his slave to a particular person or give him to that person: he may revoke the authorization by any words or actions he chooses, so long as the agent has not carried out his instructions.

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Neither al-Shāfiʿī nor those who follow his position have any proof for revoking tadbīr and permitting the sale of a slave pledged to manumission upon his master’s death in Jābir’s report that the Prophet, peace be upon him, “sold a slave pledged to manumission upon his master’s death.” This merely recounts an action. It is possible that the tadbīr was conditional, or that the master had incurred a debt before making the pledge, and the Prophet sold the slave to settle that debt. Since the hadith admits these possibilities, they are not entitled to apply it to the disputed case; we would be equally entitled to apply it to a case on which we agree.

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If they say, “Hadiths are transmitted only to convey useful information. If this hadith were applied to a case on which there is agreement, it would convey nothing new, since that case is already established by consensus. Applying it to the disputed case, however, would yield new information,” we answer: This is an arbitrary assertion. Reports may convey new information, but they may also confirm what is already known. Perhaps this hadith is itself the revealed ruling upon which the consensus known to us was based. That being so, when the hadith admits both interpretations, it cannot, without evidence, be applied to a case that yields new information rather than to one already known through consensus.

They could validly appeal to the hadith only if its wording were general—for example, if he had said, “Selling a slave pledged to manumission upon his master’s death is permissible.” It would then have to be understood as applying generally to all cases unless evidence restricted its scope. But since its wording is not general and it merely recounts an action, they cannot do so.

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Further evidence supporting our interpretation—that this report, which gives no details, concerns a case in which both we and they permit the sale of such a slave—is that the hadith has also been transmitted with an explanation. Al-Aʿmash narrated it from Salama ibn Kuhayl, from Jābir, who said: “A man of the Ansār pledged a Coptic slave of his named Madhkūr to manumission upon his death. He was in need and had a debt, so the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, sold the slave for one hundred