What are the legal implications and restrictions concerning a female slave who has borne a child to her master (*umm walad*)?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Freeing Mothers of Children
Primary text
When a female slave conceives by her master and delivers the child, the ruling of *istīlād* (conception by master) is established. Her status generally follows that of other slaves concerning the permissibility of intercourse by the master, her employment, the master's ownership of her earnings, her marriage, her rental, her manumission, her religious obligations, her *awrah* (parts of the body to be covered), and her legal punishments (*hudud*). This is the position held by the majority of scholars. She differs from a regular slave in that she is freed automatically upon the master's death, she cannot be sold, nor can dispositions be made that transfer ownership, such as gifts or endowment (*waqf*), or those intending sale, like pledging (*rahn*). She is not inherited because ownership ceases upon her manumission by the master's death. This ruling is reported from Umar, Uthman, Aisha, and the general body of jurists.
Supporting text
Malik is reported to hold that the master cannot rent or marry out the *umm walad* because he cannot sell her, analogous to a free woman. Those who permit the sale of the *umm walad* cite the action of selling them during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and Abu Bakr, which was later prohibited by Umar. They argue that a ruling permissible during the Prophet's time cannot be abrogated by the opinion of Umar or others, as abrogating rulings requires a similar text, not the opinion of a Companion.