870 – Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said, “Barirah was given the choice concerning her husband when she was set free.” Agreed upon, in a longer narration.

Muslim also records from her (may Allah be pleased with her) that “her husband was a slave.”

In another narration from her: “He was free.”

The first version is the more reliable (1).

It is likewise authentically reported from Ibn ʿAbbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) in al-Bukhari that “he was a slave” (2).

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Glossary of the ḥadith:
• khuyyirat: passive form, meaning she was granted the choice either to remain with her husband or to annul the marriage after she was emancipated while he was still a slave.
• Barirah: pronounced with an open bāʾ and a kasrah on the rāʾ. She had been the slave of several households among the Anṣār; Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) bought and emancipated her, so she became her client.
• “He was a slave”: His name was Mughīth—mīm with ḍammah, ghayn with kasrah—and he was a slave jointly owned by a number of people from Quraysh.

Points derived from the ḥadith:
1 – A slave has diminished legal capacity; he and all he possesses belong to his master. When he is manumitted, he regains full capacity, becomes free, owns his own actions, and benefits from his own labor, not