A slave shared by two men, one of whom gives him a manumission contract

Al-Hasan (may Allah have mercy on him) said concerning a slave who is jointly owned by three men, one of whom then makes him a mukatab (a slave contracted to buy his freedom): whatever that man collects from the mukatab slave is to be taken from him, and that wealth is to be divided among all three partners. The slave remains the property of all three, and making him a mukatab is not valid.

He said: And Ata used to say that his manumission takes effect only to the extent of what has been set free.

Sa'id bin al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about a mukatab jointly owned by three men. Some of them settled with him (ending the contract for an agreed sum), while others held on to their contract and did not settle. That mukatab slave then died, leaving a great deal of wealth. Who gets his estate? Sa'id bin al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Those who held on to their contract are to be paid the remainder of the contract money in full; then whatever is left is shared among them."

Al-Hakam and Hammad were asked about a slave jointly owned by two men: what of one of them making his own share mukatab? Hammad disliked it, while al-Hakam permitted it and saw no harm in doing so.

Amir said that if a man makes his share of a slave mukatab, then if his partners learn of it before payment, it is to be rejected; and if payment is made before they learn of it, it is not to be rejected.

Amir said concerning a slave jointly owned by three men, two of whom set him free, after which the slave died and left some wealth: the two who set the slave free are liable to the third man for one third of his price. After that they will divide his inheritance into three portions, and each partner will receive one portion.

Al-Hasan said concerning a slave jointly owned by two men that it is disliked to make him a mukatab without the permission of the other partner. If he makes him a mukatab without permission, then whatever the first partner collects from the slave, he is to divide with the other partner. Then, when the slave has paid the full contract price, he becomes free, and he is to work to earn half of his value for the master who did not make him a mukatab, and the slave's wala' (right of clientage) goes to them both.