His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And let those who cannot find a marriage remain chaste until Allah enriches them from His bounty. And those who seek a contract from what your right hands possess, then write with them if you know in them goodness. And give them from the wealth of Allah which He has given you.﴾

"'Ista'fa'" is in the form of 'istaf'al', and its meaning is: to seek to be chaste. So Allah, exalted and majestic is He, commanded in this verse everyone who finds it difficult to marry and cannot find it by any means to remain chaste. Then, since the most common impediment to marriage is lack of money, He promised enrichment from His bounty. Thus, the command to remain chaste applies to everyone who finds it difficult to marry by any means.

A group of the commentators said: Marriage in this verse refers to what is given as a dowry and what is spent in marriage, such as bedding and clothing for what one is covered with and what is worn. They based this on His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿until Allah enriches them from His bounty.﴾ They assumed that the one commanded to remain chaste is only the one who lacks the money to marry. This interpretation restricts those commanded to remain chaste, and that is weak.

Then Allah, exalted and majestic is He, commanded all the believers to write a contract for every one of them who has a slave and the slave requests a contract, provided that his master knows of goodness in him. Al-Niqash said: The reason for this is that a young man belonging to Huwaytib ibn Abd al-Uzza asked his master for a contract, but he refused him. Al-Makki said: It is Subaih the Copt, the slave of Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a. The term "contract" in the verse is a noun like "fighting" and "striking" and similar nouns derived from the form of 'fa'ala', and "writing" is a verbal noun from the perspective that this one writes for himself, and that one writes for himself.

People have differed on whether this command to write is obligatory or recommended, with two opinions: The position of Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, is that it is recommended. And 'Ata said: It is obligatory, and this is the apparent saying of Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, to Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, regarding Sirin, when Sirin asked for a contract and Anas hesitated. Umar said to him: Write for him or I will strike you with the rod. This is also the saying of Amr ibn Dinar and al-Dhahak.

People have differed regarding the intended meaning of goodness. One group said: It is wealth, and it is not permissible for a master of a slave to write a contract unless he knows that he has wealth to fulfill it or from trade therein. It has been narrated from Ibn Umar and Salman that they refused to write for two slaves who desired a contract and promised to seek the favor of people. Each of them said to his slave: Do you want to feed me the filth of people? Malik said: It is said that goodness refers to strength and ability to fulfill. Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan said: Goodness is truthfulness in promise, little lying, and fulfillment, even if the slave has no wealth. And Ubaydah al-Salmani said: Goodness is righteousness in religion, and this was the saying accepted in his time.

And the mukatab is a slave as long as there remains a dirham upon him. The sanctity of emancipation only applies after the payment. This is the saying of the majority of the ummah. Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said: If he pays a third of the contract, then he is a freed man who is indebted. Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Emancipation applies to him with the first payment he makes.

And His saying, the Exalted, ﴿And give them from the wealth of Allah﴾, the mufassirun said: It is a command for every mukatab to allocate for the slave from the wealth of his contract. Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, preferred that this be a quarter of the contract. Al-Zahrawi reported that this was narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan and Ibn Mas'ud preferred a third of it. Qatadah said: A tenth of it. Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, saw that this should be from the first payments as an initiative towards good and out of fear that he may not reach the end of it. Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, and others saw that the allocation should be at the end of the payment. The reason for this is that if he allocates from the first payment, the slave may become unable to continue, and he and his wealth return to the master, and his status returns to him, which is similar to charity. This is the saying of Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with both of them. Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, viewed this matter as recommended and did not see a limit for the amount of allocation. Al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, and others saw the allocation as obligatory, which the judge rules upon the mukatab and his heirs. Al-Hasan, al-Nakha'i, and Buraidah said: The address in His saying, the Exalted, ﴿And give them from the wealth of Allah﴾ is to all people in that they should give charity to the mukatabun and assist them in freeing their necks. Zayd ibn Aslam said: The address is to the rulers to give the mukatabun their share from the wealth of charity, which is what His saying, the Exalted, encompasses: 'And in freeing slaves.'