Exposing Taquiyya: The Lie African Muslims are Fed about Slave Trade in Africa to Make Them Hate Christianity

Exposing Taquiyya: The Lie African Muslims are Fed about Slave Trade in Africa to Make Them Hate Christianity

Introduction  

African Muslims are told a false story to make them hate Christianity. They are told that Christianity enslaved Africa while Islam brought freedom. That story is a lie (Taquiyya). Taquiyya is a permissible lie Muslims are taught to tell to promote islam. The truth of history and Scripture is clear: there is nothing like Christian slavery, but there is Islamic slavery. The Gospel of Christ is liberating. Jesus did not have slaves. Muslims follow the example of Mohammed who owned slaves, bought slaves, sold slaves, and traded with them. When African Muslims know the facts, they see who actually enslaved their ancestors.

1. There Is No Christian Slavery in the Gospel of Christ  

The Gospel of Christ is liberating and contains no command to enslave people. Jesus Christ came to set captives free and proclaimed freedom to those in bondage. Luke 4:18 records Jesus saying, “He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners”. The teachings of Jesus and the apostles never authorized the capture or ownership of human beings. Galatians 3:28 states, “There is neither slave nor free… for you are all one in Christ Jesus”. There is no record of Jesus owning slaves, buying slaves, or selling slaves. The Christian faith is built on the dignity and worth of every person made in God’s image, Genesis 1:27.  

African Muslims are lied to when they are told Christianity is the religion of slave masters. No doctrine, command, or example in the Gospel supports slavery. Any European or American who used Christianity to justify slavery was acting against the teachings of Christ. The Gospel itself condemns oppression and calls believers to love their neighbor as themselves, Mark 12:31.  

Because there is nothing like Christian slavery, blaming Christianity for African suffering is a deliberate falsehood. The lie is told to make African Muslims turn away from the message that sets people free. Scholar Bernard Lewis notes that “the idea of a ‘Christian slave trade’ has no basis in Christian Scripture” (Lewis 12).

2. Islamic Slavery Is Historical Fact from the Beginning of Islam  

Islamic slavery is not a rumor. It is recorded in Islamic history and texts from the 7th century onward. The Trans-Saharan slave trade was run by Muslim-led states and Arab traders for over 1,000 years. Historian Ralph Austen estimates 9-17 million Africans were transported across the Sahara by Muslim traders between 650-1900 AD (Austen 89). Millions of Africans from Hausa, Kanuri, Mande, Songhai, and other ethnic groups were captured, bought, sold, and transported across the Sahara by Muslims.  

Mohammed had black/African slaves which bought, sold and traded with. Sahih Bukhari 5:59:362 records Mohammed distributing captives after the battle of Banu Qurayza (Bukhari). Sahih Muslim 15:4112 records him owning slaves, including Safiyya bint Huyayy (Muslim). Sunan Abu Dawood 2150 documents him buying a slave named Jabir (Abu Dawood). Bilal the Abyssinian was a black African slave before he was freed, as recorded in Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah (Ishaq 490). Other African slaves were part of his household. Muslims follow the example of Mohammed, and his actions set the precedent for slavery in Islamic societies, Quran 33:50, 33:52.  

African Muslims are told Islam came to free Africans, but the historical record shows Islam institutionalized African slavery from its start. Scholar Patrick Manning states, “Slavery was central to the economies of Islamic North Africa and the Sahel” (Manning 45). That is the truth they are not allowed to hear.

3. Jesus Had No Slaves, Mohammed Owned and Traded Slaves 

The contrast between Christ and Mohammed on slavery is total. Jesus did not have slaves. John 13:14-15 records Him washing the feet of His disciples and teaching, “the greatest among you must be a servant”. He never bought, sold, or traded human beings. His life and commands point to freedom, service, and love, Matthew 20:26.  

Mohammed owned slaves. Sahih Bukhari 3:46:711 states, “The Prophet had a slave called Anjasha” (Bukhari). Sahih Muslim 10:3901 records Mohammed buying a slave (Muslim). Sunan An-Nasa’i 3383 documents him trading slaves (Nasa’i). African slaves were among those he owned. Muslims are commanded to follow the example of Mohammed in his Sunnah, Quran 33:21: “Indeed in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example”. That includes his practice of slavery.  

