Hadithcore
Sahih al-Bukhari, 2491
sahih

Narrated Nafi`:

Ibn `Umar said, "Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, 'If one manumits his share of a jointly possessed slave, and can afford the price of the other shares according to the adequate price of the slave, the slave will be completely manumitted; otherwise he will be partially manumitted.' " (Aiyub, a sub-narrator is not sure whether the saying " ... otherwise he will be partially manumitted" was said by Nafi` or the Prophet.)

حَدَّثَنَا عِمْرَانُ بْنُ مَيْسَرَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَارِثِ، حَدَّثَنَا أَيُّوبُ، عَنْ نَافِعٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏

‏ مَنْ أَعْتَقَ شِقْصًا لَهُ مِنْ عَبْدٍ ـ أَوْ شِرْكًا أَوْ قَالَ نَصِيبًا ـ وَكَانَ لَهُ مَا يَبْلُغُ ثَمَنَهُ بِقِيمَةِ الْعَدْلِ، فَهْوَ عَتِيقٌ، وَإِلاَّ فَقَدْ عَتَقَ مِنْهُ مَا عَتَقَ ‏

‏‏.‏ قَالَ لاَ أَدْرِي قَوْلُهُ عَتَقَ مِنْهُ مَا عَتَقَ‏.‏ قَوْلٌ مِنْ نَافِعٍ أَوْ فِي الْحَدِيثِ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 47, Hadith 9
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Vol. 3, Book 44, Hadith 671 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
Allah, Exalted is He, created all people free, and hated that some should be enslaved to others. Islam was revealed while the system of slavery was in place (and deeply entrenched into people’s financial and social systems), so the Islamic Laws of Islam keenly assigned special care to the emancipation of slaves, and facilitated its means (to free people from their condition of slavery). In this hadeeth, the Prophet ﷺ stated that whoever wanted to manumit his share of a jointly possessed slave, be it a male or female slave, he should completely manumit him or her if can afford the price of the other shares according to the adequate price of the slave. This means that if the price of the slave is twenty Dirhams, for instance, and he is jointly owned by two masters and one of them manumits his share, he should graciously pay his co-owner the other ten Dirhams, if he can afford it, tomanumit the slave completely to become a free person. Being able to afford it here means having excess wealth beyond his needs and those of his dependents, including their basic needs such as accommodation, clothes, and the like. If he cannot afford it, then the slave will be partially manumitted. In the same vein, it was narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever manumits his share of a jointly possessed slave, it is imperative for him to get that slave manumitted completely by paying the remaining price, and if he cannot afford it, then the price of the slave should be estimated justly, and he is to be allowed to work and earn the amount that will manumit him (without overburdening him).” [Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim]. This means that the partially manumitted slave may work and earn money to pay the rest of the price to free himself completely, provided that he must not be overburdened by work if he is unable to do so. .
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