Muwatta Imam Malik (Riwayat Yahya)

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: In our view, it is agreed upon that if several slaves are contracted for manumission (mukatab) in a single contract, then the responsibility of one will fall upon the others. If any of them dies, the amount of the contract will not be reduced. If any of them becomes incapable and gives up, then his companions should, according to their ability, make him work and take his wages, and seek help in paying the amount of the contract. If all are freed, he too will be freed, and if all remain slaves, he too will remain a slave.

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.

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.