The book “Race and Slavery in the Middle East” (1990) by the well-known orientalist Bernard Lewis is considered one of the interesting and useful works on this little-studied topic in the Islamic world. It is true that Lewis is known for his biased position against Islam, but this book demonstrates a more objective approach.
In the book, the author makes three distinctions regarding the Islamic world: the Quran and the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad; the law and ijtihads developed by the scholars; and what is experienced in the lifestyle of Muslims. In a sense, Lewis distinguishes between theory and practice, which allows for a more complete reflection of the picture. The fact that Lewis uses original historical and literary sources in his research on the topic greatly increases the value of the book.
Since the book covers two separate topics, I intend to make two separate contributions on both slavery and race. But before these contributions, I want to talk about blacks in the Middle East.
As is well known, blacks, especially Abyssinians (modern Ethiopians), played an important role in the history of the Arabian Peninsula both before and after Islam. Interestingly, blacks left a significant mark on Middle Eastern literature not only as slaves and soldiers, but also as poets and writers. In his book, Lewis analyzes the works of black writers who lived before Islam, such as Antara, as well as in the early Islamic period, such as Suhaim, Nushayb, Jirayr, Jahiz, and Hayqutan. Although the theoretical part of Islam completely prohibits discrimination based on skin color, black writers write in their works about the discrimination they faced because of their skin color and the shame they felt for not being white, which shows a contradiction between the theory and