1239 – It is reported from Safinah رضي الله عنه who said: “I was a slave owned by Umm Salamah. She said, ‘I set you free on the condition that you will serve the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for as long as you live.’” Narrated by Ahmad, Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, and al-Ḥākim.
Grade of the ḥadith: The report is ḥasan (sound).
Al-Shawkānī said: The ḥadith was recorded by Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasāʾī, and al-Nasāʾī commented, “Its chain is unobjectionable.” Al-Ḥākim also recorded it; in its isnād appears Saʿīd ibn Jumhān al-Aslamī, whom Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn and Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī declared reliable. Al-Ḥākim graded the chain ṣaḥīḥ, and al-Dhahabī concurred. Al-Albānī concluded that the isnād is ḥasan.
I add: “Jumhān” is spelled with a ḍamma on the jīm, a sukūn on the mīm, then hāʾ, followed by alif, ending with nūn.
Vocabulary notes:
– Safinah: pronounced with a fatḥa on the sīn and a kasra on the fāʾ. He was one of the Arab mawālī; it is said his given name was Mihrān and his kunya Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. He had been the slave of Umm Salamah, who emancipated him on the condition that he serve the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ nicknamed him “Safinah” (literally, “ship”) due to a remarkable incident related by Ibn al-Athīr in Usd al-Ghabah.
Points derived from the ḥadith:
- The report shows the permissibility of effecting immediate manumission while stipulating that the emancipator will still benefit from the slave’s service, or of stipulating