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Slavery in China
Ancient Poor Chinese were sometimes forced to sell their children due to their severe need and lack of money. The master had the right to sell his slaves as well as their kids. Chinese were known for their wisdom, intelligence, nobility and humanity that’s why slaves in China were treated much better than slaves in Europe.

Slavery in Greece
In Athens there were three social classes: citizens, strangers and slaves. Athineos said that the population of Ataka, performed by Demetrius Valerious around 317 B.C., estimated that there were around 21,000 citizens, 10,000 strangers and 400,000 slaves.

Slaves were either prisoners of war, victims of slavery raids, rescued abandoned children or criminals. Only a very small number of them were Greeks. A Greek regarded any foreigner as slaves by nature because they submit to kings hurriedly. That’s why he considered enslaving these foreigners as natural and logical but not for a Greek.

Traders would buy slaves like any other commodity. Athens had a market where slaves would stand naked ready to be examined thoroughly. A slave would be whipped if he did anything that his master considered as impolite. If a slave was asked to testify he could be tortured. If a free man hit him, he was not allowed to defend himself.

If a slave was subjected to severe cruelty he only had the right to escape to the nearest temple. Greek philosophers declared openly their agreement and support of slavery. Plato considered that slaves were not fit to be normal citizens and they had only to blindly obey their masters the free citizens of Athens.

Aristotle, Plato’s student, said that some people were born just to be slaves to others and some were born to be masters.

Slavery in Rome
When it comes to treatment of slaves, this is considered a pitch black page in human history.
Romans had slaves either through wars, slaves’ children or children of free citizens who were condemned by the law to be slaves. This could be for various reasons like not being able to pay their debts.

Three quarters of the population of the Roman Empire were slaves. During wars, slave traders would accompany the army. War captives were sold for cheap prices. Slave traders would steal children and women to sell them.

A slave in Rome would stand on a stone in the market where the slave trader would start bidding to get the best price. Any potential buyer had the right to ask to see the slave naked to check if he had any defects.

There was a big difference in price between and educated and an uneducated slave, similarly between a beautiful and an ugly female slave. The beautiful female slave was expensive, that’s why moral corruption and vice spread hugely in this society. Trading beautiful female slaves was considered a gate to wealth.

In Rome, a master had the right to do whatever he wanted with his slave just like he did with his pet. If a slave made a mistake, the master had the right to punish him in whichever devilish way he chose. He could confine him with chains and order him to cultivate his land or whip him till death. The master could tie his hands and hang him from a high place while tying a weight to his legs until his body organs would tear. The master could order the slave to fight hungry wild animals like lions and tigers.

No punishment was applied on a master who killed his slave because the Roman law regarded slaves as a talking machine. They were considered “Things" not “Humans". It was a regular sight to see bodies of slaves crucified on trees due to the will of their master. Slaves could be left hanging without food or water till they die. Slaves could be burnt alive or forced to do hard work chained naked under the flaming sun. M.P. CharlesWorth said in his book (The Roman Empire): “There was –no doubt- strict masters. Some would insist that slaves should stand around the table silently and he would whip anyone of them who coughed or sneezed.

One of the ladies used to bite her female slave whenever she had a fit of anger. Some ladies would whip their female slave if she did not comb her hair correctly. A slave threw himself off the roof of the house to escape the continuous insults of his master. Another slave stabbed himself till death to escape slavery. And a lot more of similar incidents" It was natural that lots of revolutions would occur on protest against the barbarous cruelty of the masters where lots of blood was shed. However, unfortunately, they would end in the killing of the rebelling slaves and would raise hell for the still living slaves even if they did not participate in the revolution.

Arabs before Islam
Slavery before Islam in Arabic regions was not very different from the rest of nations worldwide. The victorious tribe would enslave men, women and children of the losing tribe.

Some of the Meccains renowned traders were actually slave traders like Abdullah Ibn Gedaan. Some of the disciples of Prophet Mohammad, peace and blessings be upon him, were slaves before Islam like Zaid Ibn Haritha,may Allah be pleased with him, who was kidennaped as a child and sold in Ukaz market (a famous market in Mecca) to Hakim Ibn Huzam who had given him as a present to his aunt Mother of the believers Khadija bint Kuwailed, may Allah be pleased with her.

The bandits kidnapped Slaman Alfaresi, may Allah be pleased with him, during his trip to Syria and sold him to some Jews from Medina before the emigration of prophet Mohammad, peace and blessings be upon him.

Belal Ibn Rabah and Ammar Ibn Yasser and their families were slaves in Mecca before Islam and were cruelly tortured by their masters when they embraced Islam to force them to abandon their belief.

Somaya, mother of Ammar, was the first martyr in Islam. She was killed by Abu Dgahl by stabbing her with his spear when she refused to abandon Islam. Thawbeya was one of the wet nurses of prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, meanwhile she was a female slave of his uncle Abu Lahab. His nursemaid “Om Ayman", may Allah be pleased with her, was a female slave of his father “Abdu Allah Ibn Abd Almutalib" before his birth. When his father died she became a female slave in the house of prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.

