Chapter on Absconding Slaves
Man Lā Yaḥḍuruh al-Faqīh|Volume 3|Book 1|Chapter 53
وَ رَوَى مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ عَنْ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ عَلَيْهِ اَلسَّلاَمُ قَالَ: سَأَلْتُهُ عَنْ جَارِيَةٍ مُدَبَّرَةٍ أَبَقَتْ مِنْ سَيِّدِهَا سِنِينَ ثُمَّ إِنَّهَا جَاءَتْ بَعْدَ مَا مَاتَ سَيِّدُهَا بِأَوْلاَدٍ وَ مَتَاعٍ كَثِيرٍ وَ شَهِدَ لَهَا شَاهِدَانِ أَنَّ سَيِّدَهَا كَانَ قَدْ دَبَّرَهَا فِي حَيَاتِهِ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ تَأْبِقَ قَالَ "أَرَى أَنَّ جَمِيعَ مَا مَعَهَا لِلْوَرَثَةِ " قُلْتُ وَ لاَ تُعْتَقُ مِنْ ثُلُثِ سَيِّدِهَا قَالَ "لاَ إِنَّهَا أَبَقَتْ عَاصِيَةً لِلَّهِ وَ لِسَيِّدِهَا فَأَبْطَلَ اَلْإِبَاقُ اَلتَّدْبِيرَ".
Muhammad ibn Muslim narrated from Abu Ja'far Imam Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Baqir عليه السلام: I asked him about a bondwoman who was mudadbarah (promised freedom upon the master's death). She ran away from her master for several years and later returned after her master had died. She came back with children and considerable possessions. Two witnesses testified that her master had declared her mudadbarah during his lifetime, before she had run away. Imam عليه السلام said: "I see that all the possessions she brought belong to the heirs." I asked: "Would she not be freed from her master's one-third estate?" Imam عليه السلام replied: "No, because she fled, disobeying Allah سبحانه وتعالى and her master. Her escape nullified the declaration of tadbir (conditional freedom)."
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Faqīh, p. 209