What is the ruling if a man tells his slave, 'If you stand up, my wife is divorced,' and then tells his wife, 'If I divorce you, my slave is free,' and the slave stands up?

Chapter on Explicit Divorce and Others

Al-Mughni

Book of Divorce

Book 39 · Issue 2 · Bab 2

Open in Qurani

Primary text

If the man tells his slave, 'If you stand up, my wife is divorced,' and then tells his wife, 'If I divorce you, my slave is free,' and the slave stands up, the wife is divorced, but the slave is not freed. This is because the stipulation for manumission (the divorce) requires the condition (the divorce) to occur subsequent to the establishment of that condition. In this sequence, the condition for divorce was met (the slave stood up), causing the divorce, but the condition for freedom (the divorce) happened prior to the decree setting up the freedom condition regarding the divorce.