Greece Of Aristotle - Debate On Slavery - Intro - 8

Assalamualikum

May the peace and blessing of Almighty God be upon you

"These Greek City-States had no kings, but were governed by the rich citizens. The average man there had little or no say in the government. There were many slaves who had no right in the government, and women also had no rights." - Nehru, Glimpses of World History, page - 19.

The World Before Mohammad The Messenger of God

A bare minimum understanding of the conditions of this world before the arrival of Mohammad the Messenger of God should be learned prior to the understanding how he integrated the slave population with the mainstream  elite community.

Aristotle's View On Slavery

Man had ever been influenced by his circumstance. His thoughts and actions were mostly derived from the circumstance in which he lived. The Greek philosopher Aristotle was not an excuse to this.

Aristotle was a well known Greek philosopher who lived around 300 BC. He lived around 2300 years before the arrival of Mohammad The Messenger of God. He is being studied even today in universities, throughout the world. He said -

"Slavery is natural; in every department of the natural universe we find the relation of ruler and subject. There are human beings who, without possessing reason, understand it. These are natural slaves." - ARISTOTLE'S POLITICS, translated by Benjamin Jowett.

• Just like there was and there is black and white people by nature, Aristotle opined that some people became Slaves by nature!

• Just like there was and there is tall and short people by nature, Aristotle opined that some people became Slaves by nature!

If a well known philosopher like Aristotle thinks that some people became slaves by nature (!) then what would be the conditions of this world?

Tip Of the Iceberg

Aristotle's view on slavery was just a tip of the iceberg on the practice of this world with regards to Slaves. It is true that the historical Greece had a democratic constitution when compared with the then rest of the world. But even then the practice of slavery did NOT become an excuse to the Greek civilisation.

"It is true that this superlative democracy rested on slavery, that when Attic imperialism was at its height a hundred thousand citizens were surrounded by three hundred and sixty-five thousand slaves." - Page 123, Making of Humanity by Robert Briffault.

• There was a point in the Greek historical timeline at which majority of the population were Slaves!

The major reason for this plight was that Slavery and all its practices was a universally recognised one!

"But at a time when slavery was a universally recognized institution the condition of Attic slaves was so mild, except in the silver mines (the lot of miners is bad '. under all circumstances), that they never once revolted." - Page 123, Making of Humanity by Robert Briffault.

• No philosopher came to liberate this mankind from Slavery.

The conditions of the marginalised slave sailed from worse to worst.

"The social and intellectual questions developed in Greece between citizens and citizens, not between masters and slaves." - Ibid, Page 124.

• No philosopher came to educate the slave people.

Presence of Brothels

Another inevitable outcome of widespread slavery was the presence of Brothels. Slave women were kept at the brothels for nothing but flesh-trade. Continuous wars served as a major slave generating machines.

"At best all were sold into slavery, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters separated and scattered in the markets of Delos and the brothels of the Levant. That was the way in  which those god-like Greeks of the Periklean age were in the habit of; dealing with a captured Greek town." - Page 32, Making of Humanity by Robert Briffault.

The then Greek government setup brothels so as to be used by the country's youth!

Finally, slavery lead Greece to its downfall.

"Slavery did exercise a profoundly pernicious effect upon Greek culture, and ultimately contributed to its downfall." - Ibid, Page 124.

History continues... its really deep.

Mohammad, The Slave & The Messenger of The Merciful

Here comes the importance of the arrival of Mohammad the Messenger of God. What he presented before this world was a major paradigm shift for this world.

• In specific terms, his mission was to unite this mankind under One God Who created them and what all that exists.

• In specific terms, his mission was to unite this mankind as The Slaves of The Merciful.

And for that, he taught this world, the essential qualities of a slave of The Merciful Almighty God.

Mohammad the messenger of God was incremental in the removal of slavery. It was an Integration rather than a removal. We are yet to see how he could heal the cancer named slavery through his marvellous 23 years of life as a Slave and a Messenger of The Merciful.

