Sudanese Arabs pure Arabs ?. From my observation Sudanese Arab's skin is darker than other Arabs.

By the way, what do you think about Arab slave traders in history of African slave trading ?.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_slave_trade
http://www.salaamtours.com/zanzi/pag...17/page17.html
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abu salaahudeen
01-17-2010, 12:56 AM
not really much of a thread is it
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Ramadhan
01-17-2010, 02:12 AM
format_quote Originally Posted by abu salaahudeen
not really much of a thread is it
no, not at all.
Reply

CosmicPathos
01-17-2010, 02:15 AM
This is BS. Islamic concept of slavery was not based on race, rather it was on one's social status. You can listen to a very informative video lecture by Dr. Quick on Islamic slavery ...
he has a PhD in African Studies ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5gJ4e0bV1o
Reply

Hamza Asadullah
01-17-2010, 04:52 AM
format_quote Originally Posted by naidamar
Brother al Indunisy, I'm very interested to know your opinion about this issue.

I have noticed that you most often created a thread but very rarely to actually contribute to the threads you created.
:sl: i have noticed that he posts threads and then does'nt comment on them. I don't know what the agenda of the person is but heres what i found when i looked at the threads and posts he has posted throughout his stay here:

Some of his threads include: Anti-Semitism? - Talking about Muslims hate of Jews

Intelligent Design. Intelligently - Seems like an atheist scientists argument against religion.

Islam and the Theology of Power- An article about Islam suffering a crisis of identity in recent times.

The Islamic Golden Age - Debating whether the Islamic golden age existed or not and he states: "I need an unbiased view of the Islamic Golden Age".

Suburban Myths- An article he copy and pasted from an Athiest skeptics websites

Debate on Circumcision - Where he provides many sources of medical evidence against male circumsicion and he also states:

"I posted this thread merely in order to start a healthy debate from the medical point of view. I have no intention on offending Muslims, Jews and anyone who has been circumcised. I chose this topic just because it is controversial, and controversial themes are so tempting to me."

Looks like most of his threads are contraversial and why would a 'Muslim' want to start threads like this?

If circumsicion is in Islam then how can a Muslim go and trawl his way through the internet looking for medical evidance against it? That is not what a Muslim does. That is what a sceptic(Athiest) does. That explains why he visits sceptics websites.

In a thread about Darwinism and evolution he states: "Didn't the atheists around here already shown the invalidity of Harun Yahya's works in science?"

Then in another post he states: "Though that(my post above) doesn't necessarily mean I agree with the theory of evolution."

In another thread he started he 'innocently asked for the intepretation of an contraversial Ayah which is usually misinterpreted by enemies of Islam to attack Islam. He asked for the translation yet he knew what surah and ayah it was.

Why out of the whole Qur'an ask for the interpretation of an ayah which is used against Islam by its enemies when he already knew which surah and ayah it was?

He seems to post threads and then act all neutral and innocent like he has done with this thread and asks for others opinions on it. Look at his posts and threads for yourselves.

Look at this thread. Why post such a thread in the first place? He knows how sensative this issue is especially for black people does he purposely want to cause hurt to them?

I just don't see the reason for a lot of his threads and posts unless he has a hidden agenda. Is it only me who can see a correlation here?

May Allah expose the truth inshallah

and Allah knows best
Reply

CosmicPathos
01-17-2010, 05:21 AM
format_quote Originally Posted by Hamza81
:sl: i have noticed that he posts threads and then does'nt comment on them. I don't know what the agenda of the person is but heres what i found when i looked at the threads and posts he has posted throughout his stay here:

Some of his threads include: Anti-Semitism? - Talking about Muslims hate of Jews

Intelligent Design. Intelligently - Seems like an atheist scientists argument against religion.

Islam and the Theology of Power- An article about Islam suffering a crisis of identity in recent times.

The Islamic Golden Age - Debating whether the Islamic golden age existed or not and he states: "I need an unbiased view of the Islamic Golden Age".

Suburban Myths- An article he copy and pasted from an Athiest skeptics websites

Debate on Circumcision - Where he provides many sources of medical evidence against male circumsicion and he also states:

"I posted this thread merely in order to start a healthy debate from the medical point of view. I have no intention on offending Muslims, Jews and anyone who has been circumcised. I chose this topic just because it is controversial, and controversial themes are so tempting to me."

Looks like most of his threads are contraversial and why would a 'Muslim' want to start threads like this?

If circumsicion is in Islam then how can a Muslim go and trawl his way through the internet looking for medical evidance against it? That is not what a Muslim does. That is what a sceptic(Athiest) does. That explains why he visits sceptics websites.

In a thread about Darwinism and evolution he states: "Didn't the atheists around here already shown the invalidity of Harun Yahya's works in science?"

Then in another post he states: "Though that(my post above) doesn't necessarily mean I agree with the theory of evolution."

In another thread he started he 'innocently asked for the intepretation of an contraversial Ayah which is usually misinterpreted by enemies of Islam to attack Islam. He asked for the translation yet he knew what surah and ayah it was.

