Assalaamu alaykum, Shaykh. My question was the following: I know that it is permissible to engage in ‘Azl (coitus interruptus) with a slave woman without her consent, and I read a few hadiths that say that during the campaign of Banu Al-Mustaliq, some of the Companions got female captives and wanted to perform ‘Azl in order to be able to sell them later. My question is: will the man not benefit by buying, sleeping with, and selling a million different slave women? And does the slave woman not have the right to become pregnant given that this is the way for her to obtain her freedom? May Allah reward youl.

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

It is obvious that the subject matter of this question is of no real benefit; slavery does not exist today, for reasons that we all know. So time should not be wasted in investigating this matter. Rather, the dear questioner and other visitors of the fatwa section on our website should confine themselves to asking about matters that necessitate action, especially given that the Muslims need to acquire the knowledge of many religious rulings that concern them.

Ibn Muflih wrote:

"Chapter: It is disliked to ask about hypothesized matters, things that do not lead to doing deeds, and future events that have not taken place yet ... (He cited some reports on the authority of Imaam Ahmad in this regard in this chapter) ... Al-Marwazi reported that Imaam Ahmad was once asked whether Gog and Magog are Muslims. He replied, 'Have you acquired all the knowledge you need so that you ask about this?' Ahmad ibn Asram narrated that Imaam Ahmad was once asked about the Liʻaan (oath of condemnation). He replied, 'May Allah have mercy on you; ask about the matters that concern you only.'" [Al-Aadaab Ash-Sharʻiyyah]

Allah knows best.