What is the ruling on the emancipation of a slave by three masters sequentially when they are insolvent (Mu'sir)?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Manumission
Primary text
If the three masters emancipate their slave one after another while all are insolvent, or if the first two are insolvent and the third is solvent, the sound ruling is that each master emancipates only his share, and he acquires the Wala' for the part he freed. This is the position of the majority of scholars. This situation is distinct from divorce because a woman cannot be jointly divorced, whereas a slave can have shares of ownership among multiple people. If one owner emancipates his share, only that portion is freed, leaving the remainder in servitude, contrary to divorce or the full emancipation of a single-owned slave.
Supporting text
Ibn Al-Mundhir narrated two aberrant opinions regarding a master emancipating his share while insolvent. The first is that the entire emancipation is void because a person cannot be half-free and half-slave. The second is that the entire slave becomes free, and the value of the non-emancipated shares remains a debt owed by the insolvent master upon acquiring wealth. These two views are considered aberrant and are rejected based on the Hadith, "Whoever emancipates his share in a slave, if he possesses enough to cover the slave's value, he shall be assessed the fair value, and his partners shall receive their shares, and the entire slave is freed. Otherwise, only what he emancipated is freed" (agreed upon).