Sūrah Al-Balad The City: Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī Qurʾānic Rulings and Law

DetailInformationClassificationSignificance

SurahAl-BaladMeccanThe difficult moral path and Mecca's sacred character

Key Fiqh IssueʿItq al-raqabah slave manumission as kaffārah and voluntary actPrimary kaffārah option / Meritorious voluntary actIslamic law's most powerful vehicle for slave liberation

School ComparisonAll four schools: manumission as kaffārah requires the slave to be Muslim (for ẓihār and killing); Ḥanafī: any slave (Muslim or not) for general voluntary manumission; conditions on health and completeness of manumission differ slightlyPrimary kaffārah optionMust be believing slave for kaffārah validity

Uṣūl PrincipleKaffārah bi-l-raqabah manumission as the primary and highest expiation optionFirst option in ordered kaffārah sequenceWhen available, manumission takes priority over fasting or feeding

Al-Qurṭubī derives from verse 13 "freeing a slave" listed among the ʿaqabāt (difficult moral paths of righteousness) that manumission is both an act of religious merit and the highest form of kaffārah expiation. In the classical kaffārah sequences (ẓihār, accidental killing, violated oath), freeing a believing slave is always listed first when possible, it is the most meritorious option.

Al-Qurṭubī notes the conditions for valid kaffārah manumission across schools: the slave must be Muslim (believing), free of defects that prevent work (healthy enough to sustain themselves), and the manumission must be complete partial freedom does not discharge the kaffārah. For voluntary manumission (non-kaffārah), the requirements are more flexible any slave, any condition of health, and the owner receives reward proportional to the value of the slave. The verse's listing of manumission as an "ʿaqabah" (difficult mountain pass) acknowledges its real economic cost to the owner the difficulty is part of its merit.

فَلَا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْعَقَبَةُ فَكُّ رَقَبَةٍ Fa-lā qtaḥama l-ʿaqabata wa-mā adrāka mā l-ʿaqabah fakku raqabah Meaning: "But he has not undertaken the difficult ascent and what would make you know what the difficult ascent is? Freeing a slave!" Al-Qurṭubī: "fakku raqabah" (freeing a neck/slave) the word fakk means to unlock or release; al-Qurṭubī derives that slavery is a form of constriction (raqabah = neck) from which freedom is a release; the economic sacrifice of freeing a slave makes it a genuine ʿaqabah (difficult moral challenge).

أَوْ إِطْعَامٌ فِي يَوْمٍ ذِي مَسْغَبَةٍ يَتِيمًا ذَا مَقْرَبَةٍ أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ Aw iṭʿāmun fī yawmin dhī masghaba yatīman dhā maqraba aw miskīnan dhā matraba Meaning: "Or feeding on a day of severe hunger an orphan of near relation, or a poor person in misery" Al-Qurṭubī: feeding the hungry (especially orphan relatives and the utterly destitute) is listed alongside manumission as a competing act of righteousness; al-Qurṭubī derives the priority ranking: when no slave is available for manumission, feeding the destitute is the most meritorious alternative.

Slave manumission for kaffārah requires a believing (Muslim) slave who is healthy enough to be self-sustaining all four schools agree on these conditions.
Partial manumission does not discharge kaffārah full, complete freedom must be conferred for the kaffārah to be valid.
Voluntary manumission (non-kaffārah): any slave, any condition, receives merit proportional to the slave's value broader and more accessible than kaffārah manumission.
The ʿaqabah (difficult path) framing: manumission's merit is proportional to its economic cost; the sacrifice is part of the act's spiritual value.
With the elimination of slavery in modern times, the kaffārah sequences that listed manumission first now default immediately to the second option (fasting) in contemporary fiqh application.

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