What is the ruling on the wala' if neither the seller nor the buyer retracts their statement after the slave dies?

General Chapter

Al-Mughni

Book of Acknowledgment of Rights

Book 20 · Issue 4 · Bab 1

Open in Qurani

Primary text

If neither retracts, there are two views. One view is that the wala' remains with the person who currently holds the freed person. If the freed person is not in anyone's possession, the wala' belongs to the state treasury (Bayt al-Mal) because no one claims it.

Supporting text

Another view suggests that in all cases where no one claims the wala', it belongs to the state treasury.