Which of the following statements about West African slavery in the centuries leading up to the arrival of Europeans in that region is most accurate?

A) Slaves could not own property of their own.
B) West African slavery resembled slavery as practiced in the Muslim world.
C) Slavery was a permanent status which could not be transcended either by a slave or a slave's children.
D) Slavery was an aberration that was almost unknown in most West African societies.