his other slaves. As for our evidence, it is his—peace be upon him—statement: "From those you provide for." He does not provide for him, and because he is not obligated to provide for his sustenance, he is not obligated to pay his fitra, like an outsider; and by this, he differs from his other slaves. Once this is established, it follows that the mukatab must pay the fitra for himself and for those whose support he is obligated to provide, such as his wife and his bondservants. Abu Hanifa and al-Shafi'i said: It is not mandatory upon him because his ownership is incomplete, so the fitra is not mandatory upon him, like the full slave (qinn), and because it is a zakat, so it is not mandatory [upon the mukatab], just like the zakat on wealth. As for our evidence, it is that the Prophet—peace be upon him—made the sadaqat al-fitr mandatory upon the free person and the slave, the male and the female. This is a slave, and he cannot be anything other than a male or a female. Furthermore, since he is obligated to provide his own sustenance, he is obligated to pay its fitra, like a wealthy free person. It differs from zakat on wealth because for that, wealth (ghina), the nisaab (minimum threshold), and the passage of a year (hawl) are considered, and no one carries it for another, unlike the fitra.

Section: The mukatab is obligated to pay the fitra of those he provides for, just like a free person, due to their inclusion in the generality of his—peace be upon him—statement: "Pay the sadaqat al-fitr for those you provide for."

478 - Issue: He said: "And if a group of people owns a slave, each one of them shall bring out a sa' (a measure), and from Abu Abd Allah [there is another narration], a sa' from the whole."

The summation of this is that the fitra of a jointly-owned slave is mandatory upon his masters. This is the view held by Malik, [Muhammad ibn Maslamah, Abd al-Malik, al-Shafi'i], Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, and Abu Thawr.