Foreign slaves in Mecca and Medina in the formative Islamic period

This article is an examination of the position of foreign slaves in Mecca and Medina in the formative Islamic period. Mainly a reference piece and a prosopography, the article first examines in detail accounts of two contexts featuring slaves in Mecca: the ‘teacher(s)’ of the Prophet, and the builder(s) of the Ka^cba. It then presents a listing of the names of the slaves given in the early Arabic sources, followed by available details of their lives. The purpose of the study is to present a relatively exhaustive listing of the circumstances of slavery and the names of slaves in the formative Islamic period in order to elucidate the nature of the Meccan and Medinan social and religious systems of the time, as well as to contextualize the position of slavery in subsequent periods.