669 – ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “Barīrah came to me and said, ‘I have entered into a kitābah (manumission contract) with my owners for nine awqiyahs, one awqiyah each year, so help me.’ I replied, ‘If your owners are willing for me to pay the full amount to them and for your walāʾ (right of allegiance and inheritance) to belong to me, I will do so.’ Barīrah went to her owners and conveyed the offer, but they refused it. She returned from them while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was sitting there and said, ‘I put that proposal to them, but they will not agree unless the walāʾ remains theirs.’ The Prophet ﷺ overheard, and I informed him of the matter. He said, ‘Take her, and stipulate the walāʾ for them, for walāʾ belongs only to the one who emancipates.’ So ʿĀʾishah did so.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then stood before the people, praised Allah and extolled Him, and said: ‘To proceed: What is the matter with some men who lay down conditions that are not found in the Book of Allah? Any condition that is not in the Book of Allah is null and void, even if there were a hundred such conditions. The ruling of Allah is more rightful, and the condition of Allah is more binding. Walāʾ belongs only to the one who sets the slave free.’ ”

Agreed upon, and this wording is that of al-Bukhārī.

Muslim adds: “Buy her, set her free, and stipulate the walāʾ for them.”⦗1⦘

Vocabulary of the hadith:
• Barīrah: ʿĀʾishah’s freedwoman. She had been married to Mughīth, who was likewise a freed slave; after her emancipation the Prophet ﷺ gave her the choice and she opted for separation.
• “I have entered into a kitābah with my people”: kitābah (manumission contract) is derived from kitāb (gathering), because the successive instalments of its payments