The story of Barirah’s manumission and her leaving her husband.

The Shaykh : When he said: “O Messenger of Allah, I love her,” he said to him: “Then you must bear the trouble of jealousy you have toward her, and the simplicity she is afflicted with, and keep her as long as you love her. If he were to resolve to divorce her, it is possible that what happened to Barirah’s husband could happen to him. And what do you know about the story of Barirah and her husband? Barirah was a slave woman belonging to some Quraysh men—meaning a female slave—so she came to the Lady Aisha to seek her help in freeing her through a contract of manumission; this is what is called in the language of the Shari'ah mukatabah.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, indeed. So she asked the Lady Aisha for money to present to her master so that she would become free. This is mukatabah: . The Messenger (peace be upon him) entered while she was making this request, and her masters were not satisfied unless the loyalty (wala') remained with them; meaning, if she freed her neck from the bondage of slavery by paying the money her master imposed on her, the loyalty would remain with her master; and that means they would inherit from her. So he (peace be upon him) said to the Lady Aisha: .
The point is that he gave her the money, and she presented the money to the master, so Barirah became free. But she was the wife of a slave; because the Islamic social life at that time established a market that does not exist in our days today—I say this with regret—which is the market of slave dealers, the market of slaves; where slaves, women and men, are displayed and bought and sold like goods, like any commodity.
So the masters, due to the abundance of captives, would have a slave woman and a slave man, and they would marry them to each other so they would reproduce. This offspring would become slaves, and they would employ them and benefit from them, and so on. So when she was manumitted, she became free, but she was not willing to accept her slave husband as her husband; meaning, to remain under his protection. She was free and he was a slave. This ruling was known among the Muslims at that time. So when she was manumitted, her husband was walking behind her, crying like a child; because he could no longer reach her. The news of this poor man reached the Messenger (peace be upon him). I do not know if he sent for her or found her with Aisha, so the Messenger (peace be upon him) said to her: . She said—and this is from her intellect and understanding—she said: “O Messenger of Allah, are you commanding me?” He said: . She said: “Then I do not want him.” She feared—and this is from her knowledge, intelligence, and religion—she feared that the Messenger was commanding her, and if she said: “No,” she would disobey the Messenger of Allah. Therefore, she clarified whether this request you are making of me, O Messenger of Allah, is a command from you that I must execute and follow? He said: . She said: “Then”—meaning she found an exit—“then I do not want him.”

The questioner : Do we pray, young men, here?

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : Do we pray in the mosque?

The Shaykh : Yes, we pray in the mosque.

Another questioner : We return and we complete.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : We return to complete.

The Shaykh : By Allah, there is no completion; the completion is for the Fajr prayer, then!! [Everyone laughs!]