ownership of them by any means whatsoever—whether through sale, gift, or inheritance. She therefore remains an umm walad: from the rulings that govern free women she acquires the prohibition of any transaction that transfers or establishes ownership, while from the rulings of slaves she retains the permissibility of service and lawful intimacy.

2 – After her master’s death she becomes completely free and gains full legal capacity. Her emancipation begins the moment she bears her master’s child and is completed when he dies.

3 – Jābir’s report, on the other hand, indicates that it is permissible to sell ummahāt al-awlād and that the Prophet ﷺ knew of the practice and approved it.

4 – The majority of scholars followed ʿUmar’s prohibition, viewed it as a consensus of the Companions, and bolstered it with the narration recorded by Aḥmad, Ibn Mājah, and al-Ḥākim in which the Prophet ﷺ said: “Any woman who bears a child for her master is emancipated upon his death.”

5 – They replied to Jābir’s ḥadīth by saying that it is merely a tacit approval of an action whose precise date is unknown and that many alternative explanations remain possible.

6 – Our jurists state that if a free man impregnates his slave woman and she gives birth—whether the child is born alive or stillborn, so long as human features are discernible—she becomes his umm walad and will be freed from his entire estate at his death, even if she is all he owns. This is also the view of the three Imams, based on the marfūʿ report of Ibn ʿAbbās: “Whoever has intercourse with his slave woman and she bears a child, she is emancipated upon his death” (reported by Aḥmad, Ibn Mājah, and al-Dāraqutnī).

The mother of Ibrāhīm was mentioned in the Prophet’s presence, whereupon he said, “Her child has set her free.” This is likewise the position of the Companions and the overwhelming majority of scholars.

7 – Ibn Rushd said: It is firmly established that ʿUmar ruled an umm walad may not be sold and that she is freed from her master’s capital once he dies. This is the opinion of most of the Successors and the majority of jurists in the various centers. Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Isfarāʾīnī, al-Bājī, al-Baghawī, and others have transmitted a consensus that it is impermissible to sell her or to transfer ownership of her in any fashion.