Do you consider it as rape?

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A common claim is that classical Islamic law required an enslaved woman’s consent before her owner could have sex with her. The classical fiqh texts do not support that as a general legal requirement.

The four Sunni schools recognized sexual access to an enslaved woman through milk al-yamīn (ملك اليمين) — ownership — rather than through a marriage contract.

The Mālikī school contains an especially explicit ruling:

«قلت: أرأيت إن أبت الجارية أن تمكن سيدها من نفسها، أله أن يكرهها؟ قال: نعم، له أن يكرهها؛ لأنها مال من ماله، وله عليها ملك اليمين، فله أن يجبرها على ما يملك منها، ما لم يكن ذلك في أمر يحرم عليه.»

Translation:

«“I asked: What if the slave-girl refuses to make herself available to her master? Does he have the right to compel her? He said: Yes, he has the right to compel her, because she is property belonging to him, and he has ownership over her; therefore he may compel her regarding what he owns of her, provided it is not something prohibited to him.”»

Reference: Mālikī al-Mudawwana al-Kubrā, Ibn al-Qāsim's transmission from Imām Mālik, discussion of a master's intercourse with his slave-girl.

The Ḥanafī school likewise based the owner's sexual access on ownership. Al-Sarakhsī writes:

«وإن لم يكن وطئ الأولى حتى اشترى الثانية أو اشتراهما معًا فله أن يطأ أيتهما شاء، لأن كل واحدة منهما مملوكة له.»

Translation:

«“If he had not had intercourse with the first before purchasing the second, or purchased them both together, he may have intercourse with whichever of them he wishes, because each one of them is owned by him.”»

Reference: al-Sarakhsī, al-Mabsūṭ, discussion of istibrāʾ and intercourse with an owned slave woman.

The Shāfiʿī school similarly classified sexual intercourse with an enslaved woman under milk al-yamīn rather than marriage. Al-Shāfiʿī discusses newly acquired slave women and states:

«فكل ملك يحدث من مالك لم يجز فيه الوطء إلا بعد الاستبراء...»

Translation:

«“Whenever ownership is newly acquired by an owner, intercourse is not permitted until the waiting period (istibrāʾ)...”»

Reference: al-Shāfiʿī, al-Umm, Book of Marriage/sections concerning intercourse with slave women and istibrāʾ.

The Ḥanbalī school likewise recognized intercourse with an enslaved woman through ownership. Ibn Qudāmah discusses the category of a woman who is sexually accessed through milk al-yamīn, distinguishing her from a wife:

«الموطوءة ... في ملك يمين»

meaning:

«“a woman who is sexually accessed through the right of ownership.”»

Reference: Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī, Kitāb al-Nikāḥ and discussions concerning the legal consequences of intercourse with slave women.