Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 2476
حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ، عَنْ أُسَامَةَ بْنِ زَيْدٍ، عَنِ الْقَاسِمِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، قَالَتْ مَضَى فِي بَرِيرَةَ ثَلاَثُ سُنَنٍ خُيِّرَتْ حِينَ أُعْتِقَتْ وَكَانَ زَوْجُهَا مَمْلُوكًا وَكَانُوا يَتَصَدَّقُونَ عَلَيْهَا فَتُهْدِي إِلَى النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَيَقُولُ " هُوَ عَلَيْهَا صَدَقَةٌ وَهُوَ لَنَا هَدِيَّةٌ " . وَقَالَ " الْوَلاَءُ لِمَنْ أَعْتَقَ " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿAli ibn Muhammad narrated to us; Wakiʿ narrated to us, from Usamah ibn Zayd, from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, from ʿAʾishah, who said: ‘Three established rulings concerning Barirah were applied: she was given the choice when she was emancipated; her husband was enslaved; and people would give her charity, which she would then offer as a gift to the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace). He would say, “It is charity for her, but a gift for us.”’ He also said, ‘The right of walaʾ belongs to the one who emancipates.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
قَالَتْ مَضَى فِي بَرِيرَةَ ثَلاَثُ سُنَنٍ خُيِّرَتْ حِينَ أُعْتِقَتْ وَكَانَ زَوْجُهَا مَمْلُوكًا وَكَانُوا يَتَصَدَّقُونَ عَلَيْهَا فَتُهْدِي إِلَى النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَيَقُولُ " هُوَ عَلَيْهَا صَدَقَةٌ وَهُوَ لَنَا هَدِيَّةٌ " .
ثلاث سنن is literally ‘three sunnahs/practices’; here it introduces three established rulings or precedents concerning Barirah.
Does ‘three established rulings concerning Barirah’ convey the legal sense of سنن without implying these are merely habitual acts?
وَقَالَ " الْوَلاَءُ لِمَنْ أَعْتَقَ " .
الولاء is a technical legal bond/entitlement arising from emancipation; retaining walaʾ preserves the term but may be unfamiliar.
Should walaʾ be retained as a technical term in this concise statement?