Marriage and Slavery in Islamic Thought: A Critical Study of Dr. Kecia Ali's Scholarship

Abstract

This article presents a critical study of the legal, social, and ethical concepts of marriage and slavery in early Islam in light of the contemporary scholarship of Dr. Kecia Ali. The central research problem concerns the extent to which similarities in certain legal concepts and terminology related to marriage and slavery in early Islamic jurisprudence can be understood as evidence of their legal or ethical equivalence. Dr. Kecia Ali examines marriage, dower (mahr), sexual rights, consent, ownership (milk), authority, slavery, and concubinage through the framework of early Islamic legal texts, highlighting significant parallels between certain legal structures governing marital and enslaved relationships. This study, however, argues that legal similarity should not necessarily be equated with normative equivalence. The ethical principles of the Qur'an and Sunnah—particularly human dignity, justice, consent, ma'ruf (fair and proper treatment), affection, and mercy—establish marriage as a distinct legal and moral institution. Likewise, Islamic teachings concerning slavery, including the encouragement of emancipation, contractual manumission (mukatabah), and humane treatment, provide a basis for understanding the institution within a broader framework of ethical transformation. By distinguishing between classical juristic formulations and Qur'anic ethical principles, the study evaluates both the scholarly contribution and the limitations of Kecia Ali's approach. It concludes that although historical legal parallels between marriage and slavery are significant, they should not be regarded as establishing complete legal or ethical equivalence between the two institutions.