He was asked—may Allah have mercy on him—about a man who owned a slave who had restrained himself and wished to marry: may the slave marry or not?

He replied:

Yes, he may marry, according to the principle upheld by those who require the master to arrange his marriage. This is the position of Ahmad and one of al-Shāfi‘ī’s two opinions. Arranging his marriage, when he needs it, is like providing for his maintenance. Allah Most High says:

“Marry off those among you who are unmarried, and the righteous among your male and female slaves.”

He thus commands that male and female slaves be married off, just as He commands that unmarried people be married off. If a female slave requests marriage to a compatible match, arranging her marriage is obligatory by agreement of the scholars. Those who grant the male slave permission to marry are the owner of half of him, or that owner’s agent, and the administrator of the share held as an endowment.

He was also asked about a man who married a freedwoman of one of the daughters of kings who purchase slaves with their own wealth and with the Muslims’ wealth, without the permission of the woman who emancipated her: is the marriage contract valid or not?

He replied:

If the woman’s emancipation was lawfully effected from her mistress’s own wealth, then guardianship belongs to her mistress by agreement of the scholars. She is the one who inherits from the freedwoman, followed after her by her closest male agnatic relatives.