Muwatta Imam Malik (Riwayat Yahya)

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said that when slaves are made mukatab (contracted for manumission) in a single contract, and there is no such kinship among them that would prevent them from inheriting from one another, then all of them will be guarantors for each other; none of them can be freed without the others, until the full amount of the kitabah (manumission contract) is paid. If one of them dies and leaves behind wealth that exceeds the total amount of the kitabah for all, then the kitabah amount will be paid from that wealth, and whatever remains will be taken by the master; it will not go to his companions. Then, for the amount spent from this wealth on the freedom of one slave, the master will collect that amount from each of the other slaves. Because the slave who died was their guarantor, the amount spent on his freedom for theirs must be paid by them. If the deceased mukatab has a free son who was not born during the state of kitabah, nor was the contract of kitabah established upon him, then he will not inherit from him, because the mukatab was not free at the time of death.