Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Rape of Slaves, Prisoners, and Wives: Difference between revisions

Rape, or az-[[zina]] bil jabr (الزنا بالجبر), is a crime under Islamic law, and the perpetrator is subject to the [[w:hudud|hudud]], that is, capital punishments such as lashing and execution. The Islamic understanding of rape, though, traditionally has some marked differences from the understanding of rape present in modern codes of law. "Maa malakat aymaanakum"ما ملكت أيمانكم" or "what your right hand possess", that is, [[Slavery in Islamic Law|slaves]], did not have the right to refuse the sexual advances of their owners, and likewise for women taken and distributed as booty for victorious Muslim warriors (after a short waiting period to confirm they were not pregrant). Wives, similarly, are obliged to accept the sexual advances of their husbands except in certain circumstances such as menstruation or fasting (see [[Rape in Islamic Law]]). As such, the concept of rape was not recognised in [[Islamic law]] for slaves and wives. Rape of another man's slave was treated as property damage for which compensation to her owner was due, and the rapist would receive the [[w:hadd|hadd]] penalty for illegal intercourse. It is a historical fact that sex slavery/concubinage [[Slavery in Islamic Law|occurred on a massive scale]] from the beginnings of Islam almost until the present day. Mainly due to pressure from colonial powers, during the 19th and 20th centuries slavery was abolished across the Muslim world (though persists illegally in a few places such as Mauritania) and is considered no longer permissable in the modern context by most Islamic scholars. In many Muslim majority countries marital rape is also now illegal, though is not recognised as a crime in others (especially in the Arab world), which is true also of some non-Muslim countries.