1245 – Ibn ʿAbbas reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “A contracted slave (mukātab) is compensated in blood money according to the part that has been set free with the diyah of a free man, and according to the part that remains enslaved with the diyah of a slave.” Related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, and al-Nasaʾi. (1)

Hadith grading
This report is ḥasan. It was recorded by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, al-Nasaʾi, and al-Tirmidhi, who declared it sound (ḥasan). Al-Hakim said, “It is authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari,” and al-Dhahabi concurred. Al-Shawkani noted, “Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi offered no comment on the hadith; in al-Nasaʾi it appears both as a connected chain and as a mursal report, and the transmitters in Abu Dawud’s isnād are trustworthy.” Ibn ʿAbd al-Hadi added, “The hadith has also been criticized.”

Vocabulary
• Diyah of a free person: The verb wadā, yadī, diyatan—when the killer hands over to the victim’s heir the sum that substitutes for the lost life. The third radical is omitted and the final hāʾ compensates for it; originally wadiyah, like waʿiyah. In the imperative one says di (with a kasrah under the dāl only); in pause form dih. The noun was then applied to the money itself; the plural is diyāt, as in hibah/hibat and ʿiddah/ʿiddāt. In Islamic law, diyah (blood money) is the financial compensation paid to an injured party or his guardian because of a criminal injury; its amount is fixed in the chapter on homicide and bodily harm.
• raqqa: A person becomes raqīq (“slave”); the term applies to both male and female slaves, plural ariqāʾ. In legal terms, riqq (slavery) is a juridical incapacity that befalls a human being, its cause being disbelief; this incapacity prevents him from