| | | Georgetown professor defends Islamic slavery and 'non-consensua'l sex
By Rick Moran
Jonathan Brown, a professor at Georgetown University and a prominent Muslim scholar, delivered a lecture in which he defended Islamic slavery and incidents of non-consensual sex. Brown claims that because Muslims slaves have some "rights," that the institution was akin to Medievil feudalism rather than the chattel slavery found in the American south.
The lecture has to be seen to be believed.
Rod Dreher points out the dilemma for modern Muslims if they accept the fact that Muhammad was a slave owner.
“Are you more morally mature than the Prophet of God?” Brown says. “No, you’re not.”
So, there you have it. If Muhammad held slaves, how bad could slavery really be?
It’s a challenging point, actually: if the Prophet behaved in a certain way, who are Muslims today to stand in judgment of him and what he did? If we say that slavery is evil, are we not implicitly condemning the Prophet as an evildoer? Can a Muslim do that and still be a good Muslim? I don’t know.
It’s worth pointing out that in the New Testament, St. Paul doesn’t condemn slaveholding, which was common in his day, nor does he explicitly endorse it. He simply recognizes it as a fact of life, and tells slaves and slaveholders how to treat each other. ( See here for more information.) However, the principles of Christianity led in modern times to the rejection of slavery among Christians. To canonize someone as a saint does not mean that they led perfect lives, only that the led lives of heroic Christian virtue. The only perfectly sinless life was that of Jesus Christ.
Nevertheless, it is worth considering whether or not Islam today has within it the resources to oppose slavery, which continues to exist in some Muslim countries. The line I quote above can be used to justify slavery (if Muhammad held slaves, who are Muslims to condemn other Muslims who own slaves?), or, I suppose, to undermine confidence in Muhammad and his teaching.
americanthinker.com
|
|
