What is the ruling if a master, during his final illness, states to his slaves: 'One of you is free' or 'All of you are free,' and then dies?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Manumission
Primary text
If the master says, 'All of you are free,' the ruling has already been established (referring to the previous discussion). If the master says, 'One of you is free,' lots are cast among them; one slave is chosen and freed, and the rest remain slaves. This applies whether the deceased master had other property besides these slaves or not, provided the manumission is covered by the one-third bequest limit. If it exceeds the one-third limit, manumission occurs to the extent of the one-third. If the master was alive and did not specify which slave he intended, he loses the right to specify, and one is freed by casting lots. If the master states, 'I intended one specific one of them,' this is accepted, and freedom is confirmed for that individual.
Supporting text
Abu Hanifa and Al-Shafi'i hold that the master has the right to specify one slave, and the one he names is freed, even if he did not intend it at the moment of speaking, and the heirs demand specification. The justification is that specifying the manumission is an original act, and if the declaration was non-specific, the master can specify it later, analogous to divorce. Our position is that the beneficiary of manumission is unspecified, therefore the master cannot specify, similar to when he frees everyone in his illness and they do not fall within the one-third, or when he frees a specific person and then forgets. Divorce is unlike our case. If the master dies without specifying, the ruling remains the same according to us, and the heirs do not have the right to specify; instead, one slave is freed by casting lots. Al-Shafi'i explicitly states this when the slaves say they do not know whom he freed. Abu Hanifa holds that the heirs have the right to specify because they stand in the place of their deceased predecessor.