so that he may enjoy autonomy over his own person and his affairs.
4 – The reports that share this meaning promise virtue and reward for emancipating a single slave, for emancipating two Muslim female slaves, and for emancipating one Muslim female slave. In each of these cases the reward and merit are assured.
The jurists state: the best necks to free are those most precious to their owners, male slaves being preferable, and freeing several is better still.
5 – Nayl al-Maʾrib records: “It is recommended to free a slave who possesses an income, because he can benefit from that income.” Allah, Exalted is He, says: “Then contract a written agreement with them if you know that there is good in them” ⦗Al-Nūr 33⦘. It is disliked to free one who has neither strength nor earning capacity, for once set free his maintenance ceases, he becomes a burden on people, and he will be forced to beg.
6 – As for ḥadith no. 1234, it arranges the virtues in the following order:
First rank: faith in Allah. Faith in Allah Almighty is the root and foundation of all righteous deeds; any action that is not built upon faith in Allah is worthless and void. Faith in Allah is the straight path that leads to the good of this world and the next. Through perfect faith a person is made inviolable to the Fire, and through faith—even if only a little—he is saved from eternal residence in the Fire.
Second rank: striving in the path of Allah. The Exalted says: “O you who believe! Shall I guide you to a transaction that will save you from a painful punishment? (10) You believe in Allah and His Messenger and strive in the path of Allah with your wealth and your lives; that is best for you, if you but knew. (11) He will forgive you your sins and admit you to gardens beneath which rivers flow, and pleasant dwellings in the Gardens of Everlasting Bliss; that is the supreme triumph. (12)” ⦗Al-Ṣaff 10-12⦘.
Al-Bukhārī 2792 and Muslim 1880 record, on the authority of Anas, that the Prophet ﷺ said: “A morning in the path of Allah, or an evening in the path of Allah, is better than the world and whatever…"