Is it obligatory for the master to accept early payment of the agreed manumission price (Kitabah) before the stipulated due dates (Nujum)?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Mukātaba (Contractual Manumission)
Primary text
The established position (Al-Mundhub) according to Ahmad is that the master is obligated to accept the early payment, and the *mukatab* becomes free immediately upon payment. This is supported by reports concerning 'Umar and 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with them, where they ruled that if the manumission price was offered early, the slave was manumitted, and the master was compelled to accept the funds, placing them in the public treasury and continuing payments in installments if necessary. The legal reasoning is that the time stipulation is a right belonging to the debtor (the slave), and by advancing the payment, he consents to forfeiting this right, causing the stipulation to lapse, similar to the remission of any other right.
Supporting text
A dissenting view, mentioned by Abu Bakr, holds that the master is not obligated to accept the payment except at the stipulated installment dates, because the *mukatab*'s continued status in the master's possession for that duration is a right for the slave, and the slave has not agreed to its removal before the due date, akin to suspending manumission on a condition that has not yet been met.