SECTION ON INHERITANCE · 14 – SELLING THE RIGHT OF WALĀʾ
2919 – It is narrated from Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade selling the right of walāʾ (walāʾ: the right of inheritance and loyalty between a manumitter and a freed slave) and gifting it. [613]
EXPLANATION
A slave may be sold. He may be given as a gift. However, a person cannot sell or gift the right of walāʾ of a slave whom he has manumitted. In the Age of Ignorance, the right of walāʾ of a freed slave would be sold, and money would be taken in exchange. The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited this. For walāʾ is not property, but a right. Even if property may be sold, it is not appropriate to sell a right.