his food and his clothing in a decent manner, and he is not to be burdened with work beyond his strength,” reported by al-Shafiʿi in his Musnad.

Muslim likewise narrates—recorded in the two Ṣaḥīḥs—through Abū Dharr that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Your servants are your brothers; Allah has placed them under your authority. So whoever has his brother under his hand must feed him from what he himself eats and clothe him with what he himself wears, and do not impose on them tasks that overpower them.” Together with the Almighty’s words, “We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them regarding their wives and those whom their right hands possess” (Qur’an 33:50), these texts prove that the maintenance of a slave is the responsibility of his owner.

If a male slave asks to marry, his master must either arrange his marriage or sell him, for Allah says, “Marry off the single among you and the righteous among your male and female slaves” (Qur’an 24:32); when a command is accompanied by a request, it denotes obligation.

Should the request come from a female slave, her master is given the choice of having relations with her, marrying her off, or selling her, so as to remove harm from her.

Anyone who owns an animal is likewise obliged to provide its fodder, water, and whatever benefits it, because the Prophet ﷺ said: “A woman was punished on account of a cat she kept confined until it died of hunger; she neither fed it nor released it so that it could eat the vermin of the earth,” agreed upon.