Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (11/326)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

A person who is partially free inherits and may be inherited from, and he bars other heirs in proportion to the freedom he possesses. Whoever emancipates a slave acquires his walāʾ (right of clientage), even if the emancipator and slave differ in religion. Women inherit through walāʾ only from those whom they themselves emancipated, or from those emancipated by persons whom they emancipated.

His statement, “A person who is partially free inherits and may be inherited from, and he bars other heirs in proportion to the freedom he possesses”: If part of a person is free and part enslaved, the ruling follows its effective cause: he inherits by virtue of his freedom, but not by virtue of his enslavement. This is because the legal principle is that whatever is established on account of a cause is apportioned according to the apportionment of that cause; and the ruling follows its effective cause, being present when it is present and absent when it is absent. But how can a slave be partially free—part free and part enslaved?

An example is a slave jointly owned by several partners, one of whom emancipates his share. If the emancipator is wealthy, the emancipation extends to the whole slave, and the emancipator is required to compensate his partners for the value of their shares. For example, if a slave is jointly owned by ten partners and is worth ten thousand riyals, and one man emancipates his one-tenth share, the emancipation extends to the entire slave, and he must pay his partners nine thousand riyals. If he says, “I have nothing,” then, according to the established school, one tenth of the slave is emancipated, while the remaining nine tenths remain enslaved.

The second view is that we proceed to the second stage: we tell the slave, “Earn through trade, buying and selling, work, or the like, until you pay your masters the value of their shares.” If the slave says, “I am unable,” we say, “One tenth of you has been emancipated.” At that point he has become partially free, and he inherits, may be inherited from, and bars other heirs in proportion to the freedom he possesses.

His statement, “Whoever emancipates a slave acquires his walāʾ”: The evidence for this is the saying of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: “Clientage belongs only to the one who emancipates.” (1) The apparent meaning of the author’s words is that

(1) Narrated by al-Bukhari in The Book of Sales, chapter: “When stipulations are made in a sale that are not permissible” (2168); and by Muslim in The Book of Manumission, chapter: “Clarifying that wala' belongs to the one who emancipates” (1504), on the authority of Aishah.

وَيَرِثُ مَنْ بَعْضُهُ حُرٌّ وَيُورَثُ، ويَحْجِبُ بِقَدْرِ مَا فِيهِ مِن الحُرِّيَّةِ، وَمَنْ أَعْتَقَ عَبْداً فَلَهُ عَلَيْهِ الوَلَاءُ، وَإِنِ اخْتَلَفَ دِينُهُمَا، وَلَا يَرِثُ النِّسَاءُ بِالوَلَاءِ إِلاَّ مَنْ أَعْتَقْنَ أَوْ أَعْتَقَهُ مَنْ أَعْتَقْنَ. قوله: «ويرث من بعضه حر ويورث ويَحْجب بقدر ما فيه من الحرية» إذا كان بعضه حراً وبعضه رقيقاً فالحكم يدور مع علته، فيرث بالحرية ولا يرث بالرق؛ وذلك لأن القاعدة الشرعية أن ما ثبت بسبب تبعض بتبعض ذلك السبب، والحكم يدور مع علته وجوداً وعدماً، لكن كيف يكون الرقيق مبعضاً، بعضه حر وبعضه عبد؟ مثال ذلك: عبد بين شركاء أعتق أحد الشركاء نصيبه منه، إن كان المعتِق غنياً انسحب العتق على جميع العتيق، وألزم هذا المعتِق بأن يغرم قيمة أنصباء شركائه، كعبد بين شركاء عشرة، وهو يساوي عشرة آلاف ريال، أعتق هذا الرجل نصيبه وهو واحد من عشرة، فيسري العتق إلى جميع العبد ويغرم لشركائه تسعة آلاف ريال، فإن قال: لا أجد شيئاً، فالمذهب أنه يعتق عشر العبد ويبقى تسعة أعشاره رقيقاً. والقول الثاني: أننا ننتقل إلى المرحلة الثانية، وهي أن نقول للعبد: تكسب ببيع أو شراء أو عمل أو ما أشبه ذلك، حتى تؤدي لأسيادك قيمة أنصبائهم، فإذا قال العبد: لا أقدر، قلنا: عتق منك العشر، وحينئذٍ صار مبعضاً، فيرث ويورث ويحجب بقدر ما فيه من الحرية. قوله: «ومن أعتق عبداً فله عليه الولاء» دليل ذلك قول النبي ﷺ: «إنما الولاء لمن أعتق» (١)، وظاهر كلام المؤلف

(١) أخرجه البخاري في البيوع/ باب إذا اشترط في البيع شروطاً لا تحل (٢١٦٨)؛ ومسلم في العتق/ باب بيان أن الولاء لمن أعتق (١٥٠٤) عن عائشة ﵂.