Is it permissible for a *mukatab* (a slave contracted for manumission) to purchase his wife?

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It is permissible for a *mukatab* to purchase his wife, and for a *mukatabah* (female slave contracted for manumission) to purchase her husband. This is established by analogy because such a transaction is permissible for individuals who are not *mukatabun*, making it permissible for the *mukatab*, similar to the purchasing rights of free persons. The marriage contract is dissolved (*yanfasikhu*) upon such a purchase. This opinion is held by Al-Shafi'i. The evidence for the permissibility of the *mukatab's* ownership lies in the establishment of pre-emption rights (*shuf'ah*) between him and his master, and the validity of engaging in transactions involving usury (*riba*) between them. The prohibition against him taking concubines is due to the master's existing right related to what is in his possession, analogous to a mortgagor being restricted from intimacy while ownership remains established.