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If a man says to his slave, “You are free outright, and you owe such-and-such an amount,” the amount is binding upon him according to Mālik—may Allah have mercy on him—whether the slave accepts or not. According to Ibn al-Qāsim, however, the financial obligation falls away. At the end of the second Book of Manumission, Ibn al-Qāsim also expresses a view matching this position of Mālik. Ibn Nāfiʿ said: “He does not become free with the amount owed as a debt unless he accepts and agrees to it.” If, however, the master says, “You are free on condition that you owe such-and-such an amount,” there are three opinions:
The first is Mālik’s statement in the Book of Contractual Manumission in al-Mudawwana: the slave is free and owes the amount, just as when the master says, “You are free outright, and you owe such-and-such an amount.”
The second is Yahyā’s report from Ibn al-Qāsim in the Book of Contractual Manumission: the slave has a choice. If he wishes to receive his freedom immediately and become liable for the specified amount as a debtor, he may do so. If he is unwilling to become liable for it, he is not freed.
The third is Ibn al-Qāsim’s statement in the second Book of Manumission in al-Mudawwana: if he accepts, he becomes free upon paying the amount, as with a manumission contract; if he does not accept, he is not freed. This is unless, on his view, a distinction is drawn between saying, “You are free on condition that you owe such-and-such an amount,” and saying, “You are free on condition that you pay me such-and-such an amount.” Such a distinction has been drawn. There is no distinction between them; the reasoning is that, when the master says, “On condition that you pay,” he leaves payment to the slave’s choice, whereas when he says, “On condition that you owe,” he imposes the obligation upon him rather than leaving it to his choice. It has also been said that these two formulations are equivalent, unlike saying, “On condition that you remit such-and-such an amount to me.” The correct view is that there is no difference between saying “on condition that you pay” and “on condition that you remit.” A fourth opinion may be derived on this question: the slave becomes free upon paying the amount, whether he wishes it or not, according to the view of those who hire out a slave under a manumission contract. We have already explained this.
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A manumission contract is permissible for whatever amount the slave and his master mutually agree upon, whether little or much, and it is permissible