In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate

Chapter on the Umm al-Walad (Slave-Mother)

When a female slave bears a child to her master she is deemed emancipated, yet the emancipation remains in suspense until his death. Meanwhile the master may continue to enjoy conjugal relations with her exactly as before, but he may not sell her, give her away, hire her out, or dispose of her in any fashion—whether to settle a debt or for any other purpose.

If she incurs liability through a criminal act, he must ransom her by paying the blood-money or, if less, her market value on the day judgment is passed; the same rule applies to every wound she causes so long as she is an umm al-walad. Should she herself be injured, the compensation belongs to her master, and if she is killed her value likewise accrues to him. She has no enforceable claim to sexual relations should he withhold them. In all other rulings—testimony, prescribed punishments, prayer, and the like—she remains a slave. It is, however, recommended for her to cover her head during prayer, for that is her sunnah. One who falsely accuses her of fornication is not subject to the ḥadd for slander, and she neither inherits nor is inherited from.

When her master dies she is freed outright, with her emancipation charged to his estate, and she thereafter joins the ranks of the free Muslims. None of his debts, whether incurred during his life or outstanding at his death, attach to her.

Regarding the master marrying her off without her consent, Mālik’s reports differ; what he preferred is that he should not marry her off except with her permission.

A woman becomes an umm al-walad by virtue of any expelled fetus that is recognisably human—whether a mudgha (shapeless lump of flesh), an ‘alaqa (blood clot), or the like. It has nevertheless been said that such a case does not make her an umm al-walad.