Chapter on Sales

Al-Hasan bin Mahbub narrated from Ishaq bin Ammar who said: I said to Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, "What do you say about a man who gifts his slave one thousand dirhams, or more or less, and says to him, 'Release me from my beating you, or from everything I have done to you, or from the fear and intimidation I caused you?' So the slave releases him and declares him free from blame, desiring what he has been given. Then, later, the master finds the dirhams that he gave the slave in a place where the slave had kept them and takes them. Is it lawful for him?" Imam عليه السلام said: "No." I said: "Is not the slave and his wealth the property of his master?" Imam عليه السلام said: "This is not one of those cases." Then Imam عليه السلام said: "Tell him to return the money to the slave, for it is not lawful for him. He gave it to the slave as a ransom for himself to avoid punishment and retribution on the Day of Judgment." I said: "Does the slave have to pay zakat on it if a year passes over it?" Imam عليه السلام said: "No, unless he invests it in trade. And a slave is not given anything from zakat."