Is the marriage valid if a master marries his former slave wife to the slave, then gifts the slave to the wife to dissolve the marriage through her ownership?
Chapter on Marriage of Polytheists
Al-Mughni
Book of Marriage
Primary text
The marriage is invalid if a master marries his former slave wife to the slave, then gifts the slave to the wife so that the marriage dissolves due to her ownership of him. Ahmad, according to the narration of Hanbal, stated that if one divorces his wife three times and wishes to remarry her, and he buys a slave, frees him, and marries the wife to him, this action is what Umar prohibited, and both parties should be disciplined. This marriage is corrupt because it resembles the Tahleel (a marriage intended solely to permit the first husband to remarry his former wife). The reason for its invalidity is twofold: first, it resembles the Tahleel, as the intent is only to make the wife permissible for the first husband; second, the groom (the slave) is not a suitable match (Kufu) for the wife, and his marriage to her while he was a slave emphasizes this deficiency more than if he were a freedman (Mawla), as the master has a means to dissolve the marriage without the slave's will by gifting him to the wife, causing dissolution upon her ownership.
Supporting text
It is plausible that the marriage could be valid if the slave did not intend the Tahleel, as the validity hinges upon the groom's intention, not the intention of others. If the groom was a freedman (Mawla) and did not intend Tahleel, the marriage is even more likely to be valid because the former master has no way to dissolve the marriage without the freedman's consent, rendering the master's intent irrelevant.