Book of the Slave Authorized to Trade

Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says:

“Allah presents an example: a slave owned by another, powerless to do anything, and someone whom We have provided with good provision, from which he spends privately and publicly. Are they equal? All praise is due to Allah, but most of them do not know.” [al-Nahl: 75]

Allah Most High thus describes the slave as powerless and lacking independent ability, contrasting him with the free person in his freedom to spend from the wealth he has been provided. This indicates that slaves differ from free people in financial matters, that their ownership of their property is less complete than that of free people, and that their masters may restrict their disposal of their property by virtue of owning them. A slave may therefore make no disposition of his property without his master’s authorization. Nevertheless, it remains his property until his master takes it from him. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Whoever sells a slave who has property, that property belongs to the seller unless the buyer stipulates that it be included.”

He thus ascribed the property to the slave as its owner by saying, “he has some property,” for the particle lām here denotes ownership. When property is ascribed by this particle to someone capable of ownership, it establishes that he owns it. It cannot properly be understood figuratively, since speech is not to be diverted from its literal meaning to a figurative one without evidence. Further evidence that a slave can own property is Allah’s statement, Mighty and Majestic:

“Marry off the unmarried among you and the righteous among your male and female slaves. If they are poor, Allah will enrich them from His bounty.” [al-Nūr: 32]

It is inconceivable that Allah would describe as poor or wealthy someone incapable of owning property. This is clear.