# Why did scholars say a slave woman's awrah is the same as a man's? *Why a slave woman's awrah is like a man's: how the scholars legitimised slave girls* - URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/49_s1ud7utk/s/1/ - Date: 2021-05-09 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Hypocrisy of scholars regarding awrah of free women & slave women | Mufti Abu Layth (0:01–7:04) - Status: latest answer on its topic; general teaching - Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49_S1uD7UTk&t=1s - Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/49_s1ud7utk/ **Topics:** Sexual ethics; Legal theory and method; Hijab and niqab **Question as asked:** Why is the awrah of an amah the same as a man's? Isn't that conflicting with the emphasis on the role of hijab for women, that free women have to cover up while slave girls are allowed to walk around with no shirt on? **Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth says most scholars of the past legitimised the practice of slave girls out of pragmatism, realism and sex, and even presented it as a religious act. He contrasts this with music, which they were less keen to permit, and polygamy, which few manage today. **Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says that, if one is honest, the way most scholars of the past dealt with slave girls was simply an issue of pragmatism, realism and, he supposes, sex. **Evidence, his words at 2:30:** “the crux is when it comes to the crux of the mata it was simply really if we're going to be honest it was just it was an issue of pragmatism realism and just i suppose sex” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49_S1uD7UTk&t=150s) ## Longer summary Mufti Abu Layth reads a question asking why the awrah of a slave woman (amah) was set the same as a man's, when free women are told to cover and slave girls could walk about with no shirt on, and he jokes about it. He says that most scholars, not all, simply legitimised everything about slave girls and gave it a religious veneer, and that if one is honest the crux of the matter was pragmatism, realism and, he supposes, sex; he says he is not justifying or judging it, only observing what happened. He contrasts this with the ascetic picture of religion that looks down on desire and with music, which he says the scholars were less motivated to legitimise, though some such as Ibn Hazm said it is not haram. He also contrasts it with polygamy, which most Muslim cultures accept as valid but few can carry off in practice, mocking the habit of calling one's wife 'sister', whereas in the past slave girls were carried off confidently and presented as a religious act, which he calls the power of religion. ## Sources and names cited - 'awrah - amah (slave woman) - hijab - Ibn Hazm - polygamy ## Transcript (machine tier, 0:01–7:04) [0:01] why is the aura of an amma the same as a man isn't that conflicting with the emphasis uh the role of hijab for women three women have to cover up while slave girls are allowed to uh uh walk around with no shirt on now that's the place where all the football all the scholars need to hang out [Laughter] they're like we're just holding a darcia [0:38] and you got all these slave girls prancing about topless what a life those people lived religion huh you know this this topic of slave girls is a really fascinating one from many aspects obviously all the guys now are just absolutely tuned in they like they're like what's wrong with you this is islam [1:17] it's islam we're learning god damn it [Laughter] see the topic of slave girls is uh it's it's so kind of revealing in many ways revealing as a freudian slip [Laughter] it's so telling in many ways that um most the scholars not all most the scholars the way they dealt with the topic of the slave girl right it's it's so strange because [1:56] they just kind of just all went like they just legitimized everything and nobody had a problem with it it's just like yeah and and and and the other guy is like of course that's common sense and the other shirt is like duh of course it's common sense it's not only common sense it's islamic and the next mahdi said duh i even think i remember a hadith about it [2:30] this is this is but it's so amazing because look when it comes to it when when you think about it when it comes to it the crux is when it comes to the crux of the mata it was simply really if we're going to be honest it was just it was an issue of pragmatism realism and just i suppose sex so which is as real as it gets so they just said fine what's the problem let's get on with it [3:09] forget all the the moral high grounds the ethics the religiosity they just said don't worry we'll make everything fit and they did and it's what's amazing is that they actually pulled it off they actually pulled it out and i'm not trying to right now justify i'm not trying to pass any judgment on it i'm just observing what's happened that the scholars of the past they just [3:49] they managed to pull it off like they just said well here comes because if you think about it now you would think like let's let's pause for a moment imagine we go back to that ontology of religion the religion which you know thinks desires are bad and the with the capital r and he thinks uh you know it looks down on sexual practices and and it thinks entertainment is bad and it thinks like material and as an ascetic that ontology of religion the essence of religion to many people uh if you go back to that you would think that they would never be able to pull this [4:26] off you know this issue of the slave girl you think that with that mindset like with music for example you could tell that they weren't clearly motivated enough to legitimize music like i suppose some of them listen to it and others didn't music wasn't the kind of the way music is today because music today is a huge thing for many people in their day-to-day lives but in the past it wasn't um as big of a thing i mean it was good for people but it wasn't this what it is today that's what i'm saying so they didn't really they weren't as [5:06] motivated to legitimize music some of them did like ibn hasam and a few other all of my legitimized music said look it's not haram but when it came to things like slave girls they just all got in line just organized themselves and just worked and everybody just accepted it like they just said yeah and and they even gave it a religious veneer that oh what we're doing this is actually a good religious act and it's amazing that they actually pulled it off [5:46] i gotta salute them seriously that is such a difficult task to pull off if you think about like look think about it today most muslim cultures accept polygamy they accept that polygamy is islamically valid most muslim cultures accept that they don't practice it though look how hard it would be to pull off polygamy even though most muslim cultures accept that it's permissible you know islam allows it and yet most even imams and all these people can't pull it off [6:24] and when they do try to look at hasanat he tried to pull it off with his with um abdullah and his his other what was it sister sarah sister what a disco i mean how can you i don't know how people can call the i don't know how you could call any woman sister that isn't your actual sister but chella that's a different discussion but calling your wife sister that's a nutty game going on there but uh so people can't pull off polygamy and in the past they managed to pull off slave girls and they did it not only confidently ## Cite Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 49_S1uD7UTk/s/1. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/49_s1ud7utk/s/1/ Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.