In classical Islamic law, a concubine was an unmarried slave-woman with whom her master engaged in sexual relations. Concubinage was widely accepted by Muslim scholars until the abolition of slavery in the 20th century. Most modern Muslims, both scholars and laypersons, believe that Islam no longer permits concubinage and that sexual relations are religiously permissible only within marriage.
Concubinage was a custom practiced in both pre-Islamic Arabia and the wider Near East and Mediterranean. The Quran allowed this custom by requiring a man not to have sexual relations with anyone except for his wife or concubine.Hain, Kathryn A. (2017). "Epilogue: Avenues to Social Mobility Available to Courtesans and Concubines". In Gordon, Matthew S.; Hain, Kathryn A. (eds.). Concubines and Courtesans: Women and Slavery in Islamic History. Oxford University Press. pp. 326. ISBN 978-0-190-62219-0. Muhammad had a concubine Maria the Copt who had been given to him as a gift by al-Muqawqis with whom he had a son. Some sources say he later freed and married her, while others dispute this. Classical Islamic jurists did not place any limits on how many concubines a man could have. Prostitution of concubines was prohibited. A concubine who gave birth to a child acknowledged by the father was given the special status of an umm al-walad; she could not be sold and was automatically free after her master's death. The acknowledged children of a concubine were considered free, legitimate and equal in status to the children from a man's wife.
With abolition of slavery in the Muslim world, the practice of concubinage came to an end. Many modern Muslims see slavery as contrary to Islamic principles of justice and equality.
Etymology
In the context of Islamic law, a concubine is a man's slave-woman with whom he has a sexual relationship. The classical Arabic term for it is surriyya, although the terms jariya, ama, mamluka could also refer to a concubine. Various etymologies of the term are proposed for surriyya, each relating to an aspect of concubinage: from sarat, meaning eminence, as a concubine enjoyed higher status than other female slaves, from surur, meaning enjoyment, as a concubine was acquired for pleasure (as opposed to labor), from sirr, meaning secrecy, as the concubine was secluded in private quarters (e.g. harem)
Most Western scholarship translates surriyya as "concubine", though some use the term "slave-concubine". Neither the word surriyya nor any dedicated term for a concubine or female slave appears in the Qur'an, which only uses the phrase ma malakat aymanukum in broad reference to slaves in general. The word ama does appear in the Quran 2:221.
Pre-Islamic practice Concubinage of female slaves was an accepted practice in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East. Slave concubinage was practiced in the Byzantine Empire. However, this practice was banned by Christian clergy. Concubines in Jewish communities are known as pilegesh; slave concubinage is mentioned in Biblical texts.
There are similarities and differences in concubinage in Islam and other communities. Whereas in Islam the children of concubines (if acknowledged by the father) were automatically legitimate this was not necessarily the case in Sassanian Persia or among the Mazdeans. Instead the Sassanian shah chose a chief wife and only her children were legitimate. Similarly, Christians living in Persia did not see the children of slave concubine as legitimate. Concubinage practiced by Romans was generally monogamous, whereas Islam did not place limits on number of concubines. On the other hand, the Islamic practice of freeing the concubine who had borne a child on the death of the master was also found among Persian Christians.
In pre-Islamic Arabia concubinage was practiced. The child of a concubine remained a slave unless liberated by the father. The child would also not be considered a member of the tribe unless liberated by the father; pre-Islamic Arab fathers were reluctant to recognize their children from black concubines. By contrast under Islam recognizing children of concubines as tribe members became mandatory. Bernard Lewis argues that many pre-Islamic Arabs were born of concubines. By contrast, Majied Robinson argues that concubinage was not widely practiced in pre-Islamic Arabia. He argues that large-scale concubinage in the early Umayyad period was rooted neither in pre-Islamic Quraysh traditions, nor in the Quran, nor in the practice of Muhammad - rather large scale concubinage was caused by Umayyad desire to have more sons.
Islamic sources Qur'an The Qur'an is considered the ultimate authority of Islam and its verses considered guidance by Muslims. The phrase most commonly used for concubines in the Qur'an is ma malakat aymanukum (variants: aymanuhum, aymanuhunna, yaminuka), appearing 15 times in the Qur'an. The phrase means "those whom your right hands possess." At several instances the term is used in the context of marriage, not concubinage. Some scholars see the term as referring to both male and female slaves, and not just to concubines. Bernard Freamon argues that the term does not have pre-Islamic origins and appears to be a Qur'anic innovation. He further argues that to be held by "the right hands" means to be held in honor in Arabic and Islamic culture. This can also be seen in Quranic verses that refer to those who will enter Paradise as "companions of the right hand."
