How is the issue of manumission (*itq*) handled when a master frees three slaves, possessing only them, during his fatal illness, and one of the slaves dies before the master does?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Manumission
Primary text
If a master frees three slaves during his terminal illness, owning only them, and one dies before the master, a lottery (*qur'ah*) must be drawn among the surviving slaves and the deceased slave. If the lottery falls upon the deceased slave, his manumission is accounted for from the estate (*tarikah*). His value is assessed at the time of manumission, regardless of whether he died before the master or after the master but before the drawing of lots. This is the position of Al-Shafi'i. The justification is that the deceased slave is one of those manumitted, necessitating inclusion in the lottery, just as if he had died after the master. Furthermore, completing the rulings and achieving the reward for manumission are the objectives, and this is achieved with the deceased, so he must enter the lottery, like one who dies after the master.
Supporting text
Malik holds that if the slave died before the master's death, the lottery is drawn only between the two living slaves because they constitute the entire estate from which manumission is due. Therefore, the deceased is not considered part of the estate, and manumission only affects two-thirds of the estate. If the manumission of the living ones occurred after the master's death, only one-third would be manumitted.