Can a Mukatab voluntarily spend on the maintenance of his child born from a female slave belonging to another master, or a free woman?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Maintenance (Nafaqāt)
Primary text
The Mukatab is prohibited from voluntarily providing maintenance for a child born from a female slave belonging to another master or a free woman, as this constitutes a risk to the master's wealth. However, it is permissible if the child's mother is a female slave belonging to the Mukatab himself, because this expenditure is from wealth to which the master's right is attached, as the slave is his property. If the child's mother is a Mukatabah belonging to the Mukatab's master, there is a difference of opinion. One view permits it because in that state, she is analogous to his own mother, who is owned by the master. Another view prohibits it because it risks the master's wealth: the Mukatab might become unable to complete his contract, the Mukatabah pays off the debt and becomes free, and the child also becomes free, meaning the maintenance expenditure results in the liberation of someone whose maintenance comes from the master's wealth.