Commentary on Imam Sajjad’s (AS) Treaties of Right (Part 26)

Shafaqna English- Commentary on Imam Sajjad’s (AS) Treaties of Right by Mohammad Sobhanie.

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

وَأَمّــــــــــــا حَقُّ الْمُنْعِمِ عَلَيْكَ بالْولاءِ فَــأَنْ تَعْلَمَ أَنّهُ أَنفَقَ فِيكَ مَالَـــهُ، وَأَخرَجَكَ مِن ذُلِّ الرِّقِ وَوَحْشَــــــــــــــتِهِ إلَى عِزِّ الحُرِّيةِ وأُنسِهـــــا، وَأَطْلَقَكَ مِنْ أَسْرِ الْمِلْكَةِ، وَفَـــــكَّ عَنْكَ حـــــِلَقَ الْعُبُودِيَّةِ، وَأَوْجَدَكَ رَائِحَة الْعِزِّ، وَأَخرَجَكَ مِنْ سِجْنِ القَهْرِ، وَدَفَـــــــــــعَ عَنْكَ الْعُسْرَ، وبَسَطَ لَكَ لِسَـــــــــــانَ الإنْصَافِ، وَأَبَاحَكَ الدُنْيَــــــــا كُلَّهَا فَمَلَّكَكَ نفْسَــــــكَ، وَحَلَّ أَسْرَكَ، وَفَرَّغَكَ لِعِبَادَةِ رَبكَ، وَاحْتَمَلَ بذَلِكَ التَّقْصِيرَ فِي مَالِهِ، فَتَعْلَـــــــــــمَ أَنّهُ أَوْلَى الخَلْقِ بكَ بَعْـــــدَ أُولي رَحِمِكَ فِي حَيَاتِكَ وَمَوْتِكَ، وَأَحَقَّ الخَــــــــــــــلْقِ بنَصْرِكَ وَمَعُونَتِكَ وَمُكَانفَتِكَ فِي ذَات اللَّهِ، فَلا تُؤثِرْ عَلَيْهِ نفْسَكَ مَا احْتَاجَ إلَيْكَ

The Right of Master on the Freed Slave (26^th)

The right of your master, who has favored and freed you, is for you to recognize that he has invested his resources in you. He has lifted you from the degradation and despair of slavery to the glory and comfort of freedom. He has released you from the captivity of his ownership and the chains of slavery. He has allowed you to experience the scent of glory, liberated you from the prison of subjugation, and alleviated your hardships. He has offered you the words of fairness and allowed you to move freely worldwide, granting you autonomy. He has given you the freedom to worship your Lord.

For your freedom, he suffered a decrease in his fortune. Therefore, you should acknowledge that he is the closest person to you after your relatives, both in your life and after your death. He also deserves your help, support, and assistance the most, so don’t prioritize meeting your needs over his for the sake of Allah (SWT).

Commentary: At the dawn of Islam, slavery was a common economic practice, making it challenging to eliminate quickly. Therefore, Islam introduced a series of measures aimed at gradually abolishing slavery. A few of these measurements were mentioned in the commentary on “The Rights of a Master (19th)[1]” earlier, such as the allocation of a portion of Zakat (charitable almsgiving) specifically to free slaves.

One important principle in Islam is that freeing slaves is considered a virtuous act. The Quran encourages Muslims to seek salvation in the afterlife by freeing slaves^[2]. This teaching has been reflected in the tradition of the Prophet (PBUH) and Ahlul-Bayt (AS). For instance, Imam Sadiq (AS) reported[3] that Imam Ali (AS) freed one thousand slaves through the efforts of his own hands[4]. Imam Baqir (AS) [5]^,[6] quotes from the Prophet (PBUH), who said:

مَن أعْتَقَ مُسْلِمًا، أعْتَقَ اللَّهُ العزيز الجبار بِكُلِّ عُضْوٍ مِنْهُ عُضْوًا مِنَ النَّارِ

Whoever emancipates a Muslim, Allah (SWT) will free every limb of that person from Hellfire for each limb of the emancipated individual.

For this reason, Imam Sadiq (AS) said [7], “It is commendable for individuals to seek closeness to God on the Night and Day of Arafah (9^th day of Dhu Al-Hijjah) by freeing slaves and giving charity.”

In summary, freeing someone from slavery is a noble act that requires a commitment of resources to assist the individual in escaping the suffering of enslavement and embracing the joy of freedom. What blessing could be more precious than freedom? In this exchange, while the liberator offers a significant favor to the formerly enslaved person, that individual also carries a profound debt of gratitude to the liberator. Imam Sajjad (AS) emphasized several points regarding the rights of the liberator:

1. The liberator of an enslaved person is the closest individual to them after their relatives, both in life and after death.
2. The liberator is the most deserving person to receive assistance, support, and help from the formerly enslaved individual.
3. The formerly enslaved person should prioritize the needs of their liberator over their own needs for the sake of Allah (SWT).

Notes:

[1] https://en.shafaqna.com/335711/the-right-of-a-master-commentary-on-imam-al-sajjads-as-treaties-of-right-part-19/

[2] Al-Balad, 90:13 (فَكُّ رَقَبَةٍ)

[3] https://www.hadithlib.com/hadithtxts/view/21007423

[4] (أَنَّ أَمِیرَ الْمُؤْمِنِینَ علیه السلام أَعْتَقَ أَلْفَ مَمْلُوکٍ مِنْ کَدِّ یَدِهِ) from Ref 5.

[5] https://hadith.net/post/322/( نظيم-اللئالي/p388/)

[6] https://hadith.inoor.ir/en/hadith/115039/same-toc?rownumber=NaN

[7] https://hadith.inoor.ir/en/hadith/115039/same-toc?rownumber=NaN

Part of a Series: Commentary on Imam Al-Sajjad’s (AS) treaties of right

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