another man for a specified period and the slave then absconds, yet the man he was serving emancipates him before the term expires, the slave is free and his owner has no legal claim over him.

• If the owner leases his slave out for a fixed period and then sets him free, the lease remains in force and the emancipation does not take effect until the period is completed.

• One who emancipates his slave may not stipulate any condition upon him after liberation—neither personal service, service to a third party, nor any share of the slave’s earnings.

• If, however, he says, “You are free but you owe me fifty dinars,” or any other burdensome sum, Mālik allows it, treating the matter as though the slave had bought his own freedom for fifty dinars. Ibn al-Qāsim disagrees, holding that the slave becomes free owing nothing, for no monetary obligation may be imposed on him after emancipation.

• Both concur that when a master says, “You are free once you bring me such-and-such an amount,” the slave is not emancipated until he produces the money. In their view this is a manumission contract (kitābah), and the master may not sell him before he pays the stated price.

• Should the slave say, “Conclude the sale and I will owe you the remainder as a debt,” his emancipation proceeds and none of the earlier conditions imposed by the seller remain binding on him.

• Whoever says to his slave, “If I strike you, you are free,” may not sell him; if he does, the sale is annulled. Should the slave die before the condition occurs, he dies a slave; but if the master dies first, the slave is emancipated from one-third of the estate. If the slave is a woman, the master may not have marital relations with her.

• If someone swears, “My slave shall be free if I do not flog him with such-and-such a number of lashes,” and he fails to beat him before nightfall because the slave escaped and overpowered him without any negligence, no penalty is incurred. If he was negligent and the time elapsed, or he beat him but did not complete the stated number, the slave is set free.

• Should the slave allege that the master has broken such an oath, his word is not accepted; the master is not required to present evidence or take an oath.

• Likewise, if a man swears by the emancipation of his slave that he will accomplish a named act by a specified deadline, he may not sell the slave until he has done what he swore to do. If the slave is a woman, he may have relations with her during the interim. Mālik withheld judgment once the deadline arrives; and if he dies