The Quran promotes abstinence and marriage as better choices. The Quran regards such slaves as part of the family, though of lower social status than free family members. Verse formed the basis for a later rule that concubines must be freed before their master can marry them. Verse mandates that slaves be allowed to marry. Verse meant that masters could have sexual intercourse with their concubines even if they are married. Verse , addressed to Muhammad, refers to women "possessed by the right hand" as "spoils of war". This verse became the basis of allowing captive women to be distributed as concubines. The Qur'an does not mention anything about large scale concubinage, which some Muslims practiced in history.
The verses of the Quran that refer to concubinage are Meccan, and restrict sexual relations to wives (, ). The Medinan verses instead promote marriage to free women (), marriage to slaves (, ) and recommend abstinence (, ). Jonathan Brockopp sees this as a chronological progression, where the later ethic appears to limit sexual relations to marriage only. Muhammad Asad believes the Qur'an does not recognize concubinage, instead restricting sexual relations to marriage only. He interprets the Qur'anic expression "those whom your right hands possess" as referring to a husband and wife who "rightfully possess" one another by virtue of marriage.
Hadith Muhammad had no concubines for most of his life when he was married monogamously to Khadija. Muhammad was sent two women as a gift from the Byzantine ruler of Alexandria and he took one of them, Mariyya, as a concubine. According to some sources he later freed her after they had a child, and married her. But this is contested by other sources. With regards to Rayhana, some sources indicate she was his concubine while other sources say Muhammad freed her and married her. Abu ‘Ubaydah said about Muhammed: "He had four [concubines]: Mariyya, who was the mother of his son Ibraaheem; Rayhaanah; another beautiful slave woman whom he acquired as a prisoner of war; and a slave woman who was given to him by Zaynab bint Jahsh."Zaad al-Ma’aad, 1/114
In one hadith, God promises to double the reward of a man who educates a concubine, frees her and then marries her as his wife. In another hadith, believed also to apply to slave mothers, Muhammad says "‘Whoever separates a mother and her child, God will separate him from his loved ones on the Day of Resurrection."
One source of high esteem for concubines was the assertion that Muhammad's tribe descended from Hagar the concubine, whereas it was the Jews who descended from Sarah the wife. In one disputed hadith, Muhammad declares that the son of concubine could be a prophet had the son not died in childhood. However, this hadith is contested by the Sunnis who believe there can be no prophets after Muhammad. Nevertheless, it indicates the high esteem granted to children of concubines. Islamic tradition honors the concubines of both Abraham and Muhammad as "Mothers of the Faith".
The Sahaba are known to have had intercourse with female prisoners of war after battles. After the battle against the Banu Mustaliq, a hadith reports that the sahaba took the female captives as concubines and asked Muhammad whether it was permissible to practice coitus interruptus with them. Muhammad is believed to have responded in the affirmative. Muhammad then freed and married one of the captives, Juwayriyya bint al-Harith, thus making all the other captives related to Muhammad by marriage. As a result, the sahaba freed their captives as well. The sahaba are similarly known to have had sexual relations with the Hawazin women captured at the Battle of Hunayn. According to Ahmad ibn Hanbal these women had converted to Islam.
Classical Islamic jurisprudence
Classical Islamic law attempted to address issues of concubinage and slavery. Its main sources were the Qur'an, the sunnah of Muhammad and ijma or consensus. Classical jurists were also influenced by the practice of the Byzantines and Sassanians whom the Muslims had recently conquered.
A man could obtain as many concubines as he could afford and terminate the relationship at will. The concubine was owed basic obligations and was to be treated humanely. If the concubine had children acknowledged by the father, she became umm al-walad, and any children from concubinage were considered equal to those from a marriage.
Modern Islamic scholars consider concubinage no longer permissible as discussed in section below.
Permissibility and number of concubines Muslim scholars debated whether it was permissible to have concubines, and if so, how many. The majority of pre-modern Islamic scholars accepted the institution of concubinage. However, some scholars dissented. Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, a twelfth-century Shafi'i scholar, believed the Quran allows sexual relations only with one's wife. The Qarmatians sect rejected concubinage as contrary to Islam. The Zaidiyyah considered concubinage distasteful but did not reject it. Some academics claim that the Kharijis rejected concubinage, but this claim has been disputed. Many of the Mu'tazila considered concubinage haram.
Most scholars did not place any limits on the number of concubines a man could have. However, according to Smith, they did not encourage the practice either. Some later Islamic scholars, especially during Ottoman times, did not approve of "excessively" large harem, seeing it as contrary to human dignity and violating Quranic verse 7:29. While Muhammad and many sahaba had a concubine or two, large scale concubinage would not be practiced until after the Muslim conquests.
Umar II, when he became caliph, realized he would no longer have time to spend with his concubines and so he freed some of his concubines and sent them back to their family. On the other hand Hasan is said to have three hundred concubines.
According to some scholars, not just free men but even slaves could have concubines. Women were forbidden from taking a male concubine.
Who could be a concubine?