From the noble Qur’anic verses and the Prophetic hadith, and the statements of the imams and the testimonies of history which we have enumerated in the previous sections, it is clear without doubt or dispute that the Islamic religion narrowed the confines of slavery and worked to eradicate it at source, since it laid down conditions and imposed restrictions that had to be observed in order for enslavement to take place, just as it clarified the paths and explained clearly the means by which deliverance from its clutches might be achieved.

If it happened that, despite all these expedients, destiny caused a man to fall into slavery, then we have seen that the Islamic Shari’a did not abandon him or leave him to his own devices, but extended over him the wing of protection and the banner of safekeeping, and considered him worthy of compassion and deserving of mercy it saw in the slave.

Hence the Shari’a set forth injunctions that make it obligatory for masters to treat their slaves as they treat themselves and to strive to make them happy, to give them ease of mind, to teach them, to train them and educate them, and not to belittle them or put them down, to marry them off, both males and females, so as to hasten their release from the noose of slavery and to conduct them to the pathways of freedom.

During the 19th century, in the palaces of the Egyptian ruling family, white slaves were divided into the following categories:

1. Kalfas of the private apartments, subdivided into hazinedars, odacis, çubukcis, kutucis, leğencis, oğuşdurucis.

The hazinedars were the personal attendants of the master and ladies of the house. The chief hazinedar held one of the highest posts in the household, being entrusted with the keys to the ‘hazine,’ or treasure room(s), where the valuables, jewels, and other effects of her master or mistress were kept …

The odacis swept and dusted the private apartments.…

The çubukcis cleaned and presented the long çubuks, or pipes, to their mistress, and kept the tobacco at the right temperature.…

The kutucis were in charge of everything that was kept in boxes (kutu) or chests, articles which, nowadays, would be stored in cupboards or chests of drawers.…

The leğencis were in charges of the ewers, basins, and towels. In the days before running water, they attended to their mistress while she was bathing….

Oğuşdurucis were masseuses.

2. The rest of the staff, divided into orta kalfas, tezrecis, çubukcis, kahvecis, sofracis, kilercis, fannozcis, çengis, sazendes, and hanendes.

Orta kalfas swept and dusted halls, passages, and drawing rooms and had to be in attendance on visitors at all hours of the day. After divesting the guests of their cloaks and veils, they would give them to the tezrecis to be pressed with an iron.…

The çubukcis who were not attached to the private apartments had the same duties as those who were.…

… the kahvecis were specialists in making coffee.…

… the sofracis were the girls who laid and served at table and cleaned up afterwards.…

The kilercis were in charge of the storerooms (kiler).…

Before gas or electricity were in use, the fannozcis were in charge of all the candlesticks, brackets, chandeliers, and lanterns.…

The prettiest and most graceful girls were chosen to be çengis, or dancers. With the exception of the so-called ‘navel dance,’ considered indecent in the Palace, they learned old folk dances.…

The sazendes were musicians and the hanendes singers. Musically gifted girls and those who had a good voice were trained in Oriental and European music by teachers who came to give them lessons in the Palace.…

Coloured slaves, descendants of Abyssinian and Sudanese Negroes were never employed in the Imperial Palace, but as they were cheaper than the white, there was always a great demand for them elsewhere.

The crimes of slaves can be divided into three categories: 1) crimes against other slaves, 2) crimes against free persons, and 3) crimes against property. As for crimes against slaves, there are no exceptions whether they be deliberate or accidental. If it is an accidental offense then the owner of the offending slave has the option either to hand over the slave in compensation for his offense to the owner of the slave against whom the offense was committed, or to redeem himself against the value of the slave against whom a homicide was committed, or against the extent to which bodily harm diminished the slave’s value in the case of injury. If the wound did not diminish the injured slave’s value then the offender has no liability.

If the offense is deliberate then the owner of the slain or injured slave has two options: 1) to seek retaliation, or 2) to take the slave who caused the injury, unless his master redeems him for the price of the slain slave, or the amount by which the value of the injured slave was diminished….

