Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (12/152)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

and it is contradictory for one who commands to be commanded. But what is the way for it to become lawful if he wishes to marry her and she wishes to marry him? He should set her free. However, if he deceives her by saying, “Set me free so that I may marry you,” and, desiring him, she sets him free, then once she has freed him he says, “Praise be to Allah who has delivered me from you,” the emancipated slave cannot return to being a slave. In such a case, he must compensate her with his own value, because he misled and deceived her.

His statement, “Nor may the master marry his slave woman,” means that a master may not contract a marriage with his slave woman. It does not mean that he may not have intercourse with her, for he may have intercourse with her by virtue of right-hand possession. Allah has made right-hand possession a separate category from marriage, saying:

“except with their wives or those their right hands possess.” [al-Mu’minun 23:6]

This indicates that the two cannot be combined, for that which is paired as a distinct category with something else is separate from it. Moreover, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, set Safiyyah free and made her emancipation her bridal gift (1). Furthermore, intercourse with her through right-hand possession is stronger than intercourse with her through a marriage contract, because right-hand possession entails complete ownership: he owns both her person and her benefits. Marriage, on the other hand, confers ownership only of the benefit entailed by the marriage contract according to the Sacred Law or customary practice; it is therefore restricted. The scholars said: a weaker contract cannot be superimposed upon a stronger contract. Thus, he is entitled to her sexual intimacy through right-hand possession, which is stronger than a marriage contract.

His statement, “A free man may marry his father’s slave woman,” is subject to the condition that the father has not had intercourse with her. If the father has had intercourse with her, she is not lawful for the son, because she is among those whom his father has married.

An example of this is a man whose father is wealthy and has slave women, and this man wishes

(1) Its source has been cited previously, p. 39.

وتناقض أن يكون الآمر مأموراً، لكن ما الطريق إلى الحِل إذا رغب أن يتزوجها ورغبت أن تتزوجه؟ تعتقه، لكن لو خدعها وقال: أعتقيني لأتزوجك وهي راغبة فيه فأعتقته، فلما أعتقته قال: الحمد لله الذي فكني منك، والمُعْتَق لا يمكن أن يرجع رقيقاً، ففي مثل هذه الحال يضمن قيمة نفسه لها؛ لأنه غرها وخدعها. قوله: «ولا سيد أمته» أي: لا ينكح سيد أمته، يعني لا يعقد عليها النكاح، وليس المعنى ألا يطأ، فإنه يطؤها بملك اليمين؛ لأن الله جعل ملك اليمين قسيماً للنكاح فقال: ﴿إِلاَّ عَلَى أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ﴾ [المؤمنون: ٦]، فدلَّ ذلك على أنهما لا يجتمعان؛ لأن قسيم الشيء مباين له، ولأن النبي ﷺ أعتق صفية وجعل عتقها صداقاً (١)، وأيضاً فإن وطأه إياها بملك اليمين أقوى من وطئه إياها بالعقد؛ لأن ملك اليمين يحصل به الملك التام، فيملك عينها ومنافعها، والنكاح لا يملك إلا المنفعة التي يقتضيها عقد النكاح شرعاً أو عرفاً، فهو مقيد، قال أهل العلم: ولا يَرِدُ العقد الأضعف على العقد الأقوى، فهو يستبيح بُضعها بملك اليمين الذي هو أقوى من عقد النكاح. قوله: «وللحر نكاح أمة أبيه» بشرط ألا يكون الأب قد جامعها؛ فإن جامعها الأب فإنها لا تحل للابن؛ لأنها مما نكح أبوه. مثال ذلك: رجل له أبٌ غني وعند أبيه جوارٍ، فأراد هذا

(١) سبق تخريجه ص (٣٩).