What is the ruling when a master says, 'If you kill, you are free,' and then dies, and the slave claims to have killed while the heirs deny it?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Claims and Evidences
Primary text
The statement of the heirs denying the killing is accepted, provided they take an oath, because the default state is non-killing. If the slave provides evidence (bayyinah) supporting his claim of killing, he is manumitted. If the heirs provide evidence of the master's death occurring before the alleged killing, the slave's evidence (of killing) takes precedence in one view, as it testifies to an added condition, which is the killing itself.
Supporting text
A second view holds that the two pieces of evidence nullify each other because one testifies to the opposite of what the other testifies, and thus the slave remains in servitude.