The Essential Qualities of a Slave of The Merciful

Mohammad the messenger of God gave this world a new breathe that it is the best for a human being to be the slave of The Merciful rather than a puny slave of a puny human. 

If a human is to become a slave then he has to be the slave of The Merciful Almighty God.

He called upon the masses to be the true slaves of Almighty God by submitting their life to the will of God. He recited the verses from the Glorious Quran.

• "And the slaves of the Most Gracious are those who walk on the earth with dignity and humility" - Quran 25:63.

He taught this mankind that don't be an arrogant master/slave. But be a slave of Almighty God with humility.

• "When the foolish address them they say; 'peace'". - Quran 25:63.

He taught this mankind that whenever a foolish person comes to for quarrel, then say 'peace'.

• "And those who spend the night in worship of their Lord, prostrate and standing."- Quran 25:64.

He taught this mankind that instead of plotting wars and destruction at night, spend the night for worshipping the Lord of the universe.

• "And those who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor stingy, but are in a just balance between them."- Quran 25:67.

He taught this mankind to spend their money in charity.

• "And those who invoke not any other god along with Allah, nor kill such person as Allah  (Almighty God) has forbidden, except for just cause, nor commit illegal sexual intercourse"- Quran 25:68.

He taught this mankind to be the slaves of Almighty God, worship the One Who created you, don't kill and don't go for prostitution.

Regards
Nisam

<< Egypt The House of Slavery

Egypt The House Of Slavery - Debate On Slavery - Intro - 7

Assalamualikum

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

"Then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” – Deuteronomy 6:12

Egypt had a long and well known history of slavery. Both the Old Testament (Torah) and the Glorious Quran gives solid evidences on presence of Slavery in the African country.

Torah On The Presence of Slavery in Egypt 

It is a well known history that the Israelites were being kept as slaves in Egypt. It was prophet Moses who rescued them from the persecutions in Egypt. It was Moses who brought the children of Israel out of Egypt the house of slavery.

"Then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” – Deuteronomy 6:12

Here, the Israelites were being reminded of the blessings of Almighty God that He took them out of persecution i.e. out of Egypt.

Quran - On The Presence of Slavery In Egypt

The ten sons of prophet Jacob who were in Egypt, plotted to kill their own blood brother prophet Joseph who was a child. Eventually they decided to abandon him and they threw him inside a well.

Later on, there came a caravan of travellers.

"And there came a caravan of travellers and they sent their water-drawer, and he let down his bucket (into the well)." - Quran 12:19.

One of the traveller found a boy in the well.

"He said: "What good news! Here is a boy.'' - Quran 12:19.

They made him a commodity to be sold in the market.

"So they hid him as merchandise (a slave)." - Quran 12:19.

And they sold him in the slave market.

"And they sold him for a few Dirhams." - Quran 12:20.

Both the above testimonies show the presence of the centuries old practices of slavery in the Egyptian soil. Other historical sources also clearly confirm this point.

"There were four classes of property. The first was that of immovables, to which belonged land; the second, movables which were inanimate, such as tools, clothing, money, etc. ; the third, movables which were animate, such as animals and slaves." - THE LAW OF EGYPT - Page 63, Historical Jurisprudence by Guy Carleton Lee.  

In Egypt, the slaves were counted along with the domestic animals such as cow, sheep, dog etc.

The World Before Mohammad The Messenger Of God

A glimpse on the conditions of this world before the arrival of Mohammad The Messenger of God would help to understand how he put forward his message that was claimed to be the revelations from Almighty God. Learning the conditions of the world before his arrival  would help to understand how he cured The Cancer that this planet was affected with.

The Roman Empire and its alliance were fully immersed in slavery. They built amphitheatres for Gladiators The Bloody-Sport.  Now comes the Egypt. 

In his account on the eastern countries like Egypt, Briffault explains the secrets of the east.

