Is the declaration of insolvency regarding the manumission of a slave valid against creditors?

General Chapter

Al-Mughni

Book of the Insolvent (Bankruptcy)

Book 14 · Issue 1 · Bab 1

Open in Qurani

Primary text

If an insolvent individual declares that he manumitted his slave a month prior, and the slave subsequently acquired wealth, and the creditors deny this declaration, the ruling depends on whether the declaration is accepted. If the declaration is not accepted, the creditors take an oath, and they are entitled to both the slave and the wealth acquired by the slave. If the declaration is accepted, it is not accepted regarding the acquired wealth. The creditors may take an oath that they do not know he manumitted the slave before the acquisition, and they take the slave's earnings. This is because the acceptance of his declaration is restricted to the manumission itself due to its validity concerning him and its nature of preeminence and contagion (to the ownership status), but it is not accepted regarding wealth due to the lack of these qualities. Furthermore, the declaration is treated as if the manumission occurred at the current moment, thus freedom is not established retroactively, making the slave's earnings governed by the ruling pertaining to his master, as if he declared manumission and then declared ownership of a specific item in his possession.