Question
In one of the discussions about slavery, a brother raised an objection on your use for the word “Haram“. In your answer to him you said:
I have not used the words ‘haram’ ‘allowed’ or ‘forbidden’ in my referred response…
I think the brother was pointing to the last word of the following paragraph of your response:
Till the time that slavery existed in the world, the Qur’an accepted its existence, while paving the path of its abolition. Now that the said institution is completely abolished, the Qur’an would obviously want it to remain abolished. Does this not mean that the reinstatement of the institution should be considered as prohibited?
Alhamdu Lillah
Answer
In my referred response, I have not stated that slavery is prohibited, but have actually stated: “Does this not mean that the reinstatement of the institution should be CONSIDERED as prohibited?”, implying that a person, who fully understands the significance and spirit of the steps taken by Islam for controlling and then abolishing the institute of slavery, cannot consider the reinstatement of the institute to be allowed.
I thank you for providing me a chance to further clarify my statement and hope that the foregoing clarification would remove any confusion regarding my intended implication.
Regards,
Moiz Amjad
July 29, 2002