"A somewhat unpleasant admission has to be made. That inevitable sequence of events,  that absolutism of the great empires of the morning- land's, that wholesale subjugation of human herds, that unresisted tyranny which was founded in the very heart of the slave," - SECRET OF THE EAST, Page 108, Making of Humanity by Robert Briffault.

'Wholesale subjugation of human herds' - These are the precise words used by Briffault to explain the plight of the cattle-grade population who were called slaves. The absolutism of the empires was imposed on the slave population. Those helpless slave population had to bare all such autocratic rulers with unresisted tyranny.

It went well beyond those tyrannies. They had to mentally prostrate before the 'divine power' to keep their lives alive.

"in mental prostration before divine power, that fearful, willing, loyal abjection, that kismet of the river-lands, that terrible secret of the East -" - Ibid.

- For the slave population, their masters were their 'God'.

The Foundation Of Egypt

"The glory and the majesty of ancient Greece and Rome, as of ancient Egypt, had for their foundation a system of widespread slavery." - Jawaharlal Nehru, Page 83, Glimpses of World History.

Going through the pages of history, It can be very clearly seen that the world was immersed in the practices of slavery. No country of this world was completely free from using humans as slaves. The terrible secret of Egypt was the foundation of widespread slavery.

"That terrible secret of the East - was the foundation, the indispensable foundation of civilization. Without it Greece, Europe would have been impossible. I call it an "unpleasant admission " because it would be fine to be able to say that human civilization is the child of freedom, that it is incompatible with tyranny and slavery." - Page 109, Making of Humanity by Robert Briffault.

Civilization is one of the indispensable part of human growth throughout the history. Egypt was not different from the rest of the world. It had a great civilization. But those civilization was marred by the practices of slavery. 

Civilization Built Using Kurbash

Kurbash is a tool for punishment. It is flexible and is about a yard in length. Egypt was known for the use of Kurbash. They used the Kurbash to discipline animals and slaves.

"As a matter of fact men never bethought themselves of building decent homes for themselves until they had seen gorgeous palaces and temples built with the tears and blood of thousands;" - Ibid, Page 109.

- Slaves were the 'manufacturing machines' for building enormous palaces.

"They never bethought themselves of living in reasonable comfort until they had witnessed the opulence and luxurious orgies of satraps and kings; they never bethought themselves of controlling the forces of nature till herds of human chattels under the kurbash of their slave-drivers had dug canals and artificial lakes, embanked rivers, and quarried mountains ;" - Ibid, Page 109.

- They built marvels under the kurbash of slave-drivers.

The 'Fruits' Of Slavery

"Commanding inexhaustible supplies of forced labour ready at hand to carry out their will, the priests of Sumer and Babylon and Egypt devised, contemplated, thought, discovered; they brought forth architectural and pictorial arts, crafts, industries, taught men to chisel stone, hammer and inlay metals, glaze pottery and tiles, blow glass, ..." - Ibid, Page 109.

Slaves became the symbol of forced labour. Never ending supply of slaves were one of the treasures of this world using which countries like Egypt built their country. Under the glory and the majesty of territorial emperors, there were the Sweat, the Blood and the Spoils
of the poor slaves.

Emperors Who Were 'god'

Egypt was known for god rulers. Emperors who dictated the country were almost treated as the god of the Egyptian people. These god rulers dictates their will and imposed it on the people, be it good or bad.

"In Egypt there was no republic, but a monarchy, and the ruler was not only supreme, but was considered almost a god."- Jawaharlal Nehru, Page 89, Glimpses of World History.

Above is only a tiny and extremely limited account on the conditions of this world, especially Egypt, before the arrival of Mohammad The Messenger of God.

Mohammad The Messenger of God

Eradication of Slavery by Integration. This is one of the precise wordings on what and how   he could achieve in the marvellous episode of treating one of the cancerous disease named Slavery.

Mohammad The Messenger of God didn't have the crown of any of the emperor. He didn't have the authority of any monastery. But he did have a profound message for the whole universe. 

