Race and Slavery in the Middle East: an Historical Enquiry is a 1990 book

Book

A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...

 written by the British historian Bernard Lewis

Bernard Lewis

Bernard Lewis, FBA is a British-American historian, scholar in Oriental studies, and political commentator. He is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University...

. The book details the Islamic history of slavery

Islam and Slavery

Islamic views on slavery first developed out of the slavery practices of pre-Islamic Arabia. During the wars between different states/tribes in various parts of the world, prisoners/captives were either killed or enslaved...

 in the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

 from its earliest incarnations until its abolition in the various countries of the region.

Though the book details specifically the role that Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 has had in slavery in the Middle East, the author offers a brief statement at the beginning of the book stating that there were other religions who sanctioned slavery in their history such as Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

, Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

 and Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...

 and Pagan

Paganism

Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....

religions.

Quote

In 1842 the British Consul General in Morocco, as part of his government's worldwide endeavor to bring about the abolition of slavery or at least the curtailment of the slave trade, made representations to the sultan of that country asking him what measures, if any, he had taken to accomplish this desirable objective. The sultan replied, in a letter expressing evident astonishment, that "the traffic in slaves is a matter on which all sects and nations have agreed from the time of the sons of Adam up to this day." The sultan continued that he was "not aware of its being prohibited by the laws of any sect, and no one need ask this question, the same being manifest to both high and low and requires no more demonstration than the light of day." The sultan was only slightly out of date concerning the enactment of laws to abolish or limit the slave trade, and he was sadly right in his general historic perspective.

Chapters

• Chapter 1. Slavery (available on-line)
• Chapter 2. Race
• Chapter 3. Islam in Arabia
• Chapter 4. Prejudice and Piety. Literature and Law
• Chapter 5. Conquest and Enslavement
• Chapter 6. Ventures in Ethnology
• Chapter 7. The Discovery of Africa.
• Chapter 8. In Black and White
• Chapter 9. Slaves in Arms (available on-line)
• Chapter 10. The Nineteenth Century and After
• Chapter 11. Abolition
• Chapter 12. Equality and Marriage,
• Chapter 13. Image and Stereotype.
• Chapter 14. Myth and Reality