<b>Guidance from the Hadith:</b><br> 1) Freeing a valuable and expensive slave is one of the most virtuous deeds in the sight of Allah Almighty, as only a person with true faith would do this. He gives what he holds as most dear in order to win the approval of his Lord.<br> 2) One of the means whereby a person can purify his soul and get rid of stinginess and avarice is to give away what he holds dear.<br> A precious benefit:<br> Here I present a comprehensive summary on the slavery system in Islam, taken from the words of the erudite scholar Al-Tāhir ibn ‘Āshūr (died 1393 A.H.) (may Allah have mercy upon him) in his book "The Foundations of the Social System in Islam": “When Islam came, slavery had been deeply-rooted in the structure of nations and part of the history of their civilization. So, if it had abolished slavery all at once, this would have caused great turbulence among Muslims and the surrounding communities that were linked to Muslims. That is why it adopted a gradual approach suitable for the Fitrah. It abolished the optional and compulsory causes of slavery, leaving only one cause, namely taking captives in wars between Muslims and disbelievers. On the other hand, Islam increased the causes of emancipation. Based on the Shariah rulings and teachings in regards to the conditions of slaves and their manumission, the scholars deduced this rule: The Legislator favors freedom. Before Islam, there was no law, religious or man-made, to lay down rights for slaves or protect them from harms as the Muslim Shariah has done.”<br> He also said in his book "The Objectives": “So, Islam worked to reconcile its two objectives of spreading freedom and preserving the world order. It made the causes of freedom dominant over the causes of slavery, thus resisting and reducing slavery and improving whatever remains of it.” Then, he tackled the issue in some more details, which I recommended to read.