Chapter on the Contract of Manumission (Mukataba)

Amr ibn Shimr narrated from Jabir, from Abu Ja'far Imam Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Baqir عليه السلام, who said: I asked him about a mukatab (a slave under a contract of emancipation) who had a condition stipulated that if he failed to make payments, he would return to slavery. What if he failed before paying anything? Imam عليه السلام said: "He does not return to slavery until three years have passed. Whatever portion he has already paid counts toward his emancipation. If he has made partial payments, they cannot return him to slavery."