How is the one-third limit applied when a person frees multiple slaves sequentially or simultaneously during illness?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Manumission
Primary text
If a person frees slaves one after another during illness, they are addressed sequentially until the one-third limit is exhausted. If the manumissions occur simultaneously, and they exceed the one-third limit, a lottery (*qur'ah*) is drawn among them to determine which ones are freed, exhausting the one-third by lot. This principle applies equally to *tadbir* and bequest for manumission, as all take effect after death. When three slaves of equal value constitute the entire estate, and they are freed, conditionally freed (*mudabbareen*), or bequeathed for manumission, either individually or in combination, and the heirs do not permit more than one-third to be freed, a lottery is drawn among them using one share for freedom and two for remaining in servitude. The one who draws the freedom share is freed, and the other two remain slaves. This is the position held by 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, Aban ibn 'Uthman, Malik, Al-Shafi'i, Ishaq, Dawud, and Ibn Jarir.
Supporting text
Abu Hanifa holds that one-third of each slave is freed, and the remaining two-thirds of the value must be earned through service (*sifayah*). This view is supported by reports from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, Shurayh, Al-Sha'bi, Al-Nakha'i, Qatadah, and Hammad, based on the principle of equality in the cause of entitlement leading to equality in entitlement, as if the deceased owned exactly one-third of them. Opponents of Abu Hanifa deny the use of the lottery, considering it a form of gambling and a practice of Jahiliyyah (ignorance), likely rejecting the established Hadith in this matter due to conflict with their derived principles (*qiyas*).