Religious Guidelines No: 30
Date: 10th of Jumādā al-Ūlā, 1443 H
Corresponding to 14th of December 2021

All praises be to Allāh. May Allāh’s blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allāh. To proceed:

The Bangsamoro Dārul-Iftā has received an issue on Human Trafficking, especially of women and children, its concept, causes, and Islam’s position thereon.
Accordingly, the Dārul-Iftā would like to address this issue through the following points:

First: Human trafficking has only emerged in the 16th century A.D. when the Portuguese began slave trade. Subsequently, European countries followed the lead believing in the fatwa issued by them that enslaving negroes is permissible or obligatory in the wordings of the Torah, which they used as basis in their religion.

Second: Islam forbade the causes that lead to corruption. Hence, it forbade women to travel without a mahram in order to protect her from falling into what Allāh has forbidden, including her exposure to human traffickers, with emphasis on women and children.

Third: Human trafficking is the process of recruiting, transporting or harboring individuals in a number of illegal ways, including coercion, deception, kidnapping, and other unacceptable methods, for the purpose of exploitation in several acts, such as organ transplantation, sexual exploitation, or enslavement.

Fourth: Human trafficking is a global problem and one of the most dishonorable crimes in the world. This affects the lives of millions of people around the world and robs their dignity. This is due to the fact that human trafficking is prevalent in many countries in the world. This practice is strictly prohibited in accordance with Islamic religious instructions and values.