Adab al-Mufrad

Benefits and Issues:
➊ Freedom is a blessing from Allah Ta’ala, while slavery is a trial. However, glad tidings of double reward have been given for the person who fulfills this trial. If a slave fulfills the obligations of Allah Ta’ala, adheres to the Shari’ah rulings while adopting taqwa (God-consciousness) of Allah, refrains from what Allah Ta’ala has prohibited, and at the same time fulfills the responsibilities assigned to him by his masters with honesty and goodwill, and obeys the master’s commands in such a way that he does not fall short in the worship of Allah because of it, then he is deserving of double reward. In a sense, slavery is superior to freedom in this regard. However, not everyone can do this.

➋ An employed person, too, if he fulfills his responsibilities completely and also observes the rights of Allah, can attain this reward.

➌ In Hadith number 203, two more matters that earn double reward are mentioned. One of them is the person who was a Christian or a Jew and adhered to the teachings of his religion, then upon learning of the advent of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), he abandoned his religion and entered Islam; he too will be rewarded for acting upon the laws of two prophets. This does not mean that someone should first become a Christian and then a Muslim in order to attain this virtue. The second is the one who frees an umm walad (slave woman who has borne her master’s child) and then marries her. In the narration, the word “amah” (female slave) is more correct than “umm walad.” Although in the present era the concept of slave women does not exist, in the case of the dominance of Islam, such a situation is possible. In this, there is, in a sense, encouragement to free slaves and slave women, which was a dire need of that era.

➍ From your statement, “Whoever educates and teaches a slave woman, then frees her and marries her...,” it is understood that Islam teaches the education and upbringing of women, and those who consider Islam narrow-minded regarding women’s education are mistaken. Yes, it is certainly true that Islam does not permit indecency or the mixing of men and women in the name of education. In this, there is also a refutation of those who malign Islam regarding human rights and women’s rights, for in that era when millions were trapped in slavery, your giving glad tidings of double reward was an encouragement to free slaves. And the encouragement to marry them shattered the idols of caste and family distinction, which has always been a social disease and remains so to this day.