He may, however, buy female slaves for commercial resale. Should he have sexual intercourse with any one of them, no ḥadd is imposed and any child born is considered his legitimate offspring. If she gives birth while the kitābah is still in force, or within less than six months after he is set free, the child follows him in both slavery and eventual emancipation, and—according to the more authoritative view—she does not acquire the status of an umm walad. If she gives birth more than six months after his emancipation and he had been cohabiting with her, the child is free and she becomes an umm walad.
If the mukātab offers to pay the instalments ahead of schedule, the master is not compelled to accept unless he lacks a legitimate interest in refusing—for example, the cost of safeguarding the money or fear of its loss. If no such interest exists he is obliged to accept, and if he still refuses the judge receives the payment on the mukātab’s behalf. Should the mukātab tender only part of the price on condition that the master waive the remainder, and the master agrees, neither the payment nor the waiver is valid.
It is invalid to sell the outstanding instalments or to barter them for something else. If the master nevertheless sells them and the mukātab pays their purchaser, emancipation does not take effect according to the predominant view; the master may recover from the purchaser what the mukātab paid, and the mukātab may in turn recover it from the master.
Under Imam al-Shāfiʿī’s later position, the sale of the mukātab’s very person is void. If the master should still sell him and he pays the purchaser, two opinions exist as to whether he thereby becomes free; the same applies to gifting him. The master has no right to sell what is in the mukātab’s possession, to manumit the mukātab’s own slave, or to marry off his slave-girl. If a third party says to the master, “Set your mukātab free for such-and-such a sum,” and the master does so, the mukātab is freed and the third party is liable for the amount he pledged.
Section
From the master’s side the kitābah is binding and he may rescind it only if the slave defaults; from the mukātab’s side it is optional, so he may cease payment even though he possesses the means. When he declares himself unable to pay, the master may either wait, annul the contract himself, or have it annulled through the judge. According to the sounder view, the mukātab too may terminate it.
If, when an instalment falls due, the mukātab asks for a delay, it is recommended to grant it. Should the master grant a reprieve and later choose to cancel the contract, he may do so. If the mukātab owns merchandise, time should be given him to sell it; but if the market is sluggish, the master need not extend the grace period beyond three days. If the mukātab’s funds are elsewhere, he is granted time to fetch them if they are within two stages’ travel; otherwise, if an instalment comes due while he is away, the master may annul the contract. When local assets are available, the judge may not compel payment from them.
The kitābah is not dissolved by the mukātab’s insanity; should he possess property, the judge pays the instalment on his behalf. Nor is it cancelled by the master’s insanity.