his services for someone other than the emancipator.

2 – Sharḥ al-Iqnāʿ states: “If a person says, ‘I have set you free on the condition that you serve Zayd for the rest of your life,’ the manumission is valid, because of the ḥadith of Safinah. The requirement to determine the length of an exception applies only in a sale, for a sale is a contract of exchange; therefore, the thing withheld and its duration must be known, since the price will vary according to whether that period is long or short.”

3 – The marginal commentary adds: “He has excluded the slave’s benefits: the person has been released while the benefit remains. This is substantiated by the report, ‘Believers are bound by their conditions,’ and by the story of Safinah.”

4 – The story of Safinah is not a case of suspending emancipation upon the fulfillment of a condition; rather, it is a case of excluding the benefits normally entailed by manumission.

5 – The point of inference from the ḥadith is that the Prophet ﷺ knew of the stipulation Umm Salamah had laid down and approved it. Hence, the permissibility of such a condition is affirmed by the sunnah. Allah knows best.