Discussion between Paul Williams (host of Blogging Theology) and Professor Jonathan Brown regarding his book, Slavery and Islam. The conversation explores the complexities of defining and understanding slavery from historical, legal, and moral perspectives.

Professor Brown explains that there is no singular, universally accepted definition of slavery. He compares it to the study of terrorism, noting that the term is often applied inconsistently depending on political or moral agendas, and that attempts to define it globally across history often prove circular.

The discussion addresses a paradox in modern Western thought involving three axioms that cannot coexist:

1) Slavery is an intrinsic evil throughout space and time

2) All slavery is identical (no “good” slavery exists)

3) We should honor our pasts and historical figures.

He argues that because almost all historical civilizations practiced some form of slavery, these axioms force a rejection of nearly all human history.

Professor Brown highlights that the abolitionist movement was largely spurred by the unique, extreme violence and racialization of the transatlantic slave trade. He discusses how, in Islamic law, there was never a movement to abolish the institution itself, but rather an obsession with manumission (freeing slaves) as a meritorious religious act.

He concludes that modern Muslim scholars have reached an ijma (consensus) that slavery is prohibited today, as abolishing it now serves one of the primary aims of Sharia.