Fath al-Rabbani

Benefits: … The meaning of this hadith is that if a mukatab is killed, it is necessary for his killer to pay the blood money (diyah) for the portion of the mukatab that he had already paid for, to his heirs as the blood money of a free man, and for the portion that remained as a slave, to pay his owner the blood money of a slave. For example, if a slave has paid half of the agreed amount, he will be considered half free and half slave. In this situation, if he is killed, the blood money for the free portion will be fifty camels, and for the remaining slave portion, the blood money of a slave will be given. But the question arises: how is the blood money of a slave to be given? The answer is that there is no marfu‘ (directly attributed to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) narration found on this issue, but this matter is well-known among the scholars that in the case of a slave’s blood money, his price must be paid. Furthermore, there is another point of difference: if the price of the slave exceeds the blood money of a free man, is it obligatory to pay his price or not? The preferred opinion appears to be that the price is obligatory. And Allah knows best.

Mukatab: … This refers to a slave who makes an agreement with his owner to pay a certain compensation for his freedom. Such a slave remains the property of his owner until he pays the agreed compensation.