Hadith 27490

Malik said, The best of what I have heard about a mukatab whosemaster frees him at death, is that the mukatab is valued according towhat he would fetch if he were sold. If that value is less than whatremains against him of his kitaba, his freedom is taken from the thirdthat the deceased can bequeath. One does not look at the number ofdirhams which remain against him in his kitaba. That is because had hebeen killed, his killer would not be in debt for other than his valueon the day he killed him. Had he been injured, the one who injured himwould not be liable for other than the blood-money of the injury onthe day of his injury. One does not look at how much he has paid ofdinars and dirhams of the contract he has written because he is aslave as long as any of his kitaba remains. If what remains in hiskitaba is less than his value, only whatever of his kitaba remainsowing from him is taken into account in the third of the property ofthe deceased. That is because the deceased left him what remains ofhis kitaba and so it becomes a bequest which the deceased made."Malik said, "The illustration of that is that if the price of themukatab is one thousand dirhams, and only one hundred dirhams remainof his kitaba, his master leaves him the one hundred dirhams whichcomplete it for him. It is taken into account in the third of hismaster and by it he becomes free."Malik said that if a manwrote his slave a kitaba at his death, the value of the slave wasestimated. If there was enough to cover the price of the slave in onethird of his property, that was permitted for him.Maliksaid, "The illustration of that is that the price of the slave is onethousand dinars. His master writes him a kitaba for two hundred dinarsat his death. The third of the property of his master is one thousanddinars, so that is permitted for him. It is only a bequest which hemakes from one third of his property. If the master has left bequeststo people, and there is no surplus in the third after the value of themukatab, one begins with the mukatab because the kitaba is settingfree, and setting free has priority over bequests. When those bequestsare paid from the kitaba of the mukatab, they follow it. The heirs ofthe testator have a choice. If they want to give the people withbequests all their bequests and the kitaba of the mukatab is theirs,they have that. If they refuse and hand over the mukatab and what heowes to the people with bequests they can do that, because the thirdcommences with the mukatab and because all the bequests which he makesare as one."If the heirs then say, "What our fellowbequeathed was more than one third of his property and he has takenwhat was not his," Malik said, "His heirs choose. It is said to them,'Your companion has made the bequests you know about and if you wouldlike to give them to those who are to receive them according to thedeceased's bequests, then do so. If not, hand over to the people withbequests one third of the total property of the deceased.' "Malik continued, "If the heirs surrender the mukatab to the peoplewith bequests, the people with bequests have what he owes of hiskitaba. If the mukatab pays what he owes of his kitaba, they take thatin their bequests according to their shares. If the mukatab cannotpay, he is a slave of the people with bequests and does not return tothe heirs because they gave him up when they made their choice, andbecause when he was surrendered to the people with bequests, they wereliable. If he died, they would not have anything against the heirs. Ifthe mukatab dies before he pays his kitaba and he leaves propertywhich is more than what he owes, his property goes to the people withbequests. If the mukatab pays what he owes, he is free and his wala'returns to the paternal relations of the one who wrote the kitaba forhim."Malik spoke about a mukatab who owed his master tenthousand dirhams in his kitaba, and when he died he remitted onethousand dirhams from it. He said, "The mukatab is valued and hisvalue is taken into consideration. If his value is one thousanddirhams and the reduction is a tenth of the kitaba, that portion ofthe slave's price is one hundred dirhams. It is a tenth of the price.A tenth of the kitaba is therefore reduced for him. That is convertedto a tenth of the price in cash. That is as if he had had all of whathe owed reduced for him. Had he done that, only the value of the slave- one thousand dirhams - would have been taken into account in thethird of the property of the deceased. If that which he had remittedis half of the kitaba, half the price is taken into account in thethird of the property of the deceased. If it is more or less thanthat, it is according to this reckoning."Malik said, "When aman reduces the kitaba of his mukatab by one thousand dirhams at hisdeath from a kitaba of ten thousand dirhams, and he does not stipulatewhether it is from the beginning or the end of his kitaba, eachinstalment is reduced for him by one tenth."Malik said, "Ifa man remits one thousand dirhams from his mukatab at his death fromthe beginning or end of his kitaba, and the original basis of thekitaba is three thousand dirhams, the mukatab's cash value isestimated. Then that value is divided. That thousand which is from thebeginning of the kitaba is converted into its portion of the priceaccording to its proximity to the term and its precedence and then thethousand which follows the first thousand is according to itsprecedence also until it comes to its end, and every thousand is paidaccording to its place in advancing and deferring the term becausewhat is deferred of that is less in respect of its price. Then it isplaced in the third of the deceased according to whatever of the pricebefalls that thousand according to the difference in preference ofthat, whether it is more or less, then it is according to thisreckoning."Malik spoke about a man who willed a man a fourthof a mukatab or freed a fourth, and then the man died and the mukatabdied and left a lot of property, more than he owed. He said, "Theheirs of the first master and the one who was willed a fourth of themukatab are given what they are still owed by the mukatab. Then theydivide what is left over, and the one willed a fourth has a third ofwhat is left after the kitaba is paid. The heirs of his master getstwo-thirds. That is because the mukatab is a slave as long as any ofhis kitaba remains to be paid. He is inherited from by the possessionof his person."Malik said about a mukatab whose master freedhim at death, "If the third of the deceased will not cover him, he isfreed from it according to what the third will cover and his kitaba isdecreased according to that. If the mukatab owed five thousand dirhamsand his value is two thousand dirhams cash, and the third of thedeceased is one thousand dirhams, half of him is freed and half of thekitaba has been reduced for him." Malik said about a man who said inhis will, "My slave so-and-so is free and write a kitaba for so-and-so", that the setting free had priority over the kitaba.