Is the agreement valid when a master enters into a single *kitabah* (manumission contract) with multiple slaves for a single lump sum payment?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Mukātaba (Contractual Manumission)
Primary text
The agreement is valid according to the opinion of the majority of scholars, including 'Ata, Sulayman ibn Musa, Abu Hanifa, Malik, Al-Hasan ibn Salih, and Ishaq. It is also the established position of Al-Shafi'i. The evidence for validity lies in the fact that the total consideration is known, even if its detailed distribution is unknown, which does not invalidate the contract, similar to selling them all to one person. If the consideration is to be equally divided among them, the detail is also known, establishing one-third for each.
Supporting text
Some companions of Al-Shafi'i hold that it is invalid because the contract involves three individuals, functioning as three separate contracts, rendering the consideration for each unknown, thus invalidating the whole, just as if each one was sold individually for a single price.