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My question was closed because it was seen as opinion-based. I am struggling to see how my question as it currently stands is opinion-based. There are many questions about slavery on this website and I think mine is just like any of those questions.

Please tell me what is wrong with my question.

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    I didn't vote to close as 'opinion-based' so I can't comment on that, but hopefully one of the voters will. My initial impression was that your question was perhaps a little broad (but not broad enough for voting to close - in my opinion). You can nominate for reopening, and I'll vote in support of that, but don't expect the moderators to cast a vote in favour unless it's a 5th/final vote (anything before that and their 'super' vote compromises community voting and, as sempaiscuba explained in his comment, that's not something they readily do on a community-moderated site).
    – Lars Bosteen
    Mar 29, 2020 at 1:54
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    Also, showing some evidence of research by putting in a few links and explaining why they don't answer your question would greatly improve your chances of getting this question reopened.
    – Lars Bosteen
    Mar 29, 2020 at 2:01
  • @LarsBosteen Thank you for the response. I do not think I have the reputation needed for voting to reopen a closed question.
    – a_sid
    Mar 29, 2020 at 5:46
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    True, but you can still nominate I think. However, I strongly suggest you include some evidence of research first - this will greatly increase the chances of success.
    – Lars Bosteen
    Mar 29, 2020 at 8:26
  • If you can revise the question to incorporate preliminary research, I think the question will automatically be nominated for reopening. If not, flag this comment and I will nominate for reopening.
    – MCW Mod
    Mar 29, 2020 at 13:48
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    @LarsBosteen I have included additional information from other sources in my answer :)
    – a_sid
    Mar 30, 2020 at 6:36
  • @MarkC.Wallace I have included more information in my question :)
    – a_sid
    Mar 30, 2020 at 6:37
  • If you are satisfied with it, suggest you nominate for reopening.
    – Lars Bosteen
    Mar 30, 2020 at 7:42
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    @LarsBosteen Thank you for your help :)
    – a_sid
    Mar 30, 2020 at 17:21
  • @MarkC.Wallace Thank you for your help :)
    – a_sid
    Mar 30, 2020 at 17:21

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Welcome @a_sid!

I didn't vote to close, so I can't answer why people voted as they did. I can offer a few observations that might be useful.

  1. No preliminary research. Like most SE sites, we expect questions to contain evidence that the poster has made an effort to solve the problem; we're looking for preliminary research. This isn't a hard and fast rule (although it is referenced in [Help]), but questions without preliminary research are closed more often than those with preliminary research.

  2. Discussion in comments. I haven't studied it formally, but my impression is that questions are more likely to be closed when the original poster adds comments to the post. OP replying in comments makes it difficult to understand the comment and encourages discussion in comments, which is an anti-pattern.

  3. Breadth of question - I'm hesitant to mention this one because you're asking about a period and culture where I have limited knowledge, but my initial gut reaction is that the question is too broad - that there may be many answers depending on the specific city/region and time period. I know that if I ask my professional historian girlfriend how middle/lower class women dressed in Europe, the answer will be "it depends", followed by a half hour lecture with illustrations and examples. While I don't know, my impression is that we have stronger documentation on Europe than on Early Islamic Arabia. (I would be happy to be wrong on that point; I'm always happy to discover there are more sources than I estimate). I'm concerned that there may not be an authoritative answer to the question.

  4. Prurience - This is entirely speculative. I can tell you that when I read the phrase "slave girls", I have a knee jerk negative reaction. I'm predisposed against the question. I'm going to hold the question to a more stringent standard for other qualities (preliminary research, clear focus, objective, authoritative, etc.)

Only those who voted to close can explain why the voted to close (and I strongly support their right to remain silent on their reasons), but I don't think you really care why people voted to close; I think you want to know how to get an answer to your question. Hope that some of that helps; we could use more questions about non-European history.

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    Thank you for the feedback :)
    – a_sid
    Mar 30, 2020 at 17:22

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