Is a slave permitted to pick up an abandoned child?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Foundlings
Primary text
A slave is not permitted to pick up an abandoned child if someone else is available to do so. This is because the benefits derived from the child belong to the master, and the slave cannot expend those benefits on something other than the master's interest without permission. Furthermore, only legal guardianship (wilayah) is established over the foundling, and a slave possesses no such legal authority. If a slave does pick up the child without permission, the child shall not remain in the slave's custody unless the master grants permission, at which point the child remains with the slave because the master utilized the slave's action, making it equivalent to the master picking up the child directly and entrusting him.
Supporting text
If the master permits the slave to take custody, the master may not retract that permission afterward, and the situation becomes as if the master had picked up the child initially. The ruling concerning a female slave is the same as that concerning a mukatab (a slave contracted for manumission).