Why out of the whole Qur'an ask for the interpretation of an ayah which is used against Islam by its enemies when he already knew which surah and ayah it was?

He seems to post threads and then act all neutral and innocent like he has done with this thread and asks for others opinions on it. Look at his posts and threads for yourselves.

Look at this thread. Why post such a thread in the first place? He knows how sensative this issue is especially for black people does he purposely want to cause hurt to them?

I just don't see the reason for a lot of his threads and posts unless he has a hidden agenda. Is it only me who can see a correlation here?

May Allah expose the truth inshallah

and Allah knows best
very good observation dear brother.
Reply

AabiruSabeel
01-17-2010, 05:26 AM
:sl:

I see the brothers are suspicious on Al-Indunisiy. I have carried out my own research, and I find him to be a Muslim brother. Being a moderator, I have my sources of verification which are not available to normal members. O ye who believe! Avoid suspicion as much (as possible): for suspicion in some cases is a sin [49:12]

It seems like he is genuinely confused like many other Muslim youngsters due to the prevalent anti-Muslim bias on general media sources. We can try our best to refute these articles and/or link him to appropriate sources.

:w:
Reply

Al-Indunisiy
01-17-2010, 05:43 AM
:sl:

The reason I mostly don't participate much in my own threads is because I am more inclined to see other peoples perspective and opinion rather than I give mine.

:wa:
Reply

Al-Indunisiy
01-17-2010, 06:09 AM
:sl:

Suburban Myths- An article he copy and pasted from an Athiest skeptics websites
So? The fact that the owner of the website is an atheist doesn't bear any relevance to most of the myths.

In a thread about Darwinism and evolution he states: "Didn't the atheists around here already shown the invalidity of Harun Yahya's works in science?"
Which mostly refers to the fact that his degree is in Fine Arts.

In another thread he started he 'innocently asked for the intepretation of an contraversial Ayah which is usually misinterpreted by enemies of Islam to attack Islam. He asked for the translation yet he knew what surah and ayah it was.
Which one is that? I forgot. Maybe you would be so kind to show which one.

Debate on Circumcision - Where he provides many sources of medical evidence against male circumsicion and he also states:

"I posted this thread merely in order to start a healthy debate from the medical point of view. I have no intention on offending Muslims, Jews and anyone who has been circumcised. I chose this topic just because it is controversial, and controversial themes are so tempting to me."

Looks like most of his threads are contraversial and why would a 'Muslim' want to start threads like this?

If circumsicion is in Islam then how can a Muslim go and trawl his way through the internet looking for medical evidance against it? That is not what a Muslim does. That is what a sceptic(Athiest) does. That explains why he visits sceptics websites.
1. About the controversial themes. I do enjoy some kind of thrill in reading some controversial issues or issues that I seldom encounter.

2. And thus the debate that I attempt to generate is just there for debate sake. Whether it is recomended or not in medics doesn't bear any influence on my own personal acceptance on carrying it on.

Islam and the Theology of Power- An article about Islam suffering a crisis of identity in recent times.
It's an interesting reading material for me.

:wa:
Reply

Al-Indunisiy
01-17-2010, 06:20 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by article
In Bulcha's view the distinction between western and Islamic slavery is largely figurative. Both arrangements involved violence and cruelty as well as the devaluation of humanity.
This is incorrect. As zakir said, the misdemeanors shown by the followers does not equate to what the religion has taught.

A more correct way of saying that would be to describe it as muslim-arab slavery.
True. But the focus here is not in what Islam teaches. It is more on the historical fact it self. Slavery operated by Europeans is more often discussed than the one operated by Arabs.

The intent of the article is implied in the first paragraph:
ARAB-led slavery of Africans is important because it affects directly contemporary Afro-Arab relations and is complicated by the fact that both Africans and Arabs frequently treat it as an issue to be hushed-up because of the embarrassing reaction it generates. It is a historical reality which differentiates the fate and the aspirations of Africans on the one hand, and Arabs on the other, in their different attempts to achieve Arab unity and African unity respectively. Both these objectives, if pursued democratically, would assist in the emancipation and development of the two peoples.
Reply

Maryan0
01-17-2010, 06:39 AM
Just because something is sensitive does not mean it should not be spoken about so I don't see what the posters intentions have to with anything.
Slavery in many different variations still goes on today in Africa and the world. As to this topic the Arab slave trade had absolutely nothing to do with Islam and cannot be justified whatsoever neither can the treatment of people with darker skin in the arab world who are referred to as "Abeeds" be justifed either.
Slavery has been practiced in every society throughout the ages. The difference between the slavery conducted all over the world and the transatlantic slave trade was that the the transatlantic slavetrade mainly encompassed a specific race. The biblical justification for slavery being that Black people the descendents of Canaan were cursed by Noah and therefore his descendents would always be under the heel of Shem. This part of the bible was used to defend slavery in those days by Europeans against the "Black race" specifically. Many white historians would like to put the arab slave trade and the slavery practiced by africans themselves on the same level as the transatlantic slavetrade when they were nothing alike in repercussions and scope.
salam
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