this month. It is also valid. According to al-Shafi'i, it is not valid. Our position is that he entered into a kitaba contract for two installments, so it is valid, like the one before it.

Section: If he enters into a kitaba contract with a slave who has wealth, his wealth belongs to his master, unless the mukatab (the slave in a kitaba contract) stipulates otherwise. If he has a concubine or a child, they belong to his master. This is the opinion of al-Thawri, al-Hasan ibn Salih, Abu Hanifa, Abu Yusuf, and al-Shafi'i. Al-Hasan, 'Ata', al-Nakha'i, Sulayman ibn Musa, 'Amr ibn Dinar, Malik, and Ibn Abi Layla said regarding the mukatab: His wealth belongs to him. 'Ata', Sulayman ibn Musa, al-Nakha'i, 'Amr ibn Dinar, and Malik agreed with us regarding the child. They used as an argument for their position what was narrated by Ibn (49) 'Umar, from the Prophet - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him - that he said: ["Whoever emancipates a slave while he has wealth, the wealth belongs to the slave" (50). Our evidence is the statement of the Prophet - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him -] (51): "Whoever sells a slave while he has wealth, his wealth belongs to the seller, unless the buyer stipulates otherwise." Agreed upon (52). A kitaba contract is a sale; and because he sold him his own self, nothing else entered into the transaction with him, such as his child or his relatives. Furthermore, he and his wealth belonged to his master, so when the contract took place concerning one of them, the other remained as he was, just as if he had sold him to a stranger. Their hadith is weak, and we have already mentioned its weakness.

1979 - Issue; he said: (And his wala' [patronage/loyalty] belongs to his mukatab [the one who entered into the kitaba contract with him]).

We know of no disagreement among the people of knowledge that the wala' of the mukatab belongs to his master if he has performed [his part of the contract] for him. Malik, al-Shafi'i, and the scholars of reasoning (ashab al-ra'y) say this. This is because the kitaba contract is an act of grace and emancipation for him; because his earnings were for his master by virtue of his ownership of him, so he was satisfied with it as compensation for him, and emancipated his person in exchange for his benefit to which he was entitled by original ruling. Thus, he is his emancipator and the one who bestowed grace upon him, so he is entitled to his wala'; because of his statement - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him -: "Wala' belongs to the one who emancipates" (1). In the hadith of Barira, it is mentioned that she said: "I entered into a kitaba contract with my family for nine awaq [units of weight], one uqiya every year." Aisha said: "If your family wishes that I pay it for them as a lump sum, and your wala' be for me, I will do it." Barira returned to her family and mentioned that to them, but they refused, insisting that the wala' be theirs (2). This indicates that the establishment of wala' over the mukatab for his master was well-established among them. And Allah knows best.

1980 - Issue; he said: (And he is to be given a fourth of what he was contracted for, because of the saying of Allah the Exalted: {And give them from the wealth of Allah which He has given you}).

The discussion on giving [the portion] is in five sections: its obligation, its amount, its kind, the time it is permitted, and the time it becomes obligatory.

As for the first: [It is obligatory] (1) upon the master to give the mukatab something from what he was contracted for. This was narrated from 'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him (2). Al-Shafi'i and Ishaq held this view. Burayda, al-Hasan, al-Nakha'i, al-Thawri, Malik, and Abu Hanifa said: It is not obligatory; because it is a contract of exchange, so giving is not obligatory in it, like all other contracts of exchange. Our evidence is the statement of Allah the Exalted: {And give them from the wealth of Allah which He has given you} (3). The manifest meaning of the imperative is obligation. 'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said in interpreting it: "Remit a fourth of the wealth of the kitaba for them" (2). And from Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, he said: "Remit something from their kitaba for them" (4). The kitaba contract differs from all other contracts; for the purpose of it is [kindness to the slave], unlike others, and because the kitaba contract entitles one to wala' over the slave along with the exchange, so likewise (6) it is necessary that the slave be entitled to something from the master. If it is said: The meaning is...