1410 - Issue: He said: "If he refuses, he shall be compelled to sell him if the slave requests that."

The summary of this is that if the master refuses what is binding upon him for the slave, such as maintenance, clothing, or marriage, and the slave requests the sale, his master shall be compelled to do so, [whether the master's refusal of that was due to his inability to do so or due to his capability]. This is because the continuation of his ownership over him while failing to meet his needs is harming him, and removing harm is obligatory, so its removal became necessary. For this reason, we permitted the wife to dissolve the marriage when her husband is unable to provide for her. It has been narrated in some Hadith from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he said: "Your slave says: Feed me, otherwise sell me. And your wife says: Feed me or divorce me." This implies by its conceptual content that whenever the master fulfills the rights of his slave, and the slave requests his sale, the master is not compelled to do so. Ahmad has explicitly stated this. Abu Dawud said: It was said to Abu Abdullah, may Allah have mercy on him: A female slave requests to be sold, while he clothes her from what he wears and feeds her from what he eats. He said: "She is not to be sold, even if she insists on that, unless she needs a husband and says: Marry me off." Ata and Ishaq said regarding a slave whose master treats him well and he requests to be sold: "He should not sell him"; because the ownership belongs to the master, and the right is his, so he is not to be compelled to relinquish it without harm to the slave, just as he is not to be compelled to divorce his wife while fulfilling what is due to her, nor to sell his beast while providing for it.

1411 - Issue: He said: "And he is not responsible for the maintenance of his mukatab (indentured slave), unless he becomes unable."

There is no disagreement that a mukatab's maintenance is not binding upon his master; because the kitabah (indenture contract) is a contract that has necessitated the mukatab's ownership of his own self and his benefits, and has prevented the master from exercising authority over both of them.