Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (12/156)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

But if the son knows that the marriage will be annulled, may he purchase his father’s wife? The answer is: it is not lawful, because it is undutifulness toward one’s father. The father may be attached to this wife and desirous of her, then the son comes and purchases her, thereby depriving his father of her.

If a man has a mother who is married to a slave, and this son purchases that slave, his mother’s marriage is annulled, because he has come to own her husband. If he had owned him from the outset, then the marriage’s not being validly concluded would be all the more certain. This issue is founded upon a weak principle, and what is built upon something weak is weaker still. Accordingly, it is permissible for a man to give his slave in marriage to his mother, due to the general purport of the saying of Allah, Most High:

“And lawful to you are all beyond these.” [al-Nisāʾ 4:24]

His statement, “or that spouse’s free child,” is because one who is not free owns nothing in the first place and cannot purchase anything that would become his property.

His statement, “or that spouse’s mukātab”: a mukātab is a slave who has purchased his freedom from his master for a deferred price payable in two or more instalments. He is free in his transactions and may dispose of his property as he wishes through buying, selling, hiring, and leasing. Thus, if the mukātab purchases his master’s wife, the marriage is annulled—because the mukātab does not become free unless he pays the contracted sum, and so long as he has not paid it, he remains a slave. If he purchases his master’s wife, then in reality the master has come to own his own wife, since the mukātab’s property belongs to his master. This is what they say.

There is room for consideration in this reasoning, because the mukātab has the right to buy and sell. Thus, if he wished to sell what he had purchased, his master would have no right to prevent him. Moreover, the mukātab may be unable to pay the amount due under his contract; if he is unable, he becomes a slave. Therefore, if it were said: if the mukātab purchases his master’s wife, then the matter should be deferred, for

ولكن هل للولد إذا علم أن النكاح ينفسخ أن يشتري زوجة أبيه؟ الجواب: لا يحل؛ لأنه عقوق، فقد يكون الأب متعلقاً بهذه الزوجة وراغباً فيها، فيأتي الولد ويشتريها فيفوتها عليه. ولو أن شخصاً له أم متزوجة عبداً، وهذا الابن اشترى هذا العبد ينفسخ نكاح أمه؛ لأنه ملك زوجها، فإذا كان مالكاً له من الأصل، فعدم انعقاد النكاح من باب أولى، وهذه المسألة مبنية على أصل ضعيف، والمبني على الضعيف أضعف منه، وعلى هذا يجوز للإنسان أن يزوج عبده أمه، لعموم قوله تعالى: ﴿وَأُحِلَّ لَكُمْ مَا وَرَاءَ ذَلِكُمْ﴾ [النساء: ٢٤]. وقوله: «أو ولده الحر» لأن غير الحر لا يملك أصلاً، ولا يشتري شيئاً يدخل في ملكه. وقوله: «أو مكاتَبُهُ» المكاتب هو العبد الذي اشترى نفسه من سيده بثمن مؤجل بأجلين فأكثر، وهو حر في التصرف، يتصرف كما شاء، بالبيع والشراء والاستئجار والإجارة، فإذا اشترى المكاتب زوجة سيده، فإن النكاح ينفسخ ـ لأن أصل المكاتب لا يكون حراً إلا إذا أدى الكتابة، وما دام لم يؤدِ الكتابة فهو عبد ـ فإذا اشترى زوجة سيده صار السيد هو الذي ملك زوجته في الواقع؛ لأن ملك المكاتب ملك لسيده، هكذا قالوا. وفي هذا التعليل نظر؛ لأن المكاتب يملك البيع والشراء؛ ولهذا لو أراد أن يبيع ما اشتراه لم يملك سيده أن يمنعه، ثم إن المكاتب قد يعجز عن أداء قيمة الكتابة، فإذا عجز صار عبداً، ولهذا لو قيل: إذا اشترى المكاتب زوجة سيده فإنه ينتظر، فإن