has purchased his freedom from his master. For example, a man has a slave, and the slave says to him, “Set me free.” He replies, “I will not set you free; I bought you for one thousand dirhams.” The slave says, “Enter into a manumission contract with me”—that is, “Sell me to myself.” He says, “I enter into a manumission contract with you on the condition that you give me one thousand dirhams, and you will be free.”

This is mukātaba (a contract of manumission). Allah, Exalted is He, referred to it in the Quran: “And those whom your right hands possess who seek a contract of emancipation from you—make such a contract with them if you know goodness in them.” [al-Nur 24:33]

That is, if they possess soundness in religion and the ability to earn wealth. The correct view here is that the command indicates obligation: if the slave requests a manumission contract, the master is obliged to enter into it with him, because Allah has commanded it, and the basic rule regarding a command is that it denotes obligation. This is subject, however, to the condition: “if you know goodness in them”—meaning, soundness in their religious and worldly affairs. Soundness in religion is well known, while soundness in worldly affairs means the ability to earn.

But if the slave comes and says, “Enter into a manumission contract with me,” while I know that, if I do so, he will go to houses of prostitution, cinemas, places of entertainment, and the like, or abandon the prayer, then we do not enter into such a contract with him.

Or if he says, “Enter into a manumission contract with me,” while I know that, if I do so, he will become dependent on people because he is unable to earn, then we do not enter into such a contract with him.

A contractually emancipated slave owns property and may therefore dispose of it. Thus, if you enter into a manumission contract with him and say, “I have contracted your emancipation for such-and-such a number of dirhams,” he may sell, buy, lease out, and rent. He becomes like a free person. So, if the master steals from the property of his contractually emancipated slave, the author says that his hand is not amputated. The element of doubt is that the slave still remains his property, as stated in the hadith narrated from the Prophet ﷺ: “The contractually emancipated slave remains a slave so long as there remains …”