Originally Posted by
trutik
Firstly, not a single letter of the Qur'an has been changed since it had been compiled or revealed. What is written is written. If the scientific facts are there then they are there as you can see in the video(s), it has not been changed to include them.
Secondly, the issue of slavery. Let me tell you that the only slaves allowed in Islam are prisoners of war. This means that person was trying to kill you/may have killed many people. Let us see the punishment of murder in America. Prison for life right? How are the prisoners treated? They sleep rough and have little food, wear the same clothes and are behind bars for the rest of their life. In Islam when someone murders someone then they are subject to capital punishment. So let us see what enslaving prisoners of war entails in Islam and compare with potential prisoners in some countries and corpses in others. It is not the type of slavery you are probably thinking.
1 – Guaranteeing them food and clothing like that of their masters.
It was narrated that Abu Dharr said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “They are your brothers whom Allaah has put under your authority, so if Allaah has put a person’s brother under his authority, let him feed him from what he eats and clothe him from what he wears, and let him not overburden him with work, and if he does overburden him with work, then let him help him.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (A Person who compiled narrations of the prophet) (6050).
2 – Preserving their dignity
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: I heard Abu’l-Qaasim (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “Whoever accuses his slave when he is innocent of what he says will be flogged on the Day of Resurrection, unless he is as he said.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (6858).
Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) manumitted a slave of his, then he picked up a stick or something from the ground and said: There is no more reward in it than the equivalent of this, but I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “Whoever slaps his slave or beats him, his expiation is to manumit him.” Narrated by Muslim (1657).
3 – Being fair towards slaves and treating them kindly
It was narrated that ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan tweaked the ear of a slave of his when he did something wrong, then he said to him after that: Come and tweak my ear in retaliation. The slave refused but he insisted, so he started to tweak it slightly, and he said to him: Do it strongly, for I cannot bear the punishment on the Day of Resurrection. The slave said: Like that, O my master? The Day that you fear I fear also.
When ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf (may Allaah be pleased with him) walked among his slaves, no one could tell him apart from them, because he did not walk ahead of them, and he did not wear anything different from what they wore.
One day ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab passed by and saw some slaves standing and not eating with their master. He got angry and said to their master: What is wrong with people who are selfish towards their servants? Then he called the servants and they ate with them.
A man entered upon Salmaan (may Allaah be pleased with him) and found him making dough – and he was a governor. He said to him: O Abu ‘Abd-Allaah, what is this? He said: We have sent our servant on an errand and we do not want to give him two jobs at once.
4 – A slave may buy himself from his master and be free.
If a person is enslaved for some reason but then it becomes apparent that he has given up his wrongdoing and forgotten his past, and he has become a man who shuns evil and seeks to do good, is it permissible to respond to his request to let him go free? Islam says yes, and there are some scholars who say that this is obligatory and some who say that it is mustahabb(Highly recommended).
This is what is called a mukaatabah or contract of manumission between the slave and his master. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And such of your slaves as seek a writing (of emancipation), give them such writing, if you find that there is good and honesty in them. And give them something (yourselves) out of the wealth of Allaah which He has bestowed upon you”
[al-Noor 24:33]
As you can see the principle of dealing with prisoners of war in Islam is a combination of justice, kindness and compassion. It is worth pointing out that you do not find any text in the Qur’aan or Sunnah (Way of the prophet) which enjoins taking others as slaves, whereas there are dozens of texts in the Qur’aan and the ahaadeeth (Narrations of what the prophet said) of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) which call for manumitting slaves and freeing them. Capture of prisoners during war was the most common way of acquiring slaves. Prisoners would inevitably be captured during any war, and the prevalent custom at that time was that prisoners had no protection or rights; they would either be killed or enslaved. But Islam brought two more options: unconditional release or ransom. There were many sources of slaves at the time of the advent of Islam, whereas the means of manumitting them were virtually nil. Islam changed the way in which slavery was dealt with; it created many new ways of liberating slaves, blocked many ways of enslaving people, and established guidelines which blocked these means.
Gustave le Bon says in "Arab Civilization" (p. 459-460): "What I sincerely believe is that slavery among the Muslims is better than slavery among any other people, and that the situation of slaves in the east is better than that of servants in Europe, and that slaves in the east are part of the family. Slaves who wanted to be free could attain freedom by expressing their wish. But despite that, they did not resort to exercising this right."