The hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) selling a slave who had become insolvent in his debt
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Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. A hadith was reported by al-Daraqutni that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sold a slave who had become insolvent in his debt. Is the intention that he sold his benefits, or is the hadith abrogated?
Answer:
No, this was in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. You know that when a person’s debts consumed him and he had no means to pay them off, they would enslave him or sell him and take him. This was the practice in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) abolished it, as was mentioned to you regarding the debtors of Mu’adh. When he sold what he had and paid off his debts, but debts remained on him, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to them:Sunan an-Nasa'i 4530Sahih (Darussalam) This is the ruling of Islam. Allah the Exalted says: [Al-Baqarah 2:280] So the one in difficulty is given time, and it is not permissible to imprison him, nor is it permissible to sell him as was done in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. All of this is a reminder, and praise be to Allah.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. A hadith was reported by al-Daraqutni that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sold a slave who had become insolvent in his debt. Is the intention that he sold his benefits, or is the hadith abrogated?
Answer:
No, this was in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. You know that when a person’s debts consumed him and he had no means to pay them off, they would enslave him or sell him and take him. This was the practice in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) abolished it, as was mentioned to you regarding the debtors of Mu’adh. When he sold what he had and paid off his debts, but debts remained on him, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to them:
Take what you find but you have no right to or than that.
خذوا ما وجدتم وليس لكم إلا ذلكAnd if someone is in hardship, then [let there be] postponement until [a time of] ease.
وَإِن كَانَ ذُو عُسْرَةٍ فَنَظِرَةٌ إِلَىٰ مَيْسَرَةٍ
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام من أدلة الأحكام [ صالح الفوزان ]، باب الشفعة — islamhouse.com (1:07:59)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.