What is the legal status if both partners purchase each other's share and then manumit their respective shares?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Manumission
Primary text
If each partner buys the other's share and subsequently manumits the portion they bought, the entire slave becomes free, and no Wala' is established for either partner. If both partners subsequently retract their testimony regarding their initial manumission of their own share, there are two differing opinions on whether Wala' is established for them over the part they manumitted. Another view suggests that Wala' is established for both partners even if neither retracts their initial statement, because it is known that the Wala' is established for them collectively, arising either from the first act of manumission or the second.
Supporting text
If both are truthful in their testimony, Wala' is established for each over the half they initially manumitted. If both are lying, then each manumitted their half after purchasing it. If one is truthful and the other is lying, the truthful partner has no Wala' because they did not manumit their original half, and their manumission of the purchased share is invalid as the slave was already free before the purchase. In this scenario, the entire Wala' belongs to the lying partner because they manumitted their original half and then purchased and manumitted their partner's half. Since both partners are equally probable in their respective scenarios, the Wala' is divided between them.