What is the legal status of a contract of *Kitabah* (manumission through installments) that involves a compensatory element?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Manumission
Primary text
The contract of *Kitabah* mixed with compensation (*mu'awadah*) possesses a predominant ruling of compensation. This written contract is equivalent to pure manumission in that the slave is freed upon its fulfillment. Furthermore, the master is not obligated to pay the slave's self-value, and the *wala'* (right of inheritance/patronage) belongs to the master. The primary opinion holds that this contract is a binding contract of exchange, similar to a sale.
Supporting text
This contract differs from pure manumission in that if the master releases the slave from the agreed-upon debt, the slave is manumitted because his liability (*dhimma*) is occupied by that debt, and he is absolved upon the master's release, akin to the price of a sold commodity. Additionally, this contract is not nullified by the death of the master, nor is the writer slave's earning or gift nullified because it is a binding contract of exchange.