From Whence the Brutality?

Submitted by Alex (United States), Jul 13, 2013 at 18:17

I may be stating the following out of an ignorance of the history of slavery, but Muslim slaveholders seem to treat their captives on average with more cruelty than do others. I understand that the Shari'a sanctions slavery, but simply possessing a legal mandate for a behavior and engaging in it with enthusiasm are two different phenomena. I vaguely remember reading in a Latin American history textbook in college that the Spanish/Papal regulations on slaveholding and trading actually made for less i humane practices than the British lack of acknowledgement of the issue altogether (or perhaps the other way around?). Has Dr. Pipes ever written--and would he agree in the first place to the existence of-- an added sadism present in Muslim slaveholding practices? I personally just can't understand how a wealthy Saudi royal could buy Cartier watches but actually withhold already low wages from an illegal laborer.

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