“They declared him a liar and objected to certain things of his.”

Similar to this account is what Muhammad ibn Ishaq narrated from al-Khattab ibn Salih, from his mother, who said: Salamah bint Ma‘qil related to me: “I belonged to al-Habbab ibn ‘Amr and had borne him a boy. His wife said to me: ‘Now you will be sold to settle his debt.’ So I went to the Messenger of Allah and mentioned this to him. The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Who is in charge of al-Habbab ibn ‘Amr’s estate?’ They replied: ‘His brother, Abu al-Yusr Ka‘b ibn ‘Amr.’ So the Messenger of Allah summoned him and said: ‘Do not sell her; emancipate her. When you hear that slaves have come to me, come to me and I will compensate you.’” They did so. After the Messenger of Allah’s death, they differed among themselves. Some said: “The umm walad remains enslaved; otherwise, the Messenger of Allah would not have compensated them for her.” Others said: “She was free, having been emancipated by the Messenger of Allah.” Thus arose the disagreement.

Ahmad recorded it (6/360), and this is his wording, as did al-Bayhaqi. Abu Dawud likewise recorded it (2/163), though without the account of the disagreement, adding: “They emancipated me; then slaves came to the Messenger of Allah, and he compensated them for me with a young male slave.” I say: Its chain of transmission is weak, for the mother of al-Khattab ibn Salih is unknown, as al-Hafiz stated. As for her son, al-Khattab, al-Dhahabi said: “Only Ibn Ishaq narrated from him, though al-Bukhari declared him trustworthy.” Ibn Ishaq practised tadlis and narrated it here with an ambiguous ‘from’ formula.

What was mentioned above may appear to be contradicted by what ‘Abd al-Razzaq narrated in al-Musannaf (13211): Ibn Jurayj informed us, saying: Abu al-Zubayr informed me that he heard Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah say: “We used to sell ummahat al-awlad while the Prophet was still alive among us, and we saw no harm in doing so.” I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission, continuous and meeting Muslim’s criteria.