and when one of the partners in a slave emancipates his own share but fixes the emancipation for a future date, the half that belongs to his fellow partner is appraised against him; up to the appointed term the whole slave is deemed free in relation to him, and the slave serves him alone.

Ibn al-Qāsim said: When a slave is owned by two men and one of them first frees his entire share, after which the other frees only half of his share and then wishes to have the remaining half—still in bondage—appraised against his partner, that is not permitted; rather, the rest of his share is automatically deemed free at his own expense. If this second partner dies before the appraisal is carried out, whatever remains of his share must still be valued for his estate; the half belonging to his partner is then valued against him on deferred terms, so the entire slave counts as emancipated for him until that time, and during that period the slave serves him alone.

Anyone who, by will, orders the emancipation of his own share in a slave whom he co-owns with another, and also orders the emancipation of another slave of his, has nothing freed beyond that share, for its manumission becomes obligatory the moment he dies.

If a partner emancipates his share while insolvent and later becomes solvent, no appraisal is imposed on him. But if he was solvent on the day he freed his share, then fell into insolvency and afterward regained solvency, the partner’s share is appraised against him, because solvency is judged by his condition on the day of manumission. Should he have been solvent for only part of the value of his partner’s share, he is charged for that part alone, and that corresponding portion of the slave is freed while the remainder stays in bondage. In appraising, he is not stripped of the belongings he cannot do without.

When the first partner is solvent, the second partner may not free his share for a deferred term, place the slave in tadbīr (post-mortem emancipation), or enter him into a kitābah (contract of manumission); in every case the share must be appraised—unless he emancipates his share outright (ʿitq bittilā).

If a slave is shared by three men or more, and one of them, being solvent, frees his share, the shares of his partners are appraised against him and the manumission is completed. If he is insolvent, the shares of the other partner or partners remain in bondage. Should one of those partners, while solvent, later free his own share after the insolvent man has already freed his, they do not appraise the remaining share against him, for his act only adds good.

If two of them emancipate their respective shares in the very same utterance, the remainder is appraised half-and-half between them, whether or not their original shares were equal. Another view holds that the appraisal should be in proportion to their original shares; both positions are related from Mālik.

If, in this situation, one of the two is insolvent, Mālik holds that the solvent partner is liable for the entire share of the one who keeps the slave in bondage, and he has no right of recourse against his insolvent colleague should the latter one day become solvent. ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, however, maintains that he is liable only for an amount equal to his own share.

And if, of two partners, one—while insolvent—sets free his share and then his partner frees half of his own share, the emancipation is not completed