If a master manumits the fetus within his slave woman while retaining ownership of the mother, is the child free while the mother remains enslaved?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Mukātaba (Contractual Manumission)
Primary text
There is no known disagreement that if a manumits what is in the womb while excluding the mother, the child becomes free while the mother remains enslaved. Ishaq and Ahmad considered this sound, based on the saying that the child is from the mother but the mother is not from the child.
Supporting text
Ahmad ruled that if a master said, "What is in your womb is free," concerning a woman he had married off but who was not pregnant, then nothing happens, as the statement intended what was in the womb, and there was nothing.