Musnad Imam Shafi'i

Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that Abu Mazkoor was a man from the tribe of Uzrah. He had a Coptic slave whom he had declared as Mudabbar. The Prophet ﷺ heard about this slave, so he ﷺ sold the slave and said: "When any of you is poor, he should begin with himself; if there is surplus wealth, then he should start with those under his care, and then if he finds surplus wealth after that, he should give charity to others."

It is narrated from Amr bin Dinar that a man, after his death, instructed for the emancipation of his slave, while he had no other wealth besides him. So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Who will buy him from me?" Na’eem bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) bought him for eight hundred dirhams and paid its price.

From another chain, it is narrated from Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) from the Prophet ﷺ similar to the previous hadith.

It is narrated from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: A man from the tribe of Banu Udhrah made his slave a Mudabbar (a slave who is set free after the master's death). When the Prophet (ﷺ) was informed, he asked: "Do you have any wealth besides him?" He replied: "No." Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Who will buy this slave from me?" Na’eem bin Abdullah Al-Adawi (may Allah be pleased with him) bought him from the Prophet (ﷺ) for eight hundred dirhams. He brought the amount to the Prophet (ﷺ), and the Prophet (ﷺ) handed over the price to the owner. Then he said: "Start with yourself and spend on it. If anything is left from yourself, then on your family. If anything is left from your family, then on your relatives. If anything is still left, then here and there, to the right and left (i.e., to other deserving people), spend it."

Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: One of us made his slave a Mudabbar, and he had no other wealth except that slave. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: "Who will buy this slave from me?" Nu'aim bin Nahham (may Allah be pleased with him) bought him. Amr said: I heard Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) say that he was a Coptic slave and he died in the first year of the caliphate of Abdullah bin Zubair (may Allah be pleased with them both). Abu Zubair added these words: His name was Yaqub.

Imam Shafi’i, may Allah have mercy on him, said: I generally heard it from them in this way during my time, then I found in my book that “one of us made a slave a mudabbar and he died.” This (phrase) is either a mistake in my book or a mistake from Sufyan, may Allah have mercy on him. If this mistake is from Sufyan, then Ibn Jurayj and Abu’l-Zubayr are more reliable in remembering the hadith than Sufyan, and then with Ibn Jurayj, Layth and others also narrate this (Ibn Jurayj’s) hadith. And Abu’l-Zubayr also mentions the limit of the mudabbar’s life in the hadith. And Hammad ibn Zayd, Hammad ibn Salamah, and others besides them are more reliable in remembering the hadith of ‘Amr than Sufyan alone. The reliability in memorizing hadith is established because of the mistakes I found in the hadith of Ibn Jurayj and Layth from Abu’l-Zubayr. And in the hadith of Hammad, which is from ‘Amr, and others besides Hammad who narrate from ‘Amr, they narrate it just as Hammad ibn Zayd narrated it. And among those who met Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah earlier than me, several told me that he did not mention the word “died” (māt) in his hadith. And when I told them that I found the word “died” in my book, some of them were surprised. Imam Shafi’i, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Perhaps this is a mistake or slip that I remembered from them.

It is narrated from Umrah that Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) had a slave girl whom she had made a mudabbir. This slave girl performed magic on her, and then she also confessed to the magic. So Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) ordered regarding her that she should be sold to those villagers who treat their slaves badly, and thus she was sold.