Slavery and the Jews
The Jews were and has been for a long time the biggest slave traders of all ages. The reason for this was that they believe that they are “The Chosen People of God", consequently, it is natural that they would consider all other races inferior to them and hence could easily be their slaves.

The book Devarim - Deuteronomy - Chapter 20 in the Turah (The Hebrew Bible) verses 10-16 says:
"10 - When you approach a city to wage war against it, you shall propose peace to it.
11 - And it will be, if it responds to you with peace, and it opens up to you, then it will be, [that] all the people found therein shall become tributary to you, and they shall serve you.
12 - But if it does not make peace with you, and it wages war against you, you shall besiege it,
13 -and the Lord, your God, will deliver it into your hands, and you shall strike all its males with the edge of the sword.
14 -However, the women, the children, and the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoils you shall take for yourself, and you shall eat the spoils of your enemies, which the Lord, your God, has given you.
15 -Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations.
16 - However, of these peoples' cities, which the Lord, your God, gives you as an inheritance, you shall not allow any soul to live."

Also in the book Genesis - Chapter 9 in the Turah (The Hebrew Bible) verses 24-26 says:
24 - And Noah awoke from his wine, and he knew what his small son had done to him.
25 - And he said, "Cursed be Canaan; he shall be a slave among slaves to his brethren."
26 - And he said, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be a slave to them.
Queen Elizabeth the first –The Queen of England and Ireland - used these verses to justify her slave trade in which she had a major role.

Christianity and Slavery
Christianity approved and confirmed slavery just like Judaism.
St. Paul ordered slaves to obey their masters just as they obey Jesus. He said in his letter to the people of ephesians:
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people" (Ephesians 6/5-7)

St. Peter and others also gave the same advice as slavery is considered atonement for sins of mankind. All churches confirmed slavery and did not see any harm in it. However Christianity urged masters to treat their slaves kindly like St. Paul in his letter to the people of ephesians said: "And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him." (Ephesians 6/9)

The priest (Bosowit) said: "The victorious fighter has the right to kill the defeated. If he enslaved him then this is considered courtesy and mercy from him"

Saint Tomas, together with his teacher Aristotle, created the known "THEORY OF NATURAL SLAVERY" Where they claimed that slavery is an innate status some people were created with it. Aristotle describes the characteristics of the naturally born slave as: "He is capable of understanding, but not of prognosis, or practical reason, whereby he can initiate action, seeking out appropriate ends and the means of attaining them. The slave apprehends, but does not possess reason. Like women and children who suffered similarly, slaves could not engage in virtuous activity. Thus the slave cannot attain virtue and find happiness."

Will Durant in his book “The story of civilization" says:
"St. Thomas Aquinas interpreted slavery as one consequence of Adam’s sin, and as economically expedient in a world where some must toil in order that others may be free to defend them. Such views were in the tradition of Aristotle, and in the spirit of the times. The rule of the Church, that her property should never be alienated except at its full market value, was unfortunate for her slaves and serfs; emancipation sometimes proved more difficult on ecclesiastical than on secular properties. Nevertheless the Church progressively restricted the slave traffic by forbidding the enslavement of Christians at a time when Christianity was spreading rapidly."

Slave trade was controlled and monopolized by English companies by authorization from the British government. Later the British government allowed British people to enslave. Specialists anticipated the number of people enslaved by the British from 1680 to 1876 to be around 2,130,000 human.

The contact between Europe and Africa was a real tragedy that people of Africa had to endure for around five centuries. Europeans devised devilish ways to kidnap Africans, transfer them to their countries and overwork them and use them as a fuel to build their civilization. When America was discovered the tragedy became worse and they had to serve in two continents instead of one. 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica/Slavery says: "They often set fire to a village the save by night and captured the inhabitants when trying to trade - escape."

From 1661 to 1774 around 1 million African were transferred to America when around 9 million were killed during hunting, transfer or at the harbours. Meaning around 1/10 stayed alive and were shipped to America not to find peace and comfort but rather to be enslaved, ill-treated and tortured.

The Americans had some shameful laws when dealing with slaves. The law provided slaves with virtually no protection from their masters. The punishments used against slaves judged to be under-performing included the use of the whip. Sometimes slave-owners resorted to mutilating and branding their slaves. Whoever assaulted a woman would get killed. Whoever tried to escape would cut off his hands and legs. Education was discouraged or prohibited. Colored people were not allowed to work in the same positions of white people. If seven slaves gathered, this is considered a crime and any passing white man had the right to spit on them. The law stated that slaves had no soul or spirit and they do not have vision, intelligence or will and life exist only in their hands.
For us these examples are quite enough to clarify what humanity was like in those dark ages