In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful. May Allah bless Muhammad and his family. Allah’s help I seek, and in Him I place my trust.

Book of the Slave under a Manumission Contract

Section
The Derivation of the Term Mukātab

Kitāba (contractual manumission) is a man’s freeing his male or female slave in exchange for money that the slave pays him. It is called kitāba because the master draws up a written document for his slave to that effect. Contractual manumission was customary among people during the pre-Islamic period of ignorance, and Allah Most High confirmed it in the law of His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Its permissibility is therefore founded upon the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of His Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and the consensus of the Muslim community.

As for the Book, Allah Most High says:

“If any of those whom your right hands possess seek a contract of emancipation, grant it to them if you know there is good in them, and give them some of the wealth Allah has given you.” [al-Nūr: 33]

As for the Sunnah, it includes the report that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

“A slave under a manumission contract remains a slave so long as a single dirham of his contractual payment remains unpaid.”

It is also reported that he said:

“Whoever has a manumission contract for one hundred dirhams and pays all but ten dirhams remains a slave—or he said: for one hundred ūqiyyas (units of weight), and pays all but a single ūqiyya, remains a slave.”

This is tantamount to an explicit statement from him (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) concerning