Explanation of the Book of Sales-04

The Shaykh : And from 'Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), she said: "Barirah came to me and said: 'I have contracted a manumission agreement with my people for nine awaqi, one awqah per year'" This Barirah was a slave woman belonging to a group of the Ansar, and there were three recommended practices (sunnah) in her case, as 'Aishah mentioned in another hadith:
One of them is this issue mentioned in the hadith, another is that she was given the choice regarding her husband when she was freed, and another is So these are three recommended practices (sunnah) that this slave woman brought about. She said: "I contracted a manumission agreement with my people" By "my people" here, she means her masters, that is, those who own her. The masters are called "people" (ahl) even if they are not relatives, because a person takes them as his household and seeks shelter with them. Anyone with whom you seek shelter and whom you take as your household are your "people" (ahl) because they are a refuge for you. For this reason, a person's followers are called his "people" (ahl) or "family" (ala') because he turns to them and seeks support from them. Now, her saying: "I contracted a manumission agreement" Mukatabah is the slave buying himself from his master. The slave buying himself from his master. How is that? The slave says to the master: "I want to be freed, and you will not free me without compensation, but sell me to myself. Sell me to myself." He says: "I sell you to yourself. For how much?" He says, for example, "For ten thousand riyals. One thousand riyals become due each year, so the period is five years." They agree to this, and we call this mukatabah. Is it a binding contract or a permissible one? Meaning, does the master have the right to cancel it, or the slave? Or is it a binding contract where neither of them has the right to cancel it?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Yes? As for the master's side, it is binding. As for the master's side, it is binding; he cannot cancel it. But as for the slave's side, it is permissible [to cancel] because he can declare himself unable to pay and say, "I have not obtained anything." If he declares himself unable to pay, then he returns to slavery.
Now, if the slave requests mukatabah from the master, is the master obligated to agree or not?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : I do not know about your details today; they are suspicious!
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Yes?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Yes, we say first that there is a distinction, and second, there is scholarly disagreement. There is a distinction: if he knows there is good in him, he should agree to the mukatabah. If he does not know there is good in him, he should not enter into a mukatabah with him. What is the good that he knows? The scholars said the good he knows is righteousness in religion and earning in wealth. That is, if he knows that this slave is righteous and that he is able to pay the installments, then he should enter into a mukatabah with him. If he does not know, he should not enter into a mukatabah with him if he fears that he only requested the mukatabah in order to be free and then commit open sinfulness or return to the land of disbelief. Is that so?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : He should not enter into a mukatabah with him because this is harm. Or if he knows that if he enters into a mukatabah with him, he will become a burden on himself and on others, having no money, then likewise he should not enter into a mukatabah with him because this is harm to the slave and harm to other people. If he knows there is good, he is commanded to enter into a mukatabah. Allah the Exalted said: But is the command here for obligation or for recommendation? The majority of scholars are of the opinion that it is for recommendation. The factor that turns it away from obligation is that this is his wealth, and Allah Mighty and Majestic has not obligated the removal of wealth from its owner except through zakah or obligatory maintenance. Accordingly, the command here is for recommendation and not for obligation. And the people of the Zahiri school and a group of scholars said: No, the command is for obligation. The command is for obligation, because there is a public benefit in this, which is rescuing this slave from slavery. It is like rescuing... Then, the Lawgiver is eager for manumission with great eagerness. So we have two matters along with the original rule, which is that the original rule for a command is obligation. We have two matters that restrict [the view that] the command is for obligation. Accordingly, the command is for obligation based on the original rule and for the sake of these two aspects. And this view is the correct one: that if he requests the mukatabah and he knows there is good in him, it is obligatory for him to agree, because that is good for him and good for the slave. Now, why is it called mukatabah and not called a contract? We say because it is customary that when such a contract takes place, there is writing between the master and the slave. Therefore, it is called mukatabah.
Now, if someone says: If you justify it by that, it necessitates that you say every thing that is written we call mukatabah? We say this is not correct in defining contracts or meanings or places or the like. It is not correct. For this reason, Muzdalifah is called "the gathering" (jama') and 'Arafah is not called "the gathering" (jama'), even though the gathering in 'Arafah is like the gathering in Muzdalifah or more. So such things that are used to justify names do not exceed the scope of the cause. They do not exceed the scope of the cause. So if I made a debt agreement with you and we wrote the debt, do we call this mukatabah? No, we do not call it that. We call it a written debt.
You say: Nine awaqi is the plural of awqah, and the awqah is forty dirhams. Forty dirhams, and every ten dirhams are seven mithqals. How many mithqals are forty dirhams?
The student: Twenty-eight.

The Shaykh : Twenty-eight. Twenty-eight mithqals, or not?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : Huh?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Twenty-eight mithqals. Now, so the awqah is twenty-eight mithqals, and they are asking for nine awaqi. Nine awaqi, multiply it by twenty-eight: 252. Now, 252. 252 mithqals of silver. This is the price of Barirah whom her people contracted a manumission agreement with.
Now, you say: It reached 2001. The years are thus nine years. After nine years, she is freed. So she came seeking help from 'Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) to the end of the hadith.