The Qur’anic Endorsement of Sex Slavery

A Doctrine in Retreat

Islamic apologists often portray Islam as a timeless, universal system of justice and morality — a revelation from God, unchanging and perfect. But when it comes to the topic of sex slavery (concubinage), the record is much more complicated. A closer look at the historical doctrine and the modern reinterpretation exposes a stark contradiction — one that strikes at the heart of Islam’s claim to timeless moral superiority.

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The Qur’anic Endorsement: An Established Doctrine

From the earliest days of Islam, the Qur’an explicitly permitted sexual relations with female slaves. Key verses include:

• Surah 23:5-6:

  “And those who guard their private parts, except from their wives or those their right hands possess…”

• Surah 4:24:

  “And [also prohibited are] married women except those your right hands possess…”

These phrases — “those whom your right hands possess” — have been understood for centuries to mean female slaves (concubines).

Classical Islamic scholars, across the Sunni schools, unanimously affirmed this practice:

• Ibn Qudamah (Hanbali) in al-Mughni: declared that an owner may have intercourse with a slave woman he owns.

• Al-Nawawi (Shafi’i) in al-Majmu’: explicitly described the permissibility of sex with concubines.

• Ibn Kathir’s tafsir: confirmed the Qur’anic authorization of concubinage and its practice during Muhammad’s lifetime.

This was not a fringe practice. It was central to Islamic law (sharia) for 1,300+ years, shaping not only sexual ethics but also the legal status of children born from concubines, inheritance laws, and more.

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The Qur’anic Principle: Divine Law Over Human Opinion

Defenders of this doctrine argue that Islam’s laws are based on Allah’s judgment, not human preference. They cite verses like:

• Qur’an 5:49:

  “And judge between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their inclinations…”

• Qur’an 14:8:

  “If you disbelieve, you and whoever is on the earth entirely – indeed, Allah is Free of need and Praiseworthy.”

This argument says: What Allah commands is good and just, regardless of how people feel about it.
Sex slavery, in this view, was divinely sanctioned because it served certain “benefits”:

✅ A man’s “chastity” was safeguarded.
✅ The concubine’s social status could rise if her master married or freed her.
✅ It was seen as a “merciful alternative” to forced celibacy or prostitution.

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The Modern U-Turn: A Crisis of Conscience

Fast forward to the present day. Muslim communities worldwide have almost universally abandoned the practice of concubinage. Leading scholars and Islamic organizations publicly condemn it as a violation of human rights and dignity.

In modern times:

✅ Muslim-majority states ban sex slavery outright.
✅ Muslim intellectuals reinterpret or sideline the Qur’anic verses that once supported it.

This modern consensus contradicts the clear text of the Qur’an and 1,300 years of classical jurisprudence. It’s a massive reversal.

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The Stark Tension: Timeless Truth or Historical Compromise?

Here’s the core tension:

👉 The Qur’an permitted concubinage as divinely revealed law.
👉 Modern Muslims reject it entirely.
👉 But if the Qur’an is truly timeless and perfect, why abandon what it plainly allows?

Some modern Muslims try to reinterpret these verses as purely historical — meant only for 7th-century Arabia. But this raises an uncomfortable question:

➡️ If those verses were historically bound, does that mean they are not eternal?
➡️ If the Qur’an changes to fit modern morality, is it truly divine law — or just another human system, updated for convenience?

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Conclusion: A Doctrine’s Collapse

The story of concubinage in Islam is a cautionary tale:

🔴 Historically, it was an explicit, divinely ordained practice.
🔴 Today, it is universally condemned as immoral and unjust.

This exposes a fundamental problem:
➡️ How can a “perfect, eternal revelation” be so out of step with modern conscience that even Muslims must abandon it?
➡️ If the Qur’an’s sexual ethics can be set aside as “outdated,” what else in the text is also historically bound?

It’s a contradiction that can’t be hand-waved away. For critics of Islam, it is proof that the Qur’an’s claim to timeless moral truth collapses under scrutiny. For thoughtful Muslims, it is a challenge to reconcile divine law with universal human dignity.

And for everyone else, it is a clear example of how — when it comes to Islam — the closer you look, the more it collapses like a house of cards.