Awf, may Allah be pleased with them, and this is the position of 'Ata', al-Hasan, al-Sha'bi, Qatadah, al-Thawri, al-Shafi'i, and the scholars of opinion (ashab al-ra'y). Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, Salim ibn 'Abd Allah, Tawus, Mujahid, al-Zuhri, Rabi'ah, Malik, Abu Thawr, and Dawud said: He may marry four, due to the generality of the verse, and because the path to this is pleasure and desire, so the slave is equal to the free man in it, like [the permissibility of] eating. Our argument is the statement of those we have named among the Companions, and no one is known to have opposed them in their era, so it was a consensus. Layth ibn Abi Sulaym narrated from al-Hakam ibn 'Utaybah that he said: The Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, reached a consensus that a slave may not marry more than two. This is strengthened by what Imam Ahmad narrated, with his chain of narration from Muhammad ibn Sirin, that 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, asked the people: "How many may a slave marry?" 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf said: "Two, and his divorce is two." This proves that this took place in the presence of the Companions and others, and it was not objected to. This restricts the generality of the verse, even though there is in it [the verse] what indicates that it refers to free men, which is His saying, the Almighty: {or what your right hands possess} (10). Marriage is different from eating, as it is based on preference (11). For this reason, the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was distinguished from his nation in it, and because it involves ownership, and the slave is deficient in ownership compared to the free man.