Hadith 3447

(1) The statement: “Whoever owns a close relative who is a mahram, he is free”: For us, if a man owns a close mahram relative, they are freed upon ownership without initiating emancipation. For Shafi‘i, they are not freed except in parental relations, like parents and children. For Malik, they are freed in sibling relations only. We have this hadith, and similar narrations from Umar and Ibn Mas‘ud, and many Successors. Non-mahram relatives, like cousins, or mahram non-relatives, like those by marriage or nursing, are not freed by consensus. This is taken from commentaries of Al-Kanz.

(2) The statement: “And frees him”: Some literalists inferred that a father is not freed upon his child’s ownership, as otherwise, emancipation would not follow purchase. They interpret the “fa” in “frees him” as sequential. The majority hold that he is freed upon ownership without initiating emancipation, and “frees him” means freeing by purchase, not by initiating emancipation. The sequence is in terms of ruling, not initiation. Thus, the “fa” in “frees him” indicates causality, meaning he is freed due to purchase, not requiring “I freed you” after purchase, but freed by the purchase itself. This is gathered from Al-Mirqat.