In Islamic Sharia, proving that a woman (free or enslaved) had been raped was extremely difficult. The standard requirement for proving zina (unlawful sexual intercourse) was four male eyewitnesses who directly observed the act of penetration. Without such testimony, the woman’s claim of rape was rarely accepted.

Even worse, if a slave girl (or any woman) became pregnant after being raped, her pregnancy itself was often treated as proof of fornication (zina), making her the accused rather than the victim.

Muwatta Malik, Book 41, Hadith 15 states: Malik said: “The position with us about a woman who is found to be pregnant and has no husband, and she says, ‘I was forced,’ or she says, ‘I was married,’ is that it is not accepted from her and the hadd (prescribed punishment) is inflicted on her unless she has a clear proof of what she claims about the marriage or that she was forced, or she comes bleeding if she was a virgin, or she calls out for help so that someone comes to her and she is in that state… If she does not produce any of those, the hadd is inflicted on her and what she claims is not accepted from her.”

The largest Salafi fatwa website Islam Q&A confirms: “Rape is essentially zina and is proven in the same way as zina is proven — which is with four witnesses. The punishment is one hundred lashes if the man was a virgin and stoning if he was previously married… She is not to be punished if it is proven that he forced her and overpowered her. That may be known from her having screamed and shouted for help.”

This creates an almost impossible situation for raped women, especially slave girls:

• Rape rarely happens in public where four male witnesses can see the act.
• A victim screaming for help is often not enough if no one actually intervenes and testifies.
• If she becomes pregnant, the pregnancy is used as evidence against her, not in her favor.

Furthermore, if she accuses a “pious” free Muslim man of rape without four witnesses, she risks being punished for qadhf (false accusation of zina) — even if she is telling the truth.

The result was a legal system in which:

• A poor slave girl (often as young as 9 or 10 years old) had almost no realistic way to prove she was raped.
• She could be punished twice: once for “fornication” due to pregnancy, and again for “falsely accusing” a free Muslim man.
• Her rapist faced virtually no consequences unless four male eyewitnesses were present.

This double injustice left enslaved girls — especially virgins — extremely vulnerable. Their pregnancy, which should have been evidence of the crime committed against them, was instead turned into proof of their own guilt.