141- Emancipation of a Female Slave does not Affect her Marriage, and She has the Choice if Her Husband is a Slave
To His Eminence, the honourable Shaykh, Abdul- “Aziz Ibn Baz.
As-salamu alaykum warahrnatullah wabarakatuh (May Allah’s Peace, Mercy, and Blessings be upon you.)
Please be advised that I had a female slave. When the government began to compensate slave owners, I exchanged her for money and she became free.
This slave was married while she was mine. Is she lawful for her husband now, having been bought and sold, or is she considered divorced? Appreciate your guidance, may Allah reward you in this world and in the Hereafter.
A: Wa ‘alaykum as-salam warahrnatullah wabarakatuh.
If the reality is as you mentioned, this slave is still married to her husband; selling and freeing her does not nullify their marriage. However if her husband is also a slave and she has been set free, she has the choice whether to stay with him or leave him, according to what was mentioned in the following Sahih (authentic) Hadith on the authority of ‘Aishah (رضی اللہ عنھا) that (she bought a slave girl called Burairah and freed her. She was married at that time, so the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) gave her the choice whether to stay with him or leave him. He did not consider her selling or freeing as a cause to nullify her marriage. May Allah guide you and us to what pleases Him, grant all of us comprehension of religion and help us adhere to it. He is All-Hearer, Ever Near. As-salamu ‘alaykum warahrnatullah wabarakatuh.
‘Abdul-‘Aziz ibn ‘Abdullah Ibn Baaz
[Majmoo ’al-Fataawa Ibn Baaz, Vol.: 20; pp. 263 – 264]
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