Is consent necessary for sexual relations with a concubine?

Question

Is consent before sex needed in sexual slavery and does the sex slave woman have to give her consent in the case of her master wants to marry her?

Answer 1

It can be ethically desirable to seek the slave's approval but her consent is not legally required.

The Quran gives a parable of a slave as follows:

عبدا مملوكا لا يقدر على شيء

a slave owned (by someone), who has no power over anything

^{— Quran 16:75}

This implies that a slave does not have any agency. Slaves are enslaved without their consent. They are bought and sold without their consent. They are made to perform labor without their consent. Their earnings are taken by their owners without their consent. Hence their consent is not of consequence in any matter - and there is no reason to assume that sexual intercourse is any different.

Sexual intercourse is a way in which a master gains a lawful benefit from his slave - hence it is analogous to other means of obtaining benefit. Consent is not required in those means so it also does not matter here.

Verses like 4:3, 4:24, 23:6, 33:50 give a categorical permission to have sexual relations with concubines, there is no other verses or hadith which imposes the condition of consent - hence it can be deduced that consent is irrelevant.

Scholars have noted that it is obligatory on a concubine to submit to her master:

ويجب على المملوكة أن تمكن سيدها من نفسها للاستمتاع، ويحرم عليها الامتناع من ذلك لأنه منع حق

It is wajib on a female slave to provide herself to her master for sexual intimacy and it is haram for her to stop him from it - because it is his right

^{— Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah}

An act being obligatory (and refraining from it being haram) means that the person does not have a choice to refrain from it. Lack of choice means that her consent is not relevant.

A master can punish a slave for her refusal to have intimacy:

وكذلك الأمة ليس لها أن تمتنع من تلبية رغبة سيدها إلا من عذر ، فإن فعلت كانت عاصية ، وله أن يؤدبها بما يراه مناسباً وأذن الشرع به

It is not permissible for a concubine to deny intimacy to her master without a valid excuse, if she does this then she is disobedient sinner. And it will be permissible for her master to discipline her in a way which he think appropriate and is permissible in shariah

^{— islamqa}

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A master has sexual relations with her concubine without requiring 'marriage'. Indeed he can not himself 'marry' his concubine, unless he frees her first. However he can give his female slave in marriage to someone else. In this case he does not need to obtain her permission - because giving her in marriage serves an interest (keeping her chaste) and also has personal benefits for the master (such as receiving dowry).

وللسيد أن يجبر الأمة على التزويج بمن شاء السيد، واستثنى الحنابلة أن يكون الزوج معيبا بعيب يرد به في النكاح فلا يجبرها عليه

A master can force his slave to marry whomever he wishes, however the Hanbalis have made an exception when the groom has a defect

^{— Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah}