his blood; for just as a killer does not inherit from his victim when the victim is free, he likewise cannot be the guardian entitled to claim retaliation for his blood when the victim is a slave. Indeed, this is even more compelling: how could he be the guardian of his blood when he himself is the killer? He cannot be its guardian. Instead, there are the heirs of the master who killed him; yet they are his heirs while he is still alive, and no such authority was established for him that could pass to them. Thus, the ruler becomes the slave’s guardian. The ruler may then execute him. Accordingly, whenever someone kills his own slave, the ruler has the right to execute him.

Furthermore, the Sunnah and transmitted reports establish that if someone mutilates his slave, the slave thereby becomes free. This is the position of Mālik, Ahmad and others. Killing him is the most extreme form of mutilation, so he dies a free man. His freedom, however, was not established during his lifetime such that his agnatic heirs would inherit from him; rather, it was established as a matter of legal judgment. Once emancipated, his bond of patronage belongs to the Muslims, making the ruler his guardian. The ruler therefore has the right to execute the man who killed his own slave.

This may also be cited as evidence by those who hold that, when someone kills another person’s slave, the slave’s master has the right to have the killer executed. If the hadith establishes this, then this is the stronger position. The opposing position has neither an explicit text nor a sound analogy to support it. Jurists among Ahmad’s followers and others have stated that when someone is killed and has no guardian entitled to claim retaliation, the ruler becomes the guardian of his blood. He may have the killer executed, or pardon him in return for blood money, but not without compensation.

This is further supported by the fact that those who hold that a free person is not executed in retaliation for killing a slave also hold that a free non-Muslim protected subject is not executed in retaliation for killing a Muslim slave. Allah Most High says in His Book:

“A believing slave is better