Ownership of Ḥaqq al-Walāʾ and Ruling on Its Sale
By: Imran Ayyub Lahori
Linguistic: Support, kinship, love, and ownership.
Sharʿī Definition: A relationship whereby a master inherits from a slave whom he has freed, if the freed person leaves no close relatives.
[al-Farāʾiḍ, p. 20]
ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها narrated:
Barīrah (a slave woman) came to her and said:
“I have entered into a contract of Mukātabah with my master for nine uqiyyahs of silver, to be paid one uqiyyah each year. Please help me.”
ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها replied:
“If your master gives me the right of Walāʾ in return for the full payment at once, I will do so.”
Barīrah asked her master, but he refused. She returned to ʿĀʾishah while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was present and informed her of the refusal.
ʿĀʾishah narrated the whole incident to the Prophet ﷺ, and he said:
خذيها و اشترطي لهم الولاء فإنما الولاء لمن أعتق
“Buy her and stipulate for them the Walāʾ, for the Walāʾ belongs only to the one who sets free.”
ʿĀʾishah did so.
Afterwards, the Prophet ﷺ addressed the people, praising Allah, and said:
أما بعد، فما بال رجال يشترطون شروطًا ليست في كتاب الله عز وجل؟ ما كان من شرط ليس في كتاب الله فهو باطل وإن كان مائة شرط. قضاء الله أحق، وشرط الله أوثق، وإنما الولاء لمن أعتق
“What is wrong with people who stipulate conditions not found in the Book of Allah? Every condition not found in the Book of Allah is invalid, even if there are a hundred such conditions. Allah’s decision is the truest, and His condition the most binding. Walāʾ belongs only to the one who frees.”
[Bukhari 2561, Muslim 1504, Muwaṭṭaʾ 2/780, Abu Dawud 3929, Tirmidhi 2124, Ibn Majah 2521, Ahmad 6/81, al-Daraqutni 3/22, Bayhaqi 5/336]
Walāʾ belongs solely to the emancipator and cannot be sold or transferred to someone who did not free the slave, as stated clearly in the authentic Hadith of Barīrah.
By: Imran Ayyub Lahori
Meaning of Walāʾ
Linguistic: Support, kinship, love, and ownership.
Sharʿī Definition: A relationship whereby a master inherits from a slave whom he has freed, if the freed person leaves no close relatives.
[al-Farāʾiḍ, p. 20]
Hadith Evidence
ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها narrated:
Barīrah (a slave woman) came to her and said:
“I have entered into a contract of Mukātabah with my master for nine uqiyyahs of silver, to be paid one uqiyyah each year. Please help me.”
ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها replied:
“If your master gives me the right of Walāʾ in return for the full payment at once, I will do so.”
Barīrah asked her master, but he refused. She returned to ʿĀʾishah while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was present and informed her of the refusal.
ʿĀʾishah narrated the whole incident to the Prophet ﷺ, and he said:
خذيها و اشترطي لهم الولاء فإنما الولاء لمن أعتق
“Buy her and stipulate for them the Walāʾ, for the Walāʾ belongs only to the one who sets free.”
ʿĀʾishah did so.
Afterwards, the Prophet ﷺ addressed the people, praising Allah, and said:
أما بعد، فما بال رجال يشترطون شروطًا ليست في كتاب الله عز وجل؟ ما كان من شرط ليس في كتاب الله فهو باطل وإن كان مائة شرط. قضاء الله أحق، وشرط الله أوثق، وإنما الولاء لمن أعتق
“What is wrong with people who stipulate conditions not found in the Book of Allah? Every condition not found in the Book of Allah is invalid, even if there are a hundred such conditions. Allah’s decision is the truest, and His condition the most binding. Walāʾ belongs only to the one who frees.”
[Bukhari 2561, Muslim 1504, Muwaṭṭaʾ 2/780, Abu Dawud 3929, Tirmidhi 2124, Ibn Majah 2521, Ahmad 6/81, al-Daraqutni 3/22, Bayhaqi 5/336]
Scholarly Opinions
- Imām Abū Ḥanīfah رحمه الله – The sale of Walāʾ is permissible.
- Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله – Proved that the sale of Walāʾ is impermissible.
- Imām Mālik, Imām al-Shāfiʿī, Imām Aḥmad رحمهم الله – Also held it impermissible.
[Aʿlām al-Muwaqqiʿīn 4/339, al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah 3/328]
Conclusion (Rājiḥ View)
Walāʾ belongs solely to the emancipator and cannot be sold or transferred to someone who did not free the slave, as stated clearly in the authentic Hadith of Barīrah.
