Chapter: Rulings Concerning Mothers of Children (Umm Walad)

If a free man impregnates his own slave-girl, a slave-girl jointly owned by him and another, or a slave-girl owned by his child, and the fetus reaches the stage at which its human features are clearly formed—rather than being merely a lump of flesh or an unshaped mass—then the child is deemed free, whether born alive or stillborn. The woman thereby becomes an umm walad (mother of his child) and is automatically set free upon his death, the cost coming out of his entire estate.

The legal status of an umm walad is the same as that of a slave-woman with respect to sexual relations, domestic service, hiring out her labor, and similar matters; however, her ownership may not be transferred. Consequently, she cannot be subjected to any transaction that requires such a transfer, such as being made an endowment, sold, pawned, or the like.