The Meaning of the Saying of Allah the Exalted: "And in the Necks"

The Shaykh : "In the necks"—who are the necks? They say that they are of three types: a slave who is purchased and then set free; a mukatab (a slave who has a contract to buy his freedom) who is assisted in fulfilling his contract; and a Muslim prisoner among the disbelievers who is ransomed with money. Do you know the three? The first is a slave who is purchased and then set free. The second is a mukatab who is assisted in fulfilling his contract until he is freed. The third is a Muslim prisoner. As for the first, it is clear: a man has ten thousand riyals, and there is a slave whose master wants to sell him for ten thousand riyals. So the man goes to the slave's master and says, "Sell me your slave for ten thousand riyals." He buys him for ten thousand riyals from the zakah and sets him free. The second is a mukatab who is assisted in fulfilling his contract until he pays it off. Who is a mukatab? A mukatab is a slave who has purchased his freedom from his master. A slave who has purchased his freedom from his master. So if a slave comes to us and says that he purchased his freedom from his master for five thousand riyals, we give him five thousand riyals so that his liberation is completed. The third is a Muslim prisoner among the disbelievers. The disbelievers say, "We will not release him except for a ransom," and they demand ten thousand riyals. Do we release him from the zakah? Yes. And likewise, if he is a prisoner among non-disbelievers, as happens in recent times with kidnappings: they kidnap a Muslim and do not release him except for a financial ransom. In that case, we ransom him and pay his ransom from the zakah.