entered upon the condition that he would pay him the wealth of the kitaba in the manner for which he contracted with him, and would pay the wealth to him in its installments. So when he does not pay it to him, his emancipation is not binding, according to what we mentioned in the chapter before this one, and because he became unable to pay the installment at its designated time, so it is permissible to annul his kitaba, like the final installment. Our evidence is what has been narrated from Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: 'The mukatab is not returned to slavery until two installments pass against him.' And because the time between the two installments is the period for the payment of the first, so the inability to pay it is not realized until its period expires with the arrival of the second.

Section: If the installment is due and his wealth is present with him, he is demanded to pay it, and it is not permissible to annul it before the demand, just as it is not permissible to annul a sale or a salam contract merely by the obligation of payment before the demand. If it is demanded of him and he states that it is absent from the gathering, in one of the regions of the city, or close to him at a distance where prayer is not shortened, and it is possible to bring it shortly, the kitaba may not be annulled, and he is granted a respite for as long as it takes to bring it, if he requests the respite; because this is a minor matter, and there is no harm in it. And if he has with him wealth of a different type than the kitaba wealth, and requests a respite to sell it for the type of the kitaba wealth, he is granted a respite. And if the wealth is absent beyond the distance of the shortening of prayer, the respite is not obligatory. This is the opinion of al-Shafi'i. Abu Hanifah said: If he has present wealth, or absent wealth whose arrival is hoped for, he is granted a delay of two or three days, and I would not increase it beyond that; because three is the limit of brevity and closeness, according to what we have explained previously, and what increases beyond that is in the limit of abundance. All of this is close to one another. As for if he is capable of payment, possessing what he is to pay, yet he refuses to pay it and says: 'I have become unable.' Al-Sharif Abu Ja'far and a group of our later companions said: The master has the right to annul the kitaba. This is the apparent meaning of al-Khiraqi's words, due to his statement: 'And if an installment is due, and he does not pay it until another installment is due, the master may declare him unable if he wishes.' He thus suspended the permissibility of annulment upon the non-payment. This is the school of al-Shafi'i. Abu Bakr ibn Ja'far said: He does not have that right, and he is compelled to hand over the compensation. This is the opinion of Abu Hanifah, Malik, and al-Awza'i. We have already mentioned this in what has preceded. As for if he is capable of paying all the wealth, there is another narration that he becomes free upon owning what he pays. This has already been mentioned.