Sunday, August 12, 2012

The Roman Empire - Debate On Slavery - Intro - 5

Assalamualikum
May the peace and blessings of Almighty God be upon you.

""Mistress of The World" Rome has been called" - Nehru, Glimpses of World History, page 81




"From the Far East we shall now go to the West, and trace the growth of Rome. It is said that Rome was founded in the eight century before Christ." - Page 82, Ibid.

The World before Mohammad The Messenger of God

Rome had been the super power of this world right from  the 8th century BC. They continued their triumph even during the time of Jesus. Romans took the lead in its practices of Slavery. They took all that they could take with Slavery.

Before we look into how Mohammad The Messenger of God began tackling the issue of slavery, one should come to know the centuries old prevailing practices of slavery. 

Prisoners of War Turned Slaves

It was the norm of this world that the prisoners of war were taken as slaves

"In Rome, the result of victory and conquest was wealth and luxury and gold and slaves poured in from the conquered lands. But where did they go to ?" - Page 86, Ibid.

- Victory in war gave them slaves.

Nehru asks a vital and important question on the fate of the prisoners of war who became slaves.

"But where did they go to ?"

The government of Rome who were supposed to rehabilitate these slaves, were playing with their luxuries, they were playing with the lives of these slaves.

"The Senate, as I have told you, was the governing body in Rome, and it consisted of people from rich aristocratic families. This group of rich people controlled the Roman Republic and its life, and as the power and extend of Rome grew, the wealth of these people grew with it." -  Page 86, Ibid.

People who controlled Rome became richer and richer.

"So the rich became richer, while the poor remained poor or actually became poorer." - Page 86, Ibid.

Once a person becomes a slave, he/she would have lost their life in this world, till their death.

"The slave populations grew, and luxury and misery advanced side by side."-  Page 86, Ibid.

War by war, the slave population grew. The underrated treatment of slaves became stronger and stronger and that treatment caused trouble.

"When this happens there is usually trouble.- Page 86, Ibid.

Those slaves made troubles for change. But the change came not in the way they expected. The change came in the way the riches of the ruling elite expected. Those troubles only helped them to deteriorate their situation from worse to worst. They had one and only choice before them - 'Grin and bear it'.

Nehru astonishes on the fate of the slaves.

"It is an amazing thing how much human beings will put up with, but there is a limit to human endurance, and when this is reached there are burst-ups.-  Page 86, Ibid.

The Struggle of the Slaves Continues

"The rich people tried to lull the poor by games and contests in circuses, where gladiators were forced to fight and kill each other just to amuse the spectators."Page 86, Ibid. 

- Their favourite game was to make slaves fight & kill each other!
- They took slaves for contesting in circuses! 

"Large number of slaves and prisoners of war were killed for what was called, I suppose, sport."Page 86, Ibid.

- Killing slaves and prisoners of war, were a major sport of 'The Great' Roman Empire.

"But where did they go to ?"

This question of Nehru on the plight of the slaves , was not answered until 6th Century AD. The question remained there for centuries until the coming of Mohammad The Messenger of God. 

These slaves went to Mohammad The Messenger of God and became his earliest followers.

"The followers of the Prophet were continually increasing, but whenever a new convert came to him and pledged his or her allegiance, it was more often than not a slave, or a freed slave." - Muhammad, Life Based on Earliest Sources by Martin Lings.

These slaves might have found something good so as to embrace Mohammad as The Messenger of God. They must have found something good they couldn't find in the ideologies followed by their masters. Definitely they must have found something good that none of the so called centuries old civilizations offered them. 


The question is - "where did they go to ?" and the answer is - they went to Mohammad The Messenger of God.


Regards
Nisam

"History is not a magic show, but there is plenty of magic in it for those who have eyes to see." - Jawaharlal Nehru.




5 comments:

  1. Good post.. the condition and life of slaves before Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is little known or talk about....

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    Replies
    1. Masaha Allah. Please share this messaege to your friends. Important posta are yet to come.

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  2. AWesome, Masha Allah! Too good brother! :)

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  3. Alhamdulillah. Please share this with your friends. The heat of the debate is yet to come, InshaAllah.

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  4. This is really interesting! I think the history of slavery before the times of the Holy Prophet is definitely worth exposing so that people can see the effect that Islam had when it came and then compare this to the prior treatment of slaves...keep it up!

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