dirhams and said, ‘Pay off your debt.’” We permit the sale of a slave pledged to manumission upon his master’s death if the master was already in debt when he made the pledge. It has also been narrated through Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh that “the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, sold a slave pledged to manumission upon his master’s death to settle a debt.”
Our scholars have differed in interpreting this report. Some say that the first hadith explains it, since it recounts the very same incident. Others say that it is a separate hadith, meaning that he sold the slave after the master’s death to settle a debt, since the hadith does not state that he sold him during his master’s lifetime. The Prophet’s personally undertaking the sale is among the clearest indications that he sold the slave to discharge an enforceable obligation, for the ruler does not undertake to sell anyone’s property except in the exercise of judicial authority. If he sold the slave during his master’s lifetime, it was to settle a debt that preceded the pledge of manumission. Allah knows best.
It has also been narrated from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh that “the Prophet, peace be upon him, sold the services of a slave pledged to manumission upon his master’s death.” This may therefore be what the hadith means, with the narrator merely using the wording loosely, since hiring is a form of sale.
Likewise, the hadith of ʿĀʾisha which they cite to establish the permissibility of selling such a slave provides them with no proof, for the witchcraft the woman practiced warranted execution, let alone sale. It is also possible that her manumission was invalidated by her attempt to hasten it before its appointed time through unlawful means—just as marrying a woman during her waiting period bars marriage to her thereafter, and an intentional killer is barred from inheriting because he sought to hasten his inheritance before becoming entitled to it.
Moreover, it has been narrated that ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with him, annulled the sale of this female slave pledged to manumission upon her mistress’s death and sought to recover her. When he could not find her, he put her price toward another female slave pledged to manumission upon her master’s death. His issuing this ruling before a large gathering of the best of generations is evidence of their consensus that selling such a female slave is impermissible. Consensus is a foundational proof that must be followed and acted upon.
Section
Among the arguments our scholars advance for the binding nature of a pledge of manumission upon death and the prohibition of selling the slave is that, once his designation changes through the pledge of freedom made by his master, his legal status must likewise change, and his sale must become impermissible. This is analogous to a slave under a contract to purchase his freedom: when his designation changes, his legal status changes, and he may no longer be sold.