An ''umm walad'' ( ar, أم ولد, , lit=mother of the child) was the title given to a slave-
concubine
Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive.
Concubi ...
in the Muslim world after she had born her master a child. She could not be sold, and became automatically free on her master's death.
The offspring of an ''umm walad'' were free and considered legitimate children of their father, including full rights of name and inheritance.
The practice was a common way for slave girls endowed with beauty and intelligence to advance in the court, especially if they gave birth to sons; under the
Caliphates
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
, quite a few of them were raised in rank to queen.
Few of them had been fortunate enough to be
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(mother of the king).
Unacknowledged slave mother
If an unmarried slave bore a child and the slave owner did not acknowledge parenthood, then the slave had to face
zina
''Zināʾ'' () or ''zinā'' ( or ) is an Islamic legal term referring to unlawful sexual intercourse. According to traditional jurisprudence, ''zina'' can include adultery, fornication, prostitution, rape, sodomy, incest, and bestiality. ' ...
charges.
[FREE FATHERS, SLAVE MOTHERS AND THEIR CHILDREN: A CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF FAMILY STRUCTURES IN AL-ANDALUS Cristinadela Puente; Imago TemporIs. medIum aevum, vii (2013): 27-44. issn 1888-3931]
Failure of economically maintaining female slave
Islamic jurisprudence was complicated, if a male owner failed to provide economic maintenance to female slave or if the owner goes missing, then the situation of female slave could get precarious if a local judge did not rule to free them.
See also
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Islamic sexual jurisprudence
Views and laws about sexuality in Islam are largely predicated on the Quran, the sayings of Muhammad (''hadith'') and the rulings of religious leaders (''fatwa'') confining sexual activity to marital relationships between men and women. Islamic ...
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Islamic views on slavery
Islamic views on slavery represent a complex and multifaceted body of Islamic thought,Brockopp, Jonathan E., “Slaves and Slavery”, in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington D ...
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Ma malakat aymanukum
Islamic views on slavery represent a complex and multifaceted body of Islamic thought,Brockopp, Jonathan E., “Slaves and Slavery”, in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington D ...
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Mawla
Mawlā ( ar, مَوْلَى, plural ''mawālī'' ()), is a polysemous Arabic word, whose meaning varied in different periods and contexts.A.J. Wensinck, Encyclopedia of Islam 2nd ed, Brill. "Mawlā", vol. 6, p. 874.
Before the Islamic prophet ...
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Mukataba
In Islamic law, a ''mukataba''مكاتبة is a contract of manumission between a master and a slave according to which the slave is required to pay a certain sum of money during a specific time period in exchange for freedom. In the legal li ...
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Qiyan
''Qiyān'' ( ar, قِيان, ; singular ''qayna'', ar, قَينة, ) were a social class of women, trained as entertainers, which existed in the pre-modern Islamic world. The term has been used for both non-free women and free, including some ...
''
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Hatun
Hatun or Khatun ( otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣, Katun, ota, خاتون, Hatun or قادین ''Kadın'', uz, xotin, fa, خاتون ''khātūn''; Mongolian: , ''khatun'', хатан ''khatan''; ur, خاتون, hi, ख़ातून '; bn, খাত� ...
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History of concubinage in the Muslim world
The history of concubinage in the Muslim world encompassed the practice of a men living with a woman without marriage, where the woman was a slave, though sometimes free. If the concubine gave birth to a child, she attained a higher status k ...
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Valide sultan #REDIRECT Valide sultan
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References
Sources
* {{cite book , first = Harold , last = Bowen , title = The Life and Times of ʿAlí Ibn ʿÍsà, 'The Good Vizier' , year = 1928 , location = Cambridge , publisher = Cambridge University Press , url = https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.80474 , oclc = 982525160
Islam and slavery
Islamic jurisprudence
Marriage in Islam