What is the legal status regarding the fulfillment of the contract if both the master and the slave die before the final payment of the manumission installment?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Mukātaba (Contractual Manumission)
Primary text
If both the contracting master and the slave are unable to fulfill the contract (i.e., they both die before payment), both revert to being slaves of the original master. If the first installment payer fulfills his part and then the second fulfills his part, the right of patronage (walā') for each belongs to the respective payer who freed him.
Supporting text
If the first installment payer fulfills his obligation but the second fails, the slave becomes a slave to the first payer. If the first fails and the second fulfills, the patronage belongs to the first master. If the second installment payer fulfills his obligation before the first one fulfills his, the slave is freed, and according to Abu Bakr and Abu Hanifa, his patronage belongs to the original master because manumission cannot be separated from patronage, and patronage cannot be suspended as it is a cause for inheritance, similar to lineage. Inheritance does not remain suspended.