of manumission by contract (kitāba) and its legitimacy.
2 – Hadith no. 1243 shows that a contracted slave (mukātab) does not leave the condition of bondage until he has paid the entire debt of the contract; the rulings governing slaves therefore remain in force as long as even one dirham is still outstanding. This is the explicit purport of the hadith, and it is the view of the majority of scholars, including the four Imams.
3 – Its implicit meaning accords with the explicit wording of hadith no. 1244: once the slave has the full amount of his contract in hand, he is deemed free and is treated according to the rulings of free men, for he has escaped slavery and become a free person.
4 – Hadith no. 1244 also indicates that a woman is not required to veil herself from her slave; she may uncover her face in his presence because of the closeness of the relationship—his soul does not aspire to his mistress, and she does not lower herself to him. The jurists, however, have differed on this matter.
5 – The same evidence shows that once the slave has actually paid, or at least possesses, the entire price of the contract, he becomes free; at that point the woman must veil herself from him, for he is now separate from her, and with freedom he has attained full human dignity and liberty.
6 – Umm Salamah’s freedman was named Nabḥān. She asked him, “How much of your contract remains?” He replied, “Two thousand dirhams.” She asked, “Are they in your possession?” He said, “Yes.” She said, “Then pay what you owe, and peace be upon you,” and she drew the curtain between them. He wept and said, “I will never hand it over.” She said, “By Allah, my son, you will never see me again. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ instructed us that when any one of us owns a slave and he has paid the remainder of his contract, she must draw the veil between them.”
7 – The hadith also establishes the basic obligation of veiling before a non-maḥram—that is, anyone with whom marriage is legally permissible.