Following were the three worst conditions of this world during arrival of Mohammad The Messenger of God.

• The world emperors of that time considered themselves as god.  
• The rich upper class people of that time considered themselves as masters of their slaves.
• The poor cattle-grade slave people had no option except being a cattle-grade slave of a rude master.

All such Emperors, all such Masters, all such Slaves, Mohammad The Messenger of God literally called them by one of the verses of Glorious Quran.

"There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes unto the Most Gracious as a slave." - Quran 19:93.

The above Quranic verse called the whole humanity to a common message, to a common platform. Never in the history, have we seen such a great message that called these three parties onto a common platform of unity.

• For an Emperor, the above Quranic verse reminded him - You are not god. There is only one God and that you are only a slave of Almighty God, The God of Universe.

• For  a Master, the above Quranic verse reminded him - You are not a master. There is only One Master and that you are only a slave of that Master, The Master of Universe.

• For a Slave, the above Quranic verse reminded him - You are not a Slave of a puny human; rather you are a slave of Almighty God, The Most Gracious to His slaves.

As a result - 

• Negus, The King of Ethiopia accepted the message.
• Slave masters in the Arabian continent started accepting the message.
• Downtrodden slave people in the Arabian continent started accepting the message.

And, the rest of the world started accepting this message of submission to The Master of The Universe.

The Message of Equilibrium

Historically speaking. This world had seen many thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle etc etc. No such great people could ever put forward such as great message of unity for this world, above what Mohammad The Messenger of God could put forward.

This message of Being the Slaves of Almighty God brought The Emperors, The Masters and The Slaves, shoulder to shoulder, in The Complete Submission to The Commands of Almighty God.

...

The Message of God's Slave & God's Messenger

Mohammad The Messenger of God said - "So, call me the Slave of Allah and His Messenger." - Imam Bukhari.

And it takes the whole 23 years of life of Mohammad The Messenger of God, the life of  his friends, his wives, his righteous companions, to understand how one can be a True Slave of Almighty God, instead of being a slave of a puny human.

Regards
Nisam

<< Gladiators - The Bloody Sport of The Roman Empire

Greece Of Aristotle >>

The Gladiators - Debate On Slavery - Intro - 6

Assalamualikum

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

"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." - Nehru, Glimpses of World History, Page 86

This is not the 20th century epic historical drama script directed by Ridley Scott. 

This is not the story of the Roman General, Maximus Decimus Meridius who became a Slave, then became a Gladiator who rose through the ranks of the gladiatorial arena to avenge the murder of his family and his Emperor.

This is the story of unnumbered hundreds of thousands of people who were physically crumbled into ashes by the so called sport mentioned by the noted historian and the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.

The World Before Mohammad The Messenger of God

Rome was one of the super power of this world when Mohammad The Messenger of God came.

Nehru explains the conditions of Rome.

"But disorders increased in the Roman State. There were insurrections and massacres, and bribery and corruption during the elections. Even the poor, down-trodden slaves rose in revolt under a gladiator named Spartacus." - Glimpses of World History, Page 86

- Slaves had to revolt against their masters, for their life.

"But they were crushed ruthlessly, and it is said that 6000 of them were crucified on the Appian Way in Rome" - Ibid.

Those revolts did not help them but were crushed and they were crucified ruthlessly.

"There was pomp and show and a succession of gorgeous processions and games in the circus and gladiators done to death." - Glimpses of World History, Page 104

At one side, the poor slave people were sidelined and killed and on the other side, the luxury and enjoyment flourished.

"But behind this pomp was the misery of the masses. There was heavy taxation which fell on the common people chiefly and burden of work fell on the innumerable slaves." - Ibid

The poor slave people became just a trained cow to till the toil. Most often they were treated even worse than that cow.

A. Down-Trodden Government

"Emperor followed emperor, and some were bad and some were very bad. And gradually the army became all-powerful and could make and unmake emperors." - Ibid

- Emperor by emperor, the conditions of the slaves went from worse to worst.

