What is the ruling when the master (Sayyid) and the contracted slave (Mukatab) dispute the total amount of the manumission payment (Kitabah)?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Mukātaba (Contractual Manumission)
Primary text
The statement of the master, supported by his oath, is accepted. This is the established position (madhhab) according to Al-Qadi, narrated from Ahmad in the narration of Al-Kusaj, and it is the view of Ath-Thawri, Al-Awza'i, and Ishaq. The basis for this is that the original state concerning the slave and his earnings is ownership by the master. This differs from a sale because the original premise in a sale is the lack of ownership, whereas here the original premise is the master's right to the slave and his earnings. Furthermore, mutual oath-taking (tahaluf) in manumission is useless, as the consequence—the invalidation of the manumission if the master refuses to affirm the higher amount—is achieved solely by the master's oath.
Supporting text
A view held by Abu Bakr states that Ahmad and Ash-Shafi'i agreed that they should both take oaths (tahaluf) and reverse the transaction. This is also the view of Abu Yusuf and Muhammad, treating it like a dispute over the consideration in a sale contract. A third narration from Ahmad states that the statement of the contracted slave is accepted, which is the view of Abu Hanifa, because the slave is denying the extra thousand, and the statement of the denier is accepted, as the slave is the defendant in the claim for the full amount, following the Prophet's saying: 'But the oath is upon the defendant.'