Is the manumission of an individual slave contingent upon the payment of his share, or the payment of the entire *kitabah* amount?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Mukātaba (Contractual Manumission)
Primary text
If an individual slave pays his allocated share, he is freed. This is the position of Al-Shafi'i. The evidence is that the right to manumission is established by the payment of the consideration, not by any specific pronouncement by the master regarding payment. The contract is one of exchange, where each individual is treated according to his share, similar to purchasing a slave jointly.
Supporting text
Abu Bakr held that no one is freed until the entire *kitabah* payment is rendered, a view attributed to Malik. Abu Hanifa states that if the master did not explicitly say, "If you pay, you are free," then whoever pays his share is freed. However, if the master made such a stipulation, no one is freed until the entire amount is paid, and some are made guarantors for others.