The emancipation
of
flaves recommended.
Conditions
which render
emancipation
valid.
Chap. IV . O f Manumiffion by H i If, or Vow.
Chap. V . O f Manumiffion for a Compenfation.
Chap. VI. O f Tadbeer,
Chap. VII. O f Ifeelad, or Claim, o f Offspring.
C H A P . I.
I t t a k , or the emancipation o f flaves, is recommended by the prophet,
who has declared.“ whatever' M u s s u l m a n " Jhall emancipate a
“ Jlave ( being a believer,) G od will, fo r every member o f the fiave fo
“ liberated, releafe a fmilar member o f the emancipator from hellfre."—
It is therefore laudable in a man to releafe his Have, or in a woman to
grant freedom to her bondmaid, in order that this deliverance of G od
may be thereby fecured to to them *.
E m a n c ip a t io n ' s approved, where it proceeds from a free perfon,
of found underftanding, and an adult, with refpect to a fiave who is
his own property. Freedom is made a neceflary condition in the
emancipator, becaufe Ittak, or manumiffion, is not applicable to any
except flaves, and a fiave cannot be the proprietor o f a Have -j-; and
maturity of age is equally a condition, becaufe a boy (for inftance)
does not poflefs competency to emancipate a fiave, as this is an aft
* Arab. “ In order that the exchange o f a linib fo r a limb may be fecured.”
t It is to be obferved that the reftri&ion here mentioned does not apply to Mok'atibs
and Mazoons, but only to Abids, or others, in a ftate of abfolute flavery.
productive
421
productive of evident damage to him, (whence it is that the guardians
of a minor are not empowered to emancipate any of the flaves o f their/
ward ;) and fanity of intellect is alfo a condition, becaufe a lunatic is
incapable of any independant aCt..
If an adult declare that he had in his non-agé releafed a certain,
n t - j , . 0 clarations of
Have, ms words are to be credited, becaule he here ftands as a negator manumiffion,
of manumiffion * , as he refers the manumiffion to a period in which nlTwhen*
he was not competent tô pronounce it.— And in the fame manner, i f the emanci"
a rational perfon declare that he had releafed fuch a fiave “ whilfl he competent,
was infane, his declaration is to be credited, provided his infanity
had been a matter of notoriety, as he is a negator, on account of his
referring the manumiffion to a ftate which forbids it.— If, on the other,
hand, a boy were- to fay “ every fiave of which I am pofTefl'ed is free
“ on my majority,” it is not approved, as the declaration o f an, infant
is not binding upon him.— It is ,to be obferved that one condition ef-
fential to manumiffion is that the fiave be the actual property of the
emancipator; and hence, i f a perfon. were to pronounce or grant an.
emancipation with refpeCt to the fiave o f another, it is ineffectual, becaufe
the prophet has declared “ there is no emancipation with refpebl,
“ to a thing o f which m an is not the proprietor.”
If a perfon fay to his male or female Have— “ you are free, "— If a mal!«
or, “ -you are Moattickir,"— or, “ you are AtteekÏ ,"— or, “ you. fla^b^y
“ are confec rated to G od, ” and fo forth,— or, “ I have emancipated H which . r -, denotes ms
you, or rendered you a MoattickJ’ or— “ conlecrated you to- beingyW*, it
God, and fo forth,— in this cafe fuch fiave becomes immediately emancipa-
free, whether emancipation may have been the intention of the fpeaker. tion;
* That is to fay, he appears as a defendant, pleading againjl:manumiflion, and notas
a tin tor pleading fo r it.
t The participle from Ittak, which may be rendered either fre e or manumitted.,
Î The noun of quality from Ittak, which bears nearly the fame.fenfe withMoâttick.
or