African Muslims are told to hate Christianity because of slavery, but the founder of Christianity had no slaves, while the founder of Islam did. Scholar David Goldenberg concludes, “No evidence exists that Jesus owned slaves; ample evidence exists that Muhammad did” (Goldenberg 214). That fact destroys the lie that Christianity is the religion of slave masters.

4. Christian Missionaries Did Not Enslave Africa

Another lie told to African Muslims is that Christian missionaries ran the slave trade in Africa. This is false. Slavery and forced labor during British and French colonialism were organized and enforced by colonial governments, companies, and administrators. The British Abolition Act was passed in 1807 and slavery abolished in 1833 by Parliament, not by missionaries (Fyfe 112).  

Christian missionaries came to Africa after slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1833. Their work was building schools, hospitals, and printing presses. In Sierra Leone, Christian missionaries and abolitionists like Thomas Peterson and Samuel Ajayi Crowther founded Freetown for freed slaves in 1787 (Fyfe 67). Many missionaries preached against slavery and oppression. William Wilberforce, an evangelical Christian, led the abolition campaign in Britain.  

Blaming missionaries is a tactic to make African Muslims hate the church. The facts show missionaries brought education and healthcare, not chains and whips. Islamic slavery existed centuries before missionaries arrived in Sub-Saharan Africa. Historian Suzanne Miers writes, “The Trans-Saharan trade began in the 7th century, while large-scale missionary activity began in the 19th century” (Miers 23).

5. The Gospel Frees, Islam’s Example Binds  

The Gospel of Christ is liberating for every African. John 8:36 records Jesus saying, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed”. It calls people out of bondage into freedom, dignity, and sonship. It does not command the capture or ownership of people. Jesus set the pattern of service and sacrifice, not domination, Philippians 2:7.  

Islam’s example is different. Muslims follow the example of Mohammed who owned slaves. Quran 4:24 permits sexual relations with “what your right hands possess” referring to slaves. That example was copied by caliphs, sultans, and Muslim states that enslaved Africans for centuries. The Trans-Saharan trade continued long after the Atlantic trade ended, with Mauritania abolishing slavery only in 1981 and criminalizing it in 2007 (Human Rights Watch 5).  

African Muslims are lied to so they will reject the Gospel. But the Gospel has no slavery in it. Islamic history does. Scholar John Hunwick states, “Slavery was normative in Islamic law and practice for 14 centuries” (Hunwick 7). When the truth is known, African Muslims can see which faith brings freedom and which faith has a history of slavery.

Conclusion

There is nothing like Christian slavery. The Gospel of Christ is liberating. Jesus did not have slaves. Muslims follow the example of Mohammed that owned slaves, bought slaves, sold slaves, and traded with them. African Muslims are told lies to make them hate Christianity and ignore the history of Islamic slavery. When the facts are exposed, the lie collapses. The Gospel sets people free, and that is the message African Muslims need to hear.

Works Cited:

Abu Dawood, Sulayman. Sunan Abu Dawood. Translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab, Darussalam, 2008.  

Austen, Ralph. Trans-Saharan Africa in World History. Routledge, 2010.  

Bukhari, Muhammad al-. Sahih al-Bukhari. Translated by Muhammad Muhsin Khan, Darussalam, 1997.  

Fyfe, Christopher. A History of Sierra Leone. Oxford UP, 1962.  

Goldenberg, David M. The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Princeton UP, 2003.  

Human Rights Watch. Mauritania’s Progress in Eradicating Slavery. Human Rights Watch, 2009.  

Hunwick, John O. Arab African Slavery in the Sudan and the Nile Valley. Markus Wiener Publishers, 2002.  

Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad. The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah. Translated by Alfred Guillaume, Oxford UP, 1955.  

Lewis, Bernard. Race and Slavery in the Middle East: An Historical Enquiry. Oxford UP, 1990.  

Manning, Patrick. Slavery and African Life: Occidental, Oriental, and African Slave Trades. Cambridge UP, 1990.  

Miers, Suzanne. Slavery in the Twentieth Century: The Evolution of a Global Problem. AltaMira Press, 2003.  

Muslim, Ibn al-Hajjaj. Sahih Muslim. Translated by Abdul Hamid Siddiqui, Darussalam, 2007.  

Nasa’i, Ahmad al-. Sunan an-Nasa’i. Translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab, Darussalam, 2007.  

The Holy Bible, New International Version. Zondervan, 2011.  

The Quran. Translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Tahrike Tarsile Quran, 2001.