Report of al-Aswad, on the authority of ʿĀʾishah: she wished to purchase Barīrah in order to set her free, and in it he says:
The Prophet offered her the choice concerning her husband, and she replied, “Even if he were to give me this and that, I would never stay with him,” so she chose herself instead.
In al-Ḥakam’s wording it adds: “and he was a free man” (1).
Al-Bukhārī remarked, “Al-Aswad’s statement is munqaṭiʿ (disconnected)” (2).
Another narration reads: “It was beef.”
We say: that meat had been given in charity to Barīrah.
Report of ʿAmrah, from ʿĀʾishah:
“Barīrah came seeking help, so I said to her, ‘If your people agree that I pay them your full price in a single payment, I will emancipate you’” (3).
Report of Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar:
“ʿĀʾishah bargained for Barīrah. The Prophet went out to pray, and when he returned she said, ‘They will not sell her unless they stipulate that the walaʾ (right of patronage) remains with them.’ He replied, ‘Walaʾ belongs only to the one who sets the slave free’ (4).”
(1) Al-Bukhari 12/34. After citing the words of al-Hakam he remarks, “al-Hakam’s statement is mursal (a chain that omits the Companion).” He then narrates the hadith of Aisha in the following chapter, “The Inheritance of the Freed Slave (mirath al-saiba),” through the isnad of al-Aswad, who concludes, “Her husband was a free man.” Al-Bukhari comments thereafter: “al-Aswad’s statement is munqati (disconnected).”
(2) Al-Bukhari 12/35. The report continues: “Ibn Abbas’s statement, ‘I saw him as a slave,’ is the sounder version.” Ibn Hajar notes in Fath 12/34 that Bukhari does not link this report by mentioning Aisha. Ibn Abbas’s wording is stronger because he personally witnessed the event, whereas al-Aswad never entered Madina during the Prophet’s lifetime. From Bukhari’s phrase “al-Aswad’s statement is munqati” one may infer that the term munqati can be used where others would say mursal, contrary to the common limitation of munqati to a chain missing only one transmitter—except when the Companion is the one omitted, which scholars then call mursal.
(3) Related by Malik 3/9 and by al-Bukhari 5/138.
(4) Related by Malik 3/9; al-Bukhari 5/138 and 12/41; and Muslim, no. 1504.