As for slaves’ crimes against free persons, if the crime is accidental homicide, then the owner of the killer has the option either to hand the slave over or to redeem him against the blood money. If it was deliberate, then the ruling concerning it has already been given. If the crime against free persons involves less than homicide, then it makes no difference if bodily harm was intentional or accidental, since the slave cannot have his own blood spilt in retaliation by a free man on account of an injury….

As regards slaves’ offenses against property, it makes no difference whether the property belongs to a free person or a slave, for it is accountable to the slave who committed the offense….

Question: When did you come to Cairo? Who was the person who brought you? Where did you stay when you arrived? To whom were you given by the person who had brought you here?

Şemsigül: I came here two years ago. The person who brought me from Istanbul was the slave dealer Deli Mehmet. I was sold to the palace of Mehmet Ali Paşa.… After I had stayed at Mehmet Ali Paşa’s for five months, it was suspected that I was pregnant. A midwife was brought in to examine me, and she verified that I was indeed pregnant. So they summoned Deli Mehmet and returned me to him. He then took me and brought me to the home of Mustafa.

Question: By whom did you become pregnant?

Şemsigül: I became pregnant by Deli Mehmet.

Question: Where … did he have sexual relations with you? And since you became pregnant, why did he sell you [this being illegal]?

Şemsigül: In the boat, on the way here, he forced me to have sexual relations with him.… Before the sale, I told him, “ … I think that I am pregnant by you.” …He went away, brought back some medicines and made me drink them [to induce an abortion]. Finally, he sold me to the palace.

Question: Your answer is well understood. When they said at the palace that you were pregnant, they returned you, and you went to Mustafa’s house. But now you need to explain … what was the state of your pregnancy?

Şemsigül: … I went to the home of Mustafa and stayed there for about ten days. While I was there, Deli Mehmet’s wife came to the house and cursed me … she wanted to hit me, [but] Mustafa’s wife prevented her from doing so. Mustafa sent me to the house of Deli Mehmet. When I got there, Deli Mehmet’s wife brought in a private midwife and demanded that she perform an abortion on me. At that, the midwife said, “This pregnancy is [too far] advanced. …” Having said that, she left, but Deli Mehmet’s wife insisted, saying, “I shall put an end to this pregnancy.” She said to Deli Mehmet, “Let us beat this slave and put an end to her pregnancy,” to which Deli Mehmet replied “I am not going to beat her.” But the woman … fetched a clothespress, hit me with it several times … and then beat me with a mincing rod.

At that point, one of the neighbors, a peasant woman … went to the house of Selim Bey. When she told them … the wife of the dignitary […] came to the house of Deli Mehmet. She had mercy on me and said, “I shall take her and perform the abortion.” She then took me to her house but left my condition as it was.… When the child was to come into the world, Deli Mehmet’s wife came and stood at the bedside. When he was born, she took the child into another room and passed him through her shirt to show that she was adopting him. To me she said that the child had died.…

There are six reasons for manumission, the first of which is voluntary manumission seeking divine reward, since this is one of the noblest of deeds. The remaining modalities are obligatory and they are 1) manumission resulting from the swearing of oaths, i.e., acts of atonement [for having broken a vow]; 2) resulting from mutilation; 3) resulting from partial freeing; 4) resulting from family relationship.

Mutilation: whoever intentionally mutilates his slave in a visible fashion, i.e., if he cuts off his fingertips or the extremity of his ear or the tip of his nose, or if he cuts any part of his body, shall be punished and the slave freed without his authorization. Injury is only defined as mutilation if the slave thereby suffers gross disfigurement….

Partial freeing: If anyone frees part of his slave, or a single limb, the rest of the slave is freed without his consent.…

As for manumission on account of a blood relationship: this is occasioned by slaves’ entering into ownership [of a blood relative]. According to the mass of mainstream jurists … male persons related by descent or ascent to a person into whose possession they pass through purchase or inheritance, or other means, are to be freed without the owner’s authorization.