Those to whom enslavement applies

Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) enslaved Banu al-Mustaliq and Hawazin, who were Arab tribes, and afterwards freed them as a favour. The people of knowledge differ about this. Some claim that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) released the captives of Hawazin, he said: "If any Arabs were to be complete captives, it would have been these people of Hawazin; but it was to be captivity followed by ransom." Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) says: According to those who consider this hadith established, an Arab cannot be enslaved.

Al-Sha'bi narrates from Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that an Arab shall not be enslaved.
(b) Al-Zuhri narrates from Sa'id bin al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him) that a slave may marry a slave-girl, and his children will be slaves; an Arab may also marry a slave-girl, but his children shall not be enslaved; he is responsible for paying their value.
Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Whoever does not consider this hadith established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) holds that Arabs and non-Arabs are equal: wherever slavery applies to a non-Arab, it applies to an Arab as well, and Allah knows best. Al-Rabi' says: Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) adopts this view.
The Shaykh says: As for the narration on this from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned it only in his old (qadim) works.

Al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) says that when Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) delivered a sermon, he said: An Arab is not anyone's property, and we will not snatch from a man's hand anything he held when he accepted Islam; but we will fix his value at five camels.
Abu Ubayd (may Allah have mercy on him) says: When someone holds a captive in his hand, we will not take him without compensation, because he accepted Islam while holding him; nor will we let him remain a slave, because he is an Arab; rather, the one who enslaved him will be paid a value of five camels, and the Arab will return to his lineage.
This narration from Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) is munqati' (broken).

Sa'id bin al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) fixed a ransom for every slave: for an Arab slave, six camels. He gave this ruling regarding those who had married Arab slave-girls.
This narration too is mursal, but it is good (jayyid).

Sa'id bin al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him) says that a slave-girl belonging to an Arab ran away, went from Wadi al-Qura and joined the very tribe from which she had run away. A man of Banu Udhrah married her, and she became pregnant. Then her master found out about her and took away the slave-girl and her child. Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) ruled that the child belonged to that man of Udhrah, and imposed upon him one slave in exchange for each one; for townspeople he fixed the value of a slave at sixty dinars or seven hundred dirhams, and for a Bedouin six fara'id (camels).
The Shaykh says: This concerns intercourse under a mistaken assumption (of lawfulness), because the child will be free, and he is liable to pay the value to the owner of the slave-girl; and it seems that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) held the value to be what is transmitted in this report, if it is established, and Allah knows best. But slavery was applied to Banu al-Mustaliq and Hawazin, which is authentic and established, but later, as a favour, they were freed from slavery out of generosity.

Ibn Muhayriz (may Allah have mercy on him) says: I entered the mosque and saw Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him). I sat with him and asked about coitus interruptus ('azl). Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We went out with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on the expedition of Banu al-Mustaliq, and we obtained Arab slave-girls. We desired women, and staying away from women had become hard for us, and we also loved (to receive) ransom, so we intended to practise 'azl. Then we thought: We will not practise 'azl without asking while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is present among us; we should ask first. So we asked, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do so, but any soul that is to come into existence will certainly come."

Urwah narrates from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) distributed the captive women of Banu al-Mustaliq, Sayyidah Juwayriyah bint al-Harith (may Allah be pleased with her) fell to the share of Thabit bin Qays bin Shammas or his cousin. She made a contract of manumission (mukatabah) for herself. She was a very sweet and beautiful woman; whoever saw her was captivated by her. She asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for help with her contract of manumission. Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) says: By Allah! I did not like her, and I said (to myself): He will see in her what I have seen. When she came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), she said: I am Juwayriyah bint al-Harith, the daughter of the chief of my people; a calamity has befallen me which is not hidden from you. I have made a contract of manumission; help me with it. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Or something better than that: I pay your contract on your behalf and marry you?" She said: Yes! So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did so. When the people learned that he (peace and blessings be upon him) had married her, they freed (the captives of) Banu al-Mustaliq, the in-laws of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and thus a hundred households of Banu al-Mustaliq were freed because of her. Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) says: I do not know of any woman who was a greater source of blessing for her people than her.

Amr bin Shu'ayb narrates from his father, and he from his grandfather (Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr, may Allah be pleased with them both), that we were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) at Hunayn when we obtained wealth and captive women from the tribe of Hawazin. But the people of Hawazin, having become Muslims, met the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at a place called Ji'ranah and said: "O Messenger of Allah! We are people of lineage and kinship, and the hardship that has befallen us is not hidden from you. Show us favour, as Allah has shown favour to you." Their spokesman, Zuhayr bin Surad, stood up and said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! Among the captive women are your maternal aunts, your paternal aunts and those who nursed you in your childhood." He spoke at length and recited verses. The narrator says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Are your women and children dearer to you, or your wealth?" They said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! You have given us a choice between our lineage and our wealth; our sons and our women are dearer to us." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whatever is in my share and that of Banu Abd al-Muttalib is all yours. When I lead the people in prayer, stand up there and say: We seek the intercession of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with the Muslims, and of the Muslims with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), concerning our sons and our women. Soon I will give to you and also intercede for you." When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) led the Zuhr prayer, they stood up and said what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had instructed. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whatever is in my share and that of Banu Abd al-Muttalib is yours." The Muhajirun said: "Whatever is ours also belongs to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." Al-Aqra' bin Habis said: I and Banu Tamim will not give. Abbas bin Mirdas al-Sulami said the same, but Banu Sulaym said: "Our share belongs to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." Uyaynah bin Badr also refused. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever has held back his right should also return their women and children; we will give him six camels for each person from the first fay' (spoils obtained without fighting)."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I heard three things from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about Banu Tamim, after which I will never hate Banu Tamim: Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) had vowed to free a slave from the descendants of Isma'il (peace be upon him). When captives were taken from Banu al-Anbar and brought, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Aishah! If you would like to fulfil your vow, free a slave from these people." He (peace and blessings be upon him) counted them among the descendants of Isma'il. And when the camels of charity were brought and he (peace and blessings be upon him) saw their beauty, he said: "These animals belong to my people." The narrator says that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "They are the fiercest of people in battles."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mughaffal (may Allah be pleased with him) said that captives arrived from Khawlan, and Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) owed the freeing of a slave from the descendants of Isma'il (peace be upon him). Captives came from Yemen, and Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) intended to free one, but the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade her. Then captives came from the tribe of Mudar, I think he said: from Banu al-Anbar, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered her to free one of them.