A free woman is not property; making her a slave-woman is not valid

Question

Question: Zayd wishes to marry Saʿida Begum, and then, by giving some amount in cash to Saʿida’s full sister Sharifa, who is of age, or to her parents, to make her like a slave-woman, on the view that in the capacity of a slave-woman intercourse with Sharifa without nikah becomes lawful. Zayd considers it permissible to have nikah with Saʿida and her sister Sharifa at once — conjugal relations and intercourse. Is Zayd’s act permissible or impermissible?

Answer

This act of Zayd with Sharifa is categorically haram and fornication (zina); it is necessary to separate her immediately. Sharifa is a free woman (hurra), and the sale of a free woman is void (batil). By the giving of some money she has not become a slave-woman in the Sharʿi sense; the definition of a slave-woman does not apply to her.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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