Muwatta Imam Malik (Riwayat Yahya)

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: In our view, it is agreed upon that there can be no guarantee for the compensation of kitabah (emancipation contract). So when a master makes a slave a mukatab (contracted for freedom), the compensation of kitabah cannot be taken as a guarantee from anyone if the slave becomes incapable or dies; nor is this the way of the Muslims. Because if someone becomes a guarantor for the compensation of kitabah for the mukatab and the master pursues him and collects the compensation from the guarantor, then this collection will be unlawful. This is because the guarantor has neither purchased the mukatab so that the money given would be in exchange for him, nor has the mukatab become free so that the money would be in exchange for his freedom. Rather, when the mukatab becomes incapable, he again becomes the slave of his master. The reason for this is that the debt of kitabah is not valid in such a way that its guarantee would be correct. Rather, kitabah is a thing: if the mukatab is freed by it, he will become free; otherwise, he will remain a slave. For this reason, if the mukatab dies and is indebted to people, then the master and the creditors will not have equal shares; rather, the creditors will have more right to his wealth. If the mukatab becomes incapable and is indebted to people, then he will become the slave of his master, and the creditors’ debt will remain upon him. When he becomes free, then they may pursue him; they will not have the right to sell him and recover their debt.