Chapter on Contractual Emancipation
Contractual emancipation is the sale of a slave’s own person to him for a deferred sum owed by him. It is recommended when the slave is trustworthy and able to earn, and disliked when this is not the case. It is permissible to sell a slave under a contractual emancipation agreement; his purchaser takes the place of the one who made the contract with him. If he pays the purchaser, he becomes free, and his cliental affiliation belongs to the purchaser. If he is unable to pay, he returns to being a slave.
Contractual emancipation is the verbal noun of kātaba (“to enter into a contractual emancipation agreement”). It is derived from writing, and it refers to a slave purchasing himself from his master. Allah says in His Book:
“And those of your slaves who seek a contract for emancipation, make such a contract with them if you know goodness in them.” [Quran 24:33]
It was given this name because, in most cases, it takes place only through a written agreement between the master and the slave.
His statement, “the sale of his slave’s own person”: Had the author said, “the slave’s purchase of himself from his master,” it would have been clearer and more concise.
Thus, “sale” is a verbal noun annexed to its object, because it is not the slave who is the seller; rather, the master is the seller and the slave is the buyer. “His own person” is either a second object, or it is in the accusative by omission of a preposition.
His statement, “for a deferred sum”: The sum must be deferred, and therefore the contract is not valid for an immediately payable sum, because the slave possesses no property. Even if someone gives him property, it belongs to his master. If someone were to say: The slave has no property, but suppose a person says to him, “Purchase yourself from your master, and I will give you the money in cash”—then, if the author means that deferment is indispensable, this is not correct. The matter may be like the case of Barīrah with Aishah, may Allah be pleased with them both: Barīrah entered into a contractual emancipation agreement with her owners for nine awāq, then came seeking Aishah’s assistance. She said, “If your family wish …”