Is a male slave permitted to take concubines (*tasarri*) with his master's permission?

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A male slave is permitted to take concubines with the explicit permission of his master. This is the explicit ruling (*nass*) from Ahmad, according to the narration of the main body of scholars, and is the view of Ibn Umar, Ibn Abbas, Al-Sha'bi, Al-Nakha'i, Al-Zuhri, Malik, Al-Awza'i, Al-Thawri, and Abu Thawr. The justification for this permission rests on the precedent set by Ibn Umar and Ibn Abbas, without known contradiction from other Companions, and the fact that if a slave possesses the right of marriage, he possesses the right of concubinage, similar to a free man. Furthermore, the argument that a slave cannot own property is refuted by the narration stating that if a slave is purchased who already possesses wealth, the wealth remains his. Since a slave is human, he is capable of ownership because humanity qualifies one for ownership, which is established for assisting with religious obligations, as indicated by the verse: 'It is He who created for you all that is in the earth' (Quran 2:29). Since the slave is included in this generality and is subject to religious obligations, he is worthy of ownership, just as a fetus is granted the potential for ownership based on its eventual status as a human being.