If he dies and has a brother who is with him in his contract, as well as a son, he [Abu Hanifah] says: What remains of his contract goes to his brother, not his son. Abu Hanifah deemed him a slave as long as he is alive, and when he dies, he pays the remainder of his contract from his estate, and the rest goes to his heirs. It is narrated from 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said from the pulpit: 'You have entered into contracts with mukatabs, so whoever among them has paid half, there is no slavery upon him.' From 'Ali: 'If he pays half, he is free.' A similar view is narrated from 'Urwah. From al-Hasan: 'If he pays half, he is a debtor.' A similar view is narrated from Ibn Mas'ud and Shurayh. From Ibn Mas'ud: 'If he pays a third or a quarter, he is a debtor.' From Ibn 'Abbas: 'If he writes the document, he is a debtor.' From 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: 'Emancipation proceeds in the mukatab at the first installment,' meaning he is emancipated to the extent of what he has paid. It is also narrated from him that he said: 'He inherits, is inherited from, and is emancipated to the extent of what he has paid.' Hammad ibn Salamah has narrated from Ayyub, from 'Ikrimah, from Ibn 'Abbas, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: "If the mukatab commits a crime or is entitled to an inheritance, he shall inherit according to the extent that he is emancipated, and the prescribed punishment (hadd) shall be carried out upon him according to the extent that he is emancipated." In another narration: "The mukatab shall pay the blood money of a free person according to the extent that he is emancipated, and according to the extent that he remains a slave, he shall pay the blood money of a slave." Yahya ibn Abi Kathir said: 'Ali and Marwan ibn al-Hakam used to say this. The hadith of Ibn 'Abbas has been narrated from 'Ikrimah from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in a mursal (discontinued) form, and the hadith that we narrated for our position is more authentic than it. I do not know any of the jurists who said this [latter opinion], and what we mentioned first is more appropriate, and Allah knows best.

1041 - Issue: He said: (And whoever is partially free inherits, is inherited from, and excludes [others from inheritance] according to the extent of the freedom that is in him.)

The gist of this is that when a partially emancipated person earns wealth and then dies and leaves it behind, it is examined. If he earned it...