his father, from his grandfather, that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "A mukatab is a slave as long as a dirham of his contract remains." In another wording, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Any slave who enters into a mukatabah (contract of manumission) for one hundred uqiyyahs and pays it all except for ten uqiyyahs, he is a slave. And any slave who enters into a mukatabah for one hundred dinars and pays it all except for ten dinars, he is a slave." It is also reported from Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir, 'Umar ibn 'Abd Allah, the mawla of Ghufrah, and 'Abd Allah ibn 'Ubaydah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to 'Attab ibn Asid: "Whoever enters into a mukatabah with a mukatab, he has the greatest right to him until he fulfills his contract."
Al-Qadi and Abu al-Khattab stated: If the mukatab pays three-quarters of his contract and becomes unable to pay the final quarter, he becomes free; this is because it is obligatory to fulfill the contract for the mukatab, and it is not permissible to leave him in a state of slavery due to his inability to pay what is rightfully due to him. The second narration is that if he possesses what he is to pay, he has become free, inherits, and is inherited from. Thus, if someone from whom he inherits dies, he inherits, and if he dies, his master receives the remainder of his contract, and the rest goes to his heirs, based on what Abu Dawud recorded with his chain of transmission from Umm Salama, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to us: "If any of you has a mukatab and he has in his possession what he is to pay, then observe hijab (veil) from him." Al-Hakam reported from 'Ali, Ibn Mas'ud, and Shurayh: His master is given from his estate what remains of his contract, and if anything is left over, it belongs to the heirs of the mukatab. A similar view is narrated from al-Zuhri, and this is also the opinion of Ibn al-Musayyib, Abu Salama ibn 'Abd al-Rahman, al-Nakha'i, al-Sha'bi, al-Hasan, Mansur, Malik, and Abu Hanifah, except that Malik considered those who were with him in his contract to have a greater right than those who were not.
It is also recorded by al-Tirmidhi in: The Chapter on what has been narrated regarding the mukatab when he possesses what he is to pay, from the Chapters on Sales. 'Aridat al-Ahwadhi 5/265. Ibn Majah in: The Chapter on the Mukatab, from the Book of Emancipation. Sunan Ibn Majah 2/842. Imam Ahmad in: Al-Musnad 2/178, 184, 206, 209. (8) In MS M: "Abdah". See: Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 5/309. (9) Mentioned by al-Suyuti in Al-Jami' al-Kabir 1/825, who said: It was recorded by 'Abd al-Razzaq. (10) In: The Chapter on the Mukatab who fulfills part of his contract then becomes unable or dies, from the Book of Emancipation. Sunan Abi Dawud 2/346. It is also recorded by al-Tirmidhi in: The Chapter on what has been narrated regarding the mukatab when he possesses what he is to pay, from the Chapters on Sales. 'Aridat al-Ahwadhi 5/265, 266. Ibn Majah in: The Chapter on the Mukatab, from the Book of Emancipation. Sunan Ibn Majah 2/842. Imam Ahmad in: Al-Musnad 6/289, 308, 311.
