John Andrew Morrow’s new book, Islam & Slavery, was released on October 1st, 2023, and is now available for sale from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers. Read it and weep.
Author: Morrow, John Andrew
Words of Support:
“Dr. John Andrew Morrow’s book counts on my unconditional support.” Biram Dah Abeid, Mauritanian politician and president of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA)
“I wholeheartedly endorse Dr. John Andrew Morrow’s Islam & Slavery. This important book will generate a necessary debate on taboo issues in Islamic cultures. Morrow provides a fascinating critique and constructs a compelling argument against an edifice of legal fictions such as concubinage and slavery in Islamic law. One must read the entire book to understand the poignant point he wishes to convey. This book critiques scholars who have been cowed into silence and those who have volunteered their services to reactionary causes. It will certainly receive praise and criticism. The book’s approach and conclusions will encounter some resistance from certain corners, but it will be accepted by people whose core principle is justice. It is a fantastic and wonderful book. The topic it tackles is horrible. However, it is the naked truth.” Dr. Chouki El Hamel, Professor of History in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at Arizona State University, and author of Black Morocco: A History of Slavery, Race, and Islam
“This is a thorough, exhaustive, courageous, unabashedly honest, and tragically painful book. The horrific scourge of slavery afflicts humanity in our age more than at any other time in history. It is a well-known fact that there are more slaves in the world today than when slavery was legal. Yet, as you learn from Dr. Morrow’s book, there remain Muslim scholars who are effectively moral apologists for the institution of slavery. With unflinching moral clarity and awe-inspiring scholarly rigor, Dr. Morrow exposes the incoherence and amorality of these apologists. This deeply profound and transformative book should become the standard work on the subject of Islam and slavery for decades to come.” Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl, Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Professor of Law UCLA School of Law
“Dr. John Andrew Morrow has convincingly refuted Dr. Jonathan A.C. Brown’s thesis in his book Slavery & Islam. Anyone who reads Islamic scriptures without an innate prejudice and is acquainted with Islamic history cannot but see that Prophet Muhammad, the Holy Qur’an, and the Hadith, oppose the practice at every step and in every possible way short of dismantling this important pillar of the economic structure of the society which continued to be the case in many parts of the world in different forms until the 19th century CE. That in the seventh-century CE, a religion endeavored to abolish its sanctity from the hearts of its followers is nothing short of revolutionary. Dr. Morrow’s book is a must-read for all those interested in the subject. Even critics of Islam should keep it as a companion volume to Dr. Jonathan A.C. Brown’s book.” Sultan Shahin, Editor of New Age Islam
“Professionally written with the highest academic standards, Islam & Slavery provides a valuable and desperately needed resource in the English-language. As Dr. Morrow details, those who took over Islam after the death of the Prophet Muhammad were concerned primarily with profiting from the religion rather than spreading its message of peace, freedom, and co-existence. They lied and misinterpreted the Qur’an to serve their worldly agendas. This resulted in the so-called ‘Islamic conquests’ with all the atrocities they brought to the world, including, slavery, which was abolished by the Qur’an.” Amin Refaat, Executive Vice President, International Qur’anic Center
Credentials: John Andrew Morrow is a graduate of the University of Toronto. He has taught at numerous universities and reached the rank of Professor of Foreign Languages. He was recognized as a Master Teacher and Distinguished Faculty Member, received an Interfaith Service Award, and a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition. A prolific author and passionate activist, he is considered one of the most important American Muslim scholars.
Overview: Some scholars of Islam have argued that slavery and concubinage are permissible according to the Qur’an and the teachings and practice of the Prophet Muhammad. When faced with dissenting views on the disputed subject of the legitimacy of slavery in Islam, they often respond with a loaded question and a theological trap: “Did the Prophet Muhammad commit a grave moral wrong?” Others advance moral relativism. Georgetown University’s Jonathan Brown, for example, controversially maintained that “slavery is wrong,” but added the disclaimer that “as a Muslim myself, I cannot condemn it as grossly, intrinsically immoral across space and time. To do so would be to condemn the Qur’an, the Prophet Muhammad and God’s law as morally compromised.” As Dr. John Andrew Morrow makes clear in Islam & Slavery, there is not a single verse in the Qur’an that commands slavery. Slavery is neither an article of faith nor is it a religious obligation. In fact, the Qur’an encourages and even requires Muslims to emancipate enslaved people. As far as the exponents of Islam’s spiritual, moral, ethical, and egalitarian tradition are concerned, the Qur’an, the Prophet, and Islam introduced a system that would reform the practice of slavery and abolish it entirely and forever. As God asks in the Qur’an: “What will make you know what the steep path is? It is the freeing of a slave.”
Market: History, Religion, Social Science, Middle East Studies, Islam, Slavery, Mediterranean World, Africa, African Studies
Release Date: October 1, 2023
Copyright: 2024
ISBN: 9781680536379 Hardcover
Price: $99.95
Trim Size: 6×9
Pages: 298
Illustrations: None
Publisher:
ACADEMICA PRESS
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Dr. John Andrew Morrow 