Blackness Linked to Slavery in Muslim World

Historical evidence shows that across many Muslim societies enslaved people’s treatment and legal status was shaped by skin colour as much as by religion: darker Africans were more likely to be consigned to menial labor, to be castrated, and to be described in intellectual traditions as 'natural' or inferior. The article cites medieval jurists, specific state orders, and reformist critics (like Ahmad Baba) to trace how anti‑Black racial meaning accreted alongside religious justifications for slavery. — Recognizing this long history reframes debates about anti‑Blackness, reparations, and how modern Muslim societies reckon with racism and historical memory.