Book of Kitābah (Contractual Manumission)

Concluding a kitābah is recommended when a trustworthy slave who is able to earn requests it—some jurists add: even if he is not able—and it is never considered disliked. The standard wording is: “I have contracted your manumission for such-and-such, payable in instalments; when you have paid it you are free.” The number of instalments and the amount due in each must be stated. If the phrase of suspension (“when you have paid…”) is omitted yet intended, the contract is valid; but the bare statement “I have written you” without suspension and without the inward intention does not suffice, according to the authoritative view. The slave must respond, “I accept.” The requirements for both parties are legal competence and that the contract be unconditional.

A kitābah concluded while the master is in his terminal illness is charged to one-third of his estate. If his remaining property equals twice the slave’s value, the kitābah of the whole slave is valid. Should he own nothing else, and the slave pays 200 during the master’s lifetime while his market value is 100, the slave is freed; if he pays 100, two-thirds of him are emancipated. If the master is an apostate, the ruling depends on the differing opinions concerning his ownership; if his ownership is deemed suspended, the kitābah is void according to the later opinion. The kitābah of a mortgaged slave or of one presently leased out is invalid. The consideration must be a deferred debt—even if it consists of usufruct—and it must be divided into at least two instalments.

According to one opinion, when the master owns only a share of the slave and the remainder is already free, neither a fixed term nor instalments are required. If the contract is for a month of service plus one dinar payable at the end of that month, it is valid; but if it is conditioned upon the master selling the slave for a stated amount, it is invalid. If he says, “I have contracted your manumission and sold you this garment for 1,000, payable in instalments,” and he suspends freedom on its payment, the authoritative view is that the kitābah is valid but the sale is not.

When the master contracts a kitābah for several slaves for a deferred consideration and makes their emancipation contingent upon its payment, the explicit textual ruling affirms its validity. The amount is apportioned among them according to their respective values on the day of the contract: whoever pays his share is freed, and whoever cannot remains enslaved. It is likewise valid to contract kitabah for the enslaved portion of someone who is partly free; if he contracts kitabah for the whole of such a person, it is valid only in respect of the portion that remains enslaved