Automatic Emancipation Upon Ownership of a Mahram Relative
By: Imran Ayyub Lahori
If a person becomes the owner of a close maḥram relative, that relative is automatically set free.
Samurah رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
من ملك ذا رحم محرم فهو حرّ
“Whoever becomes the owner of a maḥram relative, that person is free.”
[Sahih: Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl 1746, Abu Dawud 3949, Tirmidhi 1365, Ibn Majah 2524, Ahmad 5/15, Bayhaqi 10/289, Hakim 2/214]
Mere ownership is enough to grant freedom to all maḥram relatives, based on the generality of the Hadith.
[Subul al-Salām 4/1961]
The Hadith:
لا يجزي ولد عن والده إلا أن يجده مملوكًا فيشتريه فيعتقه
“A child cannot repay his father’s rights except if he finds him a slave, then buys him and sets him free.”
[Muslim 1510, Tirmidhi 1906, Abu Dawud 5137, Ahmad 2/230]
This is not contradictory to the automatic freedom ruling; here, the emphasis on freeing is mentioned, but automatic emancipation still occurs through mere ownership.
[al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah 2/323]
By: Imran Ayyub Lahori
Ruling
If a person becomes the owner of a close maḥram relative, that relative is automatically set free.
Hadith Evidence
Samurah رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
من ملك ذا رحم محرم فهو حرّ
“Whoever becomes the owner of a maḥram relative, that person is free.”
[Sahih: Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl 1746, Abu Dawud 3949, Tirmidhi 1365, Ibn Majah 2524, Ahmad 5/15, Bayhaqi 10/289, Hakim 2/214]
Scholarly Opinions
- Imām Abū Ḥanīfah – Any maḥram relative becomes free upon ownership.
- Imām Aḥmad – Same view as Abū Ḥanīfah.
- Imām al-Shāfiʿī – Only parents and children become free; other close relatives do not.
- Imām Mālik – Only parents, children, and siblings become free.
- Ahl al-Ẓāhir – No relative becomes free automatically upon ownership.
[Nayl al-Awṭār 4/152, Subul al-Salām 4/1961, Sharḥ Muslim by al-Nawawī 10/153, al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah 2/323, ʿAwn al-Maʿbūd 10/480, Qafw al-Athar 5/1782]
Preferred Opinion (Rājiḥ)
Mere ownership is enough to grant freedom to all maḥram relatives, based on the generality of the Hadith.
[Subul al-Salām 4/1961]
Clarification Regarding Another Hadith
The Hadith:
لا يجزي ولد عن والده إلا أن يجده مملوكًا فيشتريه فيعتقه
“A child cannot repay his father’s rights except if he finds him a slave, then buys him and sets him free.”
[Muslim 1510, Tirmidhi 1906, Abu Dawud 5137, Ahmad 2/230]
This is not contradictory to the automatic freedom ruling; here, the emphasis on freeing is mentioned, but automatic emancipation still occurs through mere ownership.
[al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah 2/323]
