Conceptions of equality and slavery in Islamic law: Tribalism, piety, and pluralism

This dissertation undertakes an examination of conceptions of human equality in Islamic law. The dissertation uses the history of slavery and its abolition in several Muslim locales as a vehicle for uncovering juridical and sociolegal factors that play a role in shaping ideas about equality in Islamic law and practice. It concludes that in many circumstances Islamic conceptions of equality have become historically impoverished. It argues that the pietistic egalitarianism advanced by the Prophet Muhammad and his immediate successors have been overtaken by cultural, tribal, and historical imperatives. The dissertation first engages in a hermeneutic examination of conceptions of equality in the core Islamic texts. It then focuses on the history of slavery and abolition in Egypt. After thoroughly exploring the events in Egypt, it compares abolition in Egypt with similar events in Zanzibar, Sudan, and Saudi Arabia. The dissertation concludes that abolition was most difficult, and conceptions of equality most impoverished, in contexts where non-pluralist milieus and Arab tribalism were particularly strong.