"Those whom your right hands possess", a Qur'anic descriptor for female slaves, can evoke a number of charged emotions and thoughts that can be difficult to reconcile with our modern sensibilities today. What does slave-concubinage mean? How was it understood in the formative years of Islam?

In the final part of our series on slavery, Ustadha Zaynab Ansari, a resident scholar and instructor at Tayseer Seminary, reflects on this challenging topic.

CHAPTERS:

0:00 - Introduction

1:44 - A Review Culture: Framing the Discussion

3:44 - An Overview of Slavery and Islam

6:50 - Those Whom Your Right Hands Possess: An Ethical Framework

23:52 - Insights Into the Qur'anic Pairing of Wives and Slave-Concubines

25:42 - On the Context of Surah Nisaa

33:34 - Was Slave-Concubinage Discouraged?

49:18 - The Issue of Consent

54:56 - The Battle of Hunain and Conduct of Armies

1:04:38 - A Moral Imperative For Consent?

1:12:28 - Legal Applications of Harm Vs Modern Notions of Consent

1:19:14 - On Coercive Relations

1:22:07 - The Prophet and Maria

1:32:35 - Moving Forward as a Community