"So it came about that there was bidding to gain the favour of the army and money was squeezed from the masses or from the conquered territories to bribe the army" - Ibid

- The Roman Army became the final word and the money & luxury went after them in the form of bribe.

B. Humans Were Hunted Like Wild Beasts

The 'triumph' of the Rome and its all-powerful army, continued. 

"One of the great sources of revenue was the slave-trade, and there were regular organized slave-hunts by Roman armies in the East" - Ibid

- The economy of Rome was mostly driven by Slave-trade and Slave-hunt.

"Slave merchants accompanied the armies to buy up the slaves on the spot."  - Ibid 

- Slave business flourished under the Roman Empire.

C. Slave Markets

"The island of Delos, sacred to the old Greeks, became a great slave-market, where sometimes as many as 10,000 slaves were sold in a day!" - Ibid

- An entire island became a great slave-market.

"In the great Colosseum of Rome, a popular emperor used to display as many as 1200 gladiators at a time--- slave who were to die to provide sport for the emperor and his people." - Ibid

- Innumerable humans turned slaves turned gladiators had to die to serve the sport of the emperors.

"Roman citizenship was extended to the whole Roman world - but remember that the poor slaves had nothing to do with it" - Ibid

- Slaves were out of the definition of citizenship.

This is a very brief depiction of the historical context of Rome when Mohammad The Messenger of God was deputed as the messenger for all mankind to come.

It is quite evident that slave were among the earliest followers of the messenger of God.

Why Did The Slaves Go To Mohammad The Messenger of God ?

"Islam also gave them a message of brotherhood - of the equality of all those who were Muslims. A measure of democracy was thus placed before the people." - Jawaharlal Nehru, Glimpses of World History, Page 167

A message of brotherhood, a message of equality, a measure of democracy were a few among the great reasons on why these Slaves and Gladiators went to Mohammad The Messenger of God.

- This message of brotherhood was not limited to people of any class.

- This message of brotherhood was not limited to people of any country.

"This message of brotherhood must have had a great appeal, not only for the Arabs, but also for the inhabitants of many countries where they went." - Ibid

People who followed Mohammad The Messenger of God, carried this message of brotherhood wherever they went. They presented it before whomever they met. They delivered this message across continents, round the world.

From The Down-Trodden treatment of this world, from The Bloody Killing Sport of The Roman Empire and from the trenches of this world, those Slaves and Gladiators were elevated to The Highest Echelons of life by The Ever-Powerful, The Ever-Challenging Ideology of Almighty God that was revealed through the words and actions of Mohammad The Messenger of God.

Regards

Nisam

"The Roman Empire sow the seeds of exploitation and disintegration, Mohammed The Messenger of God sow the seeds of Brotherhood and equality, among the slaves and the gladiators."

<<The Roman Empire

Egypt The House Of Slavery >>

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.

<< FWD By Sonia Gandhi, Glimpses of World History

Gladiators - The Bloody Sport Of The Roman Empire >>

FWD by Sonia Gandhi - Glimpses of World History - Debate on Slavery - Intro - 4

Assalamualikum

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

"Generations of readers have been moved and, indeed, enthralled by the three classics, which reflect the power and lucidity of Jawaharlal Nehru's mind, the eloquence of this language, and the radiance of his spirit. I hope they will continue to educate, inspire and guide us for generations to come." -  Sonia Gandhi, New Delhi, 27-May-2004. From the FOREWORD TO THE 2004 EDITION of Glimpses of World History by Jawaharlal Nehru, The first Prime Minister of India.

"One New Year's Day, 1931, Jawaharlal Nehru began a remarkable series of letters on the history of the world to his daughter Indira, then thirteen years old. Over the next thirty months, Nehru wrote nearly two hundred letters in this series, which were later published as Glimpses of World History." - From the back cover of Glimpses of World History by Jawaharlal Nehru.

