İslâm Hukukunda Ticari Bir Figür Olarak Tacir Köle (el-Abdu’l-Me’zûn)
The Merchant Slave (al-ʿAbd al-Maʾdhūn) as a Commercial Figure in Islamic Law

Summary/Abstract: Freedom is one of the most fundamental rights that human beings possess by birth. However, throughout various periods of history, in many ancient civilizations, certain individuals were deprived of this right for various reasons, enslaved, and treated as property. Consequently, two classes emerged in society: free people and slaves. Islamic Law, like the legal systems of other, accepted slavery as a social reality and introduced various legal regulations and rules in this context. Slaves, who were present in every aspect of daily life, were employed in diverse professions and services for economic and social reasons. One such area was the employment of authorized slaves (al-ʿabd al-maʾdhūn) in commercial activities. This specific status of slavery-commonly termed “authorized slave” or “merchant slave”-was widely practiced in the commercial sphere during earlier periods. Within this framework, this article-comprising four main sections-examines the concept of the merchant slave (al-ʿAbd al-Maʾdhūn) as presented in the classical Islamic legal tradition, along with its economic role, legal status, and liability. Although the classical rulings on slavery are often perceived as obsolete, they offer a rich and nuanced legal corpus that can shed light on contemporary discussions concerning legal personality, limited liability, and the legal status of artificial intelligence. Law, after all, is primarily concerned either with the human being as a subject or with property as an object. In this respect, the slave represents a sui generis example, uniquely positioned as both a subject and an object of law. This study aims to make an original contribution to the literature by analyzing the concept of al-ʿAbd al-Maʾdhūn in its economic, legal, and theoretical dimensions and by offering historical insights into contemporary legal debates. The research indicates that the institution of the authorized slave (al-ʿAbd al-Maʾdhūn) represents an early form of limited liability in Islamic law, even though it does not fully establish independent legal personality. Moreover, the legal framework governing authorized slaves may offer valuable historical insights for contemporary debates on artificial intelligence.

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