A man from the Ansār promised that a slave that he owned would be free after his own death although the master had no other property. As the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was told of this, he considered this deal a waste of resources. So, he did not approve of this act. Meanwhile, he sold the slave for eight hundred dirhams and sent the money to the master. The priority for the poor master was to take care of himself and his family rather than emancipate his productive slave, and thus the indigent family would survive on begging. Finally, even though this tradition was applicable at some point in history and has no relevance today, something can be learned from it. Slavery is still practiced in some places like Africa, just as it was practiced since the time of Adam until after the coming of Islam. However, the attitude of Islam toward slavery is to eliminate it.
صحيح البخاري، للإمام أبي عبد الله محمد بن إسماعيل البخاري، عناية محمد زهير الناصر، دار طوق النجاة، الطبعة الأولى، 1422هـ. صحيح مسلم، للإمام مسلم بن الحجاج، حققه ورقمه محمد فؤاد عبد الباقي، دار عالم الكتب، الرياض، الطبعة الأولى، 1417هـ. تيسير العلام شرح عمدة الأحكام، عبد الله البسام -تحقيق محمد صبحي حسن حلاق- مكتبة الصحابة- الشارقة- الطبعة العاشرة- 1426هـ.