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The Ismaili contribution to the Islamic rejection of slavery
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| Professor Clarence-Smith shared his research about the Ismaili contribution to the Islamic rejection of slavery |
On the 14th of November AKU-ISMC hosted a lunch-hour seminar delivered by Professor William Gervase Clarence-Smith, who spoke about his research on the rejection of slavery in Muslim societies, and the social and political influence of the Ismailis within the abolitionist movement.
Clarence-Smith is Professor of History at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). His work has focused on a variety of topics including the history of crops and livestock, the history of entrepreneurial diasporas, the history of Islam and Christianity and slavery. Clarence-Smith’s most recent publications are Islam and the Abolition of Slavery (2006) and Cocoa and Chocolate (2000).
Clarence-Smith began his talk by expressing his interest in the contribution of various minority communities within the Islamic context to the rejection of slavery across Muslim cultures. He noted that although the Shias and other non-Sunni communities make up less than 15% of the population, they have played a role in the anti-slavery movement. Within this context, he stated that scholars have a mixed view on the Ismaili contribution to the anti-slavery movement.
He claimed that various "Ismaili groups, from their origins, have tended to be seen as libertarian . obviously one of the things that it could mean is to oppose slavery. They have also been seen to have a tendency towards social levelling." He observed that while some scholars, including the Marxist scholar Maxime Rodinson, believe that in general the Ismailis did not contest the position of slavery in Muslim societies, he himself took the position that throughout Ismaili history there have been instances of anti-slavery efforts.
Exploring the growth of Ismailism and its relationship with slavery in different periods, Clarence-Smith discussed the role of the Qarmatians and the semi-legendary Hamdan Qarmat, who is reported to have held slavery to be unlawful. Clarence-Smith noted that there were, however, no independent sources which confirm this to have been the case.
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| The lunch-hour seminar was attended by students, faculty and guests of the Institute |
Clarence-Smith also spoke of the Fatimids, who emerged in North Africa in a burst of millenarianism. The Fatimids, despite continuing to amass a variety of slaves throughout the Mediterranean and whose law code legislated for slavery, had elements of anti-slavery movements throughout their history.
Providing an example, Clarence-Smith stated that, "the Fatimid Khalifa al-Hakim, who ruled at the end of the 10th century, (and who) sought to be a perfect Ismaili ruler . in 1013 he freed all of his own slaves, male and female." The death of Khalifa al-Hakim sparked the movement known as the Druze, which despite copying most of the Fatimid law code, omitted slavery - perhaps due to the Druze belief in reincarnation. The Druze believe that the soul of a slave should not be able to enter the body of a free man, and thus they did not accept slavery.
Referring to Ismaili anti-slavery efforts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Clarence-Smith spoke of the early Aga Khans, in particular the reign of Aga Khan III (1885 - 1957). This period marked a clear modernisation drive - including the promotion of science and Western-style education - and as part of this, clear support for the abolitionist movement. Despite this development, he noted that there are still problems understanding exactly how the shift in the perception of slavery within this group has been interpreted and justified in a religious sense.
Clarence-Smith spoke of the development of two schools of abolitionist Islam as a concerted movement in South Asia in the late 19th century. One of the schools was led, Clarence-Smith said, by Sayyid Amir Ali, "who was a quintessential gradualist for whom it was a question of the time being ripe." On the other hand, the second group, exemplified by Sayyid Ahmed Khan, took a more radical approach towards the abolition, claiming that slavery had always been disallowed in Islam.
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| Professor Clarence-Smith explained the existence of a variety of anti-slavery efforts throughout Ismaili history |
Referring to the Aga Khan's connection to the abolitionist movement, Professor Clarence-Smith explained that in 1909 the Aga Khan publicly praised Britain for abolishing slavery in South Asia. From World War I onwards, the Aga Khan was active in anti-slavery efforts and was a key proponent of the 1926 League of Nations covenant against slavery. Still, he noted that, "the information that I cannot find, however, is whether there is any doctrinal, religious rejection of slavery. What we get is a political or social reformist view from which religion is evacuated."
In conclusion, Professor Clarence-Smith explained that from his research, he has found that there is no automatic Ismaili rejection of slavery and that there is not a libertarianism in Ismaili doctrines that necessarily supports abolitionist principles. In Islam generally, Professor Clarence-Smith added, there is no automatic acceptance of servitude, and right from its founding moments, there has never been complete consensus for the rejection or acceptance of slavery.
External Links*
Online Resources**
- To listen to a recording (wma) of the seminar, please click here
- To download a complete transcript (pdf) of the seminar, please click here
* Links to sites does not imply endorsement of the contents of those sites. AKU-ISMC is not responsible for the content of external websites.
** This recording and transcript is the property of Aga Khan University (International) in the United Kingdom. You may not copy, reproduce, republish, download, post, broadcast, or otherwise use this recording in any way except for your own educational or personal non-commercial use. The views expressed by the speakers are their own personal views and do not necessarily reflect those of the Institute.
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