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‘[The book’s author] is concerned that the book might read like an apology for the Sharīʿa’s allowance of slavery and he is right to have this concern. As we shall see, there are sections of the book that unabashedly seek to explain away and perhaps excuse the ubiquitous role that slavery and slave trading have played in Islamic political, economic and legal history.’

And in the Islamic present, this reviewer notes, citing “ISIS’s and Boko Haram’s recent revival of medieval de jure enslavement practices.” That’s a nice wordy way of saying this.

And who can be surprised that an American professor/defender of slavery was the star of the show the other day, as a congressional committee wondered why Georgetown University rewarded this dude (who also called for Iranian airstrikes on American bases) with the chairmanship of a department? Does Georgetown like lecturers who shut down audience… er… misgivings about slavery with comments like “I don’t think it’s morally evil to own somebody, because we own lots of people all around us and were owned by people, and this obsession about thinking of slavery as property… [Muhammad] had slaves, there is no denying that. Are you more morally mature than the prophet of God? No, you’re not.”

Talk about a scold! Groveling apologies, Professor Brown! Never again will I arrogantly go against the will of the prophet and question slavery!

*********************

Vey, vey. Here are UD‘s uncensored thoughts about slavery-apologists like Georgetown’s own.

UD‘s got nothing against the tens of millions of Americans – and other people around the world – who fantasize about sexually and in other ways enslaving others. Enslavement fantasies always fall somewhere in the top ten sexual fantasies, and fine. But JEEZ. Georgetown is a Jesuit school. You’d think it would be particularly sensitive to the possibility of hiring and promoting people who remonstrate in public against people who don’t think giving in to slavery fantasies is a good idea.

Margaret Soltan, July 17, 2025 1:22PM
Posted in: professors

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UD REVIEWED

Dr. Bernard Carroll, known as the "conscience of psychiatry," contributed to various blogs, including Margaret Soltan's University Diaries, for which he sometimes wrote limericks under the name Adam.
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George Washington University English professor Margaret Soltan writes a blog called University Diaries, in which she decries the Twilight Zone-ish state our holy land’s institutes of higher ed find themselves in these days.
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It’s [UD's] intellectual honesty that makes her blog required reading.
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[UD belittles] Mrs. Palin's degree in communications from the University of Idaho...
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