and stipulate that the right of clientage will belong to them, for such a condition is void and will bring them no benefit, since the walāʾ is due only to the one who emancipates.

They dared to insist on that clause out of greed for the fleeting goods of this world, paying no heed to the limits and rulings of the Sacred Law. ʿĀʾishah therefore bought her on that basis.

The Prophet ﷺ then rose and addressed the people. He praised Allah and extolled Him—as was his habit in weighty matters and sermons—then, after glorifying Allah, he moved on with the formula “To proceed” to rebuke the people for unlawful conditions that contradict the Book of Allah. He said: “What is the matter with men who lay down conditions that are not part of Allah’s rulings and legislation, but arise only from greed and avarice? Every condition that is not in the Book of Allah is null and void, no matter how many, how emphatically expressed, or how formally recorded it may be. The judgment of Allah is more deserving of adherence, for it accords with truth and justice, brings benefit to His servants, and repels harm from them. The condition of Allah, which He has approved for His creation, is the strong one; all else is feeble and weak. The right of clientage belongs solely to the emancipator, not to the seller or anyone else.”

Lessons drawn from the hadith

1. The legitimacy of a mukātabah contract with a slave, for it is a means of freeing him from bondage, especially when the slave is capable of earning, is upright, and manages affairs well; therein lies great reward. Allah the Exalted says, “Contract with them if you know there is good in them” (Q 24:33).
2. A mukātabah may be arranged on deferred instalments that the slave pays gradually, since at the time of contracting he owns nothing; deferment is therefore necessary, and some scholars even defined the contract on that basis.
3. It is permissible to pay the deferred instalments in advance to hasten the mukātab’s emancipation, as inferred from Barīrah’s seeking ʿĀʾishah’s help to do so.
4. Selling a mukātab slave is permissible, for the Prophet ﷺ allowed ʿĀʾishah to buy her, and Barīrah only approached ʿĀʾishah for assistance. Some scholars forbade the sale and must account for this hadith; they have no sufficient answer. Among those who permitted it was Imām Aḥmad, may Allah have mercy on him.
5. A clause reserving the walāʾ to the seller is invalid, because the walāʾ belongs to the emancipator, not the seller. It is a bond like kinship, its benefit accruing to the one who granted emancipation, not to the one who sold and pocketed the price. This exemplifies the perfection of Allah’s justice in His rulings. The sale itself, however, remains valid, for the Prophet ﷺ did not annul the contract because of the condition Barīrah’s guardians placed on ʿĀʾishah; he simply declared the clause void.
6. Scholars have inferred from this hadith that if the seller stipulates that the buyer must set the slave completely free, the condition is sound, and the buyer is obliged to emancipate him; if he refuses, the judge will free the slave, for emancipation is a right of Allah, and the Law eagerly seeks the liberation of human beings.