Islam's Black Slaves

296 Pages·51.571 MB·English

by  Segal, Ronald

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THE OTHER BLACK DIASPORA
BLOCK
R O N A L D S E G A L Author of the black diaspora
SLQVeS
eSSSESSIBBOIP
U.S.A. $25.00
Canoda $39.95
A companion volume to The Block Diaspora, this
groundbreaking work tells the fascinating and horrify-
ing story ofthe Islamic slave trade. Islam's Block Slaves
documents a centuries-old institution that still survives,
and traces the business of slavery and its repercussions
from Islam's inception in the seventh century, through its
history in China, India, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Libya, and
Spain, and on to Sudan and Mauritania, where, even
today, slaves continue to be sold.
Segal reveals for the firsttime the numbers involved
in this trade—as many millions as were transported to
theAmericas-and exploresthe differences between the
traffic in the East and the West. Beginning some eight
centuries earlier than the Atlantic Trade, the Islamic
Trade was conducted on a different scale, and pro-
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vided slaves more often fordomestic—including sexual— c—/y
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and military service than for plantation labor. Some oc:'^9^
slaves rose to positions of authority, and a few even be- oX4."O
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came rulers. Because of specific spiritual teachings, Is- ^ CD cr
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lam was generally more humane than the West in its
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treatment of slaves and in its willingness to grant them ^-^
their freedom, although the processes of captivity and
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transportvictimized untold numbers of innocent people,
as did the creation of eunuchs for the Islamic market. D-<O
Islam's Block Slaves also examines the continued
denial of the very existence of this sector of the block
diaspora, although it survives today in significant
numbers; and in an illuminating conclusion, Segal
addresses the appeal of Islam to African-American
communities, and the perplexing refusal of Block Mus-
lim leaders to acknowledge black slavery and oppres-
sion in present-day Mauritania and Sudan.
A fitting companion to Segal's previous work, Is-
lam's Black Slaves is a fascinating account of an often
unacknowledged tradition, and a riveting cross-cultural
commentary.
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Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2011
http://www.archive.org/details/islamsblackslaveOOsega
ALSO BY RONALD SEGAL
The Black Diaspora:
Five Centuries ofthe Black Experience Outside Africa
The Tokolosh
PoliticalAfrica
African Profiles
Into Exile
The Crisis ofIndia
(in the U.S.: The Anguish ofIndia)
The Race War
Americas Receding Future
(in the U.S.: The Americans)
Whose Jerusalem? The Conflicts ofIsrael
The Struggle Against History
The Decline and Fall ofthe American Dollar
The Tragedy ofLeon Trotsky
(WITH MICHAEL KIDRON)
The State ofthe WorldAtlas
The Book ofBusiness, Money and Power
ISLOm'S BLOCK SLOVCS

isLom's
BLOCK SLQVrS
THE OTHER BLACK DrASPORA
RONALD SEGAL
FARRAR, STRAUS AND GIROUX
NEW YORK
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
19 Union Square West, NewYork 10003
Copyright© 2001 by Ronald SegaT)
All rigHts reserved
Distributed in Canada by Douglas & Mclntvre Ltd.
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
First edition, 2001
Librar)'ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Segal, Ronald, 1932-
Islam's Black slaves: the other Blackdiaspora/Ronald Segal.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-374-22774-8 (hardcover)
— —
1. Slaveryand Islam History'. 2. Slavery—Islamic countries History.
3. African diaspora. 1. Title.
HT919.S45 2001
306.3'62'0917671-dc21
00-062256
Designed byJonathan D. Lippincott
Permissions appear on page 261-62.