Nehru On World Slavery

Throughout the book, Nehru gives a solid and concise references to the existence and the practices of Slavery, worldwide. Nehru's account on slavery begins from the 200 BC Rome and it ends at the 18th century Unites States of America.

In other terms, Nehru's accounts on Slavery began from one super power and it ended at another superpower i.e. from Rome to USA.

The Necessity of Slavery

Slavery was necessitated by the greed of humans, as it was and as it is as ever.

"In the ancient world in the West slaves were always in great demand, and in order to fulfil this demand huge slave-markets arose, and expeditions went out to capture men and women, and even children,in distant land and sell them into slavery." - Glimpses of World History, Page 83.

- Slave-markets were there just as other commodity markets of 21st century.

- Expeditions went out to capture & enslave free people!

It Begins from Rome

The people of Rome were mainly divided in to two classes. They were the rich Aristocrats and the common Plebeians. But there was another disdained third group.

"But besides these two groups there was in the Roman State an enormous number of slaves who had no rights of any kind.

- They were not citizens;

- They had no vote;

- They were the private and the personal property of their master, like digs or cows.

- They could be sold or punished at the sweet will of the master." - Ibid, Page 83.

Once a person becomes a slave, his freedom is lost forever, unless and until a great miracle happens.

"They could be freed also under certain conditions, and when they became free they formed a special class called freed-men." - Ibid, Page 83.

India and China

Slavery was not a strange system for the Asian continent.

"Was this system of slavery equally prevalent then in India? Very probably it was not. Nor did China have it. This does not mean that there was no slavery in ancient India or China. But such slavery existed was more or less of the domestic kind."- Ibid, Page 83.

Africa

"The Carthaginians were the descendants of the Phoenicians and had the tradition of seamanship and of trade. Theirs was also a republic, but it was, even more than that of Rome, a republic of rich men. It was a city with huge slave population."- Ibid, Page 84.

- The city of Carthage was a North African country i.e the present day Tunisia.

Egypt

Egypt was yet another country who had slaves as part of their population. Rome was the superpower of that time and Egypt was one of their backyards. Rome utilized Egypt for resources and other supplies. Precisely, Rome was kept in good humour at the expense of countries like Egypt.

"Thus they were kept in good humour, but this free distribution could only take place in a few places, and even this was done at the cost of misery and suffering to the slave populations in other countries like Egypt, who provided the free flour." - Ibid, Page 105.

Europe

With the 6th century Arabia being an exception, the slavery and the miseries of slaves continued throughout the world till the 18th century.

"Right through the eighteenth century the nations of Europe carried on a cruel and heartless slave trade." - Ibid, Page 399.

- Europe took the share.

America

"With the discovery of America, however, the old slave trade was revived in its most cruel form. The Spanish and Portuguese began it by capturing Negroes on the African coast and taking them to America to work on the land." - Ibid, Page 399.

- America took the share.

England

"The English took their full share in this abominable trade" - Ibid, Page 399.

- England took the share.

The world took the full share of this lucrative business.

The Greatest Suffering of Mankind

"It is difficult for you or for any of us to have any idea of the terrible sufferings of the Africans as they were hundred and caught like wild beasts and then chained together, and so transported to America. Vast numbers died before they could even reach their journey's end."  - Ibid, Page 399.

- These practices of slavery were the greatest suffering of mankind.

'Slaves' of 21st Century

"The millions of Negroes in the United States of America today are the descendants of these slaves."  - Ibid, Page 399.

History goes on and on ... 

Understanding the slavery and its practices is a great deal. What you see is only some excerpts from the limited historical records.

The Only Exception

There came a man from the desert land of the 6th century Arabia. He was the only exception who transformed his people from being the slaves of puny humans to The True Slaves of Almighty God.  

"He lived a quiet life, liked and trusted by his fellow-citizens. Indeed, he was known as "Al-Amin" - The Trusty."  -  Nehru, Glimpses of World History, Page 165.

...

Regards

Nisam

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