along with blindness and chronic illness; therefore, his maintenance is binding despite these two conditions, given the general nature of the texts mentioned at the beginning of the chapter.

1409 - Issue: He said: "And that he should marry the slave when he has a need for that."

The summary of this is that it is binding upon the master to provide chastity for his slave if he requests it. This is one of the two opinions of Al-Shafi'i. Abu Hanifah and Malik said: He is not forced to do so, because there is harm to him in that, and it is not among the things by which the body is sustained, so he is not forced to do it, like feeding him sweets. Our argument is the saying of the Almighty: "And marry the unmarried among you and the righteous among your male slaves and female slaves" (Surah An-Nur: 32). The command implies obligation, and it is not obligatory except upon request. Ikrimah narrated from Ibn Abbas, who said: "Whoever has a slave girl and did not marry her off and did not have intercourse with her, or a male slave and did not marry him off, then whatever they did of something, it was upon the master." If the provision of their chastity were not obligatory, the sin of their actions would not have reached the master. Also, because he is a person under legal obligation, under guardianship, and he has requested his marriage, so his compliance has become incumbent upon him, like the one under guardianship for incompetence (safah). Furthermore, marriage is something that need often calls for, and one suffers harm through its absence, so he is forced to do it, like maintenance; unlike sweets. Once this is established, the master has the choice between marrying him off or giving him ownership of a slave girl with whom he may have concubinage. He may also marry him to [his own slave girl; because the marriage of a slave girl is permissible for the slave without condition. And it is not incumbent upon him to marry him off except] upon his request; because this is something people differ about, and regarding the need for it, and his need is not known except through his request. It is not permissible to marry him off except with his consent, for forcing an adult slave into marriage is not permissible. As for the slave girl, the master has the choice between marrying her off if she requests that, or having intercourse with her, for he provides her sufficiency through his intercourse such that she does not need anyone else; because the objective is fulfilling the need and removing the harm of desire, and that is achieved by either of them, so neither of them is specifically required.