If a master institutes *tadbir* on a pregnant slave and subsequently revokes the *tadbir* while she is pregnant, does the child follow in the revocation?

General Chapter

Al-Mughni

Book of Tadbir (Deferred Emancipation)

Book 67 · Issue 4 · Bab 1

Open in Qurani

Primary text

If a master institutes *tadbir* on a slave woman while she is pregnant and later revokes the *tadbir* during her pregnancy, the child does not follow in the revocation. This is because *tadbir* is an act of manumission, which is established through dominance and the principle of 'spread' (*sarayah*). Revocation, being the opposite, does not spread to the unborn child. This principle is illustrated by the case of a man acknowledging paternity of one twin; both are bound by the acknowledgement, but if he negates one, the other remains acknowledged, and if he revokes his acknowledgement of both, it is valid, as is the revocation of the